Backlogged Rape Kits:

CNN writer Stephanie Chen reports on the rape kit backlog problem plaguing our nation. The man who raped Lavinia Masters when she was 13 years old will never be prosecuted because the DNA results came after the statute of limitations had run. She was raped in 1985 and her rape kit sat idle until 2005. In 2005, the Dallas Police Department re-opened her case and matched the old DNA to samples from a man who was already serving time in prison for unrelated crimes - including sexual assault. Government officials say the reason for the backlog is that crime labs are overwhelmed and underfunded. Victim advocate groups claim that the kits go untested because law enforcement fail to make rape cases a priority. Most cities have large DNA backlogs. In Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois, crime labs have about 1,000 rape kits untested. However, some cities make it a priority to test every rape kit, and consider a kit untested for 30 days a backlog. New York City requires every kit to be tested, and has seen its arrest rate jump from 30 to 70 percent since 2003. Victim advocate groups say the best way to get the kit tested is to be persistent, and constantly ask for updates. There is hope that the backlog problem will diminish. In 2004, congress passed the Debbie Smith Act, providing more than a billion dollars to improve DNA testing procedures and reduce backlog.