Victims of sexual assault may soon have a new way to find out the status and location of a key piece of evidence in their cases instantly and anonymously.
Attorney General Mike DeWine says a free online program would allow sexual assault survivors to enter the barcode on their rape kits to follow them from medical facilities where they’re collected to crime labs where they’re tested to law enforcement for storage or destruction. “Rape survivors have already gone through unimaginable trauma, and not knowing where their cases stand can also be agonizing.”
The online tracking program would take around a million dollars in money from the victims of crime fund to launch, but will also need legislation to require all agencies to participate. That’s being sponsored by two Republican women state lawmakers, Sen. Stephanie Kunze and Rep. Dorothy Pelanda.