Attorney General Andy Beshear Monday announced $4.5 million in funding to help end Kentucky’s rape kit backlog.
“Let there be no doubt – this issue is not about the backlog of ‘kits,’ it is about justice for victims of rape,” Beshear said. “Long before taking office in January, I wanted to make ending the backlog and preventing it from happening again, a core mission of my office. I am proud that these settlement funds are going to help ensure justice is served.”
Leading advocates for ending the backlog and seeking justice for victims, Eileen Recktenwald, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs and survivor of sexual assault, Michelle Kuiper, joined Beshear to make the announcement.
Kuiper said she was honored to initiate the $4.5 million transfer from the Office of the Attorney General to the Kentucky State Police (KSP), where the funds will ensure that all kits are tested in a timely fashion.
“I know what it is like to wait for justice, and this money will allow for victims to hopefully receive justice sooner than the 17 years I had to wait for my perpetrator to match my kit and be sentenced to prison,” Kuiper said. “I want to thank all who championed ending the backlog because one kit, one victim – is one too many.”
The backlog was discovered in 2015, when Kentucky’s state auditor uncovered more than 3,000 sexual assault forensic exam kits (SAFE kits) languishing in police departments and in the KSP crime lab. Some of the reasons provided for the backlog were lack of funding and shortage of staff at the KSP crime lab.
Some funding was established when KSP applied for and received nearly $2 million from a grant from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Yet, additional resources and reforms were needed in order to fully address the issue.
During the 2016 legislative session, Beshear asked the General Assembly to approve $4.5 million in settlement funds from a lawsuit against the Risperdal drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, to be used for testing of SAFE kits. Over the next two fiscal years, an additional $1 million from the settlement will also go to aid law enforcement and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases. Representative Chuck Tackett of Georgetown, attended today’s announcement on behalf of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
Beshear also supported Senate Bill 63, the SAFE Act, which passed unanimously. The law ensures all SAFE kits are submitted, that police are trained to conduct victim-centered sexual assault investigations and that all kits be tested within set timelines.
“Protecting Kentucky families is my top priority. I will not rest until every rapist identified in the backlog testing is brought to justice.” Beshear said. “We will make sure those who have committed these violent sexual assault crimes don’t go unpunished.”
The Office of the Attorney General is committed to prosecuting any offender found through the testing of the backlogged kits and, in coordination with rape crisis advocates, will provide advocacy to victims throughout the process.
For additional information on the Attorney General’s Office of Victims Advocacy, visit ag.ky.gov.
Kentucky Attorney General