WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Vice President Joseph Biden and Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the award of $41 million in U.S. Department of Justice grants to 20 jurisdictions around the country, including Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, under the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, led by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, will receive $1,999,109, the full amount applied for by that office.
In addition, the Vice President and Attorney General announced that the Michigan State Police and the Flint Michigan Police Department are being awarded funding to eliminate the backlogs of untested sexual assault kits under a similar initiative by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, with money obtained from settlements with international banks who violated U.S. sanctions.
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| Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives John Conyers, Jr. |
Detroit has experienced a crisis involving over 11,000 unanalyzed sexual assault kits that were uncovered in 2009. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, working with the Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project and with financial assistance from the National Institute of Justice, has tested over 10,000 of these kits, resulting in over 1,000 associations with offenders through the national DNA database. As the Prosecutor’s Office continues its effort to address this problem, there is additional work to be done and criminal cases to be pursued.
Congressman Conyers stated, “I have been a strong advocate for funding to assist the efforts of Kym Worthy and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to address the crisis involving unanalyzed sexual assault kits. I welcome the announcement of additional federal assistance that will help vindicate the interests of survivors of sexual assault and apprehend and bring cases against the perpetrators so that the public is protected from additional assaults.”
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