Eight arrests made from latest rape kit backlog tests
LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — Metro Police have arrested eight sexual predators after their DNA showed up in the federal CODIS database.
Those arrests came after 473 kits were analyzed for DNA at a lab in Virginia and got 43 hits in the system, which led to the eight arrests.
Currently, the state is tasked with finding a way to reduce the number of backlog rape kits that date back as far as the 1980s.
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Recently, 1,514 more kits have been sent out for testing in the quest to rid the backlog of more than 6000. The state has received funds to rid the backlog including federal grants to meet their goals.
Nevada is one of only three other sites that has received a federal grant two years in a row—both 2015 and 2016.
“We are hopeful that those eight arrests will lead to criminal convictions and to justice for victims,” Nevada First Assistant Attorney General Wes Duncan said.
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Duncan spoke at an interim finance committee on Thursday and said the progress to get the backlog tested has been significant, but committee members’ questions efficiency when it comes to cost.
Duncan said labs in Nevada are able to do some testing, but the sheer number of backlogged kits forces them to find other ways to complete the testing. A lab in Virginia is the one that meets criteria and cost efficiency concerns.
