First results of backlogged sex assault kits should arrive next month

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — The first results of some 7,500 backlogged sex assault kits should be returned to Nevada next month.

Several months ago, the state secured more than $5 million to pay for testing the sex assault kits -- about 6,500 from Southern Nevada that had been stored by Metro.

"We will receive about 50 results a month starting next month and hopefully that figure will incrementally increase in the fall," said Monica Moazez, spokeswoman for Nevada Attorney General Office. "We hope to have all of the kits tested by December 2018."

About 1,500 of the 7,500 statewide backlogged sex assault kits have been sent for processing to the contracted firm, Bode Cellmark.

The state is paying $650 per kit, compared with a normal rate of $1,000 to $1,500 per kit.

If a kit tested results in a DNA database hit, it will be referred to the district attorney's office for possible prosecution..

Nearly $4 million of the funding to test the kits has come from national grants and Attorney General Paul Laxalt's office secured a $1.7M from a Bureau of Consumer Protection grant to make sure all backlogged kits are tested.

Several states are facing a similar backlog, which could be causing processing issues for Bode Cellmark.

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Metro faced with thousands of untested DNA rape kits