Duluth Sends 100 Sexual Assault Kits to BCA For Testing

578 Untested Rape Kits Down to 187 Kits

A few years ago Duluth received a title that no police department would ever want.

They had the highest number of untested sexual assault kits out of every department in the entire state. There were 578 kits, some from the early 90’s that were never sent into the state crime lab for testing. Currently there are 187 kits that are able to be tested, waiting to be sent in.

Now, that backlog is getting cleared out much more quickly than ever before. It’s thanks to a change at the BCA Crime lab.

Initially Duluth was only allowed to send 10 kits a time and only one batch every few months. Now there’s a major breakthrough that will speed the process up, a new testing technique.

“It allows them to go straight to DNA,” said Mary Faulkner, the Sexual Assault initiative Site Coordinator at the Duluth Police Department. “So they get the kits in a greater number and screen them out. It allows them to process a larger group of kits a time at the forefront.”

Just since October Duluth has been able to send in 100 kits.

Test results are finally coming in from other backlogged kits as well. Six cases once considered ‘not viable’ have been picked up by the St. Louis county prosecutor and charges have been filed.

Anyone who has reported a sexual assault to the police or a hospital can check on the status of their case through PAVSA’s confidential Betty Skye Line.The service can be accessed by phone at (218) 730-5449 or by email at bettyskyeline@pavsa.org.