HOLLAND (WHTC) — Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is using April, which is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, to promote his effort to ensure testing of all untested sexual assault kits older than one year outside of Wayne County.
He says the evidence is from October 2014 and earlier, and are from every area of the state except Wayne County, according to an MLive report.
That’s more than 1,800 untested rape kits from October 2014 and earlier, from everywhere except Wayne County, which started it’s program earlier.
The kits weren’t tested for various reasons, including cases in whcih the suspect confessed, pleaded guilty, or was already incarcerated, Schuette said. DNA evidence from the kits can be matched against other cases and potentially uncover links to unsolved crimes, he said.
The survey did not include Wayne County because of efforts already under way there.
Among the communities with high totals — Flint with 261 — Battle Creek, 239; and Grand Rapids Police; 199. Closer to home, Allegan County has three untested rape kits and Ottawa county has just one, out of Zeeland.
