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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIt wasn’t that many years ago that Indiana had data collected from victims in thousands of rape kits just sitting, waiting for those kits to be tested with the hope that the results could help send a criminal to prison.
As recently as 2022, Marion County had some 6,600 untested kits, according to a report from WTTV-TV Channel 4. But a $1.4 million federal grant—part of a larger program that gave grants to communities across the country—helped largely wipe out that backlog and others throughout Indiana. But not completely.
Still today, some 600 to 800 completed rape kits statewide remain untested, Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, told lawmakers this week. And local police departments wait six to eight months for tests on victims of sexual assault to be processed, she said.
Cash is trying to attack that problem with House Bill 1413, which creates the Rape Kit Backlog Fund to pay for equipment and analysts needed to process the tests more quickly and eliminate the backlog. The bill passed the House 90-0.
The House-passed budget bill allocates $2.5 million to the fund, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
We urge the Senate to pass both HB 1413 and the $2.5 million line item in the budget to attack the backlog.
There are few responsibilities more fundamental to government than public safety. And while many of the rape kits that are currently untested are not part of active investigations, according to legislative testimony, the results could be useful in pushing the cases to the forefront or even in prosecuting suspects in other cases.
The backlog is also a terrible message to send to victims, police and all Indiana residents—and it endangers people who could be harmed by criminals who aren’t caught, prosecuted and sent to prison.
“It is a terrible experience to go to a hospital and endure the procedure of having a rape kit processed on your body,” Beth White, CEO of Indiana’s Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, told The Indianapolis Star in January. “It is important that we honor that bravery by testing the kit. It is the least that we can do.”
We couldn’t agree more.
HB 1413 requires all rape kits in the possession of law enforcement and the testing labs as of July 1 to be processed before the end of next year. And it requires the Indiana State Police to provide an annual report detailing whatever backlog remains and how many kits need to be tested.
That’s important, too. Advocates have said it’s not clear that the state actually knows how many rape kits are untested. The estimate of 600 to 800 comes from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and the Indiana State Police, Cash has said.
But The Indianapolis Star reports that Indiana hasn’t conducted an audit of untested assault kits since 2017, so it’s hard to know if the state’s numbers are accurate.
Regardless, the goal should be to eliminate the backlog. The House has taken steps to make that to happen. We urge the Senate and Gov. Mike Braun’s administration to finish the job.•
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Fixing this problem not only creates the chance that a rapist will be discovered and arrested, but failing to do it means that the guilty may continue raping other women. Think about if your wife, daughter, or other loved one is raped by someone who we could have arrested months ago. It’s shameful this has gone on for so long.
This is interesting in that I haven’t seen reports of a large number of “Stranger” rapes occurring in Indiana. This would indicate that a majority of these cases involve known individuals. Nothing prevents prosecution in these cases. Is there an absolute need to complete testing in cases where the case does not depend on the identification of an unknown suspect?