Lessons Learned: Serial Sex Offenders Identified from Backlogged Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs)

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Singer

Flannery

et al. 2021

Self Cite

Hundreds of thousands of sexual assault kits (SAKs), also known as rape kits, have languished, untested in evidence storage facilities across the United States (U.S.) [1]. A SAK or kit is a set of items used by medical professionals for collecting and preserving evidence from a victim of sexual assault for investigation and prosecution [2]. Many factors contributed to the large number of untested kits, including poor evidence tracking, outdated and ineffective investigation practices, scarce resources and personnel, misunderstanding of crime laboratory acceptance policies, victim-blaming attitudes and

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The case for “investigate all”: Assessing the cost‐effectiveness of investigating no CODIS hit cases in a sexual assault kit initiative

Journal of Forensic Sciences

Singer

Flannery

et al. 2021

Self Cite

“…Prior research using a subsample of the data presented in this study has explored differences between serial and nonserial suspected sexual offenders (Lovell, Flannery, & Luminais, 2018) and intimate partner sexual assaults (Lovell et al, 2019) of suspected sexual offenders identified as part of the SAK initiative in Cuyahoga County. In another study, with a subsample of these data, we explored differences in the modus operandi and victim preference (including crossover by age, gender, and relationship status) of suspected serial sexual offenders who have been linked to more than one SAK-associated sexual assault in our sample of coded cases from the SAK initiative (Lovell, Luminais, et al, 2018).…”

Section: Aim Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Offending Histories and Typologies of Suspected Sexual Offenders Identified Via Untested Sexual Assault Kits

Criminal Justice and Behavior

Huang

Overman

et al. 2020

Self Cite

In this study, we present findings that detail the criminal offending histories and typologies of suspected sexual offenders identified from an initiative to follow up on the testing of thousands of previously untested sexual assault kits (SAKs). This study advances our understanding of sexual offenders by incorporating data from criminal justice system records (“detected” criminal offending) with data from newly tested SAKs that were not previously adjudicated (“undetected” sexual offending). Our findings demonstrate that these offenders have extensive criminal histories, very frequently continued to offend after the SAK-associated sexual assault, and, more often than not, have criminal histories that do not include a prior arrest(s) for rape. A latent class analysis identified three classes of offenders based on their offending history, “High-Volume Generalists,” “Low-Volume Offenders,” and “Sexual Specialists.” Most were generalists, with a large proportion committing lots of serious crimes.

“…In addition, despite common perceptions to the contrary, the Rachels observed that suspected serials did not seem to maintain a consistent pattern throughout a series of rapes (e.g., gang-raping a teenage girl and 2 months later raping their son) and offending pattern (e.g., gratuitously violent rapes and others where they constantly apologized). These early observations guided the priority for disseminating the research (see Lovell et al, 2017; Lovell, Flannery, et al, 2018; Lovell, Luminais, et al, 2018).…”

Section: Outcomes Of the Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissemination and Impact Amplified: How a Researcher–Reporter Collaboration Helped Improve the Criminal Justice Response to Victims With Untested Sexual Assault Kits

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

Dissell

2021

We present a case study of a researcher–reporter collaboration that formed from an initiative to address thousands of previously untested rape kits in one Midwestern (U.S.) jurisdiction. We explore this symbiotic partnership by examining (a) how and why it formed; (b) the outcomes, including extensive and public dissemination and a unique project that surveyed 294 Ohio law enforcement agencies to see what happened after the rape kits were tested (Ohio Rape Kit Survey Project); and (c) the impact that the partnership, dissemination, and larger initiative had in sparking demonstrable change in how the justice system and the general public responded to and engaged with the issue of untested rape kits and with victims of sexual assault. We conclude with larger takeaways from this collaboration for researchers and reporters but also provide a framework for how this type of collaboration can be leveraged to produce change for the greater good.