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More Rape Kits Being Tested By Ohio Scientists
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The state’s forensic scientists have tested about 9,500 rape kits submitted by law enforcement agencies around Ohio to check for possible DNA matches.
More than 11,800 kits had been submitted as part of an effort beginning in 2011 to check previously untested kits for evidence. Roughly 2,500 of those were submitted after a new law went into effect in March.
The law now requires law enforcement to submit to a crime lab within a year any remaining previously untested sexual assault kits associated with a past crime. All newly collected rape kits must be turned over within 30 days after an agency determines a crime has been committed.
Ohio’s attorney general says that in Cuyahoga County alone, 430 defendants have been indicted following DNA testing under the effort.