San Jose Police testing more than 900 rape kits after receiving grant
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Jose Police say they're testing more than 900 rape kits after receiving a federal grant for $2.5 million. This is the 2nd federal grant the dept. has received in the last five years.
Some of these rape kits date back to the year 2000, but now the police and the D.A.'s office say they're making great progress after processing these kits.
"If you were a victim of a sexual assault case, and they never identified the perpetrator, we haven't given up on you," said Rob Baker, Deputy D.A. with Santa Clara County D.A.'s Office Cold Case Unit.
After receiving a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Santa Clara County D.A.'s Office says they've been working with San Jose Police as they process backlogged rape kits, some dating back more than 20 years. Deputy D.A. Rob Baker says by working with a private lab, at least 30 DNA profiles have been created in the last six months.
"Every day a new sexual assault case from this project is being uploaded in search. In the last three months, we've already had nine hits in CODIS," said Baker.
The Combined DNA Index System or CODIS is a computer program that stores DNA profiles nationwide. San Jose Police released a statement, saying in part:
"SJPD hopes these resubmitted kits can spawn new leads in cold cases, enhance our DNA database of suspect profiles, and ultimately bring closure to victims and families."
San Jose-based Attorney Lori Costanzo has handled employment sexual harassment and sexual assault cases from more than 25 years.
"I personally have had cases, clients who've suffered from sexual assault and crimes, and in particular, we couldn't even move forward because we couldn't get the DNA kit processed," said Costanzo, Founding Partner of Costanzo Law Firm.
In June of last year, San Jose Police announced the arrest of 46 people in a sexual assault warrant sweep. Costanzo says DNA testing can give victims hope after a traumatic experience.
"They also have hope that this person will not commit it again because their DNA is now in a national database," said Costanzo.
Baker says getting a DNA profile is just the first step in solving cases. He says San Jose Police will use the information as they investigate and, hopefully, they can make an arrest.
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