RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says the state has eliminated a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits.
During a news conference Wednesday, Herring said the project to test rape kits that in some cases were decades old began in 2015. Since then, 2,665 rape kits have been tested, 851 new DNA profiles have been uploaded into a national DNA database and 354 “hits” have been sent to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.
Rape kits are used to collect DNA and other physical evidence from rape victims.
In November, Herring announced that a Spotsylvania man has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor after being identified through the initiative to test untested rape kits.
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