There are “no excuses” for the sexual assault kits in St. Joseph County dating back to 1990 that went untested, Prosecutor Ken Cotter said at a news conference Wednesday.
“I’m sorry. Pure and simple,” he said. “We didn’t do what we should have done.”
Last December, the Indiana State Police released the results of an audit for every county’s untested sexual assault examination kits. Following the news that St. Joseph County had 478 untested kits, the highest in the state, Cotter launched an investigation to find out why.
The prosecutor’s inquiry found there were actually 414 untested kits. Some of them included in the state police’s data have since been tested, Cotter said. and of the 414 kits, 331 were not tested for valid reasons, Cotter said.
Those reasons include victims requesting not to proceed, defendants being convicted in the case, victims advising the original allegations were inaccurate, victims refusing to cooperate or Jane Doe cases. In a Jane Doe case, a victim has a year to proceed with a case after having a sexual assault kit done anonymously. By state law, Jane Doe kits are not tested until the victim makes a decision.
Cotter said he was satisfied the reasons the 331 kits were not sent to be tested were legitimate.
But that still left 83 untested sexual assault kits that should have been sent to a laboratory. That error caused one detective to be removed from the Special Victims Unit.