Old Rape Kits Finally Got Tested. 64 Attackers Were Convicted. [View all]
Last edited Sun Apr 19, 2020, 10:01 AM - Edit history (1)
Old Rape Kits Finally Got Tested. 64 Attackers Were Convicted.
The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., committed $38 million in forfeiture money in 2015 to help other jurisdictions test thousands of backlogged rape kits.CreditJeenah Moon/Reuters
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/nyregion/rape-kit-tests.html
By Ali Watkins
March 12, 2019
By February 2017, Maisha Sudbeck had made peace with the idea she would never get justice. It had been five years since she was raped in Tucson by a man she had met online. The police had brushed the case off as a he-said-she-said standoff. For years, her rape evidence kit had sat untested. With two children and a new marriage, she had moved on with her life.
The detective said a grant from the Manhattan district attorney’s office had helped the Tucson authorities clear a backlog of untested rape kits, which preserve the DNA evidence left by an attacker. After five years, Ms. Sudbeck’s kit had finally been tested, the detective said. And the police had found a match in a database of people with criminal records: a man named Nathan Loebe.
“My chapter was reopened,” Ms. Sudbeck said. “Having my kit finally tested was a catalyst for hope.”
In February, Mr. Loebe was convicted of sexually assaulting Ms. Sudbeck and six other women. Ms. Sudbeck testified against him at trial.
Follow Ali Watkins on Twitter: @AliWatkins
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