Cash from NY, feds tests 100K rape kits, leads to 1K arrests

NEW YORK (AP) — Languishing evidence in over 100,000 sexual assault cases around the country has been sent for DNA testing with money from a New York prosecutor and federal authorities, and the effort has spurred over 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions so far.

That’s according to a report released Tuesday by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and data provided by the federal Department of Justice.

Still, it’s estimated another 155,000 or more sex assault evidence kits nationwide await testing. And thousands of results have yet to be linked to a suspect.

Vance and the Department of Justice have worked in tandem since 2015 on what’s called the rape kit backlog.

They’ve provided tens of millions of dollars to send years-old kits to labs from dozens of places, ranging from Flint, Michigan, to Las Vegas.