And while rape convictions are up, a five month CBS News investigation raises questions about just how many rapists are actually being brought to justice.
Valerie Neumann says she never expected her 21st birthday to end in rape.
“He stuck his hands down the sweatpants and was touching me up, like my shirt as well and I kept telling him ‘no’,” explains Valerie.
It started at a bowling alley in Erlanger, Kentucky. A man she just met - a friend of a friend - bought her drink after drink. Later that night, she threw up, then passed out. Then, Valerie says, it happened.
“When I woke up the next morning my panties and the sweatpants were down around my ankles and my bra was undone,” continues Valerie.
Valerie said she realised she had been raped and reported it the next day – it was a classic charge of acquaintance rape. Nearly three years later there has still been no arrest in the case.
“I almost feel like they’re calling me liar,” says Valerie. “That they don’t believe me.”
The fact is that rape in the US is surprisingly easy to get away with. There was an arrest rate last year of just 25 percent - fraction of the rate for murder and aggravated assault.
“When we have talked to victims they very much doubt that it was worth it for them to go to the police,” explains Sarah Tofte, a US Program Researcher for Human Rights Watch. “They’re incredibly disillusioned with the criminal justice system.”
The suspect's attorney told police his client never had sex with Valerie. Yet an exam revealed "evidence of forced sexual penetration".
Semen was found on her underwear. Nurses took a rape kit - a collection of swabs and clothing that provide DNA evidence. The suspect provided a sample. But the DNA was never tested.
“Testing the kit is one way to affirm a victim’s story and discredit the suspect’s story,” says Sarah Tofte.
Now a five month CBS News investigation has found a staggering number of rape kits - that could contain incriminating DNA evidence - have never been sent to crime labs for testing. At least 20,000 untested kits we found:
- 5,600 in Detroit
- 3,800 in Houston
- 5,100 in San Antonio
- 1,100 in Albuquerque
Many have sat untested for years.
And at least 12 major American cities (Anchorage, Baltimore, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego) - from San Diego to Jacksonville - said they have no idea how many of rape kits in storage are untested.
Police departments told us rape kits do not get tested due to cost - up to US$1,500 a kit - a decision not to prosecute, and victims who recant or are unwilling to move forward with a case.
Psychologist David Lisak from the University of Massachusetts has spent 20 years studying the minds of rapists.
“Somehow all we can do is take the statement from the victim, take the statement from the alleged perpetrator and then throw up our hands because they are saying conflicting things and we don’t know how to resolve this,” says David Lisak. “That’s not how we investigate other crimes.”
Valerie was told her rape kit was not tested because it was too expensive. But when CBS News caught up with county prosecutor, Rob Sanders, he told them something else.
Sanders said his office made a "judgment call" the case was unwinnable in court - claiming there were issues with Valerie's memory and the alcohol involved. A practice, says Lisak, which often plays right into the hands of rapists.
“Predators look for vulnerable people and they prey on vulnerable people,” says David Lisak. “If, as a criminal justice system, we’re going to essentially turn away from any victim who was drinking or any victim who was in some way vulnerable, we’re essentially giving a free pass to sexual predators.”
But in cities like New York prosecutors decided there would be no more free passes for alleged rapists - even in cases of acquaintance rape - testing every kit.
The results are stunning: today New York City's arrest rate for rape is 70 percent - triple the national average.
“They didn’t do their job to protect me and to protect everyone else,” says Valerie. “I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever forget. I don’t it’s something you can forget.”
3 News / CBS
source: newshub archive
