Lengthy Prison Sentence For Man In Case Tied To Abandoned Rape Kits

PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A 56-year-old man has been sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for a 2008 rape that wasn't fully investigated until long-lost evidence was retrieved from Detroit police storage.

As a habitual fourth offender, Alan Broadnax was sentenced Monday to up to 75 years in prison by Judge Daniel P. O'Brien in Oakland County's 6th Circuit Court.

Broadnax's case was prosecuted by the Michigan Attorney General's Office, and the Detroit man was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Oakland County. The victim was assaulted in Southfield, but she reported it to Hamtramck police and an evidence kit ended up in the hands of Detroit police.

Broadnax will be eligible for parole after 25 years.

"Today's sentence ensures that the victim of this crime receives long overdue justice. This man thought he had gotten away with this crime, but this conviction shows once again that we hold people accountable for their crimes," said AP Bill Schuette, in a news release. "This is just the beginning of our work to prosecute the now-tested Wayne County Sexual Assault Kits. We are working to provide justice for the victims of sexual assault who have felt forgotten for so many years."

Thousands of kits were discovered in 2009.

The Wayne County prosecutor has had dozens of convictions related to the backlog.

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