Wayne County Offers $1M To Fund Investigators For Rape Kit Backlog

DETROIT (WWJ) A million dollars is coming to help Detroit work through backlogged rape kits -- and it's coming from a surprising source.

The financially strapped Wayne County, in which Detroit is the largest city, is anteing up.

"How can anyone ignore this issue?" Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told WWJ City Beat reporter Vickie Thomas. "I  have to say there have been 15 to 17 other cities, major cities, major jurisdictions, urban areas across this country that have discovered this issue. Some are doing things, many are doing great, great things. Some are not.

"I don't know how anyone can turn their back on the multitudes of women -- mostly women, we have some men and children, as well -- but mostly women who have suffered a severe, most intimate sexual assault. I don't think you're human if you do that."

But how did the financially strapped county find the cash? The money is coming from the delinquent tax revolving fund, pending approval from the County Commission.

Executive Warren Evans said while Wayne County is working its way out of a financial crisis the county still has to prioritize and keep operating.

"If we can't protect people in our community, particularly heinous types of crimes like sexual crimes, then we're not doing a very good job of governing," he said.

The money will go to hire investigators to win convictions.

"These are dangerous people," Worthy said.

About 11,000 untested rape kits were discovered in a storage facility in 2009. With testing, 549 serial rapists were identified, she added.

"Some of these rapists have as many as 15 OTIS hits (for previous crimes)," Worthy said. "Many of them have much more than five. We're talking a very dangerous, dangerous group of people. The research has shown that rapists rape an average of seven to 11 times each. Every time we take even one rapist off the street, we are potentially stopping seven to 11 others."