Thirty-two years ago, a young woman walking home from her night shift at a Greeley Denny’s restaurant was pulled into an alley and raped.
The local police department investigated but never generated suspects. Because of that, the case remained cold and evidence preserved in a rape test kit sat in an evidence storage room, Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner said Friday.
But a 2013 Colorado state law aimed at eliminating a backlog of rape test kits led police to identify two suspects — one in a Colorado prison and one in Texas. Now, the two men face kidnapping charges in Weld County, even though the statute of limitations has expired on the rape charges.
“Because of the legislation, that kit got submitted and because of the work CBI did, two suspects were developed,” Garner said. “Our detectives were able to track them down. They’ve been brought back to where they can finally face justice for that victim and for the people of Colorado.”
On Friday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced that it had met requirements established under a 2013 state law that mandated Colorado authorities collect and test a backlog of rape kits.
The bureau collected 3,542 untested rape kits from nearly 300 law enforcement agencies across the state, said Jan Girten, deputy director of the CBI.
Of those, 1,556 DNA profiles were identified, and 691 generated investigative leads for police departments and sheriffs to pursue, Girten said.
It took 18 months and $3.5 million to test all of the kits. Four out-of-state laboratories were used, she said.
Rape kit backlogs are prevalent across the United States, and more states are pushing their law enforcement agencies to catch up on testing. The focus on the problem was brought by advocacy groups, investigative journalists and politicians.
Nationally, advocates are pushing for better sexual assault enforcement and better treatment of victims.
Last month, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law that doubled the statute of limitations on rape cases to 20 years after women who said they are among comedian Bill Cosby’s victims appealed for legal changes. On Friday, Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said victims should have even more time to come forward.
The 2013 legislation requiring the testing also came with a boost to the CBI’s crime lab. The bureau received money to hire more scientists and build a new lab, Girten said. So far, the bureau is keeping up with the regular rape-kit testing that now happens, she said.
In Colorado, reported rapes have been on the rise, including in 2015 when rape reports rose 10 percent over the previous year.
Girten said the increase was due to expanded federal reporting standards that included more types of sex crimes. And, more people are coming forward to report sex crimes because of better law enforcement, more victims advocates and a national focus on stopping sexual assaults.
Girten believes the improved testing gives encouragement to victims. The tests at hospitals to gather the evidence are invasive, and when women learned their case could be shelved for years they were reluctant to participate. Now, they can be confident their cases will be tested and leads will be pursued, she said.
A second Weld County case already has resulted in a conviction.
In 1998, a group of young men met up with a 14-year-old girl and gave her alcohol until she was so drunk she did not know what was happening. A 19-year-old in the group sexually assaulted the girl multiple times throughout the day, Rourke said.
The girl’s parents took her to a hospital where a evidence was collected and stored in a rape test kit. But the family decided they did not want to pursue charges, Rourke said. The rape kit was stashed in an evidence locker and forgotten.
Fast forward, 18 years and the kit’s results identified the suspect. And the girl, who is now an adult, wanted to press charges. Her attacker was convicted and is serving an eight-year prison sentence, Rourke said.
“Now we have an individual being held accountable for a crime he committed in 1998 because of this legislation,” he said.
