UPDATE: Rape Kit Backlog Worse than Thought

In late January, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department acknowledged that the problem with their rape kit backlog was worst than it had thought:  An overdue review has already discovered 815 cases in which rape kits remained untested, even  though no suspect had yet been apprehended in the crimes. Of those, 51 kits had remained untested for more than 10 years, thus passing the statute of limitations for prosecuting the crimes, reported the The  Los Angeles Times. Since Sheriff’s investigators have only looked at about two-thirds of the backlog of thousands of cases, it’s highly likely that more cases will be discovered in which no suspect has been identified or the statute of limitations has passed. But the Sheriff’s department has told L.A. County supervisors that it will take years to clear the backlog.