The task force has opened cases connected to 7,001 rape kits.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cuyahoga County’s Sexual Assault Task Force is close to an indictment in an 800th victim’s case.
“We will continue to diligently work through the backlog to bring justice for every sexual assault victim,” Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said.
The task force has opened cases connected to 7,001 rape kits.
When the task force was initially formed, it raced to get decades old cases indicted before the statute of limitations for prosecution expired, Rick Bell, chief of special investigations said.
It then turned its attention to identifying and investigating possible serial rape cases and cases that happened in recent years, especially if the suspect was in the community and not in prison.
Bell said it still could take two to three more years to finish the current investigations, including some cases connected to older rape kits more recently submitted by suburban police departments.
By the time the work is complete, Bell said cases involving up to 1,000 victims could be indicted.
The prosecutor’s office has gotten $7 million in federal justice department grants to investigate and prosecute the cases, support victims through the process, and to partner with Case Western Reserve University’s Begun Center for Violence Prevention, Research and Education to gather statistics and study the cases for trends that could lead to a better understanding of offending patterns and more successful future investigations in rape cases.
It then turned its attention to identifying and investigating possible serial rape cases and cases that happened in recent years, especially if the suspect was in the community and not in prison.
Bell said it still could take two to three more years to finish the current investigations, including some cases connected to older rape kits more recently submitted by suburban police departments.
By the time the work is complete, Bell said cases involving up to 1,000 victims could be indicted.
The prosecutor’s office has gotten $7 million in federal justice department grants to investigate and prosecute the cases, support victims through the process, and to partner with Case Western Reserve University’s Begun Center for Violence Prevention, Research and Education to gather statistics and study the cases for trends that could lead to a better understanding of offending patterns and more successful future investigations in rape cases.
As of the end of February:
- 4,179 investigations have been completed by the task force.
- 2,022 investigations remained open.
- 719 defendants have been indicted.
- 404 defendants have been convicted (some cases are still open or being appealed)
- 524 times lab results were received too late for an indictment.
- 472 serial rapists matched more than one rape kit.
- 812 suspects identified were serial sex offenders.
- 111 serial rapists were linked to cases involving both victims they knew and strangers
- 92.7 percent of the cases that made it to court resulted in a conviction.
- 11.1 years has been the average sentence.
