Sex crime victims get new tool in arsenal

Tahlequah Daily Press - 9/18/2020

Sep. 18--Victims of sex crimes now have the ability to electronically track the location and status of their sexual assault kits through a new system.

Matt Stillwell, sexual assault kit tracking administrator, said a new law -- Oklahoma Statute Title 74; Section 150.28A -- allows victims to access a tracking system.

"The Criminalistics Services Division of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation shall develop and implement a statewide electronic tracking system for evidence collections kits used to collect and preserve evidence of a sexual assault or other sex offense," the statute says. "All sexual assault collection kits, purchased and/or distributed by the OSBI to collection sites on or after Oct. 1, 2019, shall be traceable and shall comply with the requirements of the electronic tracking system."

Stillwell said the system was designed to track kits that have been collected within the state, but had not been analyzed by a forensic laboratory as of June 1, 2017.

"The goal of the system is to further empower survivors with information, assist law enforcement with investigations and crime prevention, and create transparency to foster public trust," Stillwell said.

Help In Crisis Sexual Assault Coordinator Chandra Hudson said she can see the effects the new law is having on survivors.

"We're seeing a difference with the survivors," Hudson said. "This tracking kit system gives them a power back from a crime that makes them feel powerless. They actually get to track their kit and they know exactly where it is in the process, instead of them calling the District Attorney's Office and only finding out it's still being processed."

Kits are sent to Hudson, and she supplies those to nurses. The nurses enter the information into the OSBI Sexual Assault Kit Tracking System.

During an examination, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) will provide the victim with a confidential number.

"Using that number, they can access the tracking system and see their kit, whether it's at the hospital or on its way to the police department," Stillwell said. "Or maybe it's at the police department and it's going to be sent to the lab, or it's at the lab and it's being tested."

Sgt. Ryan Robison, sexual assault and child abuse investigator for the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, said the system will ensure an exam kit will not go missing or become misplaced within the evidence chain.

"Before, if we received a SANE kit that someone didn't want to make a report on, we'd just have to store it in evidence," Robison said. "Over time, it could have been misplaced, and we had to go down to our storage and go through all of our bins and find these kits."

Robison said there are 28 untested kits locally that are dated before the new law took effect.

Hudson said the kits and reporting can be anonymous, and she hopes this will encourage more victims to report sex crimes, even if they happened years ago.

"It's very much needed, and I'm hoping more people will come forward. My hope is that once they learn we remain confidential, they are more active in their case, and when they realize that, they will come forward," Hudson said. "Between law enforcement and the sexual assault program at Help In Crisis, we can offer just about every service the victim might need or a survivor might need."

Get help

Hudson is available at any time to answer calls and questions at 918-718-5330, or call the HIC hotline at 1-800-300-5321.

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