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More progress made in ending backlog of untested Sexual Assault kits in North Carolina

A few years ago, the state had a backlog of over 16,000 kits. Now, the state has tested more than 10,000 of those.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Attorney General Josh Stein announced that there had been more progress in the state's Sexual Assault Kit tracking system.

Last year, AG Stein said there were a record number of hits to the Sexual Assault Kit tracking database, and a new website was created for victims. 

The new website gives you an up-to-date look at the progress in ending the over 16,000 backlogs of untested kits in local law enforcement offices around the state. 

16,235 was the total number of kits. 

More than half of that, over 10,000 to be exact, have been submitted, accounting for 954 CODIS hits and at least 66 arrests. 

CODIS is the acronym for the Combined DNA Index System which basically helps obtained swabs of DNA go through a system to see if it matches someone already in the system.

Attorney General Stein said this will help sexual assault victims get the justice they deserve. 

"We owe it to those people to do everything in our power to test the evidence, upload it to the national database, see if there's a hit against another perpetrator, and then make an arrest and prosecute that person," Stein said. 

When you go a little deeper into the site, you are able to see the municipal, county, and statewide data. 

Stein explained, "All of this information is really important so that the public, particularly victims, can have confidence that we are doing everything in our power to deliver justice for them."

Attorney Stein said with the continued efforts over the past couple of years, there is a new record of hits in the CODIS DNA database: 1,211 hits. 

"That is a nearly 18 percent increase from the previous fiscal year which means, law enforcement has more ability to move forward on cases," Stein said. 

"We are making progress in the process. We are making arrests and they're solving cases, and dangerous people, rapists, are being put behind bars. Victims are getting justice and the public is safer as a result," Stein explained.

If a person experiences a sexual assault and produces evidence in a kit, they are given a tracking number so they are able to follow the course of the process and what status it's in. 

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