MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on results from the state Department of Justice’s efforts to analyze thousands of untested rape kits (all times local):
5:o5 p.m.
Prosecutors have charged a sixth person using evidence gathered through the state Department of Justice’s efforts to analyze thousands of untested rape kits.
Prosecutors in Milwaukee charged 44-year-old Cedric Ball with second-degree sexual assault on Friday. According to a criminal complaint, Ball sexually assaulted a woman in 2014. He allegedly paid the woman $10 for sex but she said he held her down and refused her pleas to stop.
The woman underwent a sexual assault examination later that same day. Her evidence kit was placed in the Milwaukee Police Department’s inventory.
DOJ spokeswoman Gillian Drummond said the kit was tested as part of the DOJ project. The complaint said DNA from swabs in the kit matched Ball’s profile in the FBI’s national DNA database in September 2018.
Online court records didn’t list an attorney for Ball.
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2:35 p.m.
The state Department of Justice’s work to test thousands of rape kits has resulted in charges against less than a half-dozen people so far.
Former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel began a project in 2016 to test thousands of unanalyzed sexual assault kits. He drew intense criticism from Democratic challenger Josh Kaul during last year’s campaign for taking too long to complete the testing.
Schimel announced in September that testing was complete on about 4,100 kits. Kaul still defeated him in the November election.
Kaul announced Friday that DOJ is currently reviewing 600 cases. That review has led to charges against five people.
Kaul says the DOJ plans to review another 1,000 cases in which kit tests revealed DNA profiles.
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