LANSING, MI (WTVB) – Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette Friday sent a letter to local prosecutors and law enforcement around the state asking for data on the number of untested sexual assault kits in their jurisdiction, the first step toward testing backlogged kits using $1.7 million recently appropriated by the legislature. The Branch County Prosecutor’s Office said today it wasn’t aware of any such backlogged kits in the county.
Schuette said the men, women and children who have been victims of this horrible crime have had justice delayed, but they will not be forgotten. According to Schuette, these sexual assault kits are not just boxes of evidence, they are Michigan’s sisters, mothers, and friends and these victims deserve closure.
Michigan victims of sexual violence are encouraged to call the national sexual assault hotline toll-free, 1-800-656-HOPE. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The local help line in Branch County is 517-278 SAFE.
