SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A state lawmaker wants to ban district attorneys from using DNA collected from rape kits to arrest and prosecute that same victim for unrelated crimes.
The San Francisco District Attorney's office said there are probably thousands of instances of unknown DNA being crossed against victims' DNA. While evidence of this happening on a large scale is unknown, victim advocates say it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The San Francisco Chronicle first reported that San Francisco police used a woman’s rape kit from 2016 to arrest her for a property crime years later.
“My original thought was that it was going to make it difficult for survivors to come forward," Ilse Knecht said. "It gives them another reason to fear the system and fear reporting the crime to law enforcement.”
Knecht is the director of policy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization started by Law and Order actress Mariska Hargitay to help survivors heal and reclaim joy in their lives.
“It could be an isolated incident," she said. "Regardless, the practice should be stopped, and we hope that other jurisdictions take note that it is not a practice that should be used."
State Senator Scott Wiener said, on the national level, it is already illegal to include rape kit DNA in the national DNA index.
“It was shocking to learn that there is no corresponding California law to prohibit local law enforcement databases from retaining the DNA from victims,” Wiener said.
How common is the practice? San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said he can point to the practice happening in San Francisco and as far away as Massachusetts.
“As far as whether there are specific other instances in the state of California, I have personally reached out to other elected district attorneys, asked them, urged them to look into the practice,” he said.
The San Diego District Attorney's Office said they do not use DNA from a sexual assault victim to charge them with any crime. The office said it “is used only for its intended purpose, which is to obtain justice on behalf of sexual assault victims.”
The Sacramento County District Attorney's office said they only enter the DNA of suspects into their database, never victims.
Since the San Francisco report first came out, Knecht said she’s had women across the country call her to express their fear. She said two-thirds of victims do not report their abusers. This bill, she said, will at least ease people’s minds.
WATCH ALSO:
