DOJ sex assault kit tests yield more charges

By: Associated Press//June 14, 2018//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Justice’s push to analyze untested sexual assault evidence kits has yielded its third set of criminal charges.

The agency Thursday charged Jason Smith with sexual assault of a child while armed. According to a criminal complaint, Smith encountered a 13-year-old girl on the street in Beloit in 2000, displayed a revolver and sexually assaulted her.

The state crime lab notified police in March that a test of the girl’s sexual assault kit produced a DNA profile matching Smith, who is currently incarcerated after he was convicted in 2005 in a separate sexual assault.

DOJ spokeswoman Rebecca Ballweg declined comment on why the girl’s kit went untested for years. A DOJ website indicates most of Rock County’s untested kits went unanalyzed because prosecutors felt they didn’t offer any evidence or police chose not to investigate.

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