The Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School at Case Western Reserve University is partnering with the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force on an action research project to examine untested sexual assault kits (SAKs) in Cuyahoga County. The Task Force is currently following up via investigation and prosecution on the DNA testing of nearly 5,000 previously untested kits from 1993 through 2009. View an overview of the project.
Research Team: Daniel J. Flannery (Principal Investigator), Laura T. Overman
Learn more about:
- Bureau of Justice Assistance Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Funded Research
- Cuyahoga County SAK Pilot
- Owed DNA Research Project
Publications and Media
Publications
Lovell R.E., Singer M.E., Flannery D.J., McGuire M.J. (2021)“The Case for ‘Investigate All’: Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Investigating No CODIS Hit Cases in a Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.”Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Luminais, Misty, Cyleste Collins, and Rachel E. Lovell. (2021).Speaking the Previously Unspeakable: How the Codification of Spousal Rape into Law Affects How Intimate Partner Sexual Assaults are Reported. In Conceptualizing Sexual Violence in Marriage: Research and Policy by Torres, M. Gabriela and Kersti Yllö. (Eds.)
Lovell, R., Overman, L., Huang, D., and Flannery, D. (2020, Sep 25). The Bureaucratic Burden of Identifying your Rapist and Remaining “Cooperative”: What the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Tells us about Sexual Assault Case Attrition and Outcomes. American Journal of Criminal Justice.
Lovell, R.E., Williamson, A., Dover, T.J., Keel, T.G., and Flannery, D.J. (2020, May). Identifying Serial Sexual Offenders Through Cold Cases. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.
Lovell, R., Huang, W., Overman, L., Flannery, D.J. and Klingenstein, J. (2020). Offending Histories and Typologies of Suspected Sexual Offenders Identified via Untested Sexual Assault Kits. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(4):470-486. DOI: 10.1177/0093854819896385
In the Media
- Newly Launched G.O.L.D. Unit in Cuyahoga County: Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy to Identify Most-Wanted Cold Case Rapists
The ISHI Report; February 2021 - Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell’s brutal murders were flashpoint for city that long mishandled sex crimes
Cleveland.com; Febuary 2021 - Alaska Requires DNA Be Collected From People Arrested for Violent Crimes. Many Police Have Ignored That.
ProPublica; December 2020 - After 3 Years and $1.5 Million Testing Rape Kits, Alaska Made One New Arrest
ProPublica; December 2020 - Dr Rachel Lovell: Rape Kits & Serial Rapists
Talking Research Podcast; October 2020 - How QAnon is hooking Americans with its 'save the children' anti-pedophilia rhetoric
Business Insider; September 2020 - Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault task force brings over 800 predators to justice
Cleveland 19 Action News; September 2020 - Over 800 people indicted in Cuyahoga County in connection with rape kits
News 5 Cleveland - WEWS; September 2020 - Man accused of hiding in Cleveland woman’s closet and raping her in 2007 is 800th to be ID’d by prosecutor’s task force
Cleveland Plain Dealer; September 2020 - Lasting Impact of Cleveland's 'Redlined' Neighborhoods
Spectrum News; June 2020 - The Rape Kit’s Secret History
New York Times; June 2020 - Dave Joyce: Working to end the threat of sexual violence in our communities
Ashtabula Star Beacon; February 2020 - ‘Serves no purpose in the function of the law:’ Prosecutors, researchers come out against rape statute of limitations
Ohio Capital Journal; February 2020
Reprint: Cleveland Patch - Police didn't believe her. How distrust of victims allowed NJ serial killer to strike again
Bergen Record (NJ) (USA Today); February 2020 - Study of untested rape kits shows alleged offenders' subsequent crimes cost county $500m
WEWS News 5 Cleveland; January 2020 - Undetected' rape suspects were prolific, linked to many types of crimes, CWRU study shows
Cleveland Plain Dealer; January 2020 - How the Pinellas Sheriff’s Office boosts its rape stats without solving cases
Tampa Bay Times; January 2020
Publications
Lovell, Rachel, Liuhong Yang, and Joanna Klingenstein. (2019). Testing Sexual Assault Kits Saves Money and Prevents Sexual Assaults. Special Issue: Translating Research to Policy: Improving Justice for Women and Girls, Translational Criminology, Winter.
Lovell, R., Collins, C., McGuire, M., Overman, L., Luminais, M., and Flannery, D. (2019). Understanding Intimate Partner Sexual Assaults: Findings from Sexual Assault Kits. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma. 28(1):2-7. DOI: 10.1080/10926771.2018.1494234.
Lovell, R., Luminais, M., Flannery, D.J., Bell, R., Kyker, B. (2018). Describing the process and quantifying the outcomes of the Cuyahoga County sexual assault kit initiative. Journal of Criminal Justice (57), pp 106-115.
Lovell, R., Flannery, D., & Luminais, M. (2018). Lessons learned: Serial sex offenders identified from backlogged sexual assault kits (SAKs). In Vazsonyi, A., Flannery, D., & DeLisi, M. (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Lovell, R., Singer, Mendel, Flannery, D., and Luminais, M. (2018, March 29). Testing Unsubmitted Rape Kits Saves Money. End the Backlog Blog.
Clark, D. and Lovell, R. (2018) Collaborative Partnerships and the DNA Testing of Unsubmitted SAKs. The Police Chief (Official Publication of the International Association of Chiefs of Police).
In the Media
- DNA Testing and Sexual Assault
WOSU; November 2019 - Youngstown State, IBM to offer high-tech training in the Mahoning Valley
Crain's Cleveland Business; November 2019 - Unbelievable: The forgotten rape data
BBC More or Less; November 2019 - Sexual Assault Kit Task Force to use genealogical searches to track down ‘John Doe’ rapists
Cleveland Plain Dealer; October 2019 - Case Closed, Part 5: I Got a Question
Cleveland Plain Dealer; September 2019 - Akron police’s cold-case sexual assault unit receives additional $1.9 million grant
Cleveland Plain Dealer; September 2019 - The Women Behind Controversial At-Home Rape Kits Speak Out
Medium.com; September 2019 - What Netflix’s Unbelievable Gets Right About Rape Kits
Refinery 29; September 2019 - An epidemic of disbelief
The Atlantic; July 2019 - Jeffrey Epstein's Victims Allegedly Recruited More Girls For Him. That's Not Uncommon - Or Their Fault.
VICE; July 2019 - You Never Knew Kellen Winslow Jr.
Sports Illustrated; June 2019 - Brooklyn credit union tackling lingering effects of redlining
Credit Union Journal; April 2019 - SB 52 Would Improve Sexual Assault Response, Make Communities Safer
Valley Journal (Montana); April 2019 - Backlog of open arrest warrants in Cleveland leave survivors of abuse at risk
News 5 Cleveland; April 2019 - Browns signing of Kareem Hunt shows sports lags in #MeToo movement
Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 2019 - 11 rapes, 4 states, 1 suspect: The ‘extraordinarily improbable’ defense of Calvin Kelly
USA Today; reprinted by Lansing State Journal (MI), Indianapolis Star (IN), Asbury Park Press (NJ), Pensacola News Journal (FL), Fort Myers News-Press (FL), Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN), Cincinnati Enquirer (OH), Rapids Daily Tribune (WI), Journal News (NY), Burlington Free Press (VT); January 2019 - Thousands of rape kits remain untested across the country
WMBF News - South Carolina; December 2018 - Backlogged Rape Test Kits Produce Several Leads
Associated Press via US News; reprinted in Beaumont Enterprise (TX), Myrtle Beach Sun (SC), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Bradenton Herald (FL), Centre Daily Times (PA), Sun Herald (MS), Beaufort Gazette (SC), Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX); November 2018 - ‘Yes means yes’: How Ohio universities teach students about consent
Cleveland Plain Dealer; October 2018 - Artist plans 456 portraits to explore environmental risk of sexual violence in Cleveland
Cleveland Plain Dealer; October 2018 - Outside Cleveland, Ohio rape kit prosecutions in older cases still rare, Plain Dealer survey reveals
Cleveland Plain Dealer; reprinted in Youngstown Vindicator (OH), Cincinnati Enquirer (OH), Canton Repository (OH), The Alliance Review (OH), Newark Advocate (O), Mansfield News Journal (OH), Lancaster Eagle Gazette (OH); October 2018 - Looking backwards can tell us a whole lot about moving forward
Bureau of Justice Assistance; October 2018 - Untraceable: What you need to know about Ohio's DNA collection law
Lancaster Eagle Gazette (OH); reprinted by Newark Advocate (OH), Marion Star (OH), Fremont News-Messenger (OH), Coshocton Tribune (OH), Bucyrus Telegraph Forum (OH), Port Clinton News Herald (OH), Mansfield News Journal (OH), Zanesville Times Recorder (OH); October 2018 - Red-lined' Cleveland neighborhoods are still facing issues decades later, study shows
News 5 Cleveland; July 2018 - How repeat rapists slip by police
Minneapolis Star Tribune; July 2018 - Delays, blunders and police neglect in Wisconsin's response to rape kits
Wisconsin Journal Sentinel; June 2018 - The unacceptable cost of delaying rape kit testing
San Francisco Chronicle; May 2018 - Fallen through the cracks:' Overdue DNA swabs link to murders, sexual assaults
Cleveland Plain Dealer; May 2018 - Cleveland sex crimes, special investigative units more understaffed than patrol
Cleveland Plain Dealer; April 2018 - New research from CWRU reveals information previously known about serial rapists to be wrong
News 5 Cleveland; March 2018 - Completed testing of 13,931 rape kits signals progress, unfinished business and investigations remain
Cleveland Plain Dealer; February 2018 - Serial rapists don't necessarily have an MO
Marion Star; February 2018 - More than 1,200 rape kits sitting idle in Pennsylvania
TRIB Live; February 2018
Publications
Lovell, R., Luminais, M., Flannery, D.J., Overman, L., Huang, D., Walker, T., Clark, D.R. (2017). Offending patterns for serial sex offenders identified via the DNA testing of previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits. Journal of Criminal Justice, 52, 68-78. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.08.002
Lovell, R., & Flannery, D. (2016, November). Testing of backlogged rape evidence leads to hundreds of convictions. The Conversation.
In the Media
- Untested Rape Kits Hid 817 Serial Predators in Detroit, Tens of Thousands More Concealed in Backlog Across U.S.
Newsweek; December 2017 - Serial Predators: The Connection Between Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
End the Backlog; October 2017 - Lawmakers Urge Reforms to Sexual Assault Kit Processing, Access to Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners
Congressman Patrick Meehan, 7th District Pennsylvania; October 2017 - What might we learn from the Ohio Rape Kit Survey project?: Progress Report
Cleveland Plain Dealer; September 2017 - Backlog Of Untested Rape Kits On The Agenda When Lawmakers Return To State Capitol
Capital Public Radio; August 2017 - DNA collected at arrest often not removed from crime databases for those not convicted
Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 2017 - Help find out what's happened with 13,931 Ohio rape kits sent for testing
Cleveland Plain Dealer; July 2017 - Despite backlog of rape kits, California lawmakers aren’t requiring they be tested or tallied
Daily News; July 2017 - DNA from thousands of Cuyahoga County felony arrests never taken, not in CODIS crime-solving database
Cleveland Plain Dealer; June 2017 - Processing rape kits saves heartache and money, Cuyahoga prosecutors tell congressional task force
Cleveland Plain Dealer; June 2017 - Mariska Hargitay testifies combating sexual assault
C-SPAN; June 2017 - Serial rapists responsible for at least 600 attacks linked to untested evidence, authorities believe
Cleveland Plain Dealer; March 2017 - A Plea for Justice: Cuyahoga County accused rapists spend, on average, just 5.3 years behind bars
WEWS; February 2017 - Missed opportunities' provide lessons for better rape investigations and prosecutions
Cleveland Plain Dealer; February 2017 - She was a crack fiend' excuse less accepted as rape investigations and prosecutions improve
Cleveland Plain Dealer; February 2017 - No testing, no pattern. Serial rapist connected to seven assaults in Dallas
End the Backlog; January 2017 - Even after backlogged rape kits tested, convictions are rare
CBS News; December 2016 - Cleve Gilmore leads CWRU's pioneering Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
Cleveland Plain Dealer; December 2016 - Why Testing Rape Kits Would Save Us Millions In Fight To Catch Serial Rapists
Elite Daily; November 2016 - Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, Case Western researchers get $3 million for rape kit work, to collect 'owed' DNA
Cleveland Plain Dealer; September 2016 - Cuyahoga Co. rape task force gets huge boost from Department of Justice
News 5 Cleveland; September 2016 - Here’s Some Good News for Sexual-Assault Victims
Mother Jones; September 2016 - It's Official: Testing Rape Kits Prevents Assault And Saves Everybody Millions
Forbes; September 2016 - The U.S. Is One Step Closer to a Federal Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights
Slate; September 2016 - Congress Just Unanimously Passed the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights
Broadly/Vice; September 2016. - The Disturbing Truth: Rape Kit Study Paints New Picture of Sex Offenders
Sputnik News; August 2016 - Cuyahoga County Leads the Nation in Its Rape Kit Response With 500th Indicted Man
Cleveland Plain Dealer; June 2016 - The cost of testing rape kits: Experts say it's saved us $38.7 million so far
Cleveland Plain Dealer; June 2016 - Clarifying our concept of rape
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette; June 2016 - Researchers Just Revealed a Startling Truth about Sexual Assault
ATTN; June 2016 - Five Myths about Rape
Washington Post; June 2016 - This Group Is Sending a Rape Kit to Every U.S. Governor
New York Magazine/The Cut; August 2016 - Serial Rapists Are More Common Than We Knew And Testing Rape Kits Is Only Part Of The Answer to Reducing Sexual Assault
Bustle; June 2016 - Serial Rapists are Far More Common Than Thought, Analysis of 5,000 'Forgotten and Backlogged' Rape Kits in Ohio Reveals
Daily Mail; June 2016 - Analysis of 5,000 Forgotten Rape Kits Reveals Unexpectedly High Number of Serial Rapists
Independent; June 2016 - Serial Rapists 'Far More Common' Than Thought
Newser; June 2016 - What Netflix’s Unbelievable Gets Right About Rape Kits
Refinery 29; September 2019 - The Disturbing Thing Researchers Found When They Finally Looked at 5,000 Untested Rape Kits
Teen Vogue; June 2016 - It's Very Likely that Brock Turner Will Commit Another Sexual Assault
Women's Health; June 2016 - Rape kit data yield major implications for sexual assault investigations
EurekAlert!; June 2016 - Rape kit data yield major implications for sexual assault investigations
Phys.org; June 2016 - Testing of Backlogged Rape Kits Yields New Insights into Rapists
Science Daily; June 2016 - A Great Reason to Test Old Rape Kits: Preventing Future Rapes
New York Magazine; June 2016 - Serial sex assault and what might be learned from the case of Louis Bello
Cleveland Plain Dealer; March 2016 - 6 new things local researchers have learned about about serial rapists
Cleveland Plain Dealer; March 2016 - What local research about rape kits could mean for stopping serial rapists
Cleveland Plain Dealer; March 2016 - CSI Cleveland: How the City Is Curbing Sexual Assault
The Christian Science Monitor; February 2016 - Why an Ohio Supreme Court case involving rape kits is drawing national attention
Cleveland Plain Dealer; February 2016