Exclusive: Rape in America: Justice Denied

A Five-Month CBS News Investigation Finds That a Staggering Number of Rape Kits Aren't Tested

(CBS)  This story was written by CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian and Investigative Producer Laura Strickler.

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CBS NewsNearly 90,000 women reported they were raped in the United States last year. It's estimated another 75,000 rapes went unreported. But while rape convictions are up - a five month CBS News investigation raises questions about just how many rapists are actually being brought to justice.

Valerie Neumann says she didn't expect her 21st birthday to end in rape.

"He stuck his hands down the sweatpants and was touching me up, like my shirt as well, so I kept telling him, 'no,'" she told CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian.

It started at a bowling alley in Erlanger, Kentucky. A man she just met, a friend of a friend, bought her drink after drink. Later that night, she threw up, and passed out. Then, Valerie says, it happened.

"When I woke up the next morning, my panties and the sweatpants were down around my ankles and my bra was undone," she said.

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Valerie said she realized she was raped. Reporting it the next day - a classic charge of acquaintance rape. Nearly three years later still no arrest in the case.

"I feel like, I almost fee like they're calling me a liar. That they don't believe me," Valerie said.

Rape in this country is surprisingly easy to get away with. The arrest rate last year was just 25 percent - a fraction of the rate for murder - 79 percent, and aggravated assault - 51 percent.

"When we have talked to victims, they very much so doubt that it was worth it for them to go to the police," said Sarah Tofte, US Program Researcher for Human Rights Watch. "They're incredibly disillusioned with the criminal justice system, and that sends a terrible message."

Facts About Rape
Fact Sheet from RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network)
Date Rape Myths and Facts
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

The suspect's attorney told police his client never had sex with Valerie. Yet an exam revealed "evidence of forced sexual penetration." Semen found on her underwear. Nurses took a rape kit- a collection of swabs and clothing that provide DNA evidence. The suspect provided a sample. But the DNA was never tested.

"Testing the kit is one way to affirm a victim's story," Tofte said, "and discredit the suspect's story."

A five month CBS News Investigation has found a staggering number of rape kits -- that could contain incriminating DNA evidence -- have never been sent to crime labs for testing.

At least 20,000 untested kits: 5,600 in Detroit. 3,800 in Houston. 5,100 in San Antonio, 1,100 in Albuquerque.

Rape Kit Data, by the Numbers

Many untested for years. And that's not all. At least twelve major American cities: Anchorage, Baltimore, Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego said they have no idea how many of rape kits in storage are untested.

Police departments told us rape kits don't get tested due to cost - up to $1,500 a kit -- a decision not to prosecute, and victims who recant or are unwilling to move forward with a case.

Psychologist David Lisak from the University of Massachusetts has spent twenty years studying the minds of rapists.

"Somehow all we can do is take the statement from the victim. Take the statement from the alleged perpetrator and then throw up our hands because they are saying conflicting things," he said. "That's not how we investigate other crimes."

Valerie was told her rape kit wasn't tested because they didn't have the money. But when we caught up with Kenton County prosecutor, Rob Sanders, he told us something else.

Keteyian asked, "Why wasn't the rape kit tested in the Valerie Neumann case?"

"The results of the DNA test would not have made the case one way or another," Sanders said.

Sanders said his office made a "judgment call" the case was unwinnable in court -- claiming there were issues with Valerie's memory and the alcohol involved. A practice, says Lisak that often plays right into the hands of rapists.

More about Non-Stranger Rapes from Psychologist David Lisak

"Predators look for vulnerable people and they prey on vulnerable people," Lisak said. And if, as a criminal justice system, we're going to essentially turn from any victim who was drinking or any victim who was in some way vulnerable - we're essentially giving a free pass to sexual predators."

Worried they were doing just that, CBS News has learned the Oakland California Police Department is now plowing through 489 untested rape kits from stranger rapes dating back six years, looking for evidence in what they believe to be "solvable cases."

The Los Angeles Police Department is testing a backlog of nearly 3,000 rape kits. LAPD's new Chief Charles Beck says efforts to reduce the backlog have "resulted in 405 hits" in the FBI DNA database.

In New York City, prosecutors are even more aggressive - testing every rape kit, even in cases of acquaintance rape - over 1,300 last year alone.

"You never know what you're going to find," said Mecki Prinz of the NY Medical Examiners Office.

The results are stunning. Today New York City's arrest rate for rape is 70 percent - triple the national average.

Prinz says testing kits in acquaintance cases can tie suspects to other attacks, "We have lots of situations where a domestic situation or an acquaintance situation is actually an indication of the male involved responsible for other rapes," she said.

"I feel like they didn't do their job to protect me and to protect everyone else," Valerie said. "I don't think it's something I'll ever forget. I don't think it's something you can forget."

[honestly_disagreeable]

"He stuck his hands down the sweatpants and was touching me up, like my shirt as well, so I kept telling him, 'no,'"

And yet you continued to be around him and kept drinking...

What he did was wrong and he should be in jail, but *you* made yourself a victim there. *You* got yourself raped.

I have *no* sympathy for rapists, but I also have *no* sympathy for stupidity.

Hopefully you've at least learned that when a guy continues to ignore your rejections, he'll probably rape you given half a chance (say, for example, being alone with him and drinking until you pass out).

Sometimes you really can't prevent bad things from happening to you. This was *not* one of those times.

[Mattie567]

It is not smart for men or women to get extremely intoxicated as we all engage in behaviour we may not normally. However, most people do this and many have had that random hookup with a man or woman you met that you vehemently regret or sometimes don't remember any part of, just that you were at the bar together. In college I can remember a couple times I blacked out and had people tell me about what I did but I can't remember several hours. Having sex with a passed out person is rape or if someone says no but is so drunk they can't do anything that is also rape. But if someone has sex with some one while they are drunk and don't remeber because they blacked out but at the time was wanting it, or maybe they were the one persuing it but regret or don't remember the next day so they assume they were raped, that is equally bad. We can't tip the scale too far one way or the other because convicting an inncent person is as bad or worse then letting a guilty one go.

[Mattie567]

It is not smart for men or women to get extremely intoxicated as we all engage in behaviour we may not normally. However, most people do this and many have had that random hookup with a man or woman you met that you vehemently regret or sometimes don't remember any part of, just that you were at the bar together. In college I can remember a couple times I blacked out and had people tell me about what I did but I can't remember several hours. Having sex with a passed out person is rape or if someone says no but is so drunk they can't do anything that is also rape. But if someone has sex with some one while they are drunk and don't remeber because they blacked out but at the time was wanting it, or maybe they were the one persuing it but regret or don't remember the next day so they assume they were raped, that is equally bad. We can't tip the scale too far one way or the other because convicting an inncent person is as bad or worse then letting a guilty one go.

[justamoment1]

Rape is a crime and should be prosecuted regardless of the cost of processing an evidence kit. Rapes that go unpunished only lead to more rapes committed by the perpetrator. The young woman in this case was obviously very foolish and put herself in harms way by allowing herself to become intoxicated beyond consciousness. That doesn't mean that the rape was her fault, it just means she made herself a potential victim. As women we have to be responsible for ourselves and our safety; Just as this young woman acted carelessly, such is the case with so many others, and it would be interesting to know just what percentage of rapes that have occurred could have possibly been avoided. Two lessons are to be learned from this article ... first and foremost, don't set yourself up to be a victim, and any county or city that refuses to test evidence due to cost should be seriously evaluated and budgets should be re-evaluated and priorities set. Public safety is a priority and so is justice ... in any community.

[Larry33333333333]

Woman CAN and DO change their mind. Sometimes a woman says "yes" but later decides she meant "no." Sometimes a woman says "no" but later says "yes." Men are not mind-readers. You cannot always tell when someone is impaired. A man should NOT be held criminally responsible if the woman did not communicate clearly.

[Jetfire911]

Why is it only irresponsible risky behavior for women? Consent can NEVER be given when intoxicated, it's that simple. Guys should not engage in risky behavior of taking advantage of impaired women. It is our responsibility to protect ourselves and not abuse women. Getting some is not more important than being respectful human beings. Woman never "revoke" consent after the fact, it was just NEVER given in the first place, no matter what they may have said. Wait until they are sober, be a decent human being.

[Whys333]

Some women like to party with alcohol then do things they later regret. Choosing to drink should not give a woman the power to rescind consent _after the fact_. Again, women need to take some responsibility for their choices. Stay sober, double date, don't have sex outside of a committed relationship or put yourself in questionable circumstances. Then the courts won't have to play guessing games and the cops won't feel like their wasting their time processing rape kits that will never go to trial.

[Larry33333333333]

This article demonstrates the incredible need to DECRIMINALIZE adult PROSTITUTION. There is a direct correlation between the average cost of a prostitutes services and rape. In other words, when prostitutes are more expensive the number of women raped increases. The criminalization of prostitution, as we now have in every state except Nevada, obviously does nothing to eliminate prostitution but it does drive up the costs of a prostitutes services. Thus, women who work in the sex-trade are harmed by being made criminals and receiving abuse at the hands of the state. And women in general are harmed because there is significantly more instances of the crime of rape than there would be is prostitution were decriminalized. Let's finally get our heads out of our ***** and do what is best for the public's health and what is best for all women (and men) - DECRIMINALIZE PROSTITUTION.

[KRMershon]

OK, so If he didn't rape her, why say he didn't sleep with her?

[erasmus111]

by bambiduff November 10, 2009 4:38 PM EST
Review the comment he said he rapes every time he goes to a bar.


by Skirt-Lifter November 10, 2009 1:55 PM EST
By your definition I have raped many, many women over the years, and they liked it ... well ... most of 'em anyway ... can't please 'em all.


I think, Bambi, that YOU should review the comment. If that is what you got from this statement, you need to go back to school.

[erasmus111]

by bambiduff November 10, 2009 3:27 PM EST
And for the rum dums that are saying that they have raped like skirt lifter, your an idoit, what kind of name is that...


I don't think I recall skirt lifter saying he raped anyone.

You don't like the name skirt lifter? I think it's kinda cute. Chill out.

[bambiduff]

I just can't beleive that all of these comments are still making rapist out to be hero's and the victiams out to be liars what has our socitey become where this is our view points. I am in awe by this.

[culturechang]

This whole article (and the comments too) are really not about protecting or enpowering women. It is about hatred of men.

[culturechang]

Sex crimes are at the pinnacle of sensationalized crimes nowadays. Rape allegations are all investigated to the best of police ability. Prison sentences, in most states, exceed that for murder.

I hear of old rapes cases still being solved all the time with DNA. Some cases decades old.

We have rape shield laws that essentially preclude the truth from being admitted into court.

This is just irresonsbile shock appeal journalism to stir up outrage over a problem that is being handled as best it can be handled.

[whitneyfaye05]

i have a family member who was raped back in august by a minor... she went straight to the hopital and did a rape kit that proved it and guess what... No charges have been filed against him yet she call the police and detctive every day... the sad thing is the kid that did this to her was like her step-son ( her boyfriends son) in her own home!! if anybody know anything more she can do to put the sicko away before it happens to somebody else please help me!! the woman im talking about is my mom and she suffers everyday i dont know what to do

[culturechang]

I thought they changed the official name of rape to "sexual assault", but its not about sex according to the experts.

Despite the head-in-the-sand terminology, I dont buy these statistics at all. Far too high to be believable.

Take the human trafficing stats. In 2000, they told Congress that 50,000 poeple were trafficked into the US annually. In 2008, the State Dept came out and said they had found only 1100 victims in 8 years....most of them were prostitutes NOT forced into the business. Those numbers were less than 1% accurate by the 400,000 they shoudl have found in 8 years.

This is just another sensationalistic article for shock appeal. We cannot get good policy or solutions to problems by propogating lies.

[abstandifer]

What can be done when a kit is not processed? What are the next steps to vindicate a victim?

[lanie3]

In My State of Kansas and many other states, the term " rape " is used very loosly when it comes to law enforcement. I unfortunately have seen many, many, many male officers treat victims as " they had it coming " or " she wanted it then and now she's changed her mind". I was a female cop for 9 years and in that nine years tried getting my chief, detectives and other officers to take rape as a serious crime. I was told by my chief that " it doesn't happen as often as the statistics say, especially in our town ". after years of fighting with them, it became clear that until the law enforcement community is no longer dominated by men, the rape crisis in this country will not change. Women, if you want to fight it, get on the right side of it and start helping victims instead of being one. become a police officer and start making a difference in womens lives.

Men...You need to keep in mind that a woman with any alcohol in her system cannot give informed consent and is considered to be rendered incapable of giving consent. In the state of Kansas, it's rape if she was drunk. Better hope no one else saw her drinking because that witness alone, along with a rape kit should send you to prison. Unfortunately you can't find anyone brave enough to prosecute it. I told all three of my sons as they grew up, NEVER EVER have sex with a woman when she is intoxicated or drinking at all. It is against the law! maybe more states need to be enacting this. It would clear up alot of argument on the supects side ike " she just doesn't remember " Our law reads like this:

C) when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of mental deficiency or disease, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of the effect of any alcoholic liquor, narcotic, drug or other substance, which condition was known by the offender or was reasonably apparent to the offender;


"when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of mental deficiency or disease, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of the effect of any alcoholic liquor, narcotic, drug or other substance, which condition was known by the offender or was reasonably apparent to the offender"

In other words, if she's drinking, she can't give informed consent. So if a guys keeps in mind that ANY SEX with a female who has been drinking can cause you to be charged with rape.

[runsfstpony]

I would like to add a couple of stories here. I was raped in 1987 by a boy in school. I had not gone to this school for very long. I reported the rape and found out later that the DA's office refused to press charges because I had known this boy. I only knew him for a few weeks and only by passing him in the halls. I recently learned that he did end up in prison after numerous rapes had happened and that one of the females that he raped was beat to almost death. I was shocked to hear that his total victims was in the 40 numbers. Soon after the rape happened to me and was told that there would be nothing done, I left the state entirely.
My daughter was violated when she was about 5 years old. The District Attorney (DA) did press charges. The perpertrator was sentenced to prison. This act has been with my daughter most all her life. Recently she was raped by a person she used to date. She reported this. She went through all the investigation, the rape kit,and is still in counseling. The DA decided that since the two were once high school sweethearts that they could not get a jury to hear the case and therefore would not press charges. Now the boy wants to press charges against my daughter for falsely reporting to the police and would like to see her go to prison.
I lost my faith in the judicial system many years ago. I asked questions to many on why 90% of all women who have been raped cannot tell their story nor will they be likely to report it. I was not really shocked at many of the answers that I got. Number 1 reason: I knew the person that raped me and know that the person will go free because the officials that handle the case will not prosicute.
Now I would like to know how many more will be raped and when America will wake up and take justice against the perpertrators. I know that if a child is raped or violated that the case is dealt with but what about teens and adults?

[ajapierce]

Personally speaking, no one should be raped at all. And with that said, these articles should not be just focusing on Woman being raped, they should focus on Men and yes Pets & Animals that are raped. That's right you heard me even animals.

The only thing that i have to say in defense of men that are charged with being raped is that they should always take the route of walk away and don't do anything. No matter how skimpy the clothes are on a girl, if she's no handing you the keys to her home, hotel room and saying to you straight up "Let's have sex" without any drinking involved then leave it alone.

Girls, you need to stop the ******** of i'm a strong women, and then hang out with guys who could easily over power you, drunk or not. Unless you can lift 300 pounds of weight then i would even out the numbers at social events with more of you girlfriends there, especially the ones you trust the most.

I will say this though, this society teaches mostly woman that sex sells, and to be honest, i hate watching TV, looking at ad's anymore, about 75% of them all contain hot looking woman selling something. It's disgusting and sets up a bad attitude for guys and girls to go along with.