Nearly 270 Rape Kits Destroyed By Maryland Police Departments In 2 Years, New Report Says

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Nearly 270 rape kits were destroyed by police departments across Maryland over a two-year period, according to a report released by the Maryland Attorney General's Office.

The data by Attorney General Brian Frosh's office was collected as a part of an annual report by the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Police and Funding Committee, created during the 2017 Maryland General Assembly session to create uniform statewide policies regarding the collection, testing and retention of rape and sexual assault cases.

The report found 264 rape kits were destroyed across the state between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019.

State legislators passed in 2017 to help victims get justice and block the destruction of most rape kits.

Some agencies, including the Anne Arundel Police Department, Baltimore Police Department, Carroll County Sheriff's Office and Howard County Police did not destroy any rape kits during that time.

Other agencies did, however. The Harford Sheriff's Office destroyed 87 rape kits, the most of any state police force, followed by Frederick Police with 84, the Frederick County Sheriff Office with 26, Hagerstown Police with 15 and Elkton and Princess Anne police destroying 11 each.

Maryland State Police destroyed six rape kits and Baltimore County Police destroyed five kits.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said his office has gone above and beyond what Maryland requires and that only 17 of those kits were destroyed since the new law passed in October 2017.

He said 13 of those were because the defendant had been convicted and served his full sentence. Those kits can then be destroyed under Maryland law.

Rape kits can also be destroyed if a suspect dies. There was one such case in Harford County in the past two years.

"If the Maryland General Assembly wants us to keep the kits indefinitely, then pass a law that says they should never be disposed of. That is not what the law says," Sheriff Gahler said.

He also called for tougher sentences for sexual assaults.

The sheriff said his investigators also contact victims and ask them if they want the sheriff's office to keep their rape kits.

He said any suggestion they don't take sexual assault investigations seriously is insulting.

"It's a slap in the face not just to me as sheriff but to the men and women in this office to work these cases so diligently," Gahler said.

Some advocates expressed surprise since the 2017 law put stricter regulations on when kits can be destroyed.

"This is a deep concern," said Lisae Jordan of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "We passed a law saying don't destroy rape kits."

Read the full report here.

• Baltimore