As Ohio’s Attorney General, Richard Cordray failed Ohio families by allowing rape kits to go untested, letting rapists off the hook.
“Due to Richard Cordray’s failure to prioritize Ohio rape victims, more than one thousand additional crimes, including rapes, were committed by offenders identified by Mike DeWine,” ORP spokesman Blaine Kelly said. “Richard Cordray likes to talk about looking out for families and the most vulnerable, but his record proves that he won’t follow through. Unlike Cordray, Mike DeWine has a record of protecting Ohio families and will continue to do so as Governor.”
Background
Under Cordray, Ohio had no statewide initiative to test all rape kits nor any means for local agencies to have these kits tested.
When Mike DeWine succeeded Cordray as Attorney General, he found a mountain of untested rape kits and demanded every kit be tested. DeWine launched the Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative, resulting in all 13,931 formerly shelved kits being tested.
Statewide Results:
- 300 offenders were linked to 1,127 Crimes, mostly rapes.
- 8,648 DNA profiles were uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database.
- 5,024 hits on a criminal profile or a match to another case as a result of the uploads.
Thanks to Mike DeWine, rape victims are receiving justice and Ohio’s model for clearing rape kit backlogs is a model for the nation.