Rapid DNA Analysis Identifies Alleged Child Rapist

A new DNA testing program has led to the prompt identification and apprehension of an individual charged with raping an 11-year old girl at her Olympia, WA (USA) home late last month. The first application of this rapid DNA analysis program resulted in the identification of a suspect in less than one week.

The program was implemented by the Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC; WA, USA) and Orchid Cellmark (USA). The new Washington State program, made possible by special Congressional funding, is designed to ensure that DNA rape kits involving stranger rapes are analyzed within 30 days. Nationwide, DNA analysis can typically take six to twelve months, and an estimated 220,000-backlogged DNA rape kits in the United States have never been analyzed at all.

In contrast, this rapid DNA analysis program identified the alleged rapist in less than a week, leveraging good investigative work by the Olympia police force, which produced a DNA sample from a suspect that Orchid Cellmark quickly identified as belonging to the rapist. This same DNA analysis also ruled out an innocent neighbor, who had initially been charged with the crime, but who under the new program was exonerated and set free within days, not the months that could have been required in the past.

This early success in our Stranger Rape DNA Project illustrates how effective a rapid DNA analysis program can be, said Don Pierce, executive director of the WASPC, sponsor of the program. We are pleased that Washington State's Congressional delegation has helped us become the first state in the nation to implement this innovative program. By partnering with Orchid Cellmark on this project, we hope to make Washington a safer place to live.

Mark Stolorow, forensic DNA expert at Orchid Cellmark noted, As one of the largest private DNA testing labs [in the US], we have long advocated greater public/private collaboration to increase law enforcement's access to rapid DNA testing. We also had the advantage of being able to leverage our experience [in the UK], where rapid DNA testing is the norm, to design our new rapid turnaround service [in the US]. Our colleagues in Washington were the first in the nation to understand the potential of our rapid DNA testing initiative and to take action to implement it.


Related Links:
Orchid Cellmark
WASPC