8 sex assault cases unable to be investigated due to destroyed evidence: Fairfax County Police
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Eight sex
assault cases where evidence was marked as having been destroyed can no longer
be investigated, Fairfax County Police say.
The department says they have reviewed 93 cases
assigned to Detective Cynthia Lundberg from 1994 to 1997 that were identified
following a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a victim of 1995 sexual
assault.
The Washington Post was
the first to reveal the destruction of evidence in Gretchen Van Winkle’s case.
Two separate investigators looked at the FOIA
request with particular emphasis on the 46 sex assault cases where evidence was
labeled as having been destroyed.
Detectives had no concerns with the destruction of
evidence in 38 of these cases, as evidence was destroyed in accordance with
FCPD policy. Examples of evidence destroyed per department protocol include
cases closed by arrest and fully adjudicated, cases where the victim did not
want to further the investigation and cases closed as a police service.
Detectives found eight sex assault cases listed
within the FOIA where evidence was marked as having been destroyed and
questions remain. Additional investigation into these cases would be warranted
but is now impossible without the necessary evidence.
The victims in these cases are all living survivors
of sexual assault, and FCPD says they deeply regret that they will not likely
be able to obtain the justice they deserve due to the destruction of evidence.
FCPD says victims with questions about an existing
case are encouraged to call. They will be provided with a case update and
supportive services.
"The improper destruction of evidence makes it
extremely difficult to hold offenders of crimes accountable," said Major
Ed O’Carroll, Bureau Chief, Major Crimes Bureau, Cyber and Forensics. "The
victims in these cases deserved better, and the Fairfax County Police
Department deeply regrets the actions of the past. Steps are now in place to
prevent such errors from ever repeating."
The department says its policies and practices are
now explicit in the way evidence is preserved in all sexual assault
investigations. These policies include:
- All physical evidence recovery kits (PERKs),
regardless of whether they are submitted for testing or excluded from testing
because of a legislatively mandated exception, are required to be stored for a
minimum of 10 years, or 10 years past the victim’s 18th birthday, whichever is
longer.
- If at any time, the victim objects to the
destruction of a PERK, or rape kit, the kit shall be kept for a minimum of 10
years from the date of the request.
- Officers/Detectives shall notify survivors of
their PERK ID number and PIN for access to the PERK Tracking System, unless
there is sufficient and articulable reason to believe that doing so would
unnecessarily interfere with the investigation.
- All officers/detectives shall provide victims with
a PERK ID number and PIN, and are required to notify a victim at least 60 days
prior to the destruction of a PERK of their intent to destroy the kit.
- Regardless of the results of any forensic testing,
no FCPD employee may unilaterally request the destruction of any PERK kit or
other crime scene evidence relating to a sexual assault that has been
identified by MCB Command, in conjunction with the Director of Victim Services,
to be deemed relevant to prosecution.
- FCPD employees who seek the destruction of these
items shall request a meeting with both the Commander of the Violent Crimes
Division as well as the Director of the Victim Services Division for final
review and joint concurrence.
- The status of property or evidence shall not be
changed without the written consent of the officer/detective responsible for
the item(s) along with secondary approval of their first-line supervisor.
In July 2016, Virginia law was put into effect
stating that a law enforcement agency that receives a PERK collected from a
victim who has reported the offense shall submit the PERK to DFS for analysis
within 60 days of receipt, except in certain circumstances.
In June 2019, Virginia also launched a website to
track the location of PERKs to ensure survivors of sexual assault know what’s
happening to their cases. Survivors of sexual assault are given an ID number to
see where their kit is. No personal information that could identify the
survivor is logged in the website.