Sexual Abuse & Domestic Violence

Alaska CARES medical director Dr. Barbara Knox described “a serious uptick in cases of abusive head trauma, serious physical abuse.”

By failing to collect those DNA samples, law enforcement has left Alaska’s DNA database with crucial gaps, allowing at least one serial rapist to go undetected.

First of two parts: In the state with the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation, testing the backlog of rape kits may not be enough. Many were from cases where the identity of the suspect was already known, or were opened only to find no usable DNA.

The maximum penalty for the charges Carmichael is pleading guilty to includes no less than 10 years and up to life in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Right now, according to NPD’s Evidence Custodian Paul Kosto, the state lab is taking about a year to process kits.

The policies identify specific examples of “sexual grooming” behavior and spell out how the district should respond to reports of it.