New law set to help prosecute sexual assault crimes
A new law signed by Gov. Jay Inslee may help prosecutors keep people in places like the Grant County Jail, pictured, for sexual assault crimes.
FILE PHOTO
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law on Monday a measure intended to make it easier for prosecutors to pursue sexual assault cases in court, according to a press release from the Washington State Legislature’s Democratic Caucus.
Inslee signed House Bill 1028, sponsored by Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, which requires prosecutors pursuing sexual assault cases to receive “victim-centered, trauma-informed training,” reestablishes the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Advisory Group, and expands the statute of limitations on sexual assault to four years from the date the identity of a suspect is conclusively determined by DNA testing or a photograph, the press release said.
According to Grant County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin McCrae, the new law also fixes a Washington State Supreme Court ruling regarding DNA collection and provides an enforcement mechanism for victims’ rights.
“On the whole the new requirements for the prosecutor’s office are limited and it provides us with some enhanced tools,” McCrae wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “The bill increases the statute of limitations, which allows us to potentially charge more cases if we get delayed evidence. It gives us a resource prosecutor who can be the corporate knowledge of how to prosecute these cases around the State.”
The measure will require prosecutors and investigators who handle sexual assault cases to receive specific training every three years from the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission on what to do and what not to do in investigating gender-based violence, the press release said.
In addition, posting on a victim’s social media account cannot be used in an investigation or prosecution unless those postings are related to a specific offense, the press release noted.
“When I started this work, Washington had a backlog of over 10,000 untested sexual assault kits,” Orwall said in the press release. “For the past decade, I have been working closely with sexual assault survivors, law enforcement and the Criminal Justice Training Commission to change the way our criminal justice system handles sexual assault.”
According to House Bill Report on HB 1028, only around 1% of all sexual assaults result in felony charges, though 35-40% of all sexual assault kits tested for DNA will result in a hit on the national DNA database.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.