Dallas DA Doubles Sex Assault Unit To Handle Influx Of Cold Cases
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is doubling its staff in its sexual assault unit as the police department begins processing more than 4,000 untested rape kits.
District Attorney Susan Hawk will add a new attorney and investigator to the sexual assault unit.
The Dallas Police Department, using a federal grant, will have 65 kits tested each week.
This potentially could create hundreds of new sexual assault cases for the DA's office over the next two years.
Hawk said she wants to make sure her office is ready and not delay the process any longer.
"We have victims that have been waiting a long time for justice to be served," said Hawk.
Victim advocate Lavinia Masters knows what it's like to have to wait.
She waited 21 years before her rape kit was tested in 2005.
"When they tested it, I felt like somebody finally cared," she said.
Masters said she hopes other victims who will now have their kits feel the same way.
"It's a long time coming," she said. "But I'm still excited because I think of the victims - to know we're finally bring closure to their lives."
She was 13-years-old when a man broke into her Dallas home and raped her.
By the time her kit was test and her attacker identified, the statute of limitations had run out.
However, Masters said simple having her kit tested changed her life.
Masters has since started a ministry to help victims of sexual assault called S.A.V.E. ( Sexual Abuse Victim Empowering).
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