San Francisco’s district attorney has dropped charges against a sexual assault victim whose DNA from her rape kit was used to link her to an unrelated burglary.
Chesa Boudin announced Tuesday that he had dropped the charges just days after finding out the city’s police crime lab was routinely using evidence collected from sexual assault victims to search for matches to other cases.
The woman — who was not identified — had been charged with a burglary due to a match to her DNA taken during a 2016 domestic violence-involved rape exam, Boudin said.
Boudin said that the case amounted to the “fruit of the poisonous tree” and an “egregious violation of victim privacy.”
He also suggested at a press conference that there could be thousands of similar cases across California.
“Our conversations with leadership at the SFPD crime lab suggests that this is a routine practice not only in San Francisco but other crime labs across the state,” he said.
In an earlier statement, the DA noted how rapes and sexual assaults are already “violent, dehumanizing, and traumatic.”
“I am disturbed that victims who have the courage to undergo an invasive examination to help identify their perpetrators are being treated like criminals rather than supported as crime victims,” he said.
“We should encourage survivors to come forward — not collect evidence to use against them in the future.
“This is legally and ethically wrong. My office is demanding that this practice end immediately.”
California state Sen. Scott Wiener said he was also investigating and considering legislation to ensure the practice ended.
“Sexual assault is one of the most traumatic experiences anyone can undergo,” Wiener said.
“Coming forward after a sexual assault to provide a rape kit can be re-traumatizing. Too many people decide not to take that step, given the trauma.
“If survivors believe their DNA may end up being used against them in the future, they’ll have one more reason not to participate in the rape kit process.”
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said he has ordered an investigation.
“We must never create disincentives for crime victims to cooperate with police,” he said.
“If it’s true that DNA collected from a rape or sexual assault victim has been used by SFPD to identify and apprehend that person as a suspect in another crime, I’m committed to ending the practice,” he insisted.
Several other law enforcement agencies in California and elsewhere around the US insisted it was not common practice, the Associated Press noted.
NYPD Detective Sophia Mason said the force “does not enter victims’ DNA profiles into databases or use them in unrelated investigations.”
With Post wires