Dozens of sexual assault victims, whose cases are unsolved, may finally be getting some closure.
The test results from rape kits that were left on the shelf for years are starting to come back. Back in 2015, the Attorney General's office and local police agencies came up with a list of 110 cases linked to un-tested rape kits in Ingham county.
"Sometimes a victim might not want to prosecute or maybe the issue of the sexual act was not in dispute but maybe someone was claiming consent that sort of thing", said Ingham County Chief Assistant Prosecutor, Lisa McCormick.
With money from the attorney generals office, the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office sent those rape kits out for testing to make sure there is not a serial rapist on the streets who's flown under the radar.
"We make sure we didn't miss anything", said McCormick.
Local police and the prosecutor's office will be working together on these cases. Once the results are back, it will be up to the victim whether they want to move forward with the findings.
"We can go to victims together..explain the process moving forward..get their input on what they want to do and then let them know that we can proceed or not proceed with this investigation", said McCormick.
Sexual assault advocacy groups say this could be the start of the healing process for many, but that it will also be a difficult time for victims.
"There are a complexity of emotions that could arise from this some may feel they are finally able to see some justice. If we are going back to older traumas or even current traumas we have to know that this much exposure of sexual assault affects a victim each and every time it's put out there.. so we need to take care of each other", said Executive Director of EVE Inc.(End Violent Encounters), Erin Roberts.
McCormick says her office doesn't have enough staff to review all the cases coming back, so a special prosecutor will be hired to help with the investigation.
"Now that they are in the process of coming back we want to move forward with getting them investigated", said McCormick.
The state passed a law in 2014 making sure all rape kits are tracked, reported, and sent to the crime lab for testing. The victims have a year after testing to decide if they want prosecutors to press charges. The law came about after thousands of untested rape kits were found in Detroit.
