{"id":306834,"date":"2026-10-15T00:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T00:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306834\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T00:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T00:04:28","slug":"pennsylvania-launches-real-time-sexual-assault-kit-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/306834\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania launches real-time sexual assault kit tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sarah<\/a><\/p>\n

For the first time in Pennsylvania, survivors can track their sexual assault kits in real time. The new statewide electronic tracking system, “Track-Kit” is expected to roll out in December, after being tested in Lancaster, York, and Erie counties. <\/p>\n

Giving survivors greater transparency and control<\/p>\n

This initiative is part of a broader effort to improve community safety and accountability in the handling of sexual assault cases and provides survivors with greater transparency, assurance, and accountability that cases are being handled effectively and with care, according to the state.<\/p>\n

“A lot of times we don’t have a choice in these kinds of matters. A lot of women, all they want is to be able to decide for themselves what they need,” says Sabrina Wilson Rodriguez, a survivor.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey say nearly half of women and more than 1 in 6 men experience some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime. <\/p>\n

Wilson Rodriguez first shared her story<\/a> with News 8’s Sarah Metts in August of 2025.<\/p>\n

“It’s easier to talk about without getting choked up or crying because I guess I’m kind of desensitized now and speaking to so many other people or other victims has helped me a lot, but it does not get easier,” said Wilson Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

Forensic exams can provide critical evidence<\/p>\n

She never went for a sexual assault forensic exam, but says she sees the power in having one as evidence. <\/p>\n

“DNA does not lie,” said Wilson Rodriguez. “That would have really, you know, been able to quiet a lot of people who have a lot of mean things to say about what I did and what I’ve been through.”<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect suggests survivors get an exam as soon as possible following a sexual assault, but says hospitals will generally perform one up to five days after.<\/p>\n

Legislation targets delays in testing kits<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania, from 2023 to 2025, state officials say there was an average of 3,800 rape cases per year reported to law enforcement agencies, and fewer than half of those cases were cleared.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

“Any time there is a victim of rape, that test should not sit on a shelf. We lose valuable time by not testing those kits and running them against CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) to see if there’s a match from another crime with a known defendant,” says Senator Tracy Pennycuick.<\/p>\n

Pennycuick introduced Senate Bill 1212<\/a> to fix the “awaiting testing” language in existing law, calling for it to be a standard definition across the board.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got to continue to push this bill through and hopefully get it on the governor’s desk in time before the end of the session and make a lot of rape victims whole again,” says Pennycuick.<\/p>\n

State inventories unsubmitted sexual assault kits<\/p>\n

As part of the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the state is conducting an inventory of all unsubmitted and partially tested sexual assault kits in the possession of local law enforcement agencies and hospitals. This effort is required by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance to ensure no kit is overlooked.<\/p>\n

Once identified, all eligible kits will be submitted to state laboratories for testing. The process began in July 2025 and is expected to be completed in early 2028.<\/p>\n

‘Track-Kit’<\/a> will be administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. According to PCCD, users will log in with a barcode and password instead of personal identifying information, and they can schedule a time of day to receive updates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in Pennsylvania, survivors can track their sexual assault kits in real time. The new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1930,122722,122635,3643,125820,142,5848,3685,16460,2922,6016,27156,28,64285,30,29,125821,125815,125817,125818,125825,125816,125819,125814,125827,85,125823,40487,12269,125826,125822,125824,48707,21017,1386],"class_list":["post-306834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-accountability","tag-broad-effort","tag-bureau-of-justice-assistance","tag-case","tag-codis","tag-erie-county","tag-first-time","tag-lancaster-county","tag-law-enforcement-agency","tag-lot","tag-part","tag-pccd","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-commission-on-crime-and-delinquency","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-rape-cases","tag-real-time-tracking","tag-sabrina-wilson-rodriguez","tag-senate-bill-1212","tag-sexual-assault-case","tag-sexual-assault-forensic-exam","tag-sexual-assault-kit-initiative","tag-sexual-assault-kits","tag-sexual-violence-survey","tag-state","tag-state-laboratories","tag-statewide-system","tag-survivor","tag-survivor-great-transparency","tag-survivor-transparency","tag-testing-kit","tag-track-kit","tag-tracy-pennycuick","tag-york-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}