A GoFundMe seeking to raise millions of dollars to clear Colorado's massive backlog of untested rape kits received a $52,500 donation from an unnamed individual earlier this month — more than quintupling the total raised since the fundraiser began in March.
Sexual assault victims in Colorado wait 570 days on average for the state to process their evidence kits, according to the state Bureau of Investigation. During that wait, victims are often unable to pursue criminal charges, restraining orders or any semblance of justice. As of June 30, there are 1,236 cases awaiting testing, including 398 cases that have been stuck in the backlog since before July of 2024.
"The scope of the problem is massive," says Kelsey Harbert, an organizer behind the fundraiser. "There's so much more to raise to get there. But when we started this, I never would've thought that it'd get to this total or that somebody would donate that much at one time. ...I'm really blown away, and I'm really proud."
The state has taken steps to address the backlog. Legislators reallocated $3 million to CBI to outsource the testing of 1,000 kits in private labs, and a new state law strengthens reporting requirements meant to prevent a backlog from developing again.
But under the current plan, CBI estimates it will take until the end of 2026 to reach its goal turnaround time of ninety days. Harbert launched the fundraiser with Angelique Perrin out of frustration over that timeline, saying the state is not treating the matter with enough urgency. Both women are survivors of sexual assault.
"These are not just rape kits. These are human beings," Perrin told Westword after the launch of the fundraiser. "I know in the confines of those [backlogged] kits, there is somebody just like me. I know what it's like to call every day and ask if anything has come back. Every second of every hour of every day, in your mind, it is all-consuming."
Harbert and Perrin sent $6,000 to CBI in late June from the first round of donations. CBI spokesperson Rob Low says the state will use the money to outsource the testing of three kits, as processing kits in private labs costs approximately $2,000 each.
Harbert says she wants most or all of this next round of funds to go to municipal labs that are testing kits in-house; she estimates that in-house testing costs around $1,000 per kit rather than $2,000 for outsourcing. Harbert says she is in talks with municipal labs to determine which have the greatest need and the oldest unprocessed kits.
"It will really just depend on where it can go the furthest," Harbert says. "At a municipal lab, the $52,000 could go to 52 kits."
Colorado has five municipal labs in Denver, Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado Springs and Jefferson County that process kits from sexual assault cases within those jurisdictions. Here's where those labs' backlogs stand, according to data each lab provided to Westword in mid-to-late June:
- Denver Police Crime Laboratory: 116 cases, 182-day turnaround time (note: the lab does not typically have a backlog, but it recovered 116 kits from CBI in June to help reduce the state backlog)
- Adams County Crime Laboratory: 0 cases, 60-day turnaround time
- Unified Forensic Laboratory (Arapahoe County): 58 cases, 152-day turnaround time (note: the lab does not differentiate between sexual assault cases with medical evidence kits, and cases with only other types of evidence such as clothing or bedding)
- Metro Crime Lab (Colorado Springs): 75 cases, 273-day turnaround time (note: the lab requested assistance from CBI and plans to send 100 of its cases to CBI over the next year)
- Jefferson County Regional Crime Laboratory: 0 cases, 46-day turnaround time
In late 2023, CBI discovered that star forensic scientist Woods manipulated DNA data and posted incomplete test results in some of her cases. All of Woods's 10,786 cases had to be reviewed, taking most CBI scientists away from casework for months and exacerbating the backlog to current levels.
"The CBI sincerely appreciates the donations towards a goal of reducing the sex assault evidence kit backlog," Low said in response to the first round of donations. "We recognize how important this is to victims."
