There are 1,424 sexual assault kits awaiting testing as of March 31, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). More state funding is on the way, but two survivors are ready to take the issue into their own hands.
Kelsey Harbert and Angelique Perrin launched a GoFundMe in March seeking to raise millions for CBI to clear the backlog.
"At a certain point, we're going to have to do it ourselves," Harbert says. "When a kit is not processed in a timely fashion, that's very much like mental torture for people. And every time a kit is not entered, that [assailant] is undetected and free to harm again. It's a huge public safety concern."
State legislators recently reallocated $3 million to CBI to address the backlog, with Governor Jared Polis approving the funding on February 27. That money will pay for the testing of 1,000 rape kits in private labs as CBI works to train and hire more DNA scientists to increase the department's testing capacity.
"The money lawmakers gave us to address the backlog put us on a good path," says Rob Low, spokesperson for CBI. "We have no complaints and are, in fact, very grateful."
Under the CBI's current plan, the backlog will start shrinking in July, with all of the kits currently awaiting testing expected to be processed by the end of the year. But as CBI receives around 100 new kits every month, the department estimates it will take until the spring of 2027 to reach its goal turnaround time of ninety days.
That is not nearly fast enough for Harbert and Perrin.
"How many other people are going to be assaulted by a serial offender in that window? That's what I go to bed asking myself every night," Perrin says. "These are not just rape kits. These are human beings. And that's getting lost. ...Let's treat this like the urgent matter that it really is."
Both women know the agony of waiting for rape kits firsthand.
Perrin was sexually assaulted by a serial rapist in Florida in 2011. She was found naked and bloodied in the street after escaping her attacker, who authorities later connected to the rapes of at least four other women. Her rape kit was rushed due to the violent and suspected serial nature of the case, but the weeks still felt like years.
"I know in the confines of those [backlogged] kits, there is somebody just like me," Perrin says. "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. ...It is agonizing. It is infuriating. You feel crazy. You feel like the whole world is swirling around you and you're just in it, but you're not really there. It is very dark. It is very isolating."
Harbert was sexually abused by a family member when she was ten. For child victims like her who may not understand the difference between rape and molestation, waiting on the results of her forensic exam also meant waiting to learn the extent of the abuse inflicted upon her.
"As a kid growing up in church, I was waiting on whether or not I was a virgin anymore. For parents, it was whether or not someone raped their child," Harbert says. "In the CBI backlog, there are child kits like mine. They're waiting 560 days to know what exactly was done to their child."
"When the kits take this long, that's the kind of hell people are suspended in."
How Did We Get Here?
In Colorado, the expected turnaround time for sexual assault kits is 180 days. According to CBI, they were in compliance with that timeline until staffing changes in 2022.That year, two DNA scientists reportedly resigned and seven more were on extended leave. As it takes up to two years to train new DNA scientists, the department quickly fell behind. The average turnaround time for rape kits jumped from 145 days in July 2022, to 240 days in May 2023. Then came the Missy Woods scandal.
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. Complicating the recovery timeline, 1,003 of Woods's cases were found to have been mishandled and could require retesting if requested by law enforcement or district attorneys.
The $3 million recently reallocated to address the rape kit backlog came from $7.4 million set aside in 2024 for CBI to deal with the Woods mess. Low says these funds are sufficient to put CBI on the right track.
"The CBI sincerely appreciates the generous intentions of anyone raising money towards a goal of reducing our sex assault evidence kit backlog, and even though the CBI can’t accept donated money at the moment, CBI is confident it’s already on the right path," Low explains.
CBI can accept gifts, grants and donations, but the funds need to be appropriated by legislators as a grant/budget request, he says. Presumably, that means they would need to get the money before the legislative session ends in May, or wait until next year. Harbert says if CBI rejects the fundraised money, it will instead be donated to the Colorado Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Project.
During a meeting with the Colorado Legislature's budget committee on March 18, CBI reported that getting an additional $1.4 million would help them address the backlog faster by allowing them to outsource 700 more kits for testing, though the department did not request that funding.
"At this time, we have funding that was recommended by the governor's office and approved by the legislature," Low says. "In the future, additional funds may be helpful to further reduce the backlog."
This comes as legislators are forced to cut costs amid a $1.2 billion budget shortfall in Colorado this year.
Harbert alleges that more money isn't being allocated to the rape kit backlog because of interference from Governor Polis. The GoFundMe post claims that Polis "withheld permission from the CBI to request additional funds." Harbert showed Westword text messages between her and a CBI official who told her "there is more possible with more funding" but "we have to advocate for the policy approved by the governor's budget and policy offices."
Low says he doesn't know "anything about Governor Polis asking or not asking us to not request additional funds."
Polis's spokesperson Eric Maruyama denies the accusation as "not even remotely true."
"This has been a top priority for the Governor and CBI, which is why we have more money to address the backlog," Maruyama says. "The delay in backlogs is completely unacceptable, and as soon as the Governor found out about it, he proposed a budget request in January to cut through it. The Governor is committed to making Colorado safer for everyone, and that includes ensuring that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has the resources needed to quickly clear the backlog to support sex assault victims and hold criminals accountable.”
Considering the pace at which CBI plans to address the backlog, Perrin fears the state is losing sight of the urgency of the situation for sexual assault survivors.
"The humanity gets lost in the technicalities and the legalities and the budget discussions," she says.
Fourteen years after her assault, Perrin says she still struggles with post-traumatic stress and depression, at times waking up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat. She's been losing sleep over Colorado's backlog, as well.
Authorities ultimately only prosecuted Perrin's rapist for attacks with the strongest DNA evidence, telling Perrin it was not "fiscally responsible for their office budget to pursue" her case, she says. She feels that Colorado is similarly prioritizing saving money over the wellbeing of victims.
"All I ever wanted was to look him in his eyes and tell him what he did to me. I was denied that right due to politics and money," Perrin says. "Colorado, what is the true cost of not testing these kits? You can't put a price tag on a human soul."
"I've been to the Capitol and those are beautiful marble steps in the building. Tear them up. There's some money," she adds. "I don't understand why that's not their conviction."
So far, the fundraiser has collected $1,725 of its $3 million goal as of April 2, which is roughly the cost of outsourcing one rape kit to be tested.
"That's one person. If we can help one person, it's worth it," Harbert says. "I know it sounds crazy to think you could fundraise that big of a number, but if we were able to, it could provide much quicker relief for survivors than waiting for the government."
