Sexual assault victims in Wisconsin finally heard the news they have been waiting for: The backlog of rape kits is ending.
Attorney General Brad Schimel announced the final kits were sent to labs on Tuesday morning.
"Today, I am excited to announce that every last one of the kits that should have originally been tested has now been submitted for testing, and that testing will be complete by the end of the year," said Schimel in a news release.
At one point, Wisconsin had 6,800 untested rape kits. Some of them had dated back to the 1980s. So far 1,800 kits have come back with results. Two of those are being prosecuted.
"We have more in the pipeline," said Schimel but could not give the specifics of the cases.
Sexual assault advocate Maryann Clesceri, who is the manager at Aurora Healing Center, has been part of the team that works with past victims. She said even if not every kit results in prosecutions, victims hopes they can help catch repeat offenders or just learn who the person is who hurt them.
"They feel some justification. They feel like they have been heard and listened to," said Clesceri.
