As Missouri clears SAFE kit backlog, old cases find closure
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A state initiative to process DNA evidence from rape cases led last week to a conviction in a Boone County case more than a decade old.
Andrew Barbee pleaded guilty and received a 7-year sentence for a sexual assault committed in 2010. The case was brought to court this year because of evidence found while law enforcement works through the backlog of SAFE kits under an initiative from the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
Twelve years ago, the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) kit in Barbee's case was never tested, and charges were never filed. The kit joined over 7,000 others that sat in storage until the attorney general's office took action to work through the backlog.
Barbee is given credit for time served in his sentence. He is currently serving 75 years for child sex crimes, according to court records. Barbee was also previously charged with statutory rape and sodomy in Warrensburg.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt said the guilty plea in Barbee's case is proof the program is working.
“While this is the first conviction obtained due to testing through the SAFE Kit Initiative, my office will continue to work hard to ensure that it isn’t the last," Schmitt said.
The victim shared an anonymous statement thanking everyone who worked on the case for their perseverance while the case was stalled for over a decade.
"Waiting almost 12 years for justice has been hard, but I am so thankful this day has finally come," the victim said in the statement provided by the attorney general's office. "To other survivors out there still waiting for their justice, I pray that this gives you hope that one day you will finally see justice as well.”
SAFE Kit Initiative
The initiative to clear the backlog of SAFE kits started when Josh Hawley was attorney general. The program is possible due to two grants, one for $2,871,423 received in 2018 and one for $2 million received in 2020. The grants were dedicated to creating a statewide sexual assault kit inventory and a comprehensive plan to address the backlog of kits.
Schmitt took on the initiative when he took office as attorney general in 2019.
Schmitt's office is working with 169 law enforcement agencies to clear untested kits. In April, Schmitt provided an update that over 3,000 kits have been tested and the office continues to work on the others.
The testing of that backlog has led to new charges in three cases, including Barbee's.
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Jennifer Delp is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) at University of Missouri Health Care. Delp and other nurses test rape victims for forensic evidence, sexually transmitted diseases and infections and give overall wellbeing checkups after traumatic incidents.
"One of the things that we've found with sexual assault survivors is that the assault isn't so much a physical act as it is a act of control," Delp said. "And so the perpetrator of the assault is actually stripping that survivor of every bit of control that they had over that situation. We as sexual assault nurses are the first step in giving that control back to those patients."
Sexual assault victims in Missouri have certain rights outlined by the Missouri Office of Public Safety. A law that went into effect in 2020 established the original Sexual Assault Victims Bill of Rights, which guarantees the right to reasonable protection from the defendant and to be free from intimidation, harassment and abuse.
Missouri's General Assembly passed Senate Bill 775 this year, which strengthens the Sexual Assault Victims Bill of Rights. It's currently waiting on the governor's signature before it can become law. Among the new rights the bipartisan bill would establish, it would guarantee the right to a sexual assault forensic examination.
Delp wants victims to know that coming in to get a checkup does not mean you have to report to the police. Checkups can be fully confidential, and the hospital staff will not judge or blame you for anything.
"The exams are not like they are on TV," Delp said. "It is very much the survivors choice, how the exam was performed, what even we do as components of the exam. It's done in a safe space."
A 24/7 crisis hotline is available through True North of Columbia at 573-875-1370 or toll-free at 1-800-548-2480.
