City of Austin publicly apologizes for APD mishandling of sexual assault cases

Sexual assault victims formal apology

FULL VIDEO: City of Austin leaders are formally issuing an apology for the mishandling of sexual assault cases by the Austin Police Department.

AUSTIN, Texas - City of Austin leaders made a formal apology to victims of sexual assault, after the mishandling of cases by the Austin Police Department.

Police also shared changes they say will ensure sexual assault cases are investigated thoroughly.

Tuesday's news conference included Interim Assistant City Manager Bruce Mills, who oversees public safety, Austin Police Chief Robin Henderson, Austin Police Lt. Chris Leleux, and Holly Bowles, director of sexual assault victim advocacy for SAFE Alliance.

"It was what I had been waiting for for 10 years. To publicly come out and not just acknowledge it, but to say, ‘here's what we're doing’," said Heather Sin, a sexual assault survivor who was a plaintiff in the lawsuit against APD. "I believe them now. I believe that they're actually trying to change things."

In 2018, APD cleared its rape kit backlog, some of which dated back to the 1990s. At one time, the backlog included more than 4,000 rape kits.

MORE AUSTIN NEWS

Police said there were several reasons for that.

In some cases, the victim didn’t want to seek prosecution; in others, a prosecution could be made without DNA.

APD, however, says it’s still important to test all the kits because if they have the DNA in their database, it can link an offender to other crimes.

Art Acevedo pulls out of city position

Former Austin police chief Art Acevedo has declined a position with the City of Austin, citing "politics and power struggles" in his statement on social media.

Concerns over how APD handled rape kits over the years led to its lab being shut down. The department had to use other labs to handle DNA testing to clear the backlog.

In 2017, hundreds of rape kit containers with mold on the outside were found inside a storage refrigerator.

In 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 8, designed to tackle the rape kit backlog in Texas by requiring an audit of untested kits, establishing timelines for results to be submitted, and extending the statute of limitations.