Wayne County getting $2M for untested rape kits

Members of Michigan law enforcement will get $5 million in federal grants to address the backlog of untested sexual assault kits.

The grants were announced Thursday by US Attorney Barbara McQuade. They are part of a $41 million grant package from the US Department of Justice that was announced by Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The grants will be awarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Michigan State Police, the Flint Police Department and the Michigan Department of Health and human Services.

"Today's grants from the U.S. Department of Justice are a direct result of the hard work of Kym Worthy and others to refuse to accept that sexual assault victims would be forgotten while evidence sat on a shelf collecting dust," U.S. Attorney McQuade said in a news release. "These grants will help achieve justice and healing for countless victims of sexual assault in Michigan, and will help identify perpetrators before they can harm more victims."

Worthy's office will receive almost $2 million in grants. 

"We are beyond excited that we received this grant today," Worthy said in a news release. "We have been working so hard on this issue for years and these funds will allow us to more swiftly deal with our almost 2500 CODIS hits and 487 identified serial rapists. We will immediately step up our investigative and prosecutorial efforts. This is a great day for sexual assault victims in Detroit and Wayne County."