General Assembly audit finds SLED sexual assault tracking kit tracking system ‘ineffective’

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – The South Carolina General Assembly’s Legislative Audit Council (LAC) audited the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED) Sexual Assault Tracking Kit Tracking System and concluded that it should be implemented improvements.

SLED’s tracking system, called Track-Kit, allows survivors of sexual assault to track kits sent to the department through every stage of distribution, through receipt, processing and storage. It also allows them to view the location and status of their kits.

LAC officials said SLED implemented the tracking system late, launching Track-Kit on Feb. 20, 2024, nearly 21 months after the June 1, 2022 deadline required by state law. They also said SLED failed to communicate appropriately with other agencies and organized only two task force meetings regarding the system.

Lawmakers also pointed out that the SLED Track-Kit database was incomplete, with a total of only 763 kits in the system as of July 1, 2024, and 1,987 kits awaiting testing in the SLED lab as of October 2023.

The audit also revealed some larger trends in sexual assault kits, most notably a lack of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) in South Carolina.

“Not all hospitals in South Carolina have access to SANE, and some hospitals in our state are turning away patients who have experienced sexual violence because of this,” the LAC summary report states.

The audit also found that South Carolina does not require specific time frames for any stage of sexual assault kit processing, which means wait times for kit results in the Palmetto State are longer than in most other states.

LAC said it reached its conclusions after surveying system users, law enforcement agencies, medical facilities, crime labs and nurses who investigate sexual assault cases.

“South Carolina sexual assault statistics and Track-Kit data demonstrate that the current system for investigating sexual assault crimes is ineffective,” the LAC summary report states. “For victims, many of whom are under 18, justice is delayed or denied.”

You can read the full summary report below:

Feel more informed, prepared and connected with WIS. For more such free content, please subscribe to our email newsletterAND download our apps. Do you have comments that can help us improve? Click here.