A Cincinnati police officer "shelved" rape kits for years, reports Fox 19 News, likely leading to identifiable rapists remaining at large and denying defendants access to potentially exonerating evidence. Christopher Schroder, 52, has reportedly agreed to resign as part of a plea deal on a charge of dereliction. He remains under investigation by local prosecutors, who are also trying to determine the extent of the problems caused by the unprocessed evidence: "it's going to be hundreds of cases," said prosecutor Joseph Deters.
The officer "is accused of doing nothing. OK. He literally had active cases where he wasn't doing his job," Deters told FOX19 NOW.
"We're reviewing, literally, over a decade of cases right now, to see if he affected any of them. And, you know, I don't know that anybody appreciates the significance of what this means," the prosecutor said. "And I don't know how far back this goes. But CPD is taking it incredibly seriously and we're going to get to the bottom of it."
So there potentially could be rapists out there that have never even been contacted and rape victims whose rapists are still free?
"Yes," Deters responded. "And that's what CPD is actively attempting to resolve right now."
