They Threw Away Dozens of Untested Rape Kits

As you already know, a lot of fucked up things happen here in the Ozarks. Springfield has certainly had itself in world news headlines. Some stories may have made you throw your head back in laughter. Others might have rained down piss straight into your morning coffee. And then there's this story, which is as equally sordid as it is heartbreaking. This one will make your blood riot, the story of how the Springfield Police Department (SPD) had hundreds of untested rape kits (SAKs) and discarded dozens of them. That's right - They fucking THREW AWAY untested physical evidence of crimes. If you aren't angry by now, GTFO my page because you clearly aren't human.

CNN began their research in 2016. They launched a deep-dive investigation about the status of rape kits (sexual assault kits, SAKs) as evidence in each state. One city's approach (more like lack thereof) to dealing with the emergency caught CNN's attention in particular: Springfield, Missouri. Imagine that. When the news giant broadcast their findings, alarm bells began to sound all over the world - people demanded answers and accountability. SPD's response was nothing less than the appalling bullshit that the world has come to expect from Springfield, Missouri.

CNN investigators Ashley Fantz, Sonam Vashi, and Sergio Hernandez spent more than a year investigating police departments across the U.S. when they discovered one of Springfield's Dirty Little Secrets: that the Springfield Police Department had "destroyed at least 108 rape kits since 2010." Some of the kits were trashed before the statute of limitations had ran up. Some of the destroyed SAKs did not have a time limit for prosecution. Adding insult to injury, "75% of those discarded were never submitted for testing."

Upon release of the report, Springfield's Premier Shitbag Chief Williams attempted to save face by addressing the public on camera. The Shitbag's words were so sincere that you could hear the pages of cue cards being turned from somewhere off camera. He couldn't even issue a sincere apology or remember numbers without either having someone write the words for him or having to read it from cue cards.  Congrats, Chief! You were ten toes down to become a complete piece of shit!

SPD didn't only throw away untested physical evidence. The CNN investigators learned that the SPD would send out a 10-day letter of intent to prosecute. These letters were typically mailed out, requesting that recipients return to the SPD to be interviewed within 10 business days. If victims did not respond, SPDeeDeeDee closed their cases and discarded the corresponding SAK. Imagine, if you will for a moment, that your wife, mother, or daughter had just gone through the most traumatic experience of her lifetime and was given little more than a week to process what happened. Given just days to be well enough to sit through hours of interrogations conducted by Chief Shitbag's Poop Troop.

Former Springfield SVU Investigator Maggie McDowell wishes that people did not doubt that the Poop Troop was about victims first. "It's important to sit down and listen to what they (victims) have to say. You need to build rapport. Everything about 10 days or less says "Trust me, we want to help." followed by destroying solid evidence of the crime like throwing out untested evidence, McMoron.

One case the CNN team reported on was "Sandy" (names changed to protect privacy). Sandy turned up to a local emergency room during the morning hours of July 15th. Sandy disclosed that she had been the victim of a sexual assault. According to the SPD's case file, Sandy disclosed that she knew the identity of her attacker. His street name was Mo and she had only met him in a brief passing. He lived in the same apartment complex as Sandy, but in a different building. SPD dispatched a couple of  Pooper Troopers to gather potential case evidence. Later that day, and only after the SPD officer had left did Mo grow more brazen. 9-1-1 received a phone call from Sandy, stating that her rapist had just come back to her apartment. Mo banged on Sandy's door for about ten minutes before he whipped out his tootsie roll dick and pissed all down her door. The officer that had been at her home earlier in the day is the same officer that SPDuh dispatched to investigate the matter. The officer noted in the case record that there had been no liquids on the door when he'd been there earlier and he used a swabbing technique to gather the urine so that it could be tested,

Case records indicate that a number of items had been gathered as evidence in the case against Mo. These included Sandy's SAK, the clothes that she had been wearing at the time of the attack, and her bedding materials that had been in use. The case was passed to McMoron the next day. She entered notes into the case record, stating that she had attempted to phone Sandy at the number provided when she originally filed the report. "I left a message," McMoron wrote. "I also sent a letter informing Sandy that if she did not contact me within 10 business days that the case would be closed and receive no further investigation. Okay, that's great McDowell. You  get a gold star from me.  What kind of message did you leave? A voice mail? Did someone else answer Sandy's phone and you left a message with a human?  Was the provided number a landline or a cell phone? And why, in the name of everything that is holy, would anyone assume Sandy stayed in her apartment after her rapist came back to her house for seconds? Get the fuck out of here with your bullshit, SPDuuuuuurp.

The next part of the case file is puzzling because Hooked on Phonics didn't work for McDowell, also known as She Who Could Not Bother. The angel on my right shoulder is harping on me, whispering that the next note merely contained typos while the devil on my left says She Who Could Not Bother  actually did it on purpose. The entry states "On July 30, 2009 I contacted the victim a second time and asked her to call me if she does not want the department to pursue an investigation." Remember that folks - if she does *not* want. Remember that meme that states the importance of grammar by stating "I helped my uncle jack off a horse" versus "I helped my uncle Jack off a horse?" The next file entry stated "I have not heard from victim -" Yo, McDowell! Your previous entry stated that Sandy was to not contact you if she wanted to pursue an investigation. And the cherry on top? "You have been an uncooperative victim, therefore evidence in this case has not been submitted to MOSHP for analysis." The real whipped cream and cherry to Sandy's case is that forcible rape in Missouri doesn't have a statute of limitations, according to RSMo 556.036. What an interesting "development" there, Poop Troop! What a way to gain the trust of the community. Temu Dora and her little menagerie of friends are singing "We Did It!" just for you. Assholes.

But wait, there's more!

Three years prior to what happened to Sandy, there's the story of Mary  (not her real name because there's too many damn creeps on the Internet). Mary was a typical four year old that wanted to enjoy a nice, springtime afternoon at the park with her family. She thought it was going to be just she, her brother, and her mother. When they arrived, the children's uncle was there. At some point during their visit, Mary indicated that she needed to use the restroom. Some time later, Mary and her brother rejoined their mother. That was when Mary began indicating the unthinkable - someone had touched her inappropriately, hurting her. And that someone was her uncle. Mary's mother did what every good mother would do; she questioned her daughter and then took her to the hospital for examination. A rape kit was performed and Mary named her uncle as the one that violated her. Mary also described the location of where the assault took place. "He hurt me with his pee-pee," she said, and then continued to describe everything that had been done to her. Mary's shorts were taken from her to be used as evidence.

Mary's mother noticed that the back right side of her daughter's shorts were wet when she and her brother returned from the restroom. She asked Mary why they were wet. The little girl indicated that she didn't urinate in the bathroom because her uncle was present. "He hurt my pee-pee in the bathroom with the red roof... He hurt me with his pee-pee and fingers. He put his fingers in my bottom. It hurt and he hurt brother's pee-pee, too." The mother later told police that family members had begun to harass her over the incident, but she had a good support system through friends. The uncle made himself scarce to police interrogation beyond a brief, initial questioning where he informed officers that he and the children's mother were in the park to use bath salts. It was this conversation that led officers to call DCFS to also conduct an investigation into the children and their mother's home life situation. The uncle, the accused, never made himself available for further questioning nor did he carry out his promise to take a lie detector test. Detectives reviewed the case with Greene County prosecutors to review the case. The prosecutor, however, declined to pursue formal charges stating that "unfortunately there is no corroborating evidence." Say what, motherfucker? Two weeks later, the order came down to the evidence room that the physical evidence for the case was supposed to be destroyed. That order was finally carried out on October 16, 2014. The case had almost 35 years left before the statute of limitations would have ran out. Who else had Mary's uncle done this to? Now the world may never know.

Following release of the report in 2018, Chief Shitbag responded publicly to the findings, taking a moment to acknowledge that mistakes were made, but - But nothing, Chief Piece O'Shit. Some might find those changes comforting, but not me. So what that your post no longer charges victims of sex crimes or domestic violence a filing fee to make and process a police report. So fucking what that your people have become trauma-informed? I mean that's great for future victims, I suppose, but why are you upset that nobody wants to pat your back for it? Could it be because trauma-informed is really one way of saying "my people have undergone hours of training to become empathetic, human beings?" Cmon Chief.... Even a four year old understands what empathy is, even if they don't know the word to describe it.

But I'll tell you something Chief Chunderfuck. I don't care if a victim forgives you. Personally, it's their decision and if that's what they need to do to heal, good on them. But the rest of us.... We know what you did that we will never forgive you for.

You never fucking even said you were sorry!

***Author's note: I cannot take credit for most of the research done to reach these conclusions. I fully take ownership of the opinions and commentary that appears throughout this page. You may find more details by following any of the links found throughout the article.