NEW ORLEANS – Yesterday, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office (OPDA) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Division Chief Mary Glass, Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Penny Kissinger, Trial Assistants Rachael Borges and Triston Lear, SAKI Division Manager/Victim Advocate Ariel White, and Law Clerk Brenna Macnamara hosted their weekly meeting with New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) Special Victims Section Detective Brandon McDonald and Detective Jessica Williams-Walton to review multiple sexual assault cold cases ranging from 1982 to 2014.

“The work of our SAKI Division in partnership with the NOPD is critical to enhancing responses to sexual assault and ensuring justice for victims throughout New Orleans,” said District Attorney Jason Williams. “Through this strategic partnership, our office aims to implement best practices designed to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions against vulnerable victims and increase safety in our communities by working together to help prevent future sexual assaults. We are grateful to be joined by the NOPD in our efforts to deliver justice for the people in our great city.”

Through efforts like this, OPDA and NOPD are committed to empowering survivors, promoting healing and providing closure for victims of violent crime. Too many of our neighbors have been victimized and justice has been delayed as technology caught up to traditional investigation methods. By thoroughly re-investigating and prosecuting cold-case sexual assaults that occurred in our neighborhoods we’re bringing long overdue closure to the families we serve.

SAKI Chief Mary Glass said, “The ongoing collaboration between the SAKI team at the DA’s Office and NOPD ensures that no case, no victim, will be left behind. We take every investigation as far as we can.”

As part of the 2020 grant, the SAKI Unit was tasked with reviewing more than 250 additional cold cases in conjunction with NOPD and testing through the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. Currently, 82 of those cases have been entered into CODIS—the Combined DNA Index System used to match offenders’ DNA to cases. The SAKI team plans to complete the review of all cases by the end of September 2023. If you have a question about a cold case sexual assault that occurred in Orleans Parish please email SAKI@OrleansDa.com.