Earlier this week, Monongalia County Prosecuting Attorney Gabrielle Mucciola updated the Mon County Commission on the two new hires she’s bringing on board: Larry Hasley as the coordinator for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative and Samantha Elkins as an assistant prosecuting attorney handling abuse and neglect cases.
Both are welcome additions to the prosecutor’s office, though it is reflection of the sad state of affairs that they are needed at all.
The backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits (commonly referred to as rape kits) is a nationwide issue. Some kits remain untested for years or even decades; some get thrown out after only a few months. But timely testing is essential — not just when victims and survivors decide to press charges — because certain samples degrade over time. For example, according to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information Services, liquid samples like saliva, blood and urine degrade more quickly than samples preserved on swabs or fabrics (if dried and stored correctly).
Fortunately, West Virginia has taken steps in recent years to work through the state’s backlog and create better systems for the future. Under recent state laws, health care providers have 30 days to send kits to Marshall University Forensic Science Center. Victims do not have to report their sexual assault in order to have a rape kit done; even without a report to law enforcement, kits will be sent to MUFSC to be stored. After two years, unreported (and therefore untested) kits will be marked inactive and can be used for training purposes. If someone would like to pursue a case after two years, their rape kit can still be processed, but only if it has not been used for training.
Hasley’s position is part of those efforts to keep on top of rape kits collections and processing. With his two decades of experience working in law enforcement and with sexual assault survivors, he’s the perfect person to lead these efforts.
Elkins arguably has the tougher job: Mon County went from 13 child abuse and neglect cases in 2000 to 227 at the end of 2023. That’s a heavy caseload to bear, not just in terms of sheer numbers, but in terms of the mental and emotional toll such cases can take.
We highly suspect that most of those cases err on the side of neglect rather than abuse; the continuing opioid and drug epidemic weighs heavily on West Virginia’s families. The saddest part of addiction is that it consumes a person, becoming the center of someone’s world to the detriment of loved ones — even children.
Elkins has her work cut out for her, and we wish her the best of luck. Same to Hasley — both are welcome and much-needed additions to the prosecutor’s office. However, it’s undeniably sad that they are needed at all.
