Sexual assault survivor Kelly Yancy says her attacker was free after 2 years and blames Illinois State Police and Chicago Police Department

CHICAGO (Wales) — A sexual assault survivor says her attacker is still roaming the streets almost two years later.

His case was postponed, and he blames it on delays in laboratory testing and how some evidence was handled.

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Now he comes forward because he is upset with the system.

Kelly Yancy still struggles with the memories of her sexual assault. He said the attacker wanted to get into his car after meeting him at a party.

“I tried to scratch and get as much DNA as I could,” Yancy said. “I was held in my vehicle for five and a half hours, it was freezing outside. I drove myself to the 71st Street and Cottage Grove police station immediately after being sexually assaulted.”

Now, almost two years later, Yancy said his case is no closer to being solved.

“I was hurt. I felt that way, I felt that way,” Yancy said with emotion. “It’s so hard. I feel like I’ve been forgotten.”

Yancy points to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab and Chicago police. He says CPD misplaced DNA evidence left behind by the attacker, including fingerprints, a liquor bottle and vomit.

He says about nine months after the attack, the detective told him the evidence had not been submitted to the state crime lab.

“He told me verbally that it had been misfiled as part of another case,” Yancy said.

But months later, the detective said in an email: “The request to test the evidence in your vehicle was sent on April 01, 2024.”

Almost a year and a half has passed since the attack.

Yancy said he is waiting for those results to be processed at the state lab.

CPD responded to the ABC7 I-Team with the following statement: “The Chicago Police Department is committed to thoroughly investigating cases of criminal sexual assault, as well as supporting victims who are experiencing the trauma and aftermath of these assaults. Detectives are in contact with the police on an active and ongoing investigation.” victim in this particular case, which remains an investigation.”

“I felt neglected,” Yancy said.

Yancy believes the car evidence should be submitted to state laboratories immediately, along with the sexual assault kit evidence he received from the hospital.

“I have things that go up to strangulation, scratches, bruises on my body,” Yancy said.

However, the sexual assault kit tested without car evidence was inconclusive. Adding to the disappointment, sexual assault kit testing at the state lab was delayed by nine months, Yancy said.

The ISP said they couldn’t talk about specific cases, but since May 2022, sexual assault kit transactions have met state law requirements in less than six months, or 180 days.

When asked what he said to critics who believe 180 days is not good enough, ISP Deputy Director of Forensics Robin J. Woolery said, “I agree. I totally agree, it’s just the bare minimum. That’s the bare minimum. And we need to go down.” “Achieving the turnaround time will be more acceptable to our victims.”

The ISP says so far in 2024, 15% of sex crime kits will be processed in less than 30 days, 27% in less than 90 days, and all in less than 180 days.

The ISP said it is up to date on the latest technology, such as fast DNA. They showed it to the I-Team in 2020. But they said the biggest challenge was staff shortages.

“A big part of this is finding qualified applicants and getting through them. Then there are a lot of different steps, requirements, background checks to work in the crime lab,” Woolery said.

Carolina Sanchez of the survivor advocacy group Resilience said some states are now processing results in 30, 60 or 90 days, and Illinois needs to do better than 180 days.

“A lot of these cases aren’t going anywhere, they’re just kind of sitting around waiting for the results to come back from the evidence collection kit,” Sanchez said. “Especially outside, ‘Will the criminal come after me again?’ While there are survivors who continue to live in fear.”

“Hopeless,” Yancy said when asked where he was staying.