This is a pretty amazing podcast that addresses the rape kit backlog and treatment of rape survivors. The series focuses on Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputy Annie Harrison and the crime spree of serial rapist Marshawn Curtis.

The State of Michigan became a leader in dealing with the rape kit backlog primarily because of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. In 2009 an assistant prosecutor walked into a Detroit PD warehouse and discovered some 11,000 untested rape kits. Worthy was horrified and started raising funds to test the rape kits. Her office spent nine months just categorizing the mountain of rape kits. This work was literally unprecedented in law enforcement.

Worthy later testified before Congress about the need for funds to test these kits–all of them. It was an uphill battle.

In 2015 federal legislation was passed with a $41 million dollar grant initiative to clear up the rape kit backlog. Each kit costs between $500 and $1500 to test. The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) was the result.

https://bja.ojp.gov/program/saki/overview

https://www.sakitta.org

The Michigan State Police received funds to help local law enforcement agencies follow Detroit’s lead in dealing with backlogged rape kits. This led the MSP to Detective Annie Harrison at Ingham County because her cases kept coming up in their review of rape cases. Note that Michigan State University is in Ingham County.

Detective Annie Harrison decided to believe the survivors (compare the opening scene with a Georgia detective in Episode 1). Harris learned early on in her career as a detective that whether perpetrators were caught “came down to the luck of the draw.” This is because there is not a lot of training in the area of sexual assault or child sexual abuse and it was a “straw draw” to see who you were going to get to respond to your case. Does the officer have training, compassion and courtesy to deal with a victim of a sex crime? (I’m looking at you OCSD). Straw draw. Not very reassuring.

Marshawn Curtis’ years-long crime spree was stopped with the help of Detective Harrison. The podcast details what a rape survivor goes through and how hard the system is on them, as well as the importance of testing every rape kit.

Rape kit testing bears out the fact that a rapist almost always commits more than one rape. A rape kit is a time stamp and can show how many more crimes a rapist goes on to commit as the kit sits on a warehouse shelf. Review also shows the many bogus reasons law enforcement does not believe victims and decides not to have a rape kit tested. (Episode 4.)

I am still furious that law enforcement dismissed the statements of a survivor of a Michigan child sex ring who came forward after viewing Children of the Snow. Her story never changed as she first told my dad and then me. She was supported by her psychotherapist and an attorney as she came forward to law enforcement. I am told she stood up to over three hours of questioning by two men associated with the OCCK task force. It was a waste of her time and probably more than extremely triggering.

The bottom line, I believe, is that cops thought she was just pulling things together and making things up after viewing the documentary in an effort to try to give answers to a sad old man who had lost his son. Instead of believing that the people she said were associated with this child sex ring were connected and her observations about Kristine Mihelich in particular, she was dismissed. At that time, the OCCK case was on the verge of being once again passed on to the first of another series of MSP detectives who would never have time or resources to follow up or even get up to speed on the file. The information this woman provided would involve significant leg work, dot-connecting and an open mind. That’s three strikes as far as this investigation is concerned.

At some point a retired Wayne County investigator was brought in to evaluate “loose ends” in the investigation into my brother’s murder. Stunningly, he essentially told author Marney Keenan that the issues raised by this possible witness were no longer under review as he had to give full faith and credit to the determinations of his predecessors.

The straw draw thus gets compounded. The vastness of the child sex and CSAM rings in Michigan and the connections with white collar men and some of their adult sons in Oakland County and beyond would remain locked in the sewer of the unsolved OCCK case and the nonexistent investigation into N. Fox Island. Nothing to see here.

If you listen to podcasts, this one is worth your time.

See also:

https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2024/02/14/lansing-man-sentenced-up-to-80-years-in-2012-cold-case-sexual-assault

https://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=835641

Stilman, who has a wife and two kids, still found time to make AI porn images of a young woman in Oregon who is an online influencer and then use them to threaten and attempt to extort her. He threatened to release the photos online and escalated to threats of sexual assault.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/victim-ai-sextortion-responds-after-commerce-twp-suspect-arrested

The young woman and some of her 100,000 online followers tracked his ass down to Oakland County and thankfully the FBI took on the case.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/oakland-county-man-charged-making-ai-porn-influencer

After Stilman’s arrest, she posted the following:

I’m deeply grateful to the FBI for treating this with the seriousness it deserves. Since speaking publicly about this situation on my social media platform, I’ve received many messages from women who have experienced similar harassment. Their stories are a powerful reminder of how widespread and deeply damaging this problem is. Their solidarity has been incredibly moving and has helped me feel less alone during this process.

Unsurprisingly, court documents indicate there may be other victims of Stilman’s sick computer habits and cyberstalking/interstate threats.

Yesterday I was called for jury duty. Third time in my 66 years–twice in state courts, once in federal court.

The case was for failure to register as a sex offender (because, of course it was). Discussions by the judge and attorneys revealed that the man was or had been homeless, so was therefore lacking an “address.” A big part of voir dire was the involvement of law enforcement. Any family or friends in LE? Does anyone know these three detectives?

I explained that I had friends and enemies in law enforcement. Laughter. I was not laughing. When asked to explain, I said that in 1977 my brother was abducted and murdered by a pedophile, that the case was never solved and that my family had to sue the Michigan State Police and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office when they would not respond to FOIA requests over a decade ago. That the process was at great financial and emotional cost.

The judge was remarkably kind: I’m sorry that your family went through this. So the case was never solved? No, it was a serial case and none of the four murders were ever solved. So you have a problem with the detectives on the case? Yes, back then and now. I continue to fight for DNA testing.

Then the “but can you be fair” dance started, which I understand because the court does not want to provide a roadmap to the remaining prospective jurors of how to get out of serving. Yeah, you might have some bad luck in your past but can you rise above it? Believe the cops’ testimony? Not hold the sex offense against the defendant because the issue is failure to register? Basically, can you be a better person than the one who walked in here?

I will carefully follow the court’s instructions and I will do my best.

The prosecutor wisely does not touch any of this.

Defense counsel wants to use me to educate the jury about fairness. I get it.

I told you what my background is, I can’t change that. Short of saying (which I should have just said) –I am not a good fit for this trial, how about you send me back to the bullpen right now so I am immediately available for another trial this morning?–I don’t know how much more of this dead horse we can beat. I know I’m getting bounced but I am trying not to be a total asshole.

My final statement: I would do my best to be fair because your client is entitled to a fair trial. Again, I understand the difference between the sex offense and the failure to register. The underlying sex offense is off the table. It sounds like there is an issue concerning homelessness, so this is not going to be a straightforward trial. She moves on.

But I suspect she suspects that I will suspect the cops of lying on the stand. Three cops on this arrest? The man is physically quite small. How did this whole “failure to register” come to light? They probably beat the fuck out him during the arrest. I understand the impulse, but that can’t happen in our society. If that’s what you’re after, join ICE and get the signing bonus and do it while it is still legal under federal law.

The reason you don’t want me on your jury is that right off the bat I am wondering how this case even got to trial–why didn’t they put an ankle monitor on this guy and tell them they would consider removing it when he could report a more permanent residence? Something isn’t right here. And I won’t be allowed to hear about any of it as a juror, or look it up online. I am literally expecting the cops to lie on the stand. I would be revolted watching them testify, a mere five feet from the defense table. And this is in a sex crime-related case for god’s sake. I wouldn’t let him near someone I loved. Maybe the cops were doing a great thing by getting him off the streets for another year or so for failure to register, when the cycle will start all over again.

My headache starts in earnest.

I know I sound like a POS. But that’s where I am these days.

The two attorneys then bounced an idiot, two know-it-alls, and a clean cut young guy who must have said something the prosecutor didn’t like. The last two to get bounced were me and the retired nurse who had been in charge of the sexual assault response team at a nearby hospital. The remaining six people would hear this case which was expected to be short. Failure to register is a serious crime and the statute is probably cut and dried. There isn’t even a need to lie about the circumstances–unless something funky went down during the arrest. Yet I expect it.

The worst part of the morning was walking back to my car and feeling the immediate confirmation that I am a biased cynic. I was, for purposes of that trial, a two-fer. I am repelled by both sex offenders and cops. I am not going to lie–I was happy it was the prosecutor who bounced me. Of course he will have an easy win that afternoon either way, but better to do it without me in the mix.

And before you lose your mind and tell me how wrong I am about police and prosecutors, know that in Michigan THEY made US enemies. We actually respected them (why wouldn’t we?) until the curtain got pulled back. They are supposed to represent the murder victims, not themselves. They are supposed to protect the public, not corrupt prosecutors. They are supposed to believe survivors and act on their information if possible.

Can I be fair? I guess not.