Texas vowed to crack down on rapists after passing the anti-abortion law. But most cases are never processed

By Laura Strickler and Adiel Kaplan -

WASHINGTON - Gov. Greg Abbott and other advocates of Texas' new law prohibiting abortion after six weeks - even in cases of rape and incest - have vowed to take action against sexual assault to reduce the need for abortion.

Abbott said last month, shortly after the law known as SB 8 went into effect, that it would "eliminate all violators."

However, a review by our sister network NBC News of state and FBI data indicates that the rape clearance rate in Texas has been falling year over year and is behind the national average by nearly a third.

In 2019, the most recent year for which state and national data are available, the national rate was 32.9%, while the rate in Texas had fallen to 23.3%.

Just four years earlier, Texas had solved 38% of rape cases.

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The lack of rape trials in Texas has been so concerning that Abbott's office sponsored a study at the University of Texas at Austin to be published this fall that examines why the vast majority of sexual assault cases are never prosecuted.

Clarifying a case usually means making an arrest or definitively identifying a suspect.

Release and arrest rates vary from state to state for many reasons.

Crime statistics are notoriously difficult to compare due to differences in recording quality, criteria, and style from one jurisdiction to another.

The FBI cautions that using its crime data to rank states by their results can be misleading, as can comparing results from one state from one year to the next.

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However, historically, the national rate of arrests and resolution of rape cases has been declining since 1996, when it was 52%.

Resolution and arrest rates for all violent crimes have been declining for years, and rape has always been difficult to prosecute and investigate.

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Advocates for sexual assault victims say the lack of arrests and incarcerations debunks Abbott's claim that it can "remove all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively arresting and prosecuting them."

"When we say that we are going to arrest all rapists, that is not possible," said Houston Police Detective Kamesha Baker, who works in the special victims division and is a member of the governor's task force on sexual assault.

His department investigates 20,000 violations a year, the most in the state.

The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to halt enforcement of the Texas law.

The court ruled Friday that SB 8 will remain in effect while the response to the Administration's challenge is expedited.

Seven other states - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee - have passed similar laws prohibiting abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.

The courts have blocked the entry into force of all these laws.

The Mississippi law challenge is headed to the Supreme Court in a case that may challenge the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion across the country.

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Data on cleared rape cases are not available in the seven states.

However, the 2019 arrest rates are available for six of them.

Three are close to or just above the national average of 14.2%, while another three are below.

Texas is also below the national average, with arrests in 13.4% of cases.

Why is it so difficult to move the needle?

The difficulties in arresting and charging suspects in rape cases are not specific to Texas or any of the other states that have restricted abortion.

Former Austin police sergeant Elizabeth Donegan, who led the department's sex crimes unit for nine years, said low rape arrest rates are a problem across the country.

A group rallies to protest abortion restrictions at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, May 21, 2019.Eric Gay / AP

"I can't say there is anything unique about Texas," he said.

"The problems lie in leadership, training and the truth about what happens in our communities in response to sexual assault."

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Baker, who is pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice with a focus on sexual assault, said: “This is a society problem, not just Texas.

Looking at the studies and peer-reviewed articles around other cities and states, it seems to me that in every case there is a question of how to provide evidentiary support when the case comes down to consent, "he added.

Baker stressed that his views are his own and not those of the police department.

Unlike other crimes, there are usually no witnesses in sexual assaults.

Most of the assaults occur in houses or residences where there are no surveillance cameras, Baker recalled.

Some reports are made weeks after the incidents, making it difficult to collect forensic evidence.

Only 9% of sexual assaults on women in Texas are committed by people the victims do not know, according to research from the University of Texas.

The figures are similar across the country.

Former New York Police Officer Jillian Snider, a professor at the John Jay School of Criminal Justice, said: "Even though the TV series

makes it seem like it happens all the time, it's very rare." .

When a victim meets the abuser, proving that there was no consent can be challenging.

According to experts, less than 20% of rapes are reported to the police.

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Sergeant Christopher Adams, who heads the Dallas police unit that handles sex crimes, said his team of detectives is also often hampered by victims changing their minds about the allegation.

“It is not about blaming them in any way: it is a very traumatic event, and many times they do not want to think about it.

They talk to a patrol officer - and then they kind of disappear, ”he said.

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Victim advocates and government data analysts in Wisconsin and Vermont, where arrest and rape resolution rates in 2019 were above the national average, said they were unaware that their states had made arrests to an above-average rate and they had no definitive explanations.

Donegan noted that the most important step in improving case outcomes is training detectives to believe victims.

"If we invest in these cases, we would be much more advanced," he said.

"Most sex crime units do the best they can, and follow the directions of their supervisors," he added.

Shima Baradaran Baughman, a University of Utah law professor who studies rape resolution rates, said: "The problem of solving more crimes is not just about prosecutors or more police, but about better police investigation."

The Governor's Response

Texas lawmakers have pushed through strong laws against sexual assault, such as one in 2019 that required the governor to create a task force for survivors of sexual assault and another that required all rape kits to be shipped to crime labs in within 90 days of collection.

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As a result, delivery of rape kits has improved in Dallas, according to police, but in Houston, according to Baker, delays can still be up to 11 months.

Labs are sometimes so busy that kits are outsourced to a private lab in Virginia, further delaying results.

Joe Pojman, founder of the Texas Alliance for Life, which supports a ban on abortion in all cases, including rape, said he agrees with Abbott's goal of cracking down on sexual assault.

"I congratulate the governor for doing everything possible to ensure that the rapist is convicted: justice must be done with the rapist, and it must be very public to be a deterrent," he said.

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An Abbott spokesperson said in a statement that "the governor has stood up for the safety of all Texans, and has especially focused on protecting and supporting women who may be victims of sexual assault."

The spokesman said Abbott blocked efforts to "defund the police" so that law enforcement agencies have "the resources to fight these crimes and investigate the violations."

But for Dallas police sergeant Adams, improvement is elusive.

"Obviously, we would love for [the resolution rate] to be much higher," he said.

“But do I think they are doing the best job they can?

Yes, one hundred percent.

We are doing everything we can do ”.