JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – State Attorney Angela Corey announced Thursday that Jacksonville's cold case sexual assault unit will be funded by a $2 million federal grant awarded to the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which includes Duval, Nassau and Clay counties.
Corey plans to share the money among her office, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in order to test backlogged rape kits and prosecute the new cases.
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The federal dollars will help establish a cold case unit by creating new positions. Those jobs include a special prosecutor and investigator at the State Attorney's Office, plus two new JSO sex crime detectives and several victim advocates.
"We're very pleased to take on the responsibility and the privilege of using taxpayer money to go after these violent rapists," Corey said. "It's going to go a long way for justice."
Sheriff Mike Williams was also present for the announcement, along with representatives from the FDLE.
Williams told News4Jax Wednesday that in Jacksonville and across the country, the ball had been dropped on testing older rape kits. He said there's a need for greater manpower.
"As you test new kits, you build new cases that have to be followed up on," Williams said.
Corey's district was the only one in Florida to receive the federal funding and one of only 20 offices nationally.
It was estimated it would take two years to clear the local backlog.
Prosecutors said Thursday that nearly 1,000 new sexual assault cases were reported in Jacksonville from August 2014 to mid-July 2015. Corey also touted her office successes, adding the Fourth Judicial Circuit has a conviction rate of nearly 65 percent, which she said is among the highest in the state of Florida.