Pagan Kennedy

But what's really depressing is that almost as soon as the rape kit system existed, the there were backlogs. Or I should say, as soon as DNA identification became possible, there were backlogs because it was expensive to do especially in the early 1990s, if you think about how expensive that would be. And so almost immediately, it was in the news. I found the news stories.

But what's really depressing is that almost as soon as the rape kit system existed, the there were backlogs. Or I should say, as soon as DNA identification became possible, there were backlogs because it was expensive to do especially in the early 1990s, if you think about how expensive that would be. And so almost immediately, it was in the news. I found the news stories.

But it wasn't really on anybody's radar that immediately there were backlogged kits and untested kits. And people who were very upset about that, you know, often people who were detectives or worked in crime labs were trying to raise this issue, but it just didn't get any traction, I think, until Kim Worthy and other people in Detroit really made it an issue. Prosecutor Kim Worthy. Yes.

But it wasn't really on anybody's radar that immediately there were backlogged kits and untested kits. And people who were very upset about that, you know, often people who were detectives or worked in crime labs were trying to raise this issue, but it just didn't get any traction, I think, until Kim Worthy and other people in Detroit really made it an issue. Prosecutor Kim Worthy. Yes.

But it wasn't really on anybody's radar that immediately there were backlogged kits and untested kits. And people who were very upset about that, you know, often people who were detectives or worked in crime labs were trying to raise this issue, but it just didn't get any traction, I think, until Kim Worthy and other people in Detroit really made it an issue. Prosecutor Kim Worthy. Yes.

Yes. So when I went back to write the book, I really was wrestling with whether I should talk about what had happened to me. And, you know, I was just in two separate incidents when I was a child. I was molested and I struggled with that because I felt like what happened to me was like the normal amount of sexual assault. I mean, it was like what it wasn't extraordinary.

Yes. So when I went back to write the book, I really was wrestling with whether I should talk about what had happened to me. And, you know, I was just in two separate incidents when I was a child. I was molested and I struggled with that because I felt like what happened to me was like the normal amount of sexual assault. I mean, it was like what it wasn't extraordinary.

Yes. So when I went back to write the book, I really was wrestling with whether I should talk about what had happened to me. And, you know, I was just in two separate incidents when I was a child. I was molested and I struggled with that because I felt like what happened to me was like the normal amount of sexual assault. I mean, it was like what it wasn't extraordinary.

And there's so many survivors involved. who have been through so much worse. And I didn't even think of myself as a survivor, really. It just, you know, it seemed to me like I was, you know, I didn't deserve that label. But as I thought more about it, as I was telling the story, I kept realizing that as I'm telling the story of Marty Goddard's Marching into the police department or whatever.

And there's so many survivors involved. who have been through so much worse. And I didn't even think of myself as a survivor, really. It just, you know, it seemed to me like I was, you know, I didn't deserve that label. But as I thought more about it, as I was telling the story, I kept realizing that as I'm telling the story of Marty Goddard's Marching into the police department or whatever.

And there's so many survivors involved. who have been through so much worse. And I didn't even think of myself as a survivor, really. It just, you know, it seemed to me like I was, you know, I didn't deserve that label. But as I thought more about it, as I was telling the story, I kept realizing that as I'm telling the story of Marty Goddard's Marching into the police department or whatever.

I'm a little kid at that time and I'm grappling with what has happened to me and unable to tell the adults because it's a time when it's very clear you can't tell, you shouldn't tell because what happened, even if the adults are trying their best, they're not going to be able to hear it.

I'm a little kid at that time and I'm grappling with what has happened to me and unable to tell the adults because it's a time when it's very clear you can't tell, you shouldn't tell because what happened, even if the adults are trying their best, they're not going to be able to hear it.

I'm a little kid at that time and I'm grappling with what has happened to me and unable to tell the adults because it's a time when it's very clear you can't tell, you shouldn't tell because what happened, even if the adults are trying their best, they're not going to be able to hear it.

So I thought that I would weave in my own story just a bit to just be another thread that really gets across what that time was like. And what's amazing looking back is I realize I don't think I really knew that sexual assault was a crime until I got to college in the 1980s. And we were all talking about it then.

So I thought that I would weave in my own story just a bit to just be another thread that really gets across what that time was like. And what's amazing looking back is I realize I don't think I really knew that sexual assault was a crime until I got to college in the 1980s. And we were all talking about it then.

So I thought that I would weave in my own story just a bit to just be another thread that really gets across what that time was like. And what's amazing looking back is I realize I don't think I really knew that sexual assault was a crime until I got to college in the 1980s. And we were all talking about it then.

And so I think my experience stands in for the experience of so many other people who something happens to you when you're very young and you think it's all your fault. But then as an adult, you find out, oh, this was a crime and that person was a criminal in the eyes of the law. And that actually, I feel like that's so important. I mean, it's such a small thing to ask for, but it's so important.

And so I think my experience stands in for the experience of so many other people who something happens to you when you're very young and you think it's all your fault. But then as an adult, you find out, oh, this was a crime and that person was a criminal in the eyes of the law. And that actually, I feel like that's so important. I mean, it's such a small thing to ask for, but it's so important.

And so I think my experience stands in for the experience of so many other people who something happens to you when you're very young and you think it's all your fault. But then as an adult, you find out, oh, this was a crime and that person was a criminal in the eyes of the law. And that actually, I feel like that's so important. I mean, it's such a small thing to ask for, but it's so important.