University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 15, 1992
5
7-year-old boys await rape charges
First-grade classmate allegedly was victim
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rape charges are pending against two 7-year-old boys who allegedly attacked a first-grade classmate in a public school restroom.
"It is hard to believe, isn't it?" said
cook Thomas. "It's a bit scary, but
he boasts himself in investigation."
Authorities think the incident is the first involving suspects so young. *I*
think our youngest was a 10-year-old charged a couple of months ago with rape. "Chavers said.
The boys, whose names were not made public because of their age, were arrested Monday, appeared in juvenile court and were released to their parents for formal home detention during further court proceedings.
Notrial dates were set.
The alleged attack occurred during school hours March 26 at a school in a working-class neighborhood on the city's east side.
girl "was able to give what we feel is a very clear statement about what happened."
The prosecutor said the 6-year-old
Verda Bowman, who is in her first year as principal at the school, said Tuesday that all three children were undergoing professional counseling. She declined to say whether the victim was back at school, but said the boys were not.
"Our victim is doing as well as can be expected, considering the circumstances." Chavers said.
Teachers, aides and parents have always patrolled the halls and no additional security measures have
been taken at the school, which has an enrollment of about 350 in grades kindergarten through six, Bowman said.
"It's just very sad. We have a really nice school," the principal said.
State law bars youths under age 12 from serving time. If the boys were to be convicted, sentencing options could range from probation with counseling to placement in a group detention home, Chavers said.
The case baffled even seasoned investigators, Chavers said.
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Genetic fingerprinting is a reliable and valid way of convicting the guilty and freeing the innocent, and should continue to be used in courts, a National Research Council report said yesterday.
The report said that genetic identification techniques now in use are good but that they could be improved by setting a national standard for laboratory techniques and by the certification of lab personnel.
"We think it is a powerful tool for criminal investigation and for exonervation of innocent individuals
"We did not say that courts should cease to admit this evidence," McKusick said.
Genetic codes ruled valid in court cases
and one that should be used even as standards are strengthened," said Victor McKusick, head of the NRC panel of expects that conducted a two-year study.
McKusick, a Johns Hopkins University gene expert, said that the committee found no reason to call for a halt in use of the current genetic identification system, called DNA fingerprinting. He also said that the committee found no reason for courts to re-examine past criminal cases that have been influenced by DNA fingerprinting evidence.
"We recommend that courts accept the reliability of the technology and recognize that current laboratory techniques are fundamentally sound," McKusick said.
The statement came at a news conference organized, McKusick said.
to correct a published account of the committee's findings in yesterday's New York Times.
Study was reported incorrectly in yesterday's New York Times
"It seriously misrepresents our findings," he said. "The impression it gives about our conclusions is misleading."
Gina Kolata, who wrote the Times' account, said she stood by her story. She said she read parts of the report to prosecuting and defense attorneys and law professors and asked them, "What does this mean to you?"
A representative for the National Academy of Sciences, of which the NRC is a part, said the final report, with the conclusions discussed by McKusick, was not released until yesterday.
The report said that the reliability of DNA fingerprinting evidence depended upon the quality of work in laboratories that apply the genetic technology. The committee said that setting standards and requiring
certification of personnel would help assure the technical quality of the evidence.
DNA fingerprinting is a method of matching an individual with biological evidence gathered at a crime scene. It is based on the fact that the genetic pattern, as carried in the molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, in every cell, is unique for each person, except for identical twins.
By comparing the DNA pattern from the blood of a suspect with samples recovered at a scene, experts can determine if there is a match. Crime scene samples that can be used include bits of skin, semen, blood or hair.
Individual genetic differences can occur at 3 million or more different markers within the DNA structure. The technique, as now applied, generally uses only a small set of genetic comparisons and then extrapolates the odds of there being a match.
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