VENTURA, CA. – Sheriff Bill Ayub and District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today the award of nearly $2.5 million from the United States Department of Justice to help identify sexual offenders and bring justice to victims. The Sheriff’s Office Forensic Services Bureau, with assistance from the District Attorney’s Office, applied for a grant under the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). These grant funds will provide resources for Ventura County to:
- Inventory and test all untested sexual assault kits in the possession of Ventura County law enforcement agencies;
- Create procedures to ensure that sexual assault kits are tested in a timely fashion;
- Apply new forensic technologies to unsolved sexual assault cases;
- Create a new cold case sexual assault unit within the District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute previously unsolved sexual assault cases; and
- Provide victim advocacy and counseling to sexual assault victims whose kits are tested under this initiative.
“This grant funding will improve our capabilities to investigate some of the most difficult and sensitive criminal cases,” said Sheriff Ayub. “We take pride in keeping crime at some of the lowest levels in the nation. Our collaboration with stakeholders, such as the District Attorney’s Office, in aggressively seeking grant funds plays a key role in keeping crime low in our communities.”
“The trauma suffered by victims of sexual assault often stays with them for the rest of their lives,” said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “Through this grant, we hope to identify more offenders and bring them to justice by uploading suspect profiles to statewide and national databases for comparison against other crimes.”
We will work together with the following agencies and organizations to implement the grant objectives:
- Oxnard Police Department
- Port Hueneme Police Department
- Santa Paula Police Department
- Simi Valley Police Department
- Ventura Police Department
- Coalition for Family Harmony
- Ventura County Health Care Agency
Additional services for all victims of sexual assault as well as victims of domestic violence, child abuse, elder and dependent adult abuse, human trafficking, hate crimes, and other violent crimes are available through the Ventura County Family Justice Center. All services are free of charge and confidential. More information is available at https://vcfjc.org/
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