SAN ANTONIO - It's being herald by some state lawmakers as long overdue justice for thousands of Texas rape victims.
A bill requiring all rape kits be tested has made its way to the Governor Rick Perry’s desk -- awaiting his signature before becoming law.
The Texas Senate and then this week the House passed the bill that was spurred by a 2009 CBS investigation.
Fort Worth Senator Wendy Davis first wrote this bill after the CBS investigation revealed thousand of rape kits across the country had gone untested, including more than 5,000 in San Antonio.
"If we have DNA evidence that's been collected but not tested, we are not doing what we need to do for victim or for persons who are accused of committing these crimes," said Davis.
As a result of the CBS investigation, the San Antonio Police Department went back and tested all kits where the suspect was unknown.
However, thousands of kits in cases where the suspect is known still have not been tested.
Like many law enforcement agencies across Texas, SAPD contends there's little benefit to testing those.
"Not testing a kit in some regards is betrayal of a victim’s trust," said Lynn Blanco with the San Antonio Rape Crisis Center.
Blanco said a benefit in testing all kits is the potential of catching a serial rapist.
"We have seen that studies are showing that perpetrators, even in known cases, are perpetrators in other cases as well, so they are making connections," said Blanco.
“When you tested my kit you told me you care," said Lavinia Masters.
Masters’ rape kit, taken after an attack in Dallas when she was 13-years-old, went untested for nearly two decades before it was finally tested.
Even though it was too late to prosecute her attacker, Masters said her life change when she found out his identity.
"It was just like I picked right back up when I was 13-years-old,” she said. “I am just enjoying life now. It is an awesome feeling."
If Perry signs the bill, SAPD will have 30 days to turn over all of its untested kits to the Texas Department of Public Safety to be tested.
Each kit costs nearly a thousand dollars to be tested.
It’s still unknown where DPS will come up with the funds to pay for all the tests.
