Police reportedly link woman to crime using DNA taken from her rape kit

San Francisco district attorney says it was possibly a rights violation and could deter sexual assault victims from speaking out

San Francisco police used DNA collected as part of a rape exam to link a woman to a crime, possibly violating her constitutional rights, the city's district attorney alleged on Monday.

The department's crime lab entered the DNA profiles of potentially thousands of sexual assault victims over many years" to a database that is used to identify suspects, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. District attorney Chesa Boudin, who said his office first learned of the practice last week, told the newspaper such use of victims' DNA could violate the California's Victims' Bill of Rights as well as constitutional laws related to unreasonable searches and seizures.