PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man was sentenced to prison on Tuesday after results from a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence kit found he assaulted a teen in 2007, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced.
Authorities identified the man as 40-year-old Ricky Harrison who was sentenced to 70 months in prison for first degree attempted sodomy.
Harrison is currently in prison in Washington state for his role in a deadly car crash. But the reason it took law enforcement so long to catch him in this case was due to backlogged rape kits.
In a hand-written letter to a Multnomah County judge, Audryanna Waldron shared a glimpse of the emotional pain she’s battled for 15 years.
“Your Honor, 15 years and 12 days ago, my life changed in many ways. The defendant, Mr. Harrison, sodomized me and the system failed me. I haven’t been the same since,” Waldron said.
In 2007, then 15-year-old Waldron was walking near Lloyd Center in northeast Portland where she came across Harrison, who she didn’t know, and he raped her.
Waldron reported the assault to Portland police. In her victim impact letter, Waldron says the officer took the report quickly and made her feel like a burden.
After evidence was collected for a rape kit, she didn’t hear from police for years. She says “I was completely set aside and forgotten like many other victims.”
In 2015, the state discovered a backlog of more than 5,000 Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence (SAFE) kits. Back then, the Multnomah County DA’s office played a critical role in helping test years’ worth of kits from across the state – including Waldrons – through the Sexual Assault Kit Backlog Elimination Project.
The case was reopened after Harrison’s DNA was taken from a SAFE kit which determined he assaulted Waldron.
In September of 2018, Harrison was indicted for assaulting Waldron and in early February 2022, he accepted a plea offer and was sentenced this week.
In her victim impact statement, Waldron also wrote “after all these years, after half of my life, I am finally finding closure from all of this. I still have a long road ahead of me but one day I will get there.”
In 2016, Oregon passed what’s known as Melissa’s Law that’s aimed at preventing future backlog of rape kits. Since then, it’s been seen as a model for similar programs across the country.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Tara Gardner said “you cannot foster healing or build trust without acknowledgment of harm. Ms. Waldron waited fifteen painful years for her day in court. The system-wide efforts of this office and other law enforcement agencies to prioritize SAFE Kit testing means that survivors, including Ms. Waldron, can finally see justice. Today’s outcome was exactly that.”
The Multnomah County DA’s office added that results from kits are still being investigated and survivors of sexual assaults are being notified.
National Sexual Assault hotline
The Portland Police Bureau’s Sex Crimes Unit encourages those who have had a SAFE kit collected prior to 2015 to contact the roseproject@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0125.