Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office successfully secured a conviction for sexual assault against Lonny Ray Caldwell. Caldwell pled guilty after the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) SAFE Kit Initiative obtained a CODIS hit that matched his DNA.
“This is a significant achievement from our SAFE Kit Initiative. I am proud of my team of professionals who are dedicated to achieving real results for victims of sexual assault,” said Attorney General Bailey. “We will continue to partner with local law enforcement and prosecutors to obtain justice for victims.”
Court records show that on April 8, 2001, Caldwell, who was 30 years old at the time, drugged a 17-year-old victim before sexually assaulting her. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation, and the sexual assault kit was collected at the hospital on the date of the incident.
As part of his effort to address the backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Missouri, Attorney General Bailey’s SAFE Kit team sent the kit for testing on March 4, 2022. Two months later, the lab confirmed that the DNA matched Caldwell. The Attorney General’s Office promptly informed the investigative agency and the Boone County prosecutor.
Caldwell pled guilty to sexual assault four days before his trial date, appearing before Judge Kevin M. Crane in the Boone County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The SAFE Kit Initiative team sent the final batch of untested sexual assault kits to the lab for testing on March 22, 2024. To date, the cleared SAFE kit backlog has resulted in 1,175 CODIS uploads, 557 CODIS hits, four felony convictions, and seven pending court cases set for trial or with warrants issued. This milestone was achieved through the collaboration and support of Missouri’s law enforcement and hospital partners.
