First conviction, sentence comes from backlogged testing of sexual-assault kits.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

A Waupaca Countycourt handed down the first conviction and sentence resulting from the testing of a backlog of thousands of sexual-assault kitsin Wisconsin.

In November, aWaupaca County judge sentenced 51-year-old Leroy Whittenberger to 25 years in prison for the assault of a teenager in July 2012.Attorney General Josh Kaul said thevictim's sexual-assault kit was tested as part of the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative in 2017.

The state Justice Department completed testing ona backlog of nearly 4,500 sexual assault kits in November.The results led toa dozen criminal cases, including the case against Whittenberger.

Kaul and victim advocates are calling on Republicans to take action on a bill meant to prevent future backlogs...