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Boise lawmaker steps in after Idaho woman has to pay for rape kit

A local lawmaker is stepping in after a woman says she had to pay $400 for a rape kit bill stemming from an incident in Coeur d' Alene in 2014.

A Facebook post by a north Idaho woman has been shared over 2,000 times, probably because of her shocking claim.

Her post reads, "I JUST PAID 400 DOLLARS TO GET RAPED."

Kara Burnham, who now lives in Eugene, claims she had to pay $400 for a rape kit exam, after she was sexually assaulted in 2014 in Coeur d' Alene.

Burnham told our sister station KREM 2 NEWS that to make matters worse, she is now out the money and her rapist still hasn't been charged.

KTVB learned Wednesday that a local lawmaker has decided to step in.

Boise Rep. Melissa Wintrow chalks it up to an error because of the state’s lack of protocol.

According to KREM 2 NEWS, a rape kit exam was performed on Kara Burnham as part of a rape investigation in Coeur d'Alene in 2014.

Burnham was shocked when a $400 came in the mail after she was told it would be covered

"Then I couldn't ever get a hold of anyone about it. Basically, I couldn't pay," Burnham says.

Burnham says she was given the runaround when trying to file a claim with Idaho's Crime Victim Compensation.

"Mostly what had happened was I contacted a person, who would tell me to contact someone else, who would tell me to contact a third person, who would send me back to the first person, who would send me to a new person."

Burnham reluctantly ended up paying the bill after her credit score took a hit.

“In this case I'm guessing what would happen is there is probably just an error, and the fact that she got billed when she never should have gotten billed, that should have gone to victim's compensation and it didn't,” says Wintrow.

Wintrow thinks the cost of rape kit exams should be billed directly to the state instead of Idaho's Crime Victim Compensation Program, which is funded by court fees and a federal grant.

“I think the way to make this never happen again is take any opportunity for error out and make the state just pay for it, and no bills are going to victims comp and no bill are going to any victims,” says Wintrow.

Wintrow got involved after being tagged in the comments on Burnham’s viral post.

In the past she has worked on legislation dealing with rape kit protocols.

Wintrow has since been with in contact with Burnham.

In the next legislative session, Wintrow plans to introduce a measure that puts in place a statewide protocol for how rape kits are processed and how they are billed to ensure this never happens again.

“I feel like this is an opportunity to go forward positively, this person was victimized and she took the courage to post on Facebook, so the hope is that she finds justice and that she is helped,” says Wintrow.

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