Casey, David G. and Domijan, Katarina and MacNeill, Sarah and Rizet, Damien and O'Connell, Declan and Ryan, Jennifer M. (2017) The Persistence of Sperm and the Development of Time Since Intercourse (TSI) Guidelines in Sexual Assault Cases at Forensic Science Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 62 (3). pp. 585-592. ISSN 0022-1198

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Abstract

The persistence of sperm using confirmatory microscopic analysis, the persistence of sperm with tails, time since intercourse (TSI) analysis, and results from the acid phosphatase (AP) reaction from approximately 5581 swabs taken from circa 1450 sexual assault cases are presented. The observed proportions of sperm in the vagina and anus declines significantly after 48 h TSI, and sperm on oral swabs were observed up to 15 h TSI. The AP reaction as a predictor of sperm on intimate swabs is questioned. All AP reaction times gave a low true positive rate; 23% of sperm‐positive swabs gave a negative AP reaction time. We show the AP reaction is an unsafe and an unreliable predictor of sperm on intimate swabs. We propose that TSI not AP informs precase assessment and the evaluative approach for sexual assault cases. To help inform an evaluative approach, TSI guidelines are presented.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	forensic science; sexual assaults; persistence of sperm; time since intercourse; acid phosphatase; expert evaluative opinion;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Mathematics and Statistics
Item ID:	10013
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13325
Depositing User:	Katarina Domijan
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2018 13:38
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Forensic Sciences
Publisher:	Wiley
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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