Cold Case Sexual Assault Investigations

Detective Crystal D. Bowen-Carter was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. After graduating from Buchtel High School, she attended the University of Akron and majored in Social Work. She also worked towards earning a degree in Business Administration. Her goals were to enter a field of work where she could help others and strive to make a difference in someone else's life. However, after an injury due to a car accident, she was forced to change some of those plans. In 1989, Detective Carter began her employment as a radio room technician in the Akron Police Department's Radio Room. She answered emergency calls from citizens for nearly a year before becoming an actual dispatcher. In 1992, Detective Carter went through 16 weeks of extensive training to become a sworn police officer for the City of Akron. After becoming a police officer, Detective Carter worked in patrol for nearly two years. She did a short stint as a School Resource Officer before going into the Crime Scene Unit (CSU) for a year. While in CSU, she documented crime scenes by taking photographs and lifting fingerprints. Feeling she wanted to try something different, Detective Carter began working in the Crimes Against Persons Unit afternoon shift. There, she helped victims of major crimes including, but not limited to sexual assaults and robberies. She also worked on and helped solve several homicides . In 2002, Detective Carter transferred into the Juvenile Bureau. Working closely with juvenile crime victims, her primary concern was to give juvenile victims a voice when they may not have one or were unable to speak. She worked with juveniles who were physically or sexually abused, juveniles who were trafficked, and on cases where juveniles were killed at the hands of another. While in the Juvenile Bureau, she was sworn into the United States Marshall's Service and worked temporarily with the Northeast Ohio Fugitive Task Force to capture a suspect she had profiled on the department's first America's Most Wanted Show. Detective Carter worked on several highly profiled cases while working in the Juvenile Bureau. In 2018, the Akron Police Department won a grant from the Department of Justice to investigate cold case sexual assaults. The grant funded the Akron Police Department's Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). Detective Carter is one of four detectives selected to work in the unit. Detective Carter was a member of the Summit County Human Trafficking Task Force. She is currently a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team, where she is a former Board Member. Detective Carter also works with other area agencies in Summit County's Assist 77. In her spare time, Detective Carter enjoys spending time with her husband Raymond, two young adult children, Ravyn and Isaiah, and green cheek conure, Danny. She also enjoys reading, shopping, cooking, and playing video games. She believes in giving back to the community and speaks to area children in schools about sexting, human trafficking, and sexual assault. At one time, she was a mentor for students in the Akron Public School system. She enjoys attending functions that promote Akron's youth.