04/20/2007

Freemont Tribune
By TAMMY REAL-MCKEIGH / TRIBUNE STAFF

Many are afraid of reporting sexual assault

Are more sexual assaults occurring today than in the past?

There's no clear answer.

"I don't know if there are more assaults. I think people are becoming more willing to make a report to the police," said Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan.

"But I think there are still a large number of people who are reluctant to report for a variety of reasons."

Vaughan, who has served as county attorney for five years, said he handles about 30 sexual assault cases a year. He has seen an increase in statutory rape - cases, for instance, where the victim is 15 years old and the perpetrator is 19. Because of the victim's age, the case is a criminal offense whether or nor force is involved.

"We've seen a lot more of those kinds of cases," he said. However, Vaughan said he isn't noticing a major increase of forcible sexual assault cases. He probably sees fewer than 10 of those cases a year.

Is it because there are fewer cases - or are people afraid to report them?

That's hard to say.

But Vaughan knows why some people might not report such crimes.

For one, victims may not think they can prove a sexual assault occurred.

"So often you're talking about one person's word against another," Vaughan said.

And it's true that even before a case can be prosecuted, the county attorney must decide if there is sufficient evidence to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

"I think there are a lot of sexual assaults that simply cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen," he said.

That's one reason why Vaughan encourages victims to report the crime as soon as possible, within 10 to 12 hours of the assault.

Victims need anything that can corroborate their claim, such as DNA, to prove sexual contact or injuries to the victim consistent with force or violence involved.

Problems arise when victims wait to report the crime.

"I think the single biggest hurdle to presenting a provable case is when people wait for weeks or months - because all of the corroborating evidence is usually gone by that time," he said.

Juries take into account complaints made in a timely manner. Complaints made later can pose a major hurdle for the victim.

On the prosecution side, attorneys consider the suspects and how they conduct themselves in an investigation. A disproved alibi may show that the alleged perpetrator is trying to cover up something. Some brag about what they've done.

Even if enough evidence is collected to prosecute a case, some victims still may not want to endure the proceedings.

"These are hard cases for everybody involved and I think that the toughest part is preparing a victim for what's going to happen in this process," Vaughan said. "I meet with them and discuss how things happen."

Sometimes victims decide not to go ahead with the proceedings. Others say they will deal with the circumstances and proceed with the case.

Either way, Vaughan wants them to know what they will face.

"It's an adversarial process," he said. "People need to understand that it isn't always nice to have to go through."

Defense attorneys put the victim on trial. They ask victims why they didn't take certain steps to prevent the rape. They may ask victims about any history of mental illness or psychological problems.

"They will look into everything in your background to try to develop ways to call your credibility into question," he said. "Most of us couldn't undergo a thorough scrutiny of everything in our background and not be worried that something is going to be discovered and so that's kind of intimidating to people."

A rape shield law is designed to protect sexual assault victims from grueling cross-examination about previous sexual behavior.

"It helps limit inquiries that defense counsel can make about (the victim's) sexual history, but it's not absolute, and there are times when some previous sexual history might be seen as relevant by a judge - and they might have to answer a question," he said.

One of those times might be if the victim had a previous intimate relationship with the defendant.

Vaughan still believes the law is helpful in most cases, minimizing the type of questions that can be asked about a victim's sexual history if it has no relevance to the current crime.

Even so, Vaughan's had victims who've regretted taking the stand.

"I've had situations where at the end of the case, (they said), 'If I'd known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have gone through with this.'"

With that said, the county attorney still hopes victims will see the case through so perpetrators won't continue committing their crimes - and hurting more people.

"And I think," he added, "depending on the person, it can be empowering and can help with the healing.

"I think a lot of victims don't do anything and live with scars for years and then have problems later on in life because they didn't deal with the sexual assault upfront," he said.

Vaughan credits the Crisis Center for Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault for its work in helping victims.

"Whether it's prosecuted or not, I think it's important that people be able to report it and get help from professionals who know what you have to do to heal," he said.

The process n start to finish

The legal process - from the time a crime is committed to sentencing - involves various steps.

They include:

• The investigation: When a rape is reported, police conduct an investigation. Sometimes they arrest a suspect. Sometimes they submit a request for an arrest warrant to be issued. "In either case, we evaluate the reports to see if the evidence is sufficient to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt," Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan said. "If we don't believe there's enough evidence, we usually ask police to conduct additional investigation to get more evidence or clarify areas of the case that we might see as having problems."
• The complaint: If adequate evidence exists, the county attorney's office files a formal, written complaint with the court. The court appoints an attorney if the defendant lacks the funds to hire a lawyer.
• The arraignment and preliminary hearing: An arraignment takes place and the defendant is advised of the charges, possible penalties and his Constitutional rights. The court then schedules a preliminary hearing (set about three weeks later) during which Vaughan must present the evidence necessary to establish probable cause and hold the person for trial on the charges.
• The preliminary period: This can take several months because generally the defense attorney files several motions to ask for evidence suppression or what will - or won't - be admissible in court. Depositions of witnesses will be taken. If the case isn't resolved, a trial is scheduled.
• The trial: "We have to produce evidence from witnesses who have firsthand knowledge of the case, the victim, the police who investigated the case, doctors and nurses who might have participated in an exam of the victim and expert witnesses who conduct scientific testing like DNA," he said. Once the state has presented its evidence, the defense can present its case. Then each side makes a closing argument to the jury, which deliberates.
• The verdict: Any criminal case requires a unanimous verdict. Sometimes a jury will become deadlocked and the judge will declare a mistrial, which allows the possibility of going through a trial with a different jury.
• The penalties: Possible penalties can range from a minimum of one year to a maximum of 50 years in prison. Judges weigh different factors when determining a sentence.