Survivors find strength to deal with aftermath of assaults / LJWorld.com

Archive for Sunday, March 1, 2009

Dozens of women are sexually assaulted every year in Lawrence.

March 1, 2009

Sexual Assaults in Lawrence: Not an uncommon crime

In the past five years, more than 450 adult sexual assaults have been reported in Lawrence. There's a rape in Lawrence every four days. Each case represents an instance where someone’s life has been irrevocably changed. LJWorld.com, the Lawrence Journal-World and 6News are taking a deeper look at what those numbers really mean.

Photo by Philip Heying

Tamara Werth, pictured recently in her office, is a Lawrence psychotherapist who helps survivors of sexual assault deal with the psychological aftermath of assault.

Thirty years ago on a chilly December night, Kathy dozed off on the living room couch in her east Lawrence home. She awoke to a stranger on top of her.

He threatened her with a knife. She feared for her life. He raped her. When he was finished, he stuck the knife down the front of her dress, threw an afghan over her head and bolted for the door.

The attack lasted only a few moments but it affected the rest of her life.

“It is always on my mind,” said Kathy, not her real name. “It is an important part of my identity. The biggest part of it was someone was going to kill me and I decided I didn’t want to die, so I let the rape happen.”

Kathy, who was 25 at the time, was one of six women Charles Hunter raped or attempted to rape in December 1978. In the days that followed her assault, she worked with police to help catch him, testified at his trial and started the lifelong process of healing.

During the assault, Kathy said she had an out-of-body experience where she floated to the ceiling and watched as the attack took place below her. As she looked on, she told herself “don’t let it (mess) you up.”

The act of a sexual assault — and the process that follows — irrevocably changes lives, Lawrence psychotherapist Tamara Werth said.

“I believe the majority of people would agree ... they are very different after the assault than before it,” she said.

Gathering evidence

If Emily Lentz had one piece of advice to pass along to fellow survivors of a sexual assault, it would be to go to the hospital immediately so evidence can be collected.

In fall 1995, Lentz was visiting friends at KU. After a night out, she was split from her group and arrived to an empty house at 3 a.m. Like Kathy, she awoke to a stranger on top of her. She tried to fight and was certain she was about to die.

After the attack, the rapist said he may or may not leave.

Unsure of what to do, she waited before pulling off the blindfold and running to a friend’s house, where she called police and then went to the hospital.

“That’s what really saved me in this whole case,” she said.

The DNA samples collected at the hospital as part of a sexual assault kit helped put the assailant, Cory Elkins, in prison more than a decade later.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital has nurses on call around the clock to gather evidence for sexual assault kits. A police report doesn’t have to be filed for a kit to be collected. And the Kansas Bureau of Investigation will keep the evidence even if a report isn’t made. Survivors are given a number for the kits in case they ever want to press charges.

Gail Ciesielski is one of several sexual assault nurse examiners at LMH trained to gather evidence and may even be called to give testimony in court. She advises survivors to come in as soon as possible because evidence can be gone within 72 hours.

Exams can take 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the amount of evidence gathered and the pace at which the patient wants to move. The kit provides pouches for samples of blood, hair, fingernail scrapings, semen and fiber. Often the clothing that the survivor was wearing and even the clothes worn to the hospital are taken as evidence.

“You need to come in so your story can be corroborated with your testimony,” fellow sexual assault nurse examiner Jessie Fazel said. “The physical evidence can seal the deal versus the ‘he said, she said.’”

Navigating the system

When it comes to seeing their offenders punished for the crime, Lentz and Kathy are among the fortunate few. Both saw their assailants sentenced to prison.

But the vast majority of sexual assaults don’t end that way. In Douglas County, only 10 percent of reported cases result in an arrest, according to KBI data.

Along with evidence from the rape kit, to help solve the case the police department will canvass the area and interview witnesses and suspects, Lawrence police Sgt. Bill Cory said.

“We take all these crimes, stranger or nonstranger, very serious. We do a complete and thorough investigation; we understand the sensitive nature of these cases and the fragility of the victims in these cases,” he said.

Both Lentz and Kathy worked closely with police. Kathy was hypnotized so she could better describe her attacker.

Lentz — after seeing an “Oprah” show about old cases that were solved with advancements in DNA technology — called the KBI nine years after her attack. The agency referred her to Lawrence police Sgt. Dan Ward.

“He put up with my persistence and me being pretty obsessive about it, pushing and calling and asking, ‘Have you heard anything,’” Lentz said.

Eventually they did.

The DNA from Lentz’s attack matched a man who had been arrested in California. Last May, the evidence from Lentz and another victim was enough to put Elkins in prison for 48 years.

The trial

Throughout the justice process, victims are asked to tell and retell their stories. Among the most traumatic moments can be in front of a judge, jury and the accused.

Cindy Riling helps usher survivors through the court process as a victim’s advocate in the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

“They can be really brutalized on the stand, and we make sure they are not blind-sided by that,” Riling said.

Kathy described the court process as painful. While on the stand, she stared into her father’s eyes for support.

“I didn’t get to speak freely. You only answer what they decide to ask you,” she said.

For Lentz, who spoke at Elkins’ sentencing, the experience was empowering.

“Rape is a crime of control, more than a sex thing. You feel like your power, your ability to make choices is taken away,” Lentz said. “I got most of that back. I’m in control now. I won.”

Gathering strength

With the sexual assault, Lentz and Kathy said their sense of safety was shattered. To this day, Lentz double-checks to make sure her doors are locked.

“I feel safe now, but I’ll always be looking over my shoulder,” she said. “That is part of who I am. It will always be. I can’t erase it.”

In the days following the attack, Lentz feared she was being followed and would stay awake at night, frightened by the noises she heard. For years, she obsessively scrutinized people’s hands, one of her attacker’s features she could distinctly remember.

Kathy described having an uncontrollable anger shortly after the incident. Once she beat a phone to pieces after an argument with a friend. Before the trial, she had fantasies about pulling a gun out while testifying on the stand and confronting her attacker.

As in other instances of life or death, sexual assault victims can suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. Years, even decades, later, certain smells, sights and sounds can trigger memories of the attack.

Along with PTSD comes paranoia, hyper-vigilance and distrust, said Werth, the psychotherapist. The overwhelming emotion after the attack is one of shame and with it can come hatred and rage.

For women, those emotions are often self-directed and they can continue the process of self-degradation emotionally, physically or sexually. It’s an act that can lead to drug abuse or a series of failed relationships.

“It has many tentacles,” Werth said.

Over time, Lentz and Kathy said the ordeal made them stronger. Lentz lives out of state, has a family and is an elementary school teacher. Kathy remains in Lawrence and works as a grant writer for a nonprofit.

While she questions why it happened to her, Kathy feels lucky that she wasn’t killed, that the attack didn’t take very long and that she had strong friends and family to help her through the aftermath.

In the end, Werth said, survivors can feel a sense of renewal.

“To go through the healing is to go through a hell realm,” she said. “And they find all sorts of strength and power that lies within them that they didn’t have access to before the assault.”

Discussion

LJWorld.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.

3 March 2009
at 8:43 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

airlinepass06 (Anonymous) says…

Rape is not ok. If you or someone you know in Lawrence needs help, please direct them to GaDuGi Safe Center for sexual assault at785-841-2345 or the
DV Women's Transitional Care Services for dating and domestic violence at 800-770-3030 or 785-843-3333.
3 March 2009
at 9:32 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

orange_wrench (Anonymous) says…

Journal World, what's up with all the rape stories lately? You're starting to freak me out.
3 March 2009
at 9:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

YaThink (Anonymous) says…

LJW: Thanks for this informative and relevant series of articles. I'm sure the information about evidence retention and the benefits of reporting are new to many. Thanks for helping us be better informed so we may protect ourselves and our own.
3 March 2009
at 9:55 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

meggers (Anonymous) says…

LJW, you should shade “Kathy's” face better if she does not want her identity known.

These women are incredibly courageous and their determination to see their rapists apprehended and punished has likely prevented other women from going through the pain and trauma that they experienced. They certainly have my admiration and respect.
3 March 2009
at 10:14 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Jersey_Girl (Anonymous) says…

orange wrench - there is a possible serial rapist in Lawrence that has been operating for possibly 5 years. We should all be freaked out. I, for appreciate, LJW really emphasizing that we all need to be on our guard.
3 March 2009
at 10:33 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Donnuts (Anonymous) says…

That is absolutely bizzare. I have known the family of the perpetrator and one of his cousins around that time, when I was in grade school told me I would never have sex. Later in life after being assaulted in the dorm, I was going to Bert Nash and they put me with a roommate that was nearly on top of me with a knife while I was leaning against the couch. Then proceeded to do that after kicking me in the chest. I ran down the street to a “help” house called the 911 Ohio house and banged on the door of someone that worked for Bert Nash as a house operator that did not open the door so I called the police from a pay phone in front of Total Mart and they responded by putting me in the mental hospital, again. The brother of my roomie was on the Sherriff's dept. Anyway so I went to halfway housing after I got out and the cousin of the perp Charlie was my roommate again.

Is there some kind of conspiracy I am unaware of. I completely don't trust Bert Nash at all because they keep putting me with people related by blood or socially to these creeps and the police in Lawrence did not take me seriously at all when I call them or tell them when I was assaulted at all.

Since then I have spent a total of 7 years in mental hospitals and think there should be a lawsuit in it somewhere, but am not sure where it lands.
3 March 2009
at 11:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Donnuts (Anonymous) says…

Oh… I also spent a month or so in the Lawrence Memorial Hospitals Mental health branch back in '93 when they had one because of this as well.

I would think that these creeps could have something done to them. Not only did the case manager at CSS end up having aggravated Sodomy charges pressed against him but his church (The 9th Street Baptist) came and bailed him out. As it is right across from Total Mart and that is the church that the creep I lived with assaulted me went to and the counterperson receptionist at Bert Nash goes to, I was just sure as hell it was some kind of conspiracy to sexually exploit me.

If anybody wants names dates and times. I have them all recorded.

Add to that the fact that one of the members of that church was in five classes of mine through high school and his mom worked as auxillary staff for the high school and the minister that was a kid with me there pulled a knife on me as a 3rd grader and other elements I would think eyebrows should raise. Want any more information comment on a blog I write and I will find it.

3 March 2009
at 11:07 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Donnuts (Anonymous) says…

… I would have to say that at least the law caught up with Charles Hunter. Not that I can say that any of his relatives seem to have had justice brought to them. (in my case anyway)
3 March 2009
at 11:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

Donnuts (Anonymous) says…

What surprises me is the inability for anyone to stand up and act aside from the slanderous communications I have heard. I consider the Hunter family absolutely stalkers and wonder as to their upbringing. My friend that I live with has had problems with their family as well. I was so shocked when my words fell so dead at the time. I was wondering if they are part of some organization besides the Southern Baptists?

NO comments? Wow. and my mother was an educator in your town.
3 March 2009
at 1:32 p.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

dontjudgeuntilintheirshoes (Anonymous) says…

This series is informative and any education for the public is appreciated. In addition, I believe it is important to address the fall out that sometimes comes when someone is a victim of crime and hope that the LJ World staff might do some research in this area as well. One such situation is called: “Double Jeapordy”.

Many times those that know a victim, especially those that have never experienced a criminal act before, unintentionally judge the victim. If it's rape - what did she do to cause it? If it's physical abuse - what did she do to cause it (this does not mean to exclude men - I am simply speaking in general terms). This was the case I experienced when being stalked, abused as well as sexually assaulted. I mistakenly (at least in my situation) told my employer what was going on and two weeks after receiving a “death threat” from the perp which I promptly informed them of, I was terminated from my job. Because Kansas is an at-will employer and I had been at my job less than 6 months, they could fire me for whatever reason (make one up) and I had no recourse. They call this “double jeapordy” for victims. You not only get it from the perp, but sometimes (if your employer doesn't have sensitivity training in this area - i.e. a major local university in my situation) you will also become a possible victim again by losing your position/job because the employer has a fear of a lawsuit (it is the law to provide a safe and secure setting in the workplace if abuse is taking place and if the abuser/stalker is following you to work).

While it is easy to understand an employer does not want to be held liable, it is important to realize employment discrimination against victims of crime should not be tolerated. Luckily, there are measures being taken to prevent this in the future in the legislature although it is slow in coming. It is too late for me, but hopefully, other people in the future will not have to go thru these horrible situations - to be victimized peronally but also professionally as well as all of the other things one must endure - hospitals, surgery, trials etc.

I hope that someday the LJ World staff will investigate these types of situations as a way to inform victims so that they are not victimized in other areas such as a job (as one example) etc.

Thank you. Please follow the link for more information:
http://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/spring98…
24 September 2009
at 3:01 p.m.

Suggest removal

Permalink

bluenet (Anonymous) says…

LMH may have trained nurses on call around the clock, but they do not provide around the clock service to victims of sexual assault. Many victims are sent to Topeka and Kansas City - often requiring the victim to transport him / herself - because the LMH ER won't perform the rape kit, or bother to follow a clear and humane procedure for treatment AND discharge for sexual assaults. Is this also true for other crime related medical emergencies such as gunshot wounds and drug related injuries?
And oh, by the way - though a specially trained nurse is preferable, a rape kit can be given by a regular nurse if a nurse with the special training is not available.