AR is a victim of sexual assault by a coworker. Within 72 hours she obtained a Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) by a local hospital where SAHC’s hotline was called. Once the SAHC advocate arrived at the hospital AR was able to tell her story. AR was drugged, raped, and a victim of pornography. The offender beat her severely, photographed her body, and videoed himself raping her. Some of the videos contained violent and humiliating events that AR only watched when it was being shown during trial. AR told the nurse and the advocate that she awoke after being drugged and unconscious in bed naked with her coworker beside her. She inquired about where her clothes were and what had happened. He told her that they had sex. She asked about using protection and he replied that he did not. She told him that she would never have sex with someone without protection and furthermore, she was passed out so how was she able to give consent? The offender told her that she did and he would see her at work the following day. AR felt like something was wrong about the situation and knew that she would never consent to unprotected sex but didn’t remember the incident. Later, he began sending her pictures of her nude, unconscious body and him sexually assaulting her. Her perseverance and strength gave her the courage to report it to law enforcement even though the people around her were victim blaming and told her that because she had one alcoholic drink she had consented to what he did to her.
AR continued to see the SAHC advocate after the hospital accompaniment which helped her through the process. SAHC’s advocate assisted her with the victim compensation fund and other applications to get her assistance for her trauma. She was able to obtain a personal safety order to ensure no retaliation was going to be done to her. SAHC advocate was present for the protection order to provide emotional support. Throughout the investigation, AR had learned that she was not the only victim and that the offender was perpetrating on his clients which were individuals with major mental and health handicaps.
Her SAFE kit was at the police station for 5 months without being tested, creating a feeling of system failure in AR’s eyes. She remained in contact with law enforcement, prosecution, and the other agencies that were involved although there were many times that the system didn’t communicate with her leaving her feeling lost and out of control. She continued to fight for justice for herself and the other victims. Meanwhile, her story was posted on social media and in the news where they violated her rights to keep her identifying information confidentiality so she received a lot of backlash from the community.
The offender was charged with rape of unconscious victims, rape of substantially impaired person, sexual assault, unlawful dissemination of an intimate image and invasion of privacy. At trial, they showed the videos and photos of her in open court . The court found him guilty for pornography and not guilty for rape. She fully intends to provide a victim’s impact statement for the sentencing hearing and will continue to seek supportive counseling through SAHC and other resource’s from the community. Her healing journey will never end but she is optimistic that she will find her “new” normal.
-Sexual Assault Help Center