HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 04-12 How Ramsey County could make reporting crimes easier for sexual assault victims PIONEER PRESS (2)4/21/2016 How Ramsey County could make reporting crimes easier for sexual assault victims
How Ramsey County could make reporting crimes easier
for sexual assault victims
By: TORY COONEY I vcooney@pioneerpress.com
April 12, 2016
When someone is sexually assaulted, the first reaction to their story can determine whether they report
the crime.
"I can say with confidence in my heart that that first interaction that would have happened, those first
words to me as a 16 -year-old, those first questions ... would have made that decision," said Ramsey
County commissioner Jim McDonough, who last year discussed his own childhood sexual abuse by a
scoutmaster.
Ramsey County's "Start by Believing" campaign, announced Tuesday, is intended to change public
perception of sexual assault cases and make it easier for victims to come forward. It will be supported by
changes in how victims are treated by the criminal justice system, said John Choi, Ramsey County
attorney.
An estimated one in six women and one in 33 men are the victims of sexual assault, Choi said.
"But only a fraction of these cases are ever reported to law enforcement and subsequently prosecuted,"
he said during the announcement of the campaign, which included members of the Ramsey County
Board and health department as well as the Maplewood and St. Paul police forces.
In Ramsey County, two-thirds of sexual assault cases investigated by local law enforcement are never
presented to the county attorney for charges, Choi said. National estimates suggest fewer than 20
percent of sexual assaults are reported.
Ramsey County will launch the public information campaign with a community meeting at 7 p.m.
Wednesday at the Hamline University Sundin Music Hall.
But the county plans to go beyond public information.
"There (are) some real, substantive resources being put to this," said Jeanne Ronayne, director of the
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault. "So it's more than `Start by Believing.' It's what's next, too,"
Over the next 22 months, senior county prosecutor Kaarin Long will review past cases that were not
charged by the office, not given to the office for charges, or not reported.
"She'll be looking at, why weren't we able to prosecute? What were the defects? Was there other
evidence?" Choi said. "With that information, we'll be able to tell investigators what to focus on."
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4/21/2016 How Ramsey County could make reporting crimes easier for sexual assault victims
Long serves on the MNCASA board and previously worked for the group as a staff attorney and has
extensive experience prosecuting sexual assaults, Choi said.
Law enforcement throughout the county will receive training in interview techniques that gather better
information and don't further compound the trauma of an assault.
People who undergo trauma often don't remember things in sequential order. So, if investigators press
for a firmly ordered narrative, a victim's statement can come out disjointed or appear to contradict itself,
Maplewood police chief Paul Schnell said.
"By allowing a victim to relate their experience, as they remember it, they feel validated and we get
better information from an investigative standpoint," he said.
Training began with investigators last month and has already paid of in questioning the victims of other
traumatic crimes, Schnell said.
Most sexual assaults are committed by a small number of people who lean on their victims' shame and
the community's incredulity to get away with their crimes, Choi said.
"This is not just law enforcement, this is not just the county attorney's responsibility. this is each and
every one of our responsibilities," McDonough said. "To be prepared, if someone shares with us ... to
show compassion and empathy."
Also Tuesday, Ramsey County commissioners passed a resolution in support of the campaign.
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