Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 13, 2006 New rape protocol gives victims control By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Rape victims will have more control of their case’s outcome under a new protocol for collecting evidence of the crime. Jackson County’s Sexual Assault Response Team is working with Oregon State Police to preserve and catalogue physical evidence in the absence of a police report. The procedure will give victims several months to contemplate whether they want to pursue prosecution. "We know that right now we get survivors that come back a week, 10 days, two weeks later and say ‘I want to do something,’" said Susan Moen, executive director of the response team. Operating since May, the team provides nurses certified in giving sexual assault exams to all victims who report a rape to police or at medical facilities. But nurses currently save no biological evidence if victims are unsure of taking the case through the legal system or do not want further contact with police. "Quite often the survivor will be moving through the stages of healing," Moen said. Advertisement Of the 41 rape victims the team nurses examined from May through December last year, nine did not want to report the crime and no evidence was collected in those cases, Moen said. A 2002 Oregon Attorney General’s study estimated that only one in every 10 sexual assaults is ever reported to police. Nationally, sexual assault is widely considered to be the most underreported violent crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. OSP has yet to finalize the new evidence process, which will keep items in a "chain of custody" admissible in court, said OSP Lt. Maureen Bedell. Implementation is planned for April, she said. A trooper likely will pick up specimens from the nurse examiner and place them in OSP’s evidence locker at the regional headquarters office in Central Point, Bedell said. It will be coded and kept for about 90 days, she said. Victims will be contacted before any rape evidence is destroyed, Bedell said. Regardless of where the crime took place, OSP will have possession of specimens as long as victims are examined at one of the county’s hospitals or clinics, she added. The county’s 12 sexual assault nurse examiners are part of a statewide program supervised by the Attorney General’s Office. They are available on call, 24 hours a day to care for local rape victims. A conference this week at Rogue Valley Medical Center will train about 50 more nurses — eight from Jackson County — to perform sexual assault exams. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail New rape protocol gives victims control ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Absinthe Supply Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Debt Consolidation California Casinos Generic Viagra Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Hammocks Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada King of Spirits Advertisement s Advertisement