Local services increasing for sexual assault victims

Treatment of sexual assault victims is on the rise in Jasper County.

Not only are more services becoming more available to people who might be victims of assaults, but also more or those services are being sought out by the public. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month — coordinated largely by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center — and Jasper County service providers are seeing some alarming trends.

Skiff Medical Center’s Emergency Director Heather Clayton said her department has already completed about 15 evidence collection kits so far in 2015, compared to about seven in all of 2014. Cassie Cumings-Peterson, the volunteer coordinator for Crisis Intervention Services, said her agency has already served three times as many Jasper County clients in the first 10 months of fiscal 2015 than it did in the previous 12 months.

Involvement from the medical community

Jessica Lowe, executive director of the United Way of Jasper County, said CIS, which also has an office located at the United Way’s building in Newton, is funded by her organization.

The United Way also funds the Jasper County Council for Prevention of Child Abuse, and recently began funding Skiff Medical Center’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training.

“Skiff is working diligently to have 24/7 coverage of a specially trained nurse to help with the process of examining a victim, providing support and reaching out to CIS advocates, working to collect evidence and assisting law enforcement,” Lowe said. “(These programs) are wonderful advocates for our community. They both serve as advocates for someone who has been assaulted, as well as provide education and training to law enforcement as they deal with assaults and victims.”

Clayton said the SANE training will allow a registered nurse to execute an extensive collection process that otherwise must be performed by a medical doctor. With about four hours to complete the procedure, committing an emergency-room doctor to that process is not the same strain on resources as having a nurse complete it.

“For victims who come into the ER, there emotional needs are not always met,” Clayton said. “SANE is a compassionate approach that maintains the chain of (evidence) custody in a much better way.”

Clayton said Skiff sent two employees to SANE training in Council Bluffs several months ago, and is sending two nurses to the 40-hour training in Iowa City in early June, thanks to funding from The United Way. She detailed a list of steps the Skiff ER follows when a patient says they’ve been sexually assaulted, which includes calling in an advocate, locating a SANE-trained nurse and collecting visual and DNA evidence.

“One important thing to note is that at any point during the visit, the patient may decide to proceed or stop with any step of the process,” Clayton said. “One important right that they have is the right to choose what is happening to their body.”

Lowe said she’s seen regular reminders of how sexual assault is a real problem in central Iowa in 2015.

“When I called to get information (for this story), they were in with a client at that time — which means they were assisting someone who had been assaulted,” Lowe said. “It is sad and overwhelming to know how often this is really happening.”

When, how should sexual assaults be reported?

CIS has an office located in United Way of Jasper County’s building in Newton. Cumings-Patterson said that if a victim tells someone close to them about an assault, it’s important to be supportive.

“There is no right or wrong way to reach out after a sexual assault,” Cumings-Peterson said. “Many individuals first confide in a friend or family member. If you are that person, the most important thing you can do is to believe them. If a victim is not believed the first time, she/he reports, it is much more unlikely that she/he will report again.”

CIS has advocates on call, 24 hours, who will assist a victim through the medical examination and in reporting to police.

Cumings-Peterson said services in Jasper County are growing.

“In fiscal year 2014 (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014) we served 16 clients from Jasper County, and in fiscal year 2015 we have served 50 clients in Jasper County. In fiscal year 2014 we provided 61 hours of service to clients in Jasper County, and in FY 2015, we have provided 210 hours of service to sexual assault victims in Jasper County.”

Cumings-Peterson said CIS has also provided a place to stay for more clients this year.

“In fiscal year 2015, we have already increased our shelter nights for sexual assault victims from Jasper County by 32 percent,” she said.

Crime statistics

Determining statewide and national assault trends is tough, not only because so many assaults go unreported, but also because some category increases or decreases might not reflect what’s happening with sex crimes in general.

According to the Iowa Division of Criminal & Juvenile Justice Planning, there was only one conviction in the state of first-degree sexual assault in 2012. This might be due partly to the type of charges filed against each person arrested, but it is down from nine convictions in 2011.

Conversely, Class C felony sex abuse convictions rose from 230 in 2011 to 263 the following year.

Reporting sexual assault not only allows victims to get medical treatment and other forms of help, but it also allows police to pursue and track cases and might prevent more attacks from happening.

Newton Police Lt. Wes Breckenridge said he understands the nature of sexual assaults naturally makes victims reluctant to report the crimes to law enforcement.

The Newton Police Department supplied 2013 and 2014 arrest data for this story, but a total of sexual assault reports for 2015 was not yet compiled.

“Personally, I haven’t seen a drastic change in the number of these crimes reported to us over the past few years,” Breckenridge said.

In 2013, the NPD had two adult arrests for sexual assault and one count of “assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, aggravated misdemeanor.” There was also one count of sex abuse — a third-degree felony.

Two juveniles were arrested and referred to juvenile court, with the strongest charge being second-degree felony sex abuse.

In 2014, NPD made three adult arrests for sex assault cases, and no juveniles. One count of second-degree felony sex abuse, one count of third-degree felony sex abuse and one count of indecent exposure — a serious misdemeanor — were the charges in those arrests.

Breckenridge said the police use social media and a variety of educational and awareness tools to let the public know the importance of reporting sexual assaults. He wants victims to feel comfortable reporting these incidents, so that police can assist the victims.

“We need information from victims,” Breckenridge said. “It’s not only critical, in many cases, to keeping accurate statistics and catching perpetrators, but making reports also helps victims gain access to other services.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com