A Rapist's attempt at Revenge

[Karen Merback]

undefinedWhat is the name of your state? Nebraska
My daughter was raped by a male and he is claiming it wasn't. He beat her, left her for dead and now they want her to take a lie detector test. She works in a daycare for a hospital and she was informed yesterday that there was complaint filed against the hospital for child molestation and her name was the only one on the complaint. The alleged child molestation victim is related to the rapist. The hospital has told her they don't beleive the allegations are true and they will provide her an attorney. She was told that the child had been examined by a physician and the report came back that there were no signs of molestation or abuse. She has no money to hire a lawyer as she feels as if she is not only a victim in one case now she must deal with another case in which she is a victim. The bills are stacking up as she has had to go to counseling and put on medication to help her with medical conditions that have surfaced due to the trauma of the rape. She will be moving in December as she plans to go back to college in another state. The police informed her the lie detector test would not be administered until January as there are only 5 individuals who can provide these services for the entire state. She lives in one of the smallest towns in the state so they are not considered as a high priority area. Is there any free legal counsel she can access? It appears if you are poor and a victim the system screws you again. I am hoping there is something in our legal system that protects the victim as well as the accused. So far we have experienced the opposite.

 

[CdwJava]

First, she is under NO obligation to take a lie detector test to PROVE she was a victim. Since it can't be used as evidence in court, the only reason to take it would be to convince the police she is telling the truth.

Check in your state and do a search for Rape Crisis or Sexual Assault Advocate organizations. There is almost certainly some organization that can help her out to some extent.

- Carl

 

[seniorjudge]

http://www.ncc.state.ne.us/services_programs/victim_services.htm

 

[Kane]

I am hoping there is something in our legal system that protects the victim as well as the accused.

What you're looking for is something that protects the accused. She may have been a victim before, but she's an accused now. What it means to be accused, is that someone's accused you of something. She's been accused of being a child molester.

Unfortunately, many of the rights of the accused kick in only after the accused is arrested, not before. For example - the right to a free lawyer. Since she hasn't been arrested yet, she can't get a court appointed lawyer.

She may get some help from victim's rights groups. But I suspect they may tell her they're not interested in helping an accused child molester - they're there to help the victim of the abuse, not her.

It's definitely in her interest to find a lawyer, as early in the process as she can. Child molestation is an extremely serious charge, and one that's hard to defend against. Many people believe that children do not lie. People can - and do - get convicted on no evidence, other than the child's word. Also - whether they'll admit to it or not - many people feel it's better an innocent person go to jail, than to let a possible child molester go free (and possibly molest again).

Lie detectors are not scientifically proven, and they're not completely accurate. They're also not admissible in court. If I were her, I'd want to talk to a lawyer before I took the test, and before I made any statements to police.

 

[Karen Merback]

She is a victim

Nebraska
My daughter was put on administrative leave with pay. The hospital is paying for her attorney fees even though she is a non-benefted employee. The child is victim, the parents are a victim and my daughter isa victim according to the hospital Risk Management Dept. A former disgruntled employee who worked with my daughter in this daycare has supposedly been feeding false information to the parents about why their daughter has a rash all over her body. Since my daughter is the necwomer in town that will be leaving soon she is an easy target.

In the rape case the police officer stated to her they will not pursue the case if she refuses to have a lie detector administered. Also, she was told that the county distrtict attorney is related to the individual who is being accused fo raping her and doesn't believe the case will move forward.

 

[Karen Merback]

A Rapist's Revenge

Nebraska
The hospital does not believe she is child molestor and this is a plus. She not only needs emotional help, but legal as well from what I can see and hear. My career has been focused in Human Resources, Risk Management within our local hospital and they are following the usual procedure, but that doesn't minimize what my daughter is trying to deal with as the rapist is about to get away with his evil deeds. The police took pictures 3 days after the incident, but she started pressing charges within 29 hours of the rape. Unfortunately she showered and laundered the sheets as she felt violated and dirty. The typical symptoms of a rape victim went into automatic motion.

Can he be arrested for assault if they don't have enough evidence to prove rape? The police took pictures of her bruises so does this mean she could press assault charges against this individual?

 

[Kane]

Be careful of the hospital lawyer. Your daughter should ask the lawyer whether he is representing her or the hospital. She wants to be clear about that, because it might make a difference later on.

The state can prosecute a case without pictures, bruises, or any physical evidence at all. The testimony of a single witness is enough to support a conviction, if the jury believes the testimony.

On the other hand, the state is never required to prosecute a person.

"Pressing charges" is a popular phrase, but it doesn't really mean anything legally. If someone reports a crime, the police investigate and the DA makes a decision about whether to bring the case to court. But they're not required to do what the accuser wants. That applies whether the accuser wants to press the charges, or wants them "dropped."

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Nebraska
The hospital does not believe she is child molestor and this is a plus. She not only needs emotional help, but legal as well from what I can see and hear. My career has been focused in Human Resources, Risk Management within our local hospital and they are following the usual procedure, but that doesn't minimize what my daughter is trying to deal with as the rapist is about to get away with his evil deeds. The police took pictures 3 days after the incident, but she started pressing charges within 29 hours of the rape. Unfortunately she showered and laundered the sheets as she felt violated and dirty. The typical symptoms of a rape victim went into automatic motion.

Can he be arrested for assault if they don't have enough evidence to prove rape? The police took pictures of her bruises so does this mean she could press assault charges against this individual?

And this is her problem and I'm surprised no one has asked this before. Because it's very relevant to credibility.

As of right now, there IS NO rapist. There IS NO assault. There are only claims from your daughter against a man for rape and assault. Also, there are claims of abuse from the man against your daughter.

The classic He said/she said. And THAT is the reason the police are requesting the polygraph. At this point, there is likely little proof on either side.

If your daughter can't afford an attorney then tell her to start selling everything she owns because she'll need one. And her OWN.

You may not like to hear it but as of right now, the rape (if it did happen) never happened, which brings the assault into queston. Which also brings the motivation for the abuse charges (or her stated reasons for the motivation) into question.

If you can, get her an attorney now.

 

[Karen Merback]

Child Molestation Accusations grow and Rape Accusations get dropped

Nebraska
The hospital has hired two attorneys. One for them and one for my daughter. She has decided to drop the rape complaint as she mentally needs to focus on the complaints of child molestation. Her supervisor's daughter who also is my daughter's coworker told her that she overheard a conversation that her mother had with the hospital in which she was informed that 7 more complaints had been filed and only my daughter's name was in the complaints. This should be considered breach of confidentiality in my opinion. Apparently all my daughter's coworker's knew of the complaints before my daughter was informed. Lies and rumors are flying all over the place and I know that is how our society functions, but when your child is the one who suffers from such horrible statements it is harder to accept. I think the hospital believes my daughter feels that if they help her that she won't sue them as I can guarantee she will be suing. First she needs to get through this part. Two physicians are confirming that no molestation occured to the child in the only case we have been told about. The parent who is the police officer apparently has talked to all my daughter's coworkers and all stated she had never done anything inappropriate with the children. Although one is now saying that maybe that is why another child is having problems even though the child had problems before my daughter lived in that town. Hearing the rumors and totally ludicous lies is totally keeping my daughter in tears. I guess she can't do anything until she meets with her lawyer today and if she doesn't get all the answers she needs we will be looking into hiring her a lawyer as I don't know what else we can do. I would really like to understand what the hospital means when they state that this is a political issue and unfortunately you are being caught in the middle. I would also like to see their confidentiality policy and see how it is really enforced.