"Sexual Assault in Angelina County"
STORYTELLING CATEGORY
The Lufkin Daily News
01/01/2022
The Lufkin Daily News started 2022 with the intention of documenting sexual assault cases in Angelina County. We routinely placed a graphic tracking cases and days between arrests on the front page.
Those numbers did not paint a pretty picture of our community at the end of the year.
There were 58 cases of sexual assault.
The victims in 49 of the cases were minors.
The longest period of time between arrests was 33 days.
The Lufkin Police Department and the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office received a combined 138 reports of sex-related offenses for the year.
Verdicts were rendered in 45 cases related to some form of sexual offense. For comparison, verdicts were returned in 846 criminal cases.
Staff writer Jess Huff’s took an in-depth look at the issue in this county and found that while sexual assault is a common crime, it’s one that often goes unreported, perhaps because victims of sexual assault foot the bill for their treatment. Or, as Angelina County Sheriff’s Office investigator Serena Holland said, maybe it’s because sex assault crimes are most commonly committed by people the victims know — relatives, guardians and family friends. Prosecution is difficult because it may take years for a victim to report an assault, meaning DNA evidence, a medical assessment and a crime scene are long gone.
Other stories detailed the care with which Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exams are performed and how a SANE exam improves the chance for a successful prosecution. And officials within the criminal justice system offered their insight into why offenders often choose violence and recidivism rates are high.
But the series was not all doom and gloom.
Stories profiled the work done by the Janelle Grum Family Crisis Center of East Texas and child advocacy center Harold’s House to provide relief and support to abuse victims. And a 19-year-old shared her upbeat outlook on life after suffering years of sexual abuse by her stepfather. She’s not sure what she wants to do with her life but she knows she wants to move away from Texas.
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Submitted by Jeff Pownall.