MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Some of Monongalia County’s top law enforcement officials want residents to know that they take sexual assault and domestic violence seriously — and want to foster an environment that empowers victims.
“Sexual assault crimes, the victims of those crimes have a lot of the same concerns (as domestic violence victims),” Prosecuting Attorney Perry DeChristopher said. “Most often, usually, it is the case that our perpetrators are known to our victims.
“I’m not going to say it doesn’t exist, but it is much more rare in our community to truly have a stranger raper or stranger sexual assault.”
DeChristopher added that she has witnessed the difficulty for a victim finally facing the person who harmed them.
“It is certainly a heavy burden,” she said. “We support them as much as we possibly can, but they are walking to that witness stand alone.”
“And it is difficult. And the folks that do come forward and have to testify are certainly the brave folks and certainly the ones doing the hard work.”
Convincing a victim to reach that point, where they feel willing to face the alleged abuser head on, is often difficult, with a vast majority of these cases going unreported every year.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gabe Mucciola said domestic violence victims fight a difficult internal struggle.
“Normally, and almost always, the perpetrator is someone that they love and that they had a relationship with, that they might have children with, that their finances are intertwined with,” Mucciola said. “Obviously, when they come forward and disclosed that they’ve been victimized, that’s always multi-faceted in the sense that they have a lot to think about before they come forward and before they make that first step to stand up against someone that they love.”
DeChristopher and Mucciola want to spread the word, particularly in April, about awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault. The more vocal and active they are, the better chance a crime is reported in the future rather than swept under the rug.
In particular, DeChristopher said there are a number of fail safes to protect the anonymity of a victim — particularly those who do report and eventually testify in a trial.
“(Media) don’t print victim’s names in news articles,” she said. “No one says their names out loud. No one puts photographs of them if they testify in the newspaper, and so I think this is a community that is aware of the support that is needed in a case like that.”
Mucciola said modern domestic violence cases have taken on a new twist as well — the opioid crisis.
“Addiction can also create one more level of issue with a victim who is trying to get out of an abusive relationship,” she said.
“Dependency,” DeChristopher added.
There’s also a stigma that Mucciola reminds everyone must be broken during this time of awareness — that men can’t be victims.
“These men are in the exact same domestic violence cycle that you think of when you think of a female victim,” she said. “Men maybe have a little bit more trouble coming forward still, but it is happening.
“I think there is certainly a movement to that now.”
DeChristopher and Mucciola were guests Thursday on Morgantown AM. You can hear the full interview in the podcast section of our website.