HOPES OF FORGETTING

I ran into a old acquaintance of mine the other day, who told me, “Hey Cruzer what you think of all these sexual harassment cases that’s been happening lately...I think it’s a bunch of bullshit...why do the victims wait so long to report it?”  Well, I believe this epidemic of sexual encounters (may it be consensual or nonconsensual) duals with a double-edge sword.  

First of all I would like to give the proper definition of sexual battery 243.4 (A) PC-Any person who touches the intimate part of another while that person is unlawfully restrained by accused or an accomplice and if the touching is against the will of the person touched and is for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification or sexual abuse, is guilty of sexual battery.  A violation of this subdivision is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, and by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years, and if not by a fine exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

On one side of the sword are some of the reasons why sexual harassment cases are not reported in a timely manner and that is-for fear of losing their job or face demotion, for fear of causing a separation or animosity between families especially if the perp (suspect) is related, for fear of being humiliated or criticized by the public and fear of not being credible or believable, which in either case cause a cessation in the apprehension of the suspect(s) until 10 to 20 years later or even at the point of not reporting the incident at all, whereas, on the down side or opposite side of the sword allows the suspect a greater opportunity to commit this hideous act to other innocent victims for an extensive period of time, therefore, I do agree that it is essential to report any type of sexual harassment (no matter how minor) as soon as possible to prevent its continuation, which  outweighs the circumstances regardless of its outcome and believe me I had my share of sexual harassment, sexual battery and sexual exploitation of children cases during my career in law enforcement.  On the other hand, there should be some stern validity behind the accusation and not for the purpose of obtaining a substantial monetary reward or to defamed the accused and harsh punishment or some type of strict discipline should be imposed to those who make such a false claim. 

There was one particular case, which involved a 11-year old girl, who was a victim of a on-going case investigated by one of my junior detectives where she was molested by her Mother’s 34 year old boyfriend.  She had a face of an angel, which reminded me of a little princesses that I had previously seen in a walt disney movie.  She entered my office along with her Mother and she wanted to discussed with the assigned detective about her case, who decided to have this conversation at his desk side, which I instantly disapproved because it hindered her privacy of a very delicate nature and should not be conducted in the presence of other bystanders especially family members like her Mother.  The little princesses began telling the detective she recanted everything she claimed happened to her reason being because she was jealous of her Mother’s relationship with the suspect, so she made up this lie in hopes to separate their prevailing romance.  I noticed the Mother was monitoring every word that came out of the victim’s  mouth very closely and the detective begin to write down notes and started to lecture on the seriousness of filing a false Police report, so at the risk of showing the junior detective of his insufficiency, I had no choice but to interupt the investigation by kindly asking the Mother to wait in the lobby, who immediately protested at my suggestion and reluctantly left my office. 

I then sat next to the little princesses and held her hand between both of mine and told her if there was one person she believes can give her the protection she so desperately needs from everybody else would be me at the same time I silently prayed to God if he can grant me one wish and obtain her confidence in me so that we can find the real truth behind this horrible predicament and guess what....God answered me because tears started to roll down her face and her lips started to quiver as she spelled out the dark appalling facts of this horrendous crime in detail, which matched her original report, but was later coerced by her Mother to renege on her claim in efforts to save her (Mother’s) relationship with her so-call boyfriend (suspect).  After hearing the victim’s story, I made sure I fulfilled my commitment to her by keeping my word as  promised and I marched right into the lobby and placed the Mother under arrest for obstruction of justice, wrote out an arrest warrant on the suspect, who was later apprehended and I, along with CPS, found a safe haven for our little princesses, who guided a sound passage all the way to her highschool graduation. The Mother was released from the county jail after serving one year and she later went berserk, broke into the neighbor’s house and assaulted a female with a kitchen knife.  The suspect served 4 years in a state prison and was later deported to Mexico and banned from re-entering the U.S. 

When I got home that morning, I broke the seal of an unopened bottle of Jose Cuervo and started to watch the early news from the recliner of my living room while my wife and two daughters laid safely asleep in their beds as I took small sips of tequila straight from the bottle.  Thoughts of the little  princesses kept bouncing around in my mind, so much so that I’m embarrassed to say that tears also started to rolled down my face and I remembered looking up toward the ceiling and asking God why such a beautiful and precious little girl should go through such a heinous trial so early in life, but this time God didn’t answer me, so I took longer gulps of the Jose Cuervo and drank myself to sleep on my recliner...with the Hopes Of Forgetting everything the following morning. 

So please if you or someone you know is a victim of a valid sexual assault...don't wait 10-20 years to report it. Let the criminal pay for their crimes NOW and prevent it from happening again.

Hope You Are Doing Well Little Princesses!