Not every victim reacts to a rape with crying or screaming. Some victims just go quiet. Some laugh.
That’s a fact that Michael Ray, a major-crimes detective at the Red Bank Police Department, has learned from advocates at the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults’ Rape Crisis Center.
“When you’re traumatized, you might have someone who is crying, you might have someone who is giddy, you might have someone who shows no emotion,” he said.
Ray is part of a 2-year-old, multi-agency task force that has changed the way Hamilton County’s sexual assault cases are investigated and prosecuted. Called the Sexual Assault Response Team, or SART, the task force includes members from the district attorney’s office, several area police departments, the Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security, the Children’s Advocacy Center and Adult Protective Services.
Once a month, everyone sits down together and discusses the county’s ongoing sexual assault cases. The team looks at how each case is progressing, checks for mistakes and looks for ways to make the process easier for victims, said Caroline Huffaker, a victim advocate at the Rape Crisis Center.