Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro has long served sexual assault survivors who come through its emergency room doors, treating their injuries and — if victims choose — performing forensic exams to recover evidence for possible criminal prosecutions.
But the head of the county’s chief victim advocacy group, which dispatches a support person to the hospital each time a victim is seen, said the hospital abruptly stopped offering the forensic exams early this year.
Ericka Downing, director of the Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Center in Murfreesboro said she is unaware of a single forensic exam performed since January at the hospital — until now, the main provider of sexual assault forensic exams in Rutherford County.
Rutherford County’s top prosecutor, likewise, said the hospital has refused to provide victims forensic exams, which yield key DNA and injury evidence his office relies on to bring perpetrators to justice. District Attorney Jennings Jones called it a “substantial concern” that has surprised and disappointed prosecutors in the county.