Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program
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 Fall 1999, Table of Contents Case History, by SAVI Advocate Angelica Otero Two Recent Cases, by lawyer Madeline Bryer How the East Side Rapist Reward Fund Became a Reality, by Nikki Henkin and Joie Anderson Frequently Asked Questions about Sexual Harrassment in Schools SAVI Helps Establish NYC Alliance An Extension of Himself, by SAVI Speaker Diane Doyle CASE HISTORY: A TEN YEAR OLD GIRL It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and I was on my way to a friend's wedding. I knew that I was on call that evening, but usually, I get summoned around 1 am and by then I figured the wedding would be over. So off I went to the wedding in my long party dress. Of course you know what happened next. I was in the church, clapping along to the hymns when I felt my pager go off. It was the hospital, informing me that a 10-year-old girl had come into the Emergency Room because she had been sexually abused. I immediately called the cab service, knowing it would take a while to get from South Jamaica to Elmhurst. There was no time to change as I hoped to arrive before the detectives did. That was not to be; by the time I got there the detectives and doctors were in the examining room with the little girl and her mother. There seemed to be too many people interrogating Jessica and her mom so after I introduced myself to the family, I left the room. In the meantime, I talked with Jessica's aunt and her daughter, Sonia. Sonia was the first to learn about the abuse. They had been playing in the park playing, when Jessica told Sonia that Juan had "touched and licked her down there." As Sonia was telling me this, her mother started to cry and ask how could someone they trusted do something like that, how could someone hurt a child like that. Juan was an older man, in his fifties, who was subletting his apartment to the family until they could get their own place. Juan was a long time friend of the family. His wife was best friends with Jessica's mother. The night that he abused Jessica, he had been babysitting Jessica and her two brothers who had gone to sleep. The little girl stayed in Juan's room watching TV. When he started to touch her, Jessica told Sonia that she just lay still, trying to hold her legs together. The family was in a state of despair, anguish and devastation, and rightfully so for they had just experienced one of the cruelest acts against a child. Jessica's mother believes her world had collapsed. Sonia fears that the same thing could happen to her, though she thinks that if it had been her, she would have screamed. Sonia's mother also feels that now she will live in fear for her children. Fortunately, Jessica was the least disturbed. She understood that something bad had happened to her, but it did not seem life-changing to her. She complained that it "hurt her to go to the bathroom and that it itched." But she did not sound upset nor did she cry. There is a positive ending to this story. We can't call it happy, because there is never a happy ending to child abuse. But Juan was caught and charged with two counts of sodomy. He had planned to run away, but he returned to his apartment to get something and the police were waiting for him. He was arrested on the spot. The detectives, doctors, nurses and social worker on the case were very understanding and helpful. I was glad to be part of the team and system that came through for a family who needed some form of consolation in a time of such great need A LETTER OF THANKS SAVI received this letter from a member of one of our support groups for survivors Dear SAVI, After 25 years of struggling with understanding incest, much of it in individual therapy, this group has enabled me to make a quantum leap forward in understanding myself and my family. For the first time in years I can envision feeling "whole" again… I feel a sense of peace that I have not felt in many years. It is incredible to me that one of the most valuable experiences in my life was free. I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. With deepest thanks, SAVI HONORS NYPD CAPTAIN MORLEY AT 15th ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT SAVI celebrated 15 years of service in New York City at this year's annual benefit. The gala Benefit was held at the elegant Sky Club on May 13. The event honored NYPD Captain Susan Morley, until recently commander of the Special Victims Liaison Unit, for her work in improving police response to victims of sex crimes through compassionate and timely attention. NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir joined SAVI in honoring Captain Morley. Captain Morley talked about the importance of the program and praised the efforts of SAVI's many volunteer Advocates for serving in hospital emergency rooms. ABC News and 20/20 correspondent Lynn Sherr was the featured speaker. Ms. Sherr ,who achieved national recognition for her reporting on women's issues, was introduced by Linda Fairstein, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney and head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit. Ms. Sherr talked about the history of domestic violence and its prevalence in our culture. Mount Sinai NYU Health CEO and President Dr. John Rowe congratulated Iona Siegel and the staff of SAVI for their efforts and saluted the program for its 15 years. Executive Vice President Gary Rosenberg urged SAVI's many fans to continue to support its growth. SAVI Advocate and actress, Judy Nunn, read a moving piece written by the Central Park Jogger for SAVI, chronicling her recovery from a brutal gang rape ten years ago. TWO RECENT CASES Over the past few years more and more sexual assault victims have brought civil suits against their landlord. In response, the lower courts have become more conservative and have frequently ruled that the circumstantial evidence put forth by the plaintiff/crime victim was inadequate and speculative. In November 1998, however, the New York Court of Appeals reinstated two cases brought by crime victims which had been dismissed by the lower courts. In doing so, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed the crime victim's ability to prove that the assailant was a non-tenant through circumstantial evidence; i.e. that the tenant resided in the apartment for many years, knew her neighbors and this assailant was not a tenant. Regrettably, however, in the case Price V. New York City Housing Authority, the Court of Appeals decided that in a negligent security case involving a serial rapist it was permissible for a jury to hear "expert" testimony from a criminal profiler that "nothing could have stopped the rapist" and testimony from another alleged victim that she was attacked though her building had a lock. The criminal profiler was a partner in a self- described behavioral science consulting firm made up of four retired FBI agents. He was permitted to testify beyond his training in analyzing information about suspects by testifying that he could get inside the mind of the rapist and judge his future actions. This expert had no training in psychology or the behavioral sciences. While the decision in Price casts a serious cloud over these recent cases, the Court has gone far to even the playing field between the rights of the tenant and the duty of the landlord. On December 31st the Appellate Division First Department (the review court for New York and Bronx County) reversed the dismissal of two for inadequate security and sustained the trial court's refusal to dismiss a third. In addition to refusing to dismiss the law suits, the Court validated claims by tenants attacked by co-tenants when faulty security was a proximate cause of the attack.. In one case, the tenant was dragged into an unlocked, vacant apartment by another tenant and raped. In the other case, the tenant was taken to the unlocked rooftop by another tenant and assaulted. The Court recognized that not only do landlords have a duty to protect tenants from foreseeable attacks by intruders, but the landlord also has a duty to protect the tenants from criminal attacks by co-tenants where the attack occurs because of faulty security. The rule remains, however, that a landlord is not in a position to control the acts of tenants who have violent histories. Therefore, unless there is a defective security condition that is a case of the assault occurring, the mere propensity of a tenant to attack another tenant does not create liability on the part of the landlord. It should be noted that while the amicus briefs submitted by the Downstate Coalition for Crime victims, NOW, and Metropolitan Council on Housing did not result in a positive outcome for Price, the voices of these groups were definitely heard by the Courts and incorporated in their other decisions. These organizations deserve a round of applause and the thanks of all those committed to safe housing. While deeply troubled by the loss in Price, my office remains proud that as the firm celebrates our twelfth anniversary, this is the only case we have lost. A month later we obtained a $1.1 million dollar verdict on behalf of one tenant and shortly after that we settled an inadequate security case for $610,000. Since the law is always changing in this area, I continue to offer a free consultation. HOW THE EAST SIDE RAPIST REWARD FUND BECAME
A REALITY On August 10, 1996, a brutal rape took place on East 78th Street near Lexington Avenue, but neither The New York Times nor the Daily News nor the New York Post mentioned it. Each paper carried a story about a rash of rapes in every borough over that weekend, but not one news clipping included Manhattan. We felt this complete lack of media coverage put every woman living in Manhattan at a disadvantage by giving them a false sense of security and allowing them to think there were no violent sexual incidents in their neighborhoods. In fact, there were three reported rapes in Manhattan on August 10, 1996 — two in Harlem and one on East 78th Street. And there were more. As long time residents and activists on the Upper East Side, we watched with shock and dismay as a violent sex offender continued to attack vulnerable East Side women while few people knew we had a serial rapist in our midst. We contacted a local weekly newspaper Our Town and told the editor about the August 10th incident. This was the first of many media stories we helped generate if only to keep everyone living or working on the East Side aware we had a serial rapist. But by April 1997, when we attended a Community Board 8 Public Safety Committee meeting, we both assumed no one cared a great deal about these violent incidents. We decided that the only thing we could do was start a reward fund to encourage someone to come forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of this violent man. At this time there were 12 known victims/survivors and few clues to the serial rapist's identity. Our initial goal was to raise $10,000. We were well on our way to that end when Mayor Guilinani volunteered a separate $10,000 reward in May 1997, and CrimeStoppers offered an additional $1,000. Today there is a total of $40,000 in reward money available for anyone giving the police information that leads to the arrest and conviction of this serial sex offender. Unfortunately, he is still at large. To date there have been 18 victims involved in 16 separate incidents. So we stepped up our campaign to keep our community aware, alert and educated. We have held Operation Safeguard meetings free to anyone who wishes to attend. At one of these meetings we were fortunate to have an FBI profiler as our keynote speaker. That meeting generated a front page story in the Daily News as well as numerous radio and television stories. To date, there has been coverage in every newspaper, on every television channel including the two Hispanic stations, and on many radio news stations. In addition, we were able to get the first national coverage about the East Side Serial Rapist by appearing on the Gayle King Show. Soon after, America's Most Wanted ran two stories on the East Side Serial Rapist. We also provide an information table at every neighborhood street fare where we hand out brochures, buttons, rape awareness ribbons, whistles, information about SAVI, and on occasion provide a petition to promote a current problem. Everyone living in our community has been helpful and generous with contributions of money toward the Rape Reward Fund. One such group anonymously deposited $17,000 into the Rape Reward bank account, but we also accepted contributions as low as 25 cents. These unfortunate incidents have brought out the best sense of community caring. It has brought people closer together. Every piece of printed literature including the thousands of Reward posters we have distributed has been paid for out of our pockets. We have never used any of the money collected toward the Reward Fund for reproduction purposes. When we schedule an Operation Safeguard meeting, we ask individuals, local businesses and corporations to contribute toward the cost of printing the thousands of flyers necessary to invite people to attend. FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN SCHOOLS The following excerpt is taken from Confronting Sexual Harassment: What Schools and Colleges Can Do by Judith Berman Brandenburg Reprinted by permission of Judith Berman Brandenburg (Copyright, 1997, Teachers College, Columbia University). Over the past 19 years, in the course of my work on sexual harassment, I have been asked a variety of questions by educators, administrators, teachers, counselors, trustees, parents, and students. The following section includes 10 of the most frequently asked questions and my responses, informed by the many who have shared their experiences with me. These responses may serve to highlight some of the central issues of my book. 1. How Do I Get My School to Take the Issue of Sexual Harassment Seriously? 2. Do Institutions Need a Separate Grievance Procedure for Sexual
Harassment Complaints? 3. Where Is the Line Between Acceptable Social Interaction (Flirting)
and Sexual Harassment? 4. What Can a School Representative Do If a Student Reports a Situation
of Sexual Harassment but Is Not Willing to Make a Complaint and Requests
that Nothing Be Done? 5. What Are the Risks or Possible Costs to the Person Bringing a Complaint
of Sexual Harassment? 6. What Is the Institutional Responsibility for an Incident of Sexual
Harassment that Occurs While a Student Is Participating in an Off-Campus
Activity or Program? 7. Are Matters of Sexual Assault, Sexual Abuse, and Rape Forms of
Sexual Harassment? How Should They Be Handled by the School? 8. Is Harassment of People Due to Their Sexual Orientation a Form
of Sexual Harassment? 9. How Can A School Determine Whether It Is Being Effective in Preventing
Sexual Harassment and a Hostile Environment? 10. How Can We Prohibit Sexual Harassment without Infringing on People's
Privacy and Freedom? Announcing
the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program Fall
1999 Volunteer Advocate Training VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES NEEDED To Support Rape and Domestic Violence Victims at: Women and Men Volunteers will be asked to: NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NECESSARY BILINGUAL / BICULTURAL MEN AND WOMEN ENCOURAGED TO APPLY Space is limited. To ask questions or schedule an interview, please call: (212) 423-2140 or (718) 736-1288 MEDICAL STUDENTS RECEIVE ELECTIVE CREDIT FOR TRAINING AND ON-CALL HOURS VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES NEEDED IN QUEENS To Support Rape and Domestic Violence Victims at NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE NECESSARY BILINGUAL / BICULTURAL MEN AND WOMEN ENCOURAGED TO APPLY Space is limited. To ask questions or schedule an interview, please call: (212) 423-2140 or (718) 736-1288 MEDICAL STUDENTS RECEIVE ELECTIVE CREDIT FOR TRAINING AND ON-CALL HOURS SAVI HELPS ESTABLISH NEW YORK CITY ALLIANCE AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT Meredith Anthony and Iona Siegel worked with an ad hoc committee of hospital-based rape crisis programs to set up the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, a new entity that would unite all rape crisis programs and other providers of services and support to victims of rape and sexual assault in the five boroughs. Grant money from the NYS Department of Health and Federal VAWA money from the NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services have made this new entity a reality. Harriett Lessel, former Program Coordinator of the Long Island College Hospital Rape Crisis Program, has been selected as the Director. Harriett's mandate is to hire personnel and raise more funds to ensure the effectiveness of the new Alliance. The mission of the Alliance is to coordinate and improve existing services by (1) bringing together representatives of public and private agencies, the law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and individuals dedicated to the elimination of sexual violence; (2) providing a clearinghouse for information for the public and training for service providers and other interested professionals; (3) representing the New York City treatment community at the city, state and national levels and making recommendations for legislative solutions to problems; and (4) identifying unmet needs and working toward developing solutions. Surprisingly, New York City was the only major urban area in the United States that did not have a single agency to coordinate all the services providing help to survivors of rape, incest and sexual assault. There are many new faces at SAVI. A new grant from the New York State Crime Victims Board to enable SAVI to provide long-term counseling has made it possible to hire two new staff counselors. Many other changes are underway, as well. RAHEL LEHRHAUPT, who had been interning with SAVI this past year, was hired to do long-term counseling in Queens while she finishes her masters. BILL GROTH will also be doing long term counseling in Queens. Bill comes to us from the Coalition for the Homeless where he was Clinical Supervisor for Housing and Crisis Services. MICHELLE MINTZ, SAVI's wonderful veteran Manhattan ER Coordinator and counselor, is taking the position of long-term counselor in Manhattan. Michelle is studying for her masters in social work at New York University. She will graduate in May 2000. ANA FERRER has replaced Michelle as Manhattan ER Coordinator. Ana is a psychological counselor who finished her degree in August 1999 at Columbia University. She is bilingual (Spanish) and wants to increase SAVI's outreach to the Hispanic community. ROSANNA LORA is taking a position as counselor in the Queens District Attorney's Office. Rosanna has an MA in counseling psychology from NYU and has worked at Columbia Presbyterian with HIV clients and their families. JAGRUTI SHAH has replaced Melissa Zangas at the Queens District Attorney's Office. Melissa has returned to private practice. Jagruti immigrated to the US from India twelve years ago and is a graduate of Fordham University. BERNICE POBLADOR has joined the staff as Administrative Secretary/ Volunteer Coordinator. Bernice received her BA from Marymount Manhattan College and has been a SAVI Advocate - she took the Advocate Training in 1998. JODI LICHT, Volunteer and Outreach / Training Coordinator, left to enter a doctoral program in psychology at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. FRANCIS SANTANA became the Outreach / Training Coordinator for Manhattan. She worked at a domestic and sexual violence crisis center at the Centre County Women's Resource Center in Pennsylvania. Do you work for a company that gives a matching donation for your volunteer work? Or a matching gift for your donation? Many corporations do. SAVI receives matching donations from Citibank, Chase, McGraw-Hill and others. If you work at such a company, please let us know. Ask your Employee Office for a Matching Gift Form, fill it out, and send it to us. Thank you. This program has been around
since nineteen eighty four An Extension of Himself The year was 1946. The child was fast asleep by the light of the nursery lamp. She was a pretty child, fair of face, with dark straight hair and eyes so dark blue they appeared to be black. Her eyes were closed now and her long dark lashes left shadows on her cheeks. She had not seen her third birthday, but was for a great many purposes, very much a woman. Her given name was Diane, not a Saint's name, but the name of a pagan goddess, and so they added Theresa for Saint Theresa or the Little Flower. He studied her cautiously in order not to waken her. He preferred to surprise her as she slept. Perhaps she would think she was dreaming! If however, she awoke he would simply assure her that it was in fact, Himself, Daddy. He knew she trusted him completely, and besides she was crazy about him. He had taught her well even at this tender age. Her body and her will belonged only to him, she did not belong to herself. She did not even, he reasoned, belong to her mother; her mother belonged to him! The man was good looking, even handsome. He had thick dark curly hair, a shock of which he deliberately combed forward over his flashing blue eyes. He was tall enough for a man, about five foot ten, and about one hundred and sixty five pounds, all of it muscular and solid. The child doted on him and thought he was the handsomest and smartest Daddy in the whole world. His given name was Donald, also not a saint's name, but a Druid Conqueror's and so the middle name was Eugene, also a Saint's name. The first name was more apt! He finished off the last of his six pack which he had consumed after a number of shots of whiskey and told himself that he wasn't all that drunk. After all, he rationalized, a man has a right. There would be no harm done to the child. She was young and would not remember years from now. Even if she told, which of course, he knew she would not, who would believe her? No, she would keep his secret, perhaps she would think it was a game. He could make her believe that. Her mother would be home soon, he best get to it. Man has his urges, and anyway it was his wife's fault he reasoned, she was so cold. As for the child she enjoyed it, some children were like that, seductive, teasing. He slowly unbuckled his belt and the noise of the belt awoke the sleeping child. She smiled sleepily at him and he returned the smile in kind. "Suck it", Himself commanded. The little girl did as she was told. The child's mother came home from her part-time job and peeked in on the drooly faced child. She must have been sucking her thumb again, or she may be cutting a molar, thought the Mrs. She noticed that the teddy 's ear was soaked with drool. My goodness she mused, children that age suck on everything! Donald was sitting, in the living room brooding. The Mrs., her given name Margaret, followed by Elizabeth, had seen him like this many times before. Was something wrong, she queried? Bitch, Himself exclaimed. She walked wide around the chair in which her husband was sitting and he watched her through narrowed eyes like a wild jungle cat sizing up his prey. Then like any cat, he pounced. With one hand, he grabbed her hair and with the other he punched her in the face. She screamed and he put a hand over her face, while with the other he tore at her blouse. He wanted sex and her feelings about the matter were of no significance. "You can't refuse me." "I'm your husband." Margaret was whimpering now, Donald was in control, by being out of control. The Mrs. knew that he was right, because the Catholic Church taught her as a child that a woman cannot refuse her husband. Yes indeed, it sure was a man's world. Donald had conquered, male privilege flourished all around him. The next day the Mrs. answered the doorbell to find her own sainted mother standing in the doorway accompanied by Margaret's stepfather. The older woman stared at her daughter's blackened eye for only a moment, and then announced cheerily that she had brought them a cheese stollen from Eginger's Bakery and they all needed a cup to tea. The old lady had seen more than her fair share of blackened eyes in her day and was not about to make a big deal out of this one. To acknowledge that there was a serious problem with her daughter's marriage would place the older woman in the unpalatable position of allowing the young mother to return to live with her and her new husband and jeopardize her own relatively new relationship. To give the old lady her due, it had been a hard road for her too. Orphaned at an early age, she had come to America as an indentured servant to live with distant relatives. Her uncle had not kept his distance, forcing his attentions on her when she was only 15, and she married young to escape her terrible situation. Charlie, her husband kept the young Rose barefoot and pregnant, and she bore him nine children. Since her husband drank heavily and there was no welfare in those days, all of those children were raised in orphanages, except for Margaret who was the youngest and benefited from some companionship for her stepfather, Harry. Harry was Margaret's Santa Claus. Rose patted her daughter's hand. She did care. She remembered that Margie's father was found floating face down in the East River, probably after a night of drinking. Now she had found herself a decent man and was not about to let anyone interfere with that, not even her own daughter. But Margie needed her mother to be strong! She needed Harry to take her and the little girl away form the Conqueror forever. She wanted her stepfather to give her husband a piece of his mind and a thorough thrashing. A tear rolled down Margie's face as she put the dishes in the kitchen sink. Rose pinned on her hat. Goodbyes were said and kisses exchanged, while everyone ignored the tears and the blackened eye. The little girl played on the floor not knowing that her fate had been sealed that day, unaware of the misery to come. Diane was now three and her mother was planning to enroll her in pre-school. The children lined up single-file, all except for Diane who clung doggedly to Margaret's skirts and screamed at the top of her lungs. Margaret was beside herself. She was due at her job in exactly one hour and what was she to do? Margaret would have to take her home. They would try again in a few weeks. Meanwhile, the new job would have to wait. Margaret headed toward home with the difficult little child in tow. It was probably at this point that the unhappy mother decided that this was indeed a difficult child. This was, in the future, to work in the favor of Donald the Conqueror, as he would establish that this child must be given over to him for discipline, as she was too unmanageable for anyone to handle other than himself. He would claim her for himself and keep her to himself, unchallenged, unquestioned and free. to do whatever with her. The year was 1947 and male privilege flourished all around. The child was brought home and put to bed in short order. The Conqueror arrived and upbraided his wife that she did not know how to handle the child. Children needed discipline, he informed her in no uncertain terms. She must learn to obey! He and he alone would be responsible for the discipline of this child. She, the mother, was not to interfere. If she did there would be hell to pay. He motioned her to sit on the kitchen chair. She was not to move for any reason! As he spoke, he unbuckled his belt, folding in half. He shook the belt in the terrified woman's face and gave her final instructions. She was, under no circumstances, to come to the room. If she did, he would kill her. She should take no note of the child's screaming, this was a bad child, a bad seed, crazy like Margaret's unstable sister and he alone knew best! With those words, her husband was gone on his grizzly mission! The little girl cowered in her bed, surrounded by an army of stuffed animals. Donald filled the doorway, and announced to the child, "You're gonna get it baby." Something in the tone of the man's voice told Diane that this was not the way Daddy's talk to their little girls. Children have very good instincts! They are born with them! She told him he was a bad Daddy! This infuriated Donald the Conqueror. He lifted the child out of the bed with one hand, her nightgown crumpled under that hand, the other hand around her throat. Her little feet pummeled in the air. She would never feel grounded again! Daddy had turned into a monster with glaring eyes and a funny monster voice that hissed. He threw the child across the room and slowly and deliberately unbuttoned his trousers. He instructed the child to rise to her feet and take off her nightgown. He waited while she struggled to her feet and backed around the room slowly fiddling with the buttons on her nightgown, her childish and feeble attempts at buying time. He had all the time in the world. He could wait her out. No one would interfere, no one would challenge him. The little girl cried out for her mother! "Your mother cannot save you" said the Conqueror. "She's not coming." The child gave up the nightgown, and he instructed her to lay across the bed on her stomach. At first, she kept turning around to see what he was doing, but Donald told her "Turn around again and I'll kill you." She felt the first few lashes of the belt across her bare bottom, as he put his back and shoulders behind the power of the belt, then she felt something she did not recognize, something incomprehensible to a child's mind. Her body felt like it was being torn apart. Maybe she was going to die! She didn't want to feel this anymore, so she blotted out the pain and disappeared inside herself, and when she returned Daddy would be back and the monster would be gone. It would be the first time in many times in her lifetime that she would disassociate. It was now 1948 and Donald the Conqueror was now in complete control of his household. Margaret was terrified of him and she spent a good deal of her time convincing herself that things were not as bad as they seemed. His frequent temper tantrums had given way to constant beatings followed by effusive apologies and empty promises, all of which resulted in a honeymoon type of atmosphere. All of this terminated in additional and more violent beatings followed by more promises and apologies. Occasionally, one of her neighbors would call the police, but most of the police at that time were Irish and would either shake Donald's hand (he simply had his Irish up), or suggested that the Conqueror take a walk around the block to cool off, a suggestion that he would totally ignore. He altered his attacks between his wife and his child who was four years old now, and a veteran of physical as well as sexual assaults. Margaret, in her confusion and desperation, tried to convince the child that things were not as bad as they seemed, but her words fell on deaf ears. The child at this point, was angry and mistrustful of her mother, feeling that her mother's inability to protect her was due only to a lack of love. The child could not comprehend that the woman's fear was of such magnitude that she feared for her own life, nor did she understand that at this point her mother was acutely depressed and on the verge of a mental breakdown. She began to take the beatings and the sexual assaults like a little soldier. She would not protest or cry out for her mother but would concentrate on a spot in the room or on the ceiling waiting for the carnage to be over. Sometimes, if it hurt too much she would disappear inside herself or float to the ceiling, not feeling the man on top of her or the pain that racked the inside of her body. It was only after the attacks were over and she noticed the bruises on her inner thighs, or she felt the sharp pain when she was trying to pass her urine, that she became increasingly aware how frightened and unhappy she was. It was early in the year 1949 and Diane awoke at midnight with a high fever. The Mrs. took the child's temperature and it read 106 degrees. Donald the Conqueror ran downstairs to a pub and called the police, who in turn called for an ambulance. He returned to the apartment to find the child vomiting dark red blood-, her face was bright red and on fire. He could have fried an egg on her forehead, and he was sure she was going to die! Donald had stood at the foot of the bed many times before, but never like this. Maybe God was punishing him? Maybe now she would tell. He consoled himself that if she did die, he need not worry anymore as to her incriminating him in his vile and outrageous behavior. The police arrived with two ambulance attendants, but the vomiting continued and no one wanted to touch the child. She did not cry however, for she knew better than that, and the policeman and attendants were shocked at the calm way in which she asked them if she was going to die. She had faced the possibility of death many times before, so she was quite matter of fact in her blunt question. The child's diagnosis on admission to the emergency room was pneumonia. She was cleaned up, put to bed, placed on an I.V. and given conditional last rights of the Catholic Church. The doctor of record sent her sputum and a throat culture to the lab, along with a blood sample and a sample of her urine. The lab technician was aghast at what he found! Acute disseminated gonococcal infection. He repeated the test a second time, but once again the test came to the same conclusion. Acute disseminated gonococcal infection. The pneumonia was the secondary infection! The gonorrhea was the primary infection. He took the stairs two at a time. The doctor of record shook his head knowingly. Gonorrhea very often presents itself as pneumonia if it is allowed to fester untreated, for a long period of time. Jesus H. Christ, she's five years old; the lab technician was gesticulating wildly. The doctor of record was brief. He told the nurses to treat the pneumonia with massive penicillin and any other antibiotic you can throw at it. It will kill the gonorrhea as well. Omit the gonorrhea from the medical records, the diagnosis is pneumonia. The lab technician was incredulous. "Her old man is fucking with her?" The doctor of record was exasperated. "If this stays on her record you'll have a lawsuit against the hospital. You will spend a lot of time in court, and probably risk losing your job. Pneumonia! Case closed! If we can get her better, we'll send her to a rehab--it will give her a break from the old man". Once again the child's fate was in the hands of those who did not want to know anything/admit anything. |