Cry Rape: The True Story of One Woman's Harrowing Quest for Justice Read Online Free PDF Page A

the crime.

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    Under Examination
    Jill Poarch was at home sleeping when the call came in. A woman had been sexually assaulted and Poarch needed to perform an examination.
    She was the nurse on call for Meriter Hospital’s SANE program, which stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. She also worked full time in the hospital’s emergency room. Like other SANE nurses, Poarch had received extensive classroom and clinical instruction, followed by a period in which she was paired with a more experienced nurse. But she had been doing these exams for four and a half years now, usually working solo. Poarch arrived at the hospital around 5:20 a.m., the same time as Patty.
    Hospitals across the country have set up SANE programs because sexual assault examinations require special skills. Besides giving aid and comfort to victims of terrible crimes, SANE nurses are trained to collect evidence. They work closely with police and are often called on to testify in court. In a sexual assault, the victim’s body becomes the crime scene, possibly containing wounds, excretions, hair, or other evidence. It must be probed, combed, photographed, and documented. For some victims, the examination is nearly as traumatic as the assault itself. Poarch, a good nurse, tried to make it no more traumatic than it had to be.
    She began by introducing herself and asking Patty what happened.
    She needed to know details—whether and where there was penetration, for instance—so she’d know how to conduct her investigation. So, with Thiesenhusen present, Poarch asked a lot of questions. Did Patty know who raped her? No. Can she describe him? About twenty years old, Hispanic or mixed race. What happened? He had a knife. He told her 19

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    Perfect Victim
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    not to look at him. Patty was worried about her eighteen-year-old daughter, in the next room. She was assaulted in her rectum and vagina, and forced to perform oral sex. Did he ejaculate in her rectum? No. Did he ejaculate in her vagina? She thought so, but he was wearing a condom. Did he kiss her, lick her, use any kind of lubricant? No, no, no.
    Had she taken a shower, douched, brushed her teeth, or changed clothing since the assault? None of the above. Then came questions about Patty’s medical history, through which it emerged that she’d had a hysterectomy and could not get pregnant. Had she ever been treated for a sexually transmitted disease? No.
    Poarch explained to Patty what the sexual assault examination would entail, that it was invasive and unpleasant, and that she needed to sign releases allowing portions to be videotaped and information made available to the police. Poarch saw that there were cuts on Patty’s face, neck, and hand. No one mentioned to her that Patty was visually impaired, but she noticed that Patty didn’t seem to look at her directly and held the consent forms very close to her face to see where to sign. So she asked whether there was some problem with her eyesight.
    “I’m legally blind,” Patty replied, explaining that she had macular degeneration. Poarch wasn’t sure how to spell this, so she just put down
    “legally blind.” She asked Patty whether she wanted an advocate from the Rape Crisis Center, which would delay the examination. Patty declined. “I just want to get out of here,” she said. Most victims, in Poarch’s experience, declined an advocate, for precisely this reason. (Later, the hospital began calling the local Rape Crisis Center at the same time as the SANE nurse, so an advocate was on hand right away. Subsequently, most victims wanted the advocate present.) Patty’s mother arrived, and for a while the two were in the room alone. Perhaps it was the intensity of Misty’s reaction, or the fear that came from not knowing, but Patty’s suspicions began to center on Dominic. “I think I know who did this,” she said. Her mother had some preternaturally apt advice: “If you don’t know for sure, don’t say anything.”
    The sexual