in the last three years more than 10,000
people in the Houston area reported
being the victim of a sexual assault
these pose unique challenges to
investigators and sadly less than half
of the reported sexual assaults are even
solved tonight investigator Robert
Arnold reveals the startling numbers in
Houston and in Harris County and he's
explaining special resources available
to survivors I was panicking and crying
she was a 21 year old student in LA
saying I have a boyfriend and all of
that the night out with friends ended
with drugs and slipped into her drink I
woke up in a car and somebody was on top
of me and I have no idea who this person
was
this woman immediately reported her
attack to police an invasive exam
collected her attackers DNA that was
eight years ago he went through the
process for thousands of sexual assault
survivors what happened to this woman is
not uncommon over a three-year period
Houston Police received more than 4,000
reports of sexual assaults the Harris
County Sheriff's Office reported more
than six thousand case load is heavy HPD
has 18 people working adult sexual
assaults another 58 for child cases the
Sheriff's Office has four investigators
working adult cases 17 for all types of
child abuse cases both departments
report investigators juggle between 20
to 25 cases each plus there are some
challenges in investigating these cases
according to HPD records during this
time period fewer than half forty
percent of all sexual assault cases saw
charges filed the Sheriff's Office
reported 10 percent of its cases led to
charges
HPD commander David Angelo explains one
challenge comes from the brutality
inflicted on survivors sexual assault
takes physical and emotional toll on
victims and they may not be ready to
tell their story after it's reported to
the police the Houston area women's
centers Allie Jacobs explains just going
to police is a difficult decision am I
going to be believed
is this going to be a huge media
spectacle so there's a lot of hurdles
that an individual has to has to
overcome one of those potential hurdles
is the sexual assault examination needed
to collect evidence it can be a very
invasive process that can be very
traumatizing for a survivor
both Jacobs and Angelo say some
survivors can take years to report
attacks this creates other challenges we
lose evidence biological evidence
forensic evidence witness memories
become maybe not as clear as they were
Angelo says delayed cases can prove
difficult but not impossible he cites
the case of a man who waited eight years
to go to police and accused famed opera
singer David Daniels of sexual assault
that investigation took close to eight
months and we were able to file two
charges in that case Daniels was charged
but denies any wrongdoing and when
looking at the total number of cases we
saw something else both departments
listed hundreds of cases as either
inactive or closed these involve cases
where leads are exhausted and no suspect
is known they also include instances
where adult victims tell police they no
longer want to pursue an investigation
we give victims the power back in these
investigations to determine how fast
they want to move if they want to move
forward new memories come up new trauma
reactions surface new expressions of
that trauma are evident looking at who
it potentially could be
was kind of frightening this woman says
just looking at pictures of potential
suspects was difficult is that the
person that was on top of the year is
that the person that was on top of me
she now works with the Women's Center
helping survivors who were facing the
same challenges she did eight years ago
I go to hospitals and actually give back
that care in that crisis intervention
that was given to me an important note
for survivors you can have a
sexual-assault exam done free of charge
without police being notified the Texas
Department of Public Safety will
preserve that evidence for two years
this way
crucial evidence is not lost in a
survivor can take time to decide if they
want to pursue charges Robert Arnold
KPRC Channel 2 News