As a prosecutor for over thirty years, I have dealt with many crimes, and I have witnessed the impact of those different types of crimes on their victims.  Sexual assault, whether it is perpetrated against a young child, an adolescent, an adult, or an elderly victim, is surely among the most serious of the crimes that I have dealt with, particularly with respect to the emotional and psychological impact that it has upon its victims.

Unfortunately, sexual assault crimes are as pervasive as they are serious. Here in Kennebec County, prospective jurors in sexual assault cases are asked whether they, or someone close to them, have experienced a sexual assault or sexual abuse, and routinely, between one quarter and one third of the jurors respond affirmatively that they, or someone who is close to them, has been the victim of a sexual assault or abuse.  Certainly no other crimes that we deal with are both as serious, and as widespread, as those crimes involving sexual assault.

The District Attorney's Office in Kennebec and Somerset Counties has been truly fortunate to have had twenty five years of collaboration with the Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center.  The support services provided by the center over the years to the victims of sexual violence have been helpful, not only to the victims themselves, but to the law enforcement investigators and our office in the prosecution of sexual assault cases.  The process of an investigation and prosecution is often difficult for victims.  While as a prosecutor, I understand that our criminal justice system is designed to protect the rights of the accused, I cannot willingly accept the fact that victims are often re-victimized by the process.  My office battles constantly to shield victims from the infliction of further emotional harm, and the Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center is an invaluable ally in that fight.

No victims of sexual abuse are more vulnerable than our children, and the Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center has led the way by taking a huge step on their behalf.  The new Children's Advocacy Center at the Maine General Medical Center Seton campus has become a reality thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Sexual Assault Crisis & Center's director, Donna Strickler, and her staff.  The alliance of social service, medicine, law enforcement, prosecution, and victim advocacy through the Children's Advocacy Center will help to lessen the impact of the investigative and legal processes on victims and their families, while providing them with the opportunity to obtain necessary services.  The forensic interviews and medical examinations of victims will provide the type of reliable information that is necessary for child protective actions and criminal prosecutions, without the need for repeated and intrusive interviews of the victims.  While we all pray for the day when no child must ever again suffer the indignity and humiliation of sexual abuse, we know that until that day comes, we must continue to do all that we can to lessen the impact of that abuse; keep our children safe from further abuse; and hold those who do them harm accountable for their actions.  The Children's Advocacy Center will help us to accomplish those goals, and the Sexual Assault Crisis & Support Center can be justifiably proud of its role in making it possible for the children here in Kennebec and Somerset Counties.