Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Gaal tried for years to convince the County Council what his office needed was a deputy prosecutor assigned solely to sex crimes cases, but it wasn’t listening.
He would annually make the argument at budget time, according to a July 12 release from the prosecuting attorney’s office, after his presentation to the County Council.
“This is a county with a major university,” he’d say. “Sexual assault is a constant issue of public concern. We need to ensure that these cases get the full care and attention that they deserve.”
Gaal announced Tuesday the funding had finally come through from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to hire a deputy prosecutor to work with sexual assault and child sex abuse cases.
There was an existing position in his office that dealt with sexual assault, the release states, but that prosecutor was also assigned to unrelated felony cases.
Sex crimes are generally more sensitive, time consuming and more likely to go to trial, according to the release, so it was more practical to have one individual devoted to these cases.
Gaal’s office took the lead on two projects in 2009, the Sexual Assault Response Team and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner programs, and has devoted a lot of time and effort to child advocacy and sexual assault prevention campaigns.
“Although we have continued to participate in building those community resources and promoting valuable initiatives aimed at preventing sexual assault, it has been difficult to maintain our leadership for those efforts with such limited resources,” Gaal said.
Emily Perry, executive director of the Susie’s Place child advocacy center, described the addition to the prosecutors’ team as a formerly missing puzzle piece.
“We look forward to working with a specialized deputy prosecutor who can devote their full attention to these cases, and participate regularly in our multi-disciplinary team,” she said in the release.
Anicka Slachta
