A Clarion County man last month was sentenced to serve the remainder of his life in prison. His crime: the sexual abuse of his daughter.
It was a tense moment for the victim and for Assistant District Attorney Drew Welsh.
“These are the hardest cases because you never know what a jury is going to do,” he said. “It is a tough job the jury has to do. They have to weigh all of the evidence.”
“It is very traumatizing for the victim to come forward,” Welsh said. “They are not just telling the police … they have to tell 12 people on a jury. Ultimately, it comes down to if those 12 people believe you or not.”
The trauma experienced by a victim can extend beyond the courtroom.
“When the verdict is read, I go back and talk to the victim and explain to them what has happened. It is usually a moment for relief,” he said.
However, when this recent case came to a conclusion, Welsh said the victim “was sitting there staring … and her whole body was tensed up to an extreme degree. She still had fear in her eyes.
“She was watching the deputies put the handcuffs on … and when she heard the handcuffs click shut, her whole body relaxed. Then she started crying. It was like years of the tension, anxiety and fear drained out of her.”
Welsh said when a jury finds a defendant guilty, a sexual abuse victim can finally feel safe because she knows he can no longer get to her.
“It is a remarkable moment when that happens.” he said.
There has been an increase in the number of sexual assault cases in Clarion County in recent years.
“I think there was always a great fear amongst people who have been victims; that if I come forward it’s just a he-said-she-said or that there was no DNA evidence that would say what happened,” Welsh said. “There is the question, why come forward?”
Welsh said that during jury selection, one of the questions a judge will ask a potential juror is if they have ever been the victim of a crime.
“If they have been a victim of a retail theft or a burglary, they will raise their hand and tell the judge,” he said. “But when we have a case of a sexual nature, I would say every single jury selection we will have at least one or more people who raise their hand. They will come up to the bench and talk privately with the judge and the attorneys.”
Welsh said it is obvious that they are upset.
“They will say they just can’t sit on this case because I have been involved with it as a victim. It is incredible to see that this is someone who has never reported the incident.”
Welsh believes more sexual abuse cases are being heard simply because people are listening to the victims.
“I think there used to be more of a stigma … people just wouldn’t report the crime,” he said. “This has always gone on, but now it is reported more often. People are listening to the victims.”
Welsh said most incidents happen in private and there are no witnesses.
“There is a lot of fear that comes out when we are dealing with children,” he said. “The perpetrator is exploiting that relationship.
“It is a problem that is out there. My hope is that the more that it gets reported and we show action is taken that people get held accountable and there is justice. Hopefully, it will deter people in the future.”