Hi all,
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.
Last month I reported my abuser to law enforcement. It was just a regular officer who took the initial report. The whole case is kind of complicated because I currently live in a different state than where they abuse occurred. So the officer did what they call a “courtesy report.” This report was then passed along to the police department in the jurisdiction, (San Diego), where the abuse took place.
Fast forward to last week, I finally got a call from a sex crimes detective over in San Diego county and he wants me to come in, in-person for an interview. He also asked me if I would be willing to take the stand to testify in a trial, if the case ever got to that point. He also mentioned that I’ll have to do a pretext phone call with my abuser to try to get him to admit to something. I told him I’d need some time to process everything and then decide. He’s calling me back March 5th to see if I’ve made a decision.
Basically, where I’m at now is that I really have no idea what I want to do. I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons, and I think it’d be really really helpful for me to hear from other folks who have gone through the investigative and legal processes of reporting sexual abuse. So if anyone can offer any insights, I’d very much appreciate it!
How long, and how tough, and how explicit/detailed does the detective interview have to be? How was your pretext call experience? Did you have to see your abuser? Go to court?How long did the whole legal process take? How emotionally-taxing was it for you? What was the outcome? And, was it worth it in the end??
Sorry for the essay and for a ton of questions!! Thank you if you took the time to read it!
tl;dr, what was your experience like in the criminal justice system when reporting past sexual abuse ??
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.
Last month I reported my abuser to law enforcement. It was just a regular officer who took the initial report. The whole case is kind of complicated because I currently live in a different state than where they abuse occurred. So the officer did what they call a “courtesy report.” This report was then passed along to the police department in the jurisdiction, (San Diego), where the abuse took place.
Fast forward to last week, I finally got a call from a sex crimes detective over in San Diego county and he wants me to come in, in-person for an interview. He also asked me if I would be willing to take the stand to testify in a trial, if the case ever got to that point. He also mentioned that I’ll have to do a pretext phone call with my abuser to try to get him to admit to something. I told him I’d need some time to process everything and then decide. He’s calling me back March 5th to see if I’ve made a decision.
Basically, where I’m at now is that I really have no idea what I want to do. I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons, and I think it’d be really really helpful for me to hear from other folks who have gone through the investigative and legal processes of reporting sexual abuse. So if anyone can offer any insights, I’d very much appreciate it!
How long, and how tough, and how explicit/detailed does the detective interview have to be? How was your pretext call experience? Did you have to see your abuser? Go to court?How long did the whole legal process take? How emotionally-taxing was it for you? What was the outcome? And, was it worth it in the end??
Sorry for the essay and for a ton of questions!! Thank you if you took the time to read it!
tl;dr, what was your experience like in the criminal justice system when reporting past sexual abuse ??