Local medical centers provide support for sexual assault victims

Medical facilities like O'Bleness Memorial Hospital and Hudson Health Center have multi-step processes to collect evidence and aid victims after a sexual assault.

Sexual assault victims who come into Hudson go through a specific procedure to ensure their safety and security, said Amanda Childress, assistant director for the department of Health Promotion at Ohio University.

Hudson employees first make sure the victim is safe, then check for any major injuries, provide the person with antibiotics for certain sexually transmitted infections, do a pregnancy test if necessary and talk about further tests for STIs, Childress said. Hudson also has a 24-hour counseling hot line if students need to talk to a psychologist.

The better programming that we can get

the better we can provide services for students she said. We actually hope to see a big increase in numbers because that means that people are more likely to report and are coming forward. Because we know that assaults are occurring we just know that people aren't comfortable reporting them.

Hudson staff recommend students go to O'Bleness to undergo a sexual assault exam, she said. A psychologist or employee from Hudson can take the student to O'Bleness for the exam; however, the exam is not required.

A lot of times our students don't even want to go in for the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) exam. It's actually an extremely invasive procedure. ... And it's very uncomfortable

especially for someone who's just been assaulted

Childress said.

O'Bleness has three sexual assault nurse examiners who perform the exams on adults, said one of the examiners, Anita Thompson, R.N. If an examiner is not on duty, one is called.

I think we need more sexual assault nurses

she said, adding that there are not any training courses offered nearby.

If someone comes to O'Bleness who has been sexually assaulted, he or she immediately is taken to a room designated for the sexual-assault exam, Thompson said.

Examiners ask the victim several questions about the assault and take samples for evidence. The nurses also do exams to make sure the victim is not injured, Thompson said.

Because the kit contains evidence, the examiner has to keep it in his or her custody until the police pick it up, Thompson said.

The Ohio University Police Department, Athens Police Department and the Athens County Sheriff's Office send evidence to the Ohio Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio.

It takes about a day to do a biological screen of a kit if semen is identified and there are few other samples; however, if a kit has body fluids that are not identified, or other items like several pairs of underwear or swabs, it often takes several days to process the kit. If items like clothing or bedding are in the kit, the items may take a week to process, according to an e-mail from Holly Hollingsworth, spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general.

Biological screening consists of identifying the evidence in the kit without processing for DNA. The DNA testing process takes about six weeks. If the original analysis does not produce results, the process takes longer, Hollingsworth said.

The DNA evidence is entered into the state's Combined DNA Index System so it can be searched against convicted offenders' DNA profiles, according to the e-mail.

Once the Bureau of Criminal Identification finishes with the evidence, it sends a report back to the police department.

If a victim decides not to get a sexual assault exam, but wants to pursue the case, other options are available, said Rick Olexa, sexual assault/domestic violence investigator for Athens Police Department. The police then interview as many people as possible to solve the case, he said.