In the aftermath: Jane's story

Monday, April 26, 2010

Jane, 19, a Lawrence resident who was drinking when someone she knew raped her, was fortunate that other friends interrupted the attack and were willing witnesses for the truth. It happened after her two-year relationship with her boyfriend ended in March, and Jane decided to let loose. One night at a friend’s house party, she threw back five double shots. Another woman at the party found her lying face down in her own vomit a few hours later. The woman helped her to the bathroom then laid her on the couch with a blanket to sober up.

Photo by Chance Dibben

Jane, a 19-year-old Lawrence resident, said that reporting the man who sexually assaulted her was not easy because he was in her circle of friends, but that she never regretted her decision. She said recognizing the rape was not her fault allowed her to move past feeling like a victim.

While she lay there, passed out, Josh, a man she knew and considered a friend, pulled the blanket over both of them and raped her.

“When I realized what was happening, it was like I was dreaming,” she said. “I saw shadows, I heard people talking, I saw things going on around me, but I wasn’t able to help myself.”

But there were witnesses. Five of Jane’s friends saw Josh lying intimately with Jane, who was still unconscious. They made him leave. Jane awakened to her friends’ voices telling her, “It’s OK, honey; he’s gone.” She noticed her underwear was at her knees.

How Kansas law defines felonies such as rape

In Kansas, felony offenses are classified by 10 severity levels, with level one the most serious. The "sex crimes" that Kansas Statutes define as rape are rape, forcible sodomy, forcible fondling, incest and statutory rape. Rape and aggravated criminal sodomy are level one criminal offenses — the same level as murder. Offenses level one through four carry “presumptive imprisonment,’ which means the defendant is almost certain to serve time in prison.

Kansas law defines rape as "sexual intercourse with a person who does not consent to the sexual intercourse when the victim is overcome by force or fear; when the victim is unconscious or physically powerless; or when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of mental deficiency or disease, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent because of the effect of any alcoholic liquor, narcotic, drug or other substance, which condition was known by the offender or was reasonably apparent to the offender."

The next morning, she called police. Jane hadn’t showered or changed her clothes. Police brought her to the hospital immediately and nurses did a rape kit. She called her mother, who came to the hospital. For the first time since the assault, Jane cried.

“It was embarrassing, but we didn’t say anything,” Jane said. “We didn’t need to.”

Jane and her mother went to the district attorney’s office. Attorneys and police there worked with her to record a confession her assailant, Josh, made to her over the phone. Jane called Josh and, though he denied having sex with her, admitted he penetrated her with his fingers. What he didn’t know was that any unwanted penetration constitutes rape. He was arrested and his bail set at $125,000.

Jane said the process has been difficult because the attacker is in her circle of friends, some of whom have criticized her. However, she has never regretted reporting it.

“I didn’t want to feel that for the rest of my life I have to defend myself,” she said. “But I have nothing to prove. He admitted to a horrible crime and that guilt is his alone.”

The decision to go to police and turn in someone she knew was not easy, she said, but it helped her rediscover her self worth.

“I’m done feeling sorry for myself,” she said. “I’m done being unhappy. I’m done feeling worthless and letting myself be treated that way. I don’t want to stay a victim of this or anything for the rest of my life.”

Jane’s assailant Josh had his preliminary hearing Thursday and was scheduled to stand trial in July.