She has just been sworn in to testify and she’s about to do something braver than I’ve ever done in a courtroom.
It will begin simply. “Where do you go to school?” “What grade are you in?” “What’s your favorite subject?” If we’re lucky, she will unwittingly say something that will lighten the mood, even if for just a moment.
But then, we won’t have a choice. We’ll have to talk about what happened.
Maybe it was the time she was alone with mom’s boyfriend when he got off work early.
Maybe it was at the slumber party with her cousins at her uncle’s house.
Maybe it was the day her neighbor asked her to come inside for “just a minute.”
As a prosecutor, I will have to ask this girl to talk about things that no adult would want to talk about – not even privately to a close friend. But I will ask this child to tell a room full of strangers what happened. In living color.
I will ask her to use words in public that she doesn’t want to use. I may ask her to circle body parts on an anatomical diagram, treating the whole thing clinically, even though there was nothing clinical about what happened to her.
Then, at some point, I will ask her to point out the man in the courtroom who did these things to her. The man who has been sitting just a few feet away from her, possibly staring at her the entire time.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Statistics matter. But behind the numbers are human beings, often young girls. As I noted in the caption, the image I posted today does not depict an actual child. But the children in these cases are real.
As a prosecutor handling these cases over the years, I’ve had a front row seat to watch the bravery of these kids. I understand that the role of a judge is different from that of a prosecutor. However, as a judicial candidate, I can make this promise: if I am elected judge, within the confines of the law, I will hold accountable those offenders who harm children. That is a promise.