The Sunnyvale Sun

Cover Story

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Rescuers: De Anza College soccer players Lauren Chief Elk (left) and April Grolle talk about their role in rushing a semiconscious and semi-naked 17-year-old girl to the hospital after she was allegedly raped at a party in San Jose on March 3.

Fighting Back

Supporters push for a victim's day in court

By Cody Kraatz

The psychological scars of war, terrorist attacks, hurricanes and rapes can heal in time, but the speed and strength of that healing depends on how victims, witnesses and communities respond, experts say.

They also note that a painful event like a rape can reverberate throughout a community, with people feeling the impact to varying degrees depending how close they feel to it.

A person could not get much closer than the three De Anza College soccer players, April Grolle, Lauren Chief Elk and Lauren Bryeans, all 20, who rushed a 17-year-old girl to a hospital after an alleged rape at a March 3 party in San Jose hosted by De Anza baseball players.

They said they found her semiconscious and semi-naked, with one man having sex with her while about eight others looked on. Their actions show that they overcame the fear they felt at that sight, turning anger and a sense of urgency into action and clearing a room full of men to rescue the victim. That may have helped them as much as the victim, experts say.

The effects of traumatic experiences are commonly known as post-traumatic stress symptoms, and if a person has enough of them he or she could be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the same disorder that many war veterans return home with. The American Psychiatric Association developed a checklist to help diagnose patients, and it lines up with the young women's experiences.

They re-experience that night when they emotionally "flare up" at the mention of the victim's name. They are detached and estranged from some people they were previously close to, finding it hard to relate now. They broke up with their boyfriends shortly after the alleged rape, ending a 2-1/2 year relationship in Chief Elk's case.

"She gets to experience what I'm going through. We can relate," said Grolle, of Chief Elk. Their account of their lives since March 3 show that this case is far from closed for them, despite Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr's decision not to file any charges.

"It doesn't really change our mind that what we saw was a sexual assault," said Grolle.

Despite a two-month investigation that prompted Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith to say that a crime occurred on March 3, Carr said she does not have sufficient evidence to secure a conviction. Shortly after protesters called for California Attorney General Jerry Brown to take on the case, Carr wrote a letter to him requesting a review. He announced the next week that he would review the case.

Active response

The three soccer players have taken steps that could minimize their potential for PTSD and, lessen the lasting impact of the trauma.

"Part of what they did is what would help them," said Dr. Edward Oklan, M.D., M.P.H., of Preventive Psychiatry Associates in San Francisco. While he has not followed every aspect of the case, he said he was aware of it generally.

He helped develop a workbook for children in response to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that was adapted in 2003 to help families talk with children about war and terrorism. The workbook uses the acronym HANDS as a guide, and its steps apply to adults as well as children.

Honest communication, activity, networking, developmental appropriateness (for children) and services are all very important. For example, the witnesses talked about what they witnessed rather than suppressing it, they took action, they networked with supportive friends and they sought early treatment services.

"It's very important to be active as opposed to passive in the face of trauma. That makes a tremendous difference," said Oklan. "They've done all the right stuff. There is some kind of wisdom going on here.''

But unlike the witnesses, the victim of the alleged rape has been unable to take any action.

"She wants her day in court," said Irene Weiser of Stop Family Violence at a May 31 protest in front of the district attorney's office. The protest called for California Attorney General Jerry Brown to take on the case. Carr wrote a letter to Brown the following day requesting a review, and he announced the next week that he would.

Despite a two-month investigation that prompted Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith to say that a crime occurred on March 3, Carr said she does not have sufficient evidence to secure a conviction.

But experts and rape survivors said prosecution could make a big difference for the victim and for other victims.

"It does have an effect, not that the prosecutor should, but if they can, that sends a message," said Oklan.

He added that taking a passive rather than active course of action can cause people to lose trust in society and social services and develop cynicism and withdrawal.

Also, manmade trauma can have a much more severe impact on witnesses and victims than natural disasters because there can be no doubt, following a tornado or hurricane, about who is the victim and what caused their pain.

"If you compound that by not prosecuting something that ought to be, you're compounding that manmade damage. Sometimes omission is worse than commission," said Oklan.

He compares the three soccer players and the legal system, saying that action is lacking in the legal system's response.

This difference, the "A" in Oklan's HANDS acronym, could interfere with the victim's recovery and ability to lead a satisfying and fulfilling life if such other critical tools as counseling, networking and honest communication are not strong enough.

The victim, with whom the soccer players are in regular contact, has not revealed her identity publicly, choosing instead to speak through activists and the soccer players.

But she has relied on her close relationships and reached out to Grolle and Chief Elk, giving them both medallions with St. Christopher's image--a symbol of protection--to wear around their necks. She has found the social support of playing sports helpful and may be going to counseling now, Grolle and Chief Elk said.

Ripple effect

Psychological experts say the impact of a traumatic event reverberate not only through the lives of those directly involved, but also throughout the community.

"It's certainly a matter of degree. It's like ripples in a pond. The biggest ripples are going to be closest. We really are all connected, and we really are all impacted by things like this," said Oklan.

The De Anza community, for all its diversity, could experience traumatic fallout as a whole, but much less severe than anything the victim, witnesses and those who are close to them have experienced.

"When a community has a tragedy or a situation that involves these kinds of traumas...a lot of people can have, if you want to call it, post-traumatic stress symptoms, broadly defined," said Thomas Plante, Ph.D., who chairs the psychology department at Santa Clara University.

Also, the college forms a major element of the Cupertino community, which is very proud of the high-performing school districts that make property so valuable here. Although De Anza is independent from the city, some residents may take it personally.

"When you throw a lot of media on it, it can make it a lot worse," said Plante, who has not followed this case closely but is generally aware of it. Communities become known for situations that make them look bad, he said. East Palo Alto developed a reputation for its high rate of murders per capita and struggled for years to combat that association.

College response

De Anza has taken an active response, suspending the baseball players who were at the party when the alleged rape took place from the team for violating the athletic code of conduct. College administrators are pleased that Brown will review the case and commended the soccer players' response as active bystanders.

Beginning in the fall quarter, De Anza College plans to offer a curriculum that teaches all athletes and incoming students how to make responsible choices at parties and in the presence of drugs and alcohol.

Brian Murphy, president of the college, asked the athletics department to work with the National Consortium for Academics and Sports to adapt the NCAS curriculum to De Anza's needs. That may include instruction using such scenarios as "Illegal Motion," which asks athletes to think of how to respond at a party where a teammate is trying to get an obviously drunk woman to have sex with him.

"We have taken this opportunity to turn the allegations into a learning experience," said Marisa Spatafore, De Anza spokeswoman.

The college held a meeting on March 19 with all college athletes outlining expected behavior.

De Anza has taken similarly active steps in 2001, when De Anza student Al DeGuzman, 19, was arrested for plotting an attack at the school with improvised explosive devices and guns. His plot was discovered when a Longs Drugs employee, an 18-year-old San Jose State University student, discovered photos of him posing with his weapons. DeGuzman was sentenced to 80 years in prison but hanged himself in 2004.

The planned attack reverberated far and wide, with Filipino-Americans in San Jose hoping their community would not be stigmatized by the incident because DeGuzman was Filipino-American.

Personal relevance

Plante said that another variable in how people will experience a traumatic event in a community is whether it recalls past trauma in their own lives.

"There's an element of personal relevance to the story," he said. A rape survivor or someone who has been involved in a terrorism situation might react more dramatically when they hear about a rape or terrorist attack than someone else. They can be re-traumatized by reading about or watching news reports in the media over and over, as with the shootings at Virginia Tech University in April.

This is supported by Plante's own research into survivors of clergy abuse.

"It just brings it all back. And that's a pretty typical, common story," he said.

Former Cupertino City Councilwoman and two-time mayor Sandy James, who is still very active in the Cupertino community, spoke to this and to the impact of the alleged rape on the broader community.

"Just from the perspective of a rape survivor like myself...there's just a profound sadness," said James. She was disappointed that the legal system, specifically the court system, took a position that gives the impression to rape victims that they should not report the crime or get involved.

A distant cousin about her father's age raped her when she was 13. She reported the rape to strangers, who reported it to police immediately. She testified before the judge , and the perpetrator was arrested quickly.

She wishes that justice could be so swift in this case as well.

"I know there's a long way to go from, 'There was a crime committed,' to the DA being able to say, 'We can prosecute this crime.' I just think it's a very sad commentary on the current status of rape that victims still seem to have to fight for their rights. I had hoped that we had evolved to another level."

That the swift justice alleviated some of her fears, but not all. It was a year before James could feel comfortable with her father and her godfather, who were about the age of the man who raped her. She was automatically uncomfortable being alone in a car with either of and was sad about that because it was hurtful for them.

She also remembers that while she was able to honestly communicate about the rape immediately to law enforcement, she wishes she had been able to get further support.

"I was immediately told by my parents never to speak about it to anybody. I never got any help."

But she is hopeful that the attention brought to rape through this case will have some positive fallout. Those involved with rape survivors say sexual assaults are common and rarely reported to law enforcement.

James acknowledges that some allegations of rape have been made maliciously or untruthfully, but said that is rare and that all allegations should be considered seriously.

"Hopefully this is going to open up a dialogue across dinner tables, in classrooms," said James, who supports the action that De Anza took in suspending the baseball players implicated in the rape investigation.

Dominique Fong contributed to this story.

Help for victims

Rape victims and witnesses undergo overwhelming emotional stress during police interviews. The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety communicates regularly with the YWCA Rape Crisis Center to advise victims and witnesses.

If the victim decides after receiving emotional guidance to proceed with a prosecution, the police forward the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

A victim may choose not to seek prosecution because of a desire to avoid emotional stress. The district attorney's office does not keep statistics on how many rapes are prosecuted each year.

Sixteen rapes were reported in Sunnyvale from May 2006 to April 2007 ,and no rapes were reported in Cupertino in 2006.

However, about one in five victims does not call the YWCA's crisis center or the police, said Sandy Davis, director of the center. About 1,100 people call the center each year. It offers free confidential counseling sessions for survivors, friends and family members.

For more information, call counseling and volunteer coordinator Jen Adler at 408.295.4011. To report a rape, contact the 24-hour rape crisis hotline at 408.287.3000 or call the police.

--Dominique Fong