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If Tracey's boyfriend and others hadn't heard and responded to her screams, her assailant would have gotten away. But even though he was caught on the scene by the police, Tracey faced a difficult trial, and every year she has to appeal to the criminal justice system to keep him behind bars.
In June 1996, at age 25, Tracey was camping in Michigan with her boyfriend and several other friends. At 10 PM, she got tired and left the campfire to go bed, stopping by the bathroom. Once in the shower, she heard someone come into the room, and then a large man in a ski mask entered her shower stall. "My first thought was - Do I scream? Do I just let him rape me and hope he won't kill me? Then I thought, what if he rapes me and kills me too? I have to try to fight."
Tracey is petite, and her assailant was 5'9" and 263 lbs. She kicked him and screamed as he hit her in the face with a heavy roll of duct tape and slammed her against the wall, grabbing at her breasts and vaginal area. After about five minutes, "He must have figured someone would hear, and he ran away." Her boyfriend and others had heard her and were running toward the bathroom. He tackled her assailant and several men held him down until the police came.
Her boyfriend has been her core source of support; he proposed six months later and they have been married since. Others were helpful as well: a friend took her out for a walk and just let her talk, another brought her ice cream, and yet another gave her a copy of When Bad Things Happen to Good People with an inspirational bookmark in it: "She didn't know what to say, but the bookmark spoke a thousand words."
Others were not helpful. The x-ray technician at the doctor's office said it "could be worse" and that she should be thankful she was alive. And her priest told her she should find forgiveness and move on. "I have moved on with my life, but I will never forgive my attacker. He has forever injured my spirit and shows no remorse."
At her assailant's trial, he and his attorney tried to claim he wasn't trying to rape her. But the judge charged him with sexual assault and sentenced him to one year in prison and ten years' parole. After his release, he sexually assaulted another woman and now is back in prison. "He could be in prison until 2008, but only if he's kept off parole. Each year I write letters to the parole board. This is a very difficult process for me each year. I spoke out to him in court and continue to fight back."
Experts estimate that only one out of ten women who are raped or sexually assaulted report their assaults to authorities. For those who do seek justice, very few cases ever make it to trial. On those rare occasions when there is a conviction, sentences are too often light, as was the case for Tracey's assailant, and sexual predators are frequently returned to society to rape again. That Tracey's case is an example of what we as a society accept as justice shows how far we still have to go.
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