Sexual Assault Crisis Center of Eastern CT

Sexual Assault Crisis Center of Eastern CT

In the spring of 2021, 17 year old ‘Mary’ went to the school nurse. She confided to the nurse that she had been sexually assaulted by her step-father. Mary was a good student, and had already been accepted to ECSU for the fall semester. The nurse immediately called DCF. When the DCF worker arrived at the school, accompanied by a Detective from the local police department, Mary refused to speak with them, so the detective called SACCEC and asked for a crisis counselor to accompany her to the school. The following day the counselor spoke to Mary and she provided the following information: Mary resided with her mother and step-father. Her sister was 10 years older than her and lived outside the home. Her mother had serious mental health problems. Mary reported to the counselor that her step-father had been behaving inappropriately with her for the last few years. However, several months ago he sexually assaulted her and repeated this behavior whenever she was alone in the house with him. She confided that she was afraid to report him to the police because she had been accepted to college, and her step-father was going to pay her tuition. She was worried that if her father was arrested she wouldn’t be able to go to college, and she and her mother wouldn’t have any means of support. The SACCEC counselor helped Mary move in with her sister and her step-father was arrested. With Mary’s permission, our counselor contacted ECSU. The University awarded Mary a combination of scholarships and financial aid so that she could attend school. Our counselor also assisted Mary in obtaining health insurance coverage through the University and apply for Victim’s Compensation financial assistance, and SNAP benefits. Mary is currently attending ECSU and living with her sister.