Strength and Support Help in Girl’s Recovery

A 12-year-old Huntington Beach girl who was kidnaped from her home and raped last weekend is recovering exceptionally well, thanks to her generous reserves of strength and self-confidence, her counselor said Wednesday.

“She seems to be bouncing back pretty well,” said Susan Perdue, a counselor who aids Orange County crime victims through a state-funded program.

“She has a good sense of who she is, and she’s self-confident, so that helps her a lot. She has a good support system in her family, and she’s a very sweet, typical young girl.

“But unfortunately, she’s been forced to become a woman.”

The girl, who was kidnaped just before dawn Sunday, raped nearby and then released, faced yet another phase of her trauma Wednesday as her alleged attacker was captured. This means that the girl may have to confront him in court.

Strong Sense of Self

Perdue accompanied the girl through the medical examination and police interviews and now talks with her daily on the phone. She said the girl has been worried about her safety and whether her attacker will return. But mostly, she just wishes it had never happened.

“She’s expressed that, that she’d like things to be back to normal,” Perdue said. “She’d just like to be a regular 12-year-old again. I think it’s important that she knows that it’s going to be OK, and it’s going to take some time, but she’ll feel better.”

Perdue said the girl’s strong sense of self has enabled her to be free of the guilt and self-blame that many rape victims inflict on themselves. Still, Perdue said, the girl wonders why she was the target of the crime.

Huntington Beach Police Capt. Bruce Young agreed that the young victim’s strength is impressive.

“She’s improving daily, which is good under the circumstances and (for) her age,” he said. “She has responded well to investigators and has developed a good rapport with them. She is pretty strong. She seems to be handling it better than some adults in the same situation.”

Perdue, who works in the Victim Witness Program, was immediately dispatched to the hospital with a partner to meet the girl when Huntington Beach police called for their assistance.

Perdue stayed with her during her exam, explaining in detail what she could expect from the doctors and nurses, and accompanied her to the police interview while her partner tried to soothe her parents and other family members, Perdue said.

Barbara Phillips, director of the Victim Witness Program, said adolescents who are raped are often more resilient than adults, but they must struggle with their feelings, too.

“It’s unusually hard for them because they are becoming so very much aware of their own bodies, becoming aware they are a very special person all to themselves,” she said. “They are growing up, and to suddenly have to deal with such an adult thing, something so emotional, so devastating--it’s tough.

“The violation is so overwhelming to them because not only are they trying to deal with the pain and the injury, but the unknown. They have a hard time understanding what’s happened to them. They often don’t understand the difference between a violent crime and a sexual act, which (rape) certainly is not.”

Perdue is one of 75 counselors in the Victim Witness Program, which is operated by Community Service Programs, a nonprofit human services agency, under contract to the county since 1980.

The program, financed by penalty assessments levied against convicted criminals in California, has offices at courthouses throughout Orange County, Phillips said.

The program’s certified crisis counselors provide emotional support for victims and their families, at times literally holding their hands through the many interviews and preparing them psychologically for trial, Phillips said. They also make themselves available to talk whenever the victim wants.

“It’s not our job to take over, but to take direction from the victim, providing them with support and giving them back control,” Phillips said. “We try to make this as understandable and as easy as we can for them.

“Sometimes they do absolutely cling to us. It can be very difficult to unwrap the victims’ arms from around you when it’s time for the medical exam. Other times, they need space. They’ve been extremely violated and might not want to be touched again.”

SEEKING HELP

Experts say only one in 10 rape victims report their attacks to police. These figures represent Orange County rape and sexual-assault cases treated by counselors at the Victim Witness Program in the past two years.

July 1988- July 1987- June 1989 June 1988 Total number 1,143 1,258 counseled GENDER Female 968 1,057 Male 175 201 AGE 0-5 158 146 6-12 301 417 13-17 249 256 18-29 231 277 30-44 135 102 45-64 26 30 65-up 8 4 unknown 35 26

Source: Victim Witness Program