Senate committee approves child sex abuse education bill

CHEYENNE - We like to think that between governmental and nonprofit agencies, we have enough safety nets in place to identify and help child victims of sexual assault.

Maybe that's because it's easier to believe the work is already being done. Maybe it helps us sleep at night.

But often the system fails, and it failed Kailyn Cook.

She survived 14 years of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather.

Now a 26-year-old mother of two, the Laramie resident told her story Wednesday morning to the Senate Education Committee in support of Senate File 93. A portion of that bill, Erin's Law, would authorize school districts to provide age-appropriate education about child sexual abuse to students.

Cook cried when speaking to the senators.

"This law could have helped me, even as a 2-year-old, when I needed to have someone stand up for me and speak for me when I couldn't speak for myself," she said. "Even though I couldn't speak up then, I'm speaking up now. Thank you for giving me a voice today."

Sen. Liisa Anselmi-Dalton, D-Rock Springs, presented the bill to the committee as one of the sponsors of the bipartisan legislation.

"The goal of this bill is for children to know how to ?get away or tell today,' essentially," she said. "This is particularly relevant because 90 percent of the time when children are being abused, it's by someone they know and trust."

Cook said her story began when she underwent a medical evaluation for recurring urinary tract infections at age 2.

"The health professionals discovered sexual trauma. After (the Department of Family Services) investigated, they determined sexual molestation had occurred; however, my case was dropped because I was unable to give a statement due to my age," she said.

But the perpetrator was a member of her own household, so the abuse didn't end there. When she was 9, she told her best friend that her stepfather was abusing her.

A representative from DFS picked her up from school the following day to interview her, but school officials allowed her to speak to her mother first. Cook said her mother told her if the accusation was true, it would tear apart the family and that they couldn't survive without her stepfather.

"After that phone call, my interview was conducted. During the interview, they repeatedly said things like, ?If this is a lie, your mom will be so sad,' and ?It's OK if it's not the truth.'"

Cook denied having the conversation with her friend.

She spoke up again at 14 years old, when she told her boyfriend. Cook said the Green River Police Department dropped the case, citing insufficient evidence.

At 16, she finally obtained justice when she used her phone to record her stepfather talking about molesting her.

"I held onto these recording because I was terrified that DFS, the police department, the school system and everyone around me would once again let me down," she said.

But she finally turned them over to authorities, and her stepfather eventually pleaded no contest to the charges. A no contest plea means the defendant is not admitting guilt but agrees that the prosecution likely has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

Erin's Law has passed in 31 states, and another 16 are considering legislation, including Wyoming.

SF 93 also would authorize school districts to provide training for teachers and information for parents to help spot warning signs of child sexual abuse, and allow the districts to obtain funding to provide the services.

Erin Merryn, the woman who originated the bill in Illinois and continues to champion its passage across the nation, also addressed the committee by phone.

Merryn said her best friend's uncle began sexually abusing her when she was in kindergarten.

"The only message I got was from this man, and it was to keep it a secret. Don't tell anyone. So, I stayed silent. I didn't tell anyone," she explained.

That abuse ended when she was 8 years old because her family moved, but a teenage cousin began abusing her when she was 11, Merryn said. That continued for two years.

"Had someone come in and taught me personal body safety - whether that's that school social worker or it's an outside agency - and spent an hour out of school teaching me how to speak up and that this is not my fault, that I will be believed, I'm convinced I would have told somebody," she said.

Merryn said more children are reporting their abuse after learning about sexual abuse under Erin's Law.

She added that federal funds are available to help school districts pay for the program, thanks to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who added a provision for funding in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Cara Chambers, director of the Division of Victim Services in the Wyoming Office of the Attorney General, said child sexual assault is one of the largest areas of sexual assault.

She explained in an email that the programs under the Division of Victim Services every quarter serve about 40 adults who were sexually assaulted as children and about 360 child victims of sexual assault. She acknowledged that some of those could be duplicate counts of the same victim, however.

The committee unanimously approved the bill for consideration by the full Senate. Three members of the committee - Sen. Hank Coe, R-Cody, Sen. Affie Ellis, R-Cheyenne, and Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne - also are co-sponsors of the bill.

Cook said Erin's Law can help kids like her understand that sexual abuse is wrong and how to report it. SF 93 also can help friends, family members and community members recognize the signs of abuse, she said.

Perhaps then, fewer children would endure 14 years of sexual abuse without an advocate, as she did.