Advocates for victims of sexual assault want legislators to strengthen protections for those with disabilities.
Recently the state Supreme Court ruled 4 to 3, agreeing with an Appellate court decision to release a man convicted of raping a young woman with severe disabilities. The reason?
The two sexual assault charges against Richard Fourtin state that a victim was physically helpless at the time of the alleged assault. The justices said prosecutors did not provide the evidence needed to prove the victim was uncommunicative or unconscious at the time.
Anna Doroghazi with Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services or CONNSACS believes prosecutors pursued the right charges in this case.
“This idea of physical helplessness really was the best option for the state to pursue. It’s the part of statute that’s most clear around having some kind of physical inability to communicate. Right now state statute does not explicitly say anything about someone who has a mental or physical disability.”
That's why for the last three years, CONNSACS has been working with legislators and prosecutors to try and change the statute.
Doroghazi says the proposed legislation has made it out of committee several times but has never been voted on in the state House or Senate. She's hopeful the law can be amended in the upcoming 2013 legislative session.
