North 44th is a street with houses and a church, but police said right behind it, is where a 15-year-old girl was found by a passerby in tears, bound and raped.
“if anybody has any information, or if they saw anything throughout the course of the night, or if they know where she went or they know who she was with, please contact either baton rouge police department at 389-2000 or crime stoppers at 344 stop,” said cpl. l’jean mckneely of the baton rouge police department.
some neighbors said the 15-year-old girl was found all the way down a path and around by a creek. advocates said, just because she was found, doesn’t mean she is okay.
“they’ll go to the hospital to get a forensic exam, and they’re met there with an advocate. so, one of our star advocates will actually meet there to get their basic needs met, as well as, sit with them for emotional support and crisis intervention, and from there, it’s a long road to recovery,” said racheal hebert.
hebert is the president of star, which is short for the sexual trauma awareness and response center. hebert said just because the victim was a runaway, never means she is to blame for the crime.
“take this case, she’s young. she ran away. this perpetrator knew that people would be saying she ran away with a man or she ran away on her own, they’re immediately going to be blaming her that she brought this on herself,” hebert explained.
hebert said the community needs to come together and support victims of sexual assault, or the problem will only get worse.
STAR helped around 2,000 sexual assault victims last year alone.
If you or someone you know needs help, call STAR’S 24/7 Hotline at (225) 383-RAPE or head to their website http://www.brstar.org/