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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Catfish who wrote (11881)	2/25/1999 4:26:00 PM
From: Andrew Martin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13994

Posted on the Free Republic: "To: Kevin H. Dear Kevin H. As a former criminal investigator in the Army's Criminal Investigation Division perhaps I can offer some condolence to your mother and family by sharing some observations from the enforcement side of the tradgedy which befell your family. In 1997 I had the distinction of investigating several "20 year old rape cases" arising from the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground sexual assault scandal of 1996-1997. As part of the remedy the Army made the commitment of investigating any and all complaints of sexual assualt which involved the service without regard to timeframe or circumstance. The oldest case our office had was from 1959. I had 3 cases from the '70s. I solved them all. Through dogged pursuit I was able to confirm every one to the testimony of the complaintant. I was (and remain) amazed at just how reliable and credible information is which is presented by a victim and/or witness to a violent crime years after the fact. Until the APG cases our detachment's general rule-of-thumb on reported rapes was 1-out-of-10 complaints were true (legally sufficient) and 1-out-of-10 actual rapes were reported. Needless to say, my office was initially quite skeptical of the APG cases. Well, after dozens of investigations a lot of minds were enlightened in many respects. I'd have to say that probably the sadest case I ever worked came from one of the APG complaints. A pure tradgedy where the command covered-up the incidents by first turning against the soldier and then his family. The cunning viciousness of the criminal and the complicity of his command eventually led to the soldier's suicide and the disintegration of the entire family. It's very disturbing to see that Hollywood, television, etc. never show the effects upon the families, witnesses and victims of violent crime. I liken it to having to watch a train hitting a school bus. It's just about that sad in many cases to see how peoples' lives are forever altered in ways they are usually incapable of understanding. Needless to say, people involved in such crimes never forget. The most exteme case I had was a 1974 rape case based upon a complaint from a woman who had been in and out of mental institutions for 20 yr.s following her rape. Everything the woman described, right down to the layout of the apartment and the evening of the crime was able to be verified. For the age of the crime it was the most accurate and detailed description we received. I believe it serves as an important reminder of just how destructive crime can be upon a person's life. Of all the cases I worked there wasn't a single one where the victim wasn't still disturbed by the crime even after many years. Unfortunately, this was unavoidable because most cases required repeated interviews as leads developed since the method in old crimes lacking forensic evidence is to "box-in" the suspect through circumstantial and testimonial evidence. I'd have to say though that in every case it was probably worth it for the victims to confront their fears. As difficult as it was it gave them back some control upon their lives. I spent many hours on the phone with some of those people and I can tell you they were going through a lot -even 20 yr.s later. You see, after 20 yr.s there's not much chance for justice, true, but there's every chance for the satisfaction of regaining control over one's life, knowing that their attacker is held accountable for his actions and that they are not forgotten. BTW, every one of the suspects I tracked down not only remembered their crime(s) but they'd taken elaborate measures over time to conceal and dismiss them. Criminals remember their crimes just as much as their victims do. It is how they define themselves. I must therefore strongly urge your mother to pursue civil and criminal prosecution of Mr. Clinton for his attack upon her in 1978. From my own experience I can assure you that there is both a Right and a Wrong in life, neither one of which has a time limit. Godbless, take care. From: Justa (emailname) * 02/25/99 12:53:20 PST" freerepublic.com