Cry Rape: The True Story of One Woman's Harrowing Quest for Justice by Bill Lueders Page A
Authors: Bill Lueders
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and she said that would be fine. He asked if there would be a problem with Misty. Patty didn’t think so. As they arrived at their destination, Woodmansee asked Patty to call him the following day after she had spoken with her therapist. He asked one more time if she was feeling like hurt-ing herself, and she said no. As Patty stepped from his police car, she said to him, “Thank you, Tom, thank you.” He put it in his report.
9
Fighting Back
In some respects, the events of October 2, 1997, were more emotionally devastating to Patty than the rape itself. The man who came into her home and forced her to have sex caused terror and left lingering fear, but at least she knew that she was not to blame. The detectives who came into her life and forced her to deny this experience left deeper scars, because afterward she was filled with humiliation and remorse. If only she had stood up for herself. But, of course, Patty was never very good at that.
When Patty got back inside after Woodmansee dropped her off, Misty wanted to know what police had found, given her mother’s earlier optimism. Did they have a suspect? No, said Patty, they didn’t know anything. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Misty what happened. She was quiet, fighting back tears. When Misty left to run an errand, there was no reason to hold back. Patty began sobbing, overcome with guilt and pain. She called the Rape Crisis Center’s emergency hotline.
Later, Patty would remember little about this call, except that she cried throughout. She didn’t get the name of the person she spoke to, and the person she spoke to—a volunteer named Annie—did not get hers. But Annie did log a call at 9:21 p.m. from a woman who said she was raped the month before and had just been forced to recant under pressure from police. She said police wouldn’t let her go until she admitted that she made up the whole thing. Now she was afraid the perpetrator would come back, having gotten away with it the first time. Annie provided some comfort and suggested that Patty contact a lawyer with regard to her experience.
64
Fighting Back
65
•
Misty returned and found her mother in tears, but Patty didn’t want to discuss it. She called Mark to ask about the remarks Woodmansee had attributed to him. Mark denied ever doubting that she was raped and suggested she come over. Misty drove Patty to his place, but they saw from the car parked outside that one of his male friends was visiting. Patty was in no mood for this; Misty drove her back home.
Patty didn’t sleep at all that night. As promised, she called the mental health center twice to confirm that she was still alive. She made the second call at 4 a.m., before she left for work. She didn’t say a thing about having made a forced confession. Woodmansee had taken her to the center in what she perceived to be an attempt to have her locked up, and while his concern that she might harm herself was probably sincere, she didn’t feel as though these were people she could trust.
That morning, at work, Patty went into her tiny coffee shop office, closed the door, and called the lawyer whose name she had gotten from the Rape Crisis Center the night before. The lawyer, a woman, said there was nothing that Patty could do, unless or until charges were filed against her. Patty asked about taking a lie detector test; the lawyer strongly discouraged this. Feeling helpless, she called the Rape Crisis Center and set up an appointment to see a counselor. She also talked to her friend Cheryll, who worked in the agriculture building where Patty ran her coffee shop, telling her the whole story.
Patty’s assistant drove her home early, before noon. That afternoon, she called the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, as Cheryll had suggested. The woman she spoke to was stunned: “This was a Madison detective?” Patty also called Linda Moston, the psychologist.
She had counseled three of Patty’s siblings and had seen Patty
9
Fighting Back
In some respects, the events of October 2, 1997, were more emotionally devastating to Patty than the rape itself. The man who came into her home and forced her to have sex caused terror and left lingering fear, but at least she knew that she was not to blame. The detectives who came into her life and forced her to deny this experience left deeper scars, because afterward she was filled with humiliation and remorse. If only she had stood up for herself. But, of course, Patty was never very good at that.
When Patty got back inside after Woodmansee dropped her off, Misty wanted to know what police had found, given her mother’s earlier optimism. Did they have a suspect? No, said Patty, they didn’t know anything. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Misty what happened. She was quiet, fighting back tears. When Misty left to run an errand, there was no reason to hold back. Patty began sobbing, overcome with guilt and pain. She called the Rape Crisis Center’s emergency hotline.
Later, Patty would remember little about this call, except that she cried throughout. She didn’t get the name of the person she spoke to, and the person she spoke to—a volunteer named Annie—did not get hers. But Annie did log a call at 9:21 p.m. from a woman who said she was raped the month before and had just been forced to recant under pressure from police. She said police wouldn’t let her go until she admitted that she made up the whole thing. Now she was afraid the perpetrator would come back, having gotten away with it the first time. Annie provided some comfort and suggested that Patty contact a lawyer with regard to her experience.
64
Fighting Back
65
•
Misty returned and found her mother in tears, but Patty didn’t want to discuss it. She called Mark to ask about the remarks Woodmansee had attributed to him. Mark denied ever doubting that she was raped and suggested she come over. Misty drove Patty to his place, but they saw from the car parked outside that one of his male friends was visiting. Patty was in no mood for this; Misty drove her back home.
Patty didn’t sleep at all that night. As promised, she called the mental health center twice to confirm that she was still alive. She made the second call at 4 a.m., before she left for work. She didn’t say a thing about having made a forced confession. Woodmansee had taken her to the center in what she perceived to be an attempt to have her locked up, and while his concern that she might harm herself was probably sincere, she didn’t feel as though these were people she could trust.
That morning, at work, Patty went into her tiny coffee shop office, closed the door, and called the lawyer whose name she had gotten from the Rape Crisis Center the night before. The lawyer, a woman, said there was nothing that Patty could do, unless or until charges were filed against her. Patty asked about taking a lie detector test; the lawyer strongly discouraged this. Feeling helpless, she called the Rape Crisis Center and set up an appointment to see a counselor. She also talked to her friend Cheryll, who worked in the agriculture building where Patty ran her coffee shop, telling her the whole story.
Patty’s assistant drove her home early, before noon. That afternoon, she called the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, as Cheryll had suggested. The woman she spoke to was stunned: “This was a Madison detective?” Patty also called Linda Moston, the psychologist.
She had counseled three of Patty’s siblings and had seen Patty
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