Teams work on behalf of sex-assault victims

Although nothing can take away the pain of being sexually assaulted, people who work with victims in Wood County are trying to make coping easier.

Two groups, the Coordinated Community Response Team and Sexual Assault Response Team, are helping victims of sexual assault get through the legal process in a way that will reduce the chances of them feeling revictimized, said Teri Harcrow, chairwoman of the Coordinated Community team.

The bad news is that there are enough victims to keep the teams busy. In 2011, Wood County authorities filed 30 felony cases that involved a sexual assault, according to a Daily Tribune analysis of past reports. Experts say the number of cases reported represents only a small percentage of the actual sexual assaults that occur.


The Community Response Team includes members from the Wood County District Attorney’s Office, family court commission, The Family Center, law enforcement and the Ho-Chunk’s domestic violence center, Harcrow said. The team meets every other month, concentrating on domestic violence but also on sexual assault issues. Members seek to ensure that victims understand the system and have their needs met.

“We all have jobs to do, and it is hard to do them to the best of our ability when we have a victim feel like she is not being treated well,” Harcrow said.

The group also works to stay on top of law changes that can affect prosecution of people suspected of domestic abuse or sexual assault, Harcrow said.

The Sexual Assault Response Team includes nurses specially trained as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, commonly called SANE nurses. The team also includes members of law enforcement, a victim advocate and sometimes a counselor.

Nurses and police join forces because victims typically will either go to law enforcement or the hospital to report a sexual assault, said Brenda Fellenz, nurse manager for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield.

“When there is someone assaulted, much more needs to happen beyond the initial response here in the hospital,” Fellenz said. “We try to work together.”


The coordinated effort prevents victims from having to repeat their traumatic assault stories multiple times.

The specialized nurses and investigators also make sure the evidence and information is collected properly to make it useful, should the case to go trial, Fellenz said.

It’s important for the process to give victims back the control they lost during the assault, she said.

The Sexual Assault Response Team for Ministry Saint Joseph’s uses a victim advocate from the Family Center in Wisconsin Rapids. The team meets quarterly to discuss its work on behalf of victims, said Hillary Kevilus, sexual assault victim services coordinator at the Family Center.

“It gives everybody a chance to sit down and talk about what went wrong, what went right and what can we improve on,” Kevilus said.

All members of the Sexual Assault Response Team sign confidentiality agreements so that they can freely talk about any issues that arise, Kevilus said.

Team members also have been visiting schools in Wood County to talk to children about sexual assault and abuse, she said. They talk about where children who have been victims can go and to whom they can turn.

“It’s giving them that voice,” Kevilus said.

Currently, there is no Sexual Assault Response Team connected with Riverview Medical Center in Wisconsin Rapids, Kevilus said. However, the team invites hospital employees to quarterly meetings and hopes to create a team for the south end of the county, she said.

Riverview Medical Center does have two SANE nurses, said Tammy Barber, the hospital’s interim director of communications and business development.

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