The first attack happened in April. Then there were two more in July. In each case, the women said they were kidnapped by a stranger and either raped or sexually abused.
The man accused of committing the acts, Javier Arias, 38, is now awaiting trial in Ector County District Court.
According to authorities, the case is somewhat unusual. Rape victims aren’t usually attacked by strangers and sexual assault suspects often escape arrest.
According to records obtain from the Odessa Police Department through a Texas Public Information Act request, there were 324 sexual assaults reported to the department in 2019-2021 and only 29 arrests.
Another 54 cases were “cleared” which means the case was closed because the victim was uncooperative, the offender is dead or a district attorney has declined to prosecute.
In only 18 of the 324 OPD cases was the perpetrator a stranger, records show.
Although the Ector County Sheriff’s Office has not yet responded to a records request filed in September, Ector County Sheriff’s Detective Heidi Zavala agreed most sexual assault victims know their victims. She also acknowledged detectives are often hampered when it comes to making an arrest.
Both Zavala and OPD Cpl. Detective Javier Gonzales said traumatized victims sometimes delay reporting the attack because they are afraid, embarrassed or because the attacker is related to them or may be their primary means of financial support. Some victims also may come to believe they were at fault, perhaps because they were drinking.
A delay in reporting can hinder investigators’ ability to collect physical evidence or find other evidence corroborating the victims’ story. It can also give the suspect a chance to flee, they said.
Other victims later change their minds about pursuing charges, for many of the same reasons others delay reporting or don’t report the assault at all, the detectives said.
Hannah Horick is the director of education and partnerships at the Crisis Center of West Texas.
The center has a 24/7 emergency shelter, but it also provides counseling and case managers who make sure their clients get help with safety planning, basic needs, legal advocacy and other resources.
Doubly victimized
From January through Oct. 31, the center had served more than 700 people, including children. Of the 348 adults who reported being the victims of domestic violence, 34% reported they’d also been sexually assaulted, Horick said.
Many don’t even realize they’ve been sexually abused, she said.
“They don’t understand that the rights that they have within their relationships, particularly within marriages, to not consent to sexual acts,” Horick said. “We know the community also has that challenge. I think a lot of folks think of domestic violence as strictly physical or even physical and emotional.”
OPD and ECSO are not unique when it comes to low arrest rates, it’s a national issue, Horick said.
Not every sexual assault results in injuries that can be observed during a sexual assault nurse examination and not every sexual assault happens during the course of another crime, like a break-in, Horick said.
Myths
“You don’t necessarily see swelling or tearing or bruising. Not all assault victims come in black and blue and battered. Most just look like their normal selves and have experienced something really violating,” Horick said. “It’s wonderful because our bodies are resilient,but that resiliency often means we don’t see some sort of physical evidence of something that was really traumatizing.”
As a result, it comes down to investigators having to take one person’s word over the others on the issues of intent and consent.
“Often it’s easier to prove that sex occurred or that some sort of sexual act occurred, but getting into whether or not it was consensual relies truly on the narrative of two individuals and often the only people who actually know what happened are those two individuals,” Horick said.
The Crisis Center is there for sexual assault survivors no matter what the circumstances, Horick said. They’ll lend assistance whether they come in on their own or are referred by police, whether they want to report the crime or not.
“We really want folks in the community to know that if an assault occurs, there are people here who can provide resources. Anyone who is a survivor of sexual assault can call our hotline 24/7 and an advocate can be present to meet them at the hospital within 30 minutes,” Horick said.
Hospital staff have also been trained to let survivors know about the advocacy program, she said.
A Crisis Center volunteer will sit with them through the examination and police interview if requested and get them into a shelter or arrange for counseling, if needed, Horick said.
They’ll help survivors even if they aren’t interested in pursuing criminal charges, Horick said.
Many don’t know it, but sexual assault survivors even have the ability to request a sexual assault nurse examination (SANE) and have the evidence preserved without filing a police report, Horick said. The hospital will hold onto the evidence just in case the survivor changes his or her mind.
The process can be intimidating even if there is evidence and charges are pursued, but when survivors don’t feel believed or they’re told there’s insufficient evidence, they can really feel alone, Horick said.
It can be also be heartbreaking when a survivor has finally overcome their fear of pursuing charges against a loved one and authorities believe them, but then decide there’s just not enough evidence to pursue the case, she said.
Unfortunately, Horick said when people hear those stories, they sometimes decide not to report instances of violence when they are victimized.
“As an educator and an advocate, I try to be really open about the realities and about what we can actually promise,” Horick said. “I train our staff and our volunteers and I also make sure in my own language to stay away from phrases like ‘It’s going to be OK’ because I don’t know what OK looks like for that person. I don’t know what the outcomes are going to be.”
She, their volunteers and staff, just try to make sure survivors know they don’t have to go through the process alone and they explain how the hospital, police and court systems work.
“I always tell the survivors, ‘I’m here to be the good guy, the bad guy, whatever you need me to be, because there’s so much that’s scary in the process,” Horick said. “We focus on the small things they can control.”
As for do’s and don’ts immediately following an assault, Horick said there’s no wrong way to respond.
“Whatever you need to do to feel safe is OK. There are folks who might tell you not to shower if you’re looking to do evidence collection or not to eat or drink, but at the end of the day, if you need to take a shower to feel like you can function, take your shower,” Horick said.
SANEs
Medical staff can collect evidence up to 96 hours after an assault, Horick said.
“There’s kind of two big things that we really want people to know. One is that there is no cost associated with a SANE exam. They’re paid for by the state and your medical visit doesn’t show up on any of your medical records,” she said. “You do have to tell the hospital that you’re a survivor of sexual assault and that’s what you’re there for, but that fast tracks you. It gets you out of the main waiting room and you’ll get to sit somewhere in a triage room where it’s a little bit quieter.”
The second thing is the non-report process, where survivors can have their evidence preserved without reporting the crime, Horick said.
“The hospital will honor that and they will not call law enforcement and they will not hand over your kit as evidence to law enforcement,” Horick said. “It’s an option for somebody who’s concerned, but wants to leave their options open.”
Over the last five years, Horick said she’s only handled one non-report case. She’s not sure if they ever came back and decided to pursue charges.
Team work
The Crisis Center and local law enforcement officers have a great working relationship and over the last few years officers been even more open to training opportunities, Horick said.
A response team made up of Crisis Center staff, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and Medical Center Hospital staff began meeting monthly last year to talk about how things are going and what improvements, if any, can be made, she said.
Law enforcement officers have been taught about the Lethality Assessment Program, which involves asking victims of domestic violence a set of questions that help them determine if they are at an increased risk of lethality, Horick said. If they receive a high score, officers inform them they’re in real danger and provide them resources, like the Crisis Center, to contact.
“I think we’re really fortunate, especially in a smaller, more rural community to have the access to the kinds of relationships that we have,” Horick said.
Horick said if anyone is interested in becoming a sexual assault survivors advocate, the Crisis Center is holding a 32-hour training course in January. Advocates will also be required to shadow another advocate for at least eight hours.
