THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508200036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Girls who were secretly videotaped in a Wilson High School locker room will not be entitled to counseling under the state's crime victims' compensation fund.
Commonwealth's Attorney Martin Bullock said the girls do not qualify because state law grants assistance only to sexual-abuse victims who have had physical contact with assailants.
However, Bullock said the city school system has agreed to provide counseling with an outside agency for any girls who need it.
John W. Crute, a Wilson High School track coach, was arrested this month after police confiscated 300 tapes from his home, many of which contained images of girls in the school's locker room. Police allege that Crute secretly taped the girls.
So far, 15 girls have been identified on the tapes.
Abuse-prevention advocates say crimes in which victims are viewed but not touched can be just as damaging as abuse in which a victim had physical contact with an assailant. Such crimes violate privacy, trust and sense of security.
The possibility that the perpetrator was trusted and respected could make the situation even worse than if the girls had been viewed by a stranger, said Betty Wade Coyle, executive director of the Hampton Roads Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.
``It makes you wonder who you can trust, and that's very damaging,'' Coyle said. ``They are victims just as much as victims who have had physical contact.''
Even students who are not on the tapes, but who were in the girls' locker room during the taping, could suffer adverse effects.
``They'll wonder, `Did he do it to me?' '' Coyle said. ``There's psychological trauma because they don't know, and sometimes that's worse than knowing.''
Nancy Brock, executive director of Response, a sexual-assault support-services group in Norfolk, said the impact of ``low-level assaults'' depends on the mental health of each victim. ``Someone who does not have good mental health or is not resilient will have a harder time recovering than someone who does,'' she said.
Bullock said the omission of this type of abuse from crime victims' funding should be examined by legislators. ``I think we recognize that the most serious cases would be those in which there was physical contact, but that doesn't mean people in this situation do not need help, too,'' he said.
Portsmouth victim-witness officials had asked the state crime victims' compensation office whether the Wilson girls would qualify for counseling through the fund. Robert Armstrong, director of the state program, said he could remember receiving only one other request involving videotaping, which also was denied.
The fund, which has assisted victims since July 1977, helps defray the cost of counseling, medical expenses and lost wages for victims of crimes that result in physical injury or personal-property loss.
Since the Wilson girls do not qualify, the school system is stepping in to fill the gap. Besides providing counseling through an outside agency, the Portsmouth school district is putting together a team at Wilson High School to work with any girls who might have been videotaped. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
John W. Crute, a Wilson High School track coach, was arrested this
month after police confiscated 300 tapes from his home, many of
which contained images of girls in the school's locker room.
KEYWORDS: ARREST SEX CRIME by CNB