The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
I was raped. Now I help victims of what I went through
Twenty-two years ago, I was the 14th and final victim of serial rapist Daniel Cummings. I often tell people he picked the wrong window to break into that night. The statistics of rape being reported as a crime, let alone prosecuted, are abysmal. I was determined to make my case an outlier — not just for myself, but for all of Cummings’ victims.
After I was brutally violated and robbed, in my own home, with my young son sleeping in the next room, I did what many sexual assault victims are too afraid, too ashamed, or for a million reasons are unable to do — I called the police. The detective who arrived to take my statement, Larry Duncan, wasn’t supposed to be on shift that night, or even on the sexual assault unit. He was covering for someone else, which turned out to be very fortunate for me. He had worked sexual assault cases before, and the details of my case seemed familiar to him — as though he had heard them before.
As I sat in the hospital waiting room in borrowed clothing, I gave little thought to the detective, or even the possibility of Cummings being caught. A representative from the Center for Women and Families stayed with me as I endured the rape kit, administered by a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner at the University of Louisville Hospital. The SANE nurse was another in the line of amazing individuals I encountered after the worst night of my life. She was kind, empathetic and gentle.
Detective Duncan, now retired, worked tirelessly to catch the man who raped me. He stayed in contact every step of the way. He called me the moment Cummings was in custody, before he even interviewed him, so I would feel safe again. For the two weeks Cummings remained free after raping me, Detective Duncan kept me informed, and even made me an active part of his investigation. I was able to help the police by requesting video footage from my bank of Cummings attempting to use my ATM card, circumventing the need for a court order. It empowered me.
Even after I suffered the most harrowing experience of my life, I knew my privilege. I am a white, cisgender woman with a middle-class upbringing, a good education and access to members of the news media. Since I worked in public relations, reporters knew me and believed my story. Some of Cummings’ prior victims weren’t so lucky—several of them made their reports to police officers who didn’t believe them, and others found the evidence in their cases lost in a backlog of untested rape kits.
One reporter who didn’t know me then wrote an in-depth, multi-part story about the investigation and capture of Daniel Cummings. Andrew Wolfson’s “In Pursuit of a Sexual Predator” (The Courier-Journal,
Even after I suffered the most harrowing experience of my life, I knew my privilege. I am a white, cisgender woman with a middle-class upbringing, a good education and access to members of the news media.
May 22, 2005) is the kind of story we don’t see much anymore. News outlets are in a constant race and the news cycle is incredibly short. Attention spans are short and information travels in a different way now.
When he interviewed me, Mr. Wolfson was patient, thorough and reassuring. Most importantly, it was obvious he was only interested in the truth, something we had in common. His story was so thorough, it helped me heal from the trauma I had experienced. Everything was laid out in stark accuracy, and in a rare moment of justice, a rapist was not only tried and convicted, but he was also sentenced to 470 years in prison for what he did to me and the other survivors. Only seven of every 1000 reported rapes result in a felony conviction in the US.
Mr. Wolfson is retiring after a long and distinguished career. This Sexual Assault Awareness Month I want to thank him for his reporting and for listening to me.
And even if you aren’t a reporter, or someone who can help bring justice, you could help a survivor heal. Just listen.