Texas charges rape victims for examinations

A disturbing story has come out of Texas recently.

Victims of sexual assault are getting bills, rejection letters and pushy calls from bill collectors while a state crime victims' fund sits full of cash, Local 2 Investigates reported Thursday.

"I'm the victim, and yet here I am. I'm asked to pay this bill and my credit's going to get hurt," said a single mom from Houston...

...She was 44 years old when she was attacked in her own bed. She said she awoke to find a burly 15-year-old friend of her son assaulting her. He was found delinquent, meaning he was convicted, in juvenile court, thanks in part to the evidence gathered with the rape kit.

It isn't as though the state doesn't have the money to cover these tests. Quite the contrary.

Texas State Comptroller's office figures show the fund has tens of millions of dollars left over at the end of each year.

In September 2006, the balance was $67,058,646 and one year later, the balance was $57,669,432.

In 2008, that figure was up again to $66,572,261 that was left unspent in the fund.

When the state chooses not to pay these fees, they turn the victim's name over to bill collectors. Now, the victim not only has the physical and psychological damage of what happened to her, but gets to deal with the destruction of her credit, too.

The way the state law is written, it is the victims job to pay for the examination. If and when the victim is completely unable to pay, then the state steps in and helps cover the costs.

Attorney General's spokesman Jerry Strickland said the crime victim fund is enforcing strict guidelines imposed by the legislature as to which bills are paid and which victims are sent a denial notice.

Otherwise, he said that fund could become "insolvent."

He said state law is clear that crime victims must exhaust all other potential funding sources, such as local police or their own health insurance.

Unfortunately, Texas isn't the first state to charge victims. During the election cycle last year, a story from Alaska made the national news.

Eight years ago, complaints about charging rape victims for medical exams in Wasilla prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill -- signed into law by Knowles -- that banned the practice statewide.

"There was one town in Alaska that was charging victims for this, and that was Wasilla," Knowles said

Even if you don't live in Alaska you might be familiar with Wasilla. Current governor Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla...back when they charged victims for medical exams.

In February of last year, the story was in North Carolina.

The vast majority of the 3,000 or so emergency room patients examined for sexual assaults each year shoulder some of the cost of a rape kit test, according to state records and victim advocates. For some, it's as little as a $50 insurance co-payment. For those without insurance, it's hundreds of dollars left when a state program designed to help reaches its limit...

...For those without insurance, hospitals send the bills to the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which has a modest fund to help. Reimbursements are capped at $1,000; the average cost of the rape kit exam is $1,600.

After that story ran, North Carolina made some changes. One of which was lifting the $1,000 cap.

"The cap has been lifted," says North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokesperson Patty McQuillan, though she noted that the legislature would still have to provide the additional funds.

These kits aren't simply used for evidence gathering (although that should be enough to have the state cover the costs), but are also used to test for any diseases the victim may have received from the assault.

The rape kit itself generally contains bags to collect clothing, test tubes for collecting blood, swabs for fluid, and a comb to collect pubic hair. Small-change stuff. But exams also involve administering tests for pregnancy, HIV, gonorrhea, and syphilis, and that's where the costs add up, says Randall Brown, medical director for the Baton Rouge Rape Crisis Center in Louisiana.

To charge a victim of sexual violence the cost of gathering evidence as well as testing for STDs and/or pregnancy is just unethical.