Project82

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

I got an email today from Pat McDonald of Project82.com. They are providing a place for abuse survivors to file a confidential report so that prosecutors can find them as they research possible victims of a molester. In their own words:

Project82 and The National Sexual Assault Report Database is the brain child of Katie Schwartz and Patrick and Katie McDonald. Pat’s boy scout troop was troop 82, hence the name Project82.

Why did we create this database?
Simple, the man who sexually abused me(Pat) is walking around today because a prosecutor didn’t know that I existed.
The man who abused me was caught molesting another child. However, since the prosecutor didn’t have a way to find other victims/survivors, he settled for a guilty plea with a sentence of about 120 days in jail.
If the prosecutor had a way to find me, and other victims, the abuser likely would be spending many years in prison rather walking around, free as a jaybird.

Many of us are torn between wanting to report the sexual assault we experienced and the fear that comes with publicly reporting that we were sexually assaulted. That confusion makes it very difficult for us to truly start to heal.

There are millions of sexual assault survivors who don’t want to make a face/face report to the police, but who would be willing to come forward if it meant the abuser would go to prison. Using this database, a survivor can make a semi-anonymous report so in the event a detective or prosecutor is investigating a person suspected of sexual assault, the detective or prosecutor can contact the survivor to help convict the suspect.
File a free, secure, and private report today.

It’s an interesting concept, one that I’m not entirely sure I’ll be taking advantage of myself, but could certainly understand where it might prove useful. What do you think?

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One Comment

  1. I agree with you, this is a very interesting concept. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. I am for anything that means going forward in prosecuting these monsters to the fullest extent for all crimes they have committed.

    Reply

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