Press release
Prosecuting Attorney Matthew Crall is pleased to announce the addition of Louanne Hufford as the Sexual Assault Services Coordinator. Crawford County, in collaboration with Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Office and HelpLine, has added this new expanded service for victims of sexual assault. The position is being funded through a grant from the Attorney General’s Office. The Coordinator will help victims during their most vulnerable times, as they face needs and losses that they have never before experienced. The goal is to minimize their fears and frustrations.
As the Coordinator of Sexual Assault Response Network (SARN) services for Crawford and Wyandot Counties, Louanne will be working to help respond both initially when a sexual assault is reported to a local emergency department or to the police, and to provide longer-term assistance if someone needs help with the criminal justice system or to be connected with community support services. The services help bring rape crisis services, like HelpLine already provides in Delaware and Morrow Counties, to our area. HelpLine has been providing these types of services since 1997.
The program is in addition to the services currently available to victims here in Crawford County. The Sexual Assault Services Coordinator will be on-call to respond to the immediate needs of a victim during the initial stages of the investigation, and continue throughout the legal process. Crall explained, “The legal process is very complicated and has many stages. To the victim, this is one event that has changed their life. Unfortunately, the legal process has many different layers through which the victim must navigate. We hope to make this process as seamless for the victim as possible through the help of the Coordinator.”
A community partnership is vital to the success of any program, and this is no different. “We have an active county-wide Sexual Assault Response Team. It is a multi-disciplinary collaboration of professionals that provide direct services to victims of sexual assault. Members include: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners at both Bucyrus Community Hospital and Galion Community Hospital; Investigators from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Bucyrus Police Department, Crestline Police Department, and Galion Police Department; Crawford County Prosecutor’s Office; Victim Advocates from the Crawford County Victim Advocate Program, City of Bucyrus Victim Advocate Program, City of Galion Victim Advocate Program; and now the Sexual Assault Services Coordinator,” Crall said.
Together we can continue to provide necessary services to victims of sexual assault. Louann Hufford can be contacted at 419.563.1825.