With sexual violence among the most underreported crimes in the nation, St. Paul and Ramsey County are taking a new approach to letting victims make reports on their own terms.

Megan Rae, an advocate who works with survivors of sexual violence, looked at what other states are doing to help and worked with St. Paul police to craft a program she didn’t find elsewhere: If people want to report, they can start with a sexual assault advocate who delivers the report on their behalf to law enforcement.

Called On My Terms, it’s a program of St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health’s SOS Sexual Violence Services in partnership with St. Paul police that gives people more options — and control — over how and when they report sexual violence.

“After they didn’t have control over what happened to them and their body, it allows them to make the decision about what their healing looks like,” said Rae, legal services coordinator at SOS Sexual Violence Services.

On My Terms is intended for people who aren’t in immediate danger — anyone who is in danger should call 911. But if they’re not and if the crime occurred in St. Paul or Ramsey County, people can contact SOS Sexual Violence Services and talk with a sexual assault advocate.

If they want to use On My Terms, they work with Rae and she gets basic information about what happened to write a report.

“Then we talk about, ‘How far do you want that report to go in the system at this time?’” Rae said.

The victim/survivor decides on the next step:

They can give permission for their report to be forwarded to police for documentation, but not a formal investigation.
They can ask to talk to a police investigator about their case and possible next steps.
They can request a formal investigation by law enforcement.

People can also change their mind and ask for an investigation later, and having some information already documented can be helpful, said Sgt. Vlad Krumgant, an investigator in St. Paul police’s sexual violence unit working with On My Terms.

Related Articles

Owner of Willmar massage business charged with forcing woman into prostitution

Terminated St. Paul firefighter loses appeal over subduing patient with neck pressure points

Inmate sentenced for assaulting Oak Park Heights prison sergeant

Teen driver fled police as passenger fired shots at Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy, charges say

Man found fatally shot in vehicle in St. Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff

“It lets victims/survivors seek appropriate care, and it also gives the St. Paul Police Department and the criminal justice system a chance to hold perpetrators accountable,” he said.

National statistics indicate that more than 60 percent of people don’t report sexual violence. Some possible reasons: survivors worry about retaliation, fear they won’t be believed, don’t want to go through a long process with the criminal justice system or may have had past negative interactions with law enforcement, Rae said.

Overall, “it’s traumatizing to report,” Rae said. “You’re telling many people a really horrific thing that happened to you.”

In 80 percent of cases that are known about nationally, the victim/survivor knows the person who assaulted them.

Information could help other investigations

Of survivors Rae has talked to so far about On My Terms, some people have wanted to report sexual violence but did not move forward with a formal investigation. But their reports still have value.

“They feel that they don’t have the information that might be needed or they just don’t want to have to continue to talk about what happened,” she said. But she’s also heard them express: “If I don’t tell someone what happened to me, what is the potential of this person hurting someone else? What is the potential of this being a repeat offender?”

Megan Rae (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

If they choose to report and not ask for an investigation, the suspect’s name is still documented by law enforcement, which “they’re finding healing in the fact that if there’s other reports or other victims, they’ve contributed” information that could help authorities in other cases involving repeat offenders, Rae said.

SOS Sexual Violence Services received a two-year, $300,000 grant for the On My Terms program. Rae worked with law enforcement and prosecutors about the information she would collect in reports, and started taking reports in July.

She’s talked to about a dozen survivors about whether they wanted to use the program and, as of Friday morning, had taken seven reports. By getting out the word more broadly, she’s hoping more people will be aware of their options for reporting.

The report that Rae takes is “not a replacement for an investigator” because that’s not her role, she said. It’s a report that, if a victim/survivor signs permission to release, she provides to law enforcement. If the reporting person is seeking an investigation by law enforcement, they’d talk to an investigator for a more thorough report.

“We know through research that for victims/survivors that want to go through the criminal justice system, one of the strongest ways to support them through that process is to connect them to advocacy right away,” she said.

SOS Sexual Violence Services offers support groups, a crisis hotline, safety planning and referrals to community resources, among other services. People don’t need to report a sexual assault to law enforcement to get help from SOS Sexual Violence Services, Rae noted. They worked with about 800 people last year, which includes both victims/survivors and their families.

On My Terms is for people who are 18-plus, though Rae said it’s possible they’ll look at expanding it in the future.

Improvements to investigations, prosecution rates

A study released by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in 2018 showed that of 646 sexual assault cases reported to east metro law enforcement between 2013 and 2016, only about 30 percent of cases were referred by investigators to the county attorney’s office for possible charges. And just 11 percent resulted in charges.

The findings resulted in changes, including adding two more advocates to SOS Sexual Violence Services, two additional investigators to the St. Paul police sex crimes unit and one additional sex crimes investigator to Roseville police; securing an additional grant-funded investigator in the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office; and assigning a Ramey County prosecutor to work full time on sex crimes cases, according to the county attorney’s office.

Since then, the number of sex assault cases that law enforcement forwarded to prosecutors has increased, as has the charging rate, said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Last year, based on preliminary information, 167 cases were presented of which 57 percent were charged, according to Choi.

Sexual violence services

People in St. Paul and across Ramsey County can call SOS Sexual Violence Services’ 24-hour resource line at 651-266-1000 or they can email asksos@ramseycounty.us for help or to find out more about On My Terms.

Related Articles

Crime, housing, education and more: Here’s how St. Paul compares to a decade ago

After the pandemic, young Chinese again want to study abroad, just not so much in the US

Joe Soucheray: ‘If you would shoot at a cop, you would shoot at anybody’

Walz signs bill on school resource officers

Migrants lacking passports must now submit to facial recognition to board flights in US

When Chicago was selecting sites for a new casino in 2022, we endorsed the bid that would have landed the giant entertainment center on the plot of land known as The 78, the name being a concise riff on Chicago having 77 official neighborhoods.

Why? For starters, The 78, which is bordered by Roosevelt Road to the north, Clark Street to the east, 16th Street to the south, and the South Branch of the Chicago River to the west, is an enviable, shovel-ready site for development.

Its selection for the casino would not have, ahem, displaced anybody and at considerable expense. It offered river frontage, leading us to envision lovely waterfront bars and restaurants that would not attract the free-and-clear objections and lawsuits that applies to lakefront projects and that could, in essence, extend the trajectory of Chicago’s successful River Walk to the North. There is room to breathe within this 62 acres of former railroad land, now owned by developer Related Midwest, and The 78 is supremely well served by existing modes of public transportation. That would be especially the case once the long-planned new CTA station is built at 15th Street.

All of those arguments would apply just as well to a development that included a new stadium for the Chicago White Sox.

But that wasn’t the most important reason why we were, and are, so enthusiastic about The 78.

Right now, it’s a barren barrier, a dead zone undermining the potentially symbiotic relationship between Chicago’s Loop and the South Side.

If The 78 were developed, and done right, it could relink the South Loop with Chinatown and Bronzeville and could radiate economic development out from the business district to the south, filling the kind of hole that the West Loop entertainment district has plugged to the west and that the Gold Coast residential neighborhood long has provided to the North. Get rid of that no man’s land and just maybe the huge success of Millennium Park, another railroad-related project, from two decades ago could be emulated in a section of the city with a greater need.

The 78 is a huge, fallow asset and, given how well suited it is to entertainment, a casino or (better yet) a new sports stadium is what it needs. For a sense of what this could look like, all you have to do is look at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, with its lively eateries and relationship to a reignited downtown, or to the huge pedestrian area around Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas or, of course, at Wrigleyville.

Guaranteed Rate Field is, frankly, unloved and unlovely. It’s too harsh, isolated, steep, hemmed in and fan-unfriendly. The neighborhood often has been resistant when it comes to developing the surrounding parking lots into fan amenities. Despite its relative youth, it’s a relic of a time when the stadium still was just the stadium. Now, as we well know, sports teams don’t so much hope to spark development as to control (and ideally own) what goes on down the street, where fans stay, eat and play.

Unlike the NFL, which plays few games a year, Major League Baseball plays all summer long with scores of home games each season. Office workers could walk to the new stadium from the Loop, potentially a carrot when it comes to getting workers back downtown.

We understand, as tourism officials well know, that the Cubs and the Sox are very different propositions when it comes to economic development. The Cubs attract huge numbers of out-of-town fans who stay in hotels and cite Cubs games as the anchoring reason for their weekend visit. The Sox fan base is primarily local, spinning off far less secondary spending. But that does not have to remain the case. The site where the games are played is a big factor.

We’ve long been on record believing the days of handing over taxpayer funds to hugely profitable sports franchise owners should be over. We’ve said many times that the Chicago Bears, still playing the long game of chicken or persuasion or whatever, should pay for their own stadium, being a private business planning to operate in a private facility.

We feel that same way about the White Sox, although that view doesn’t preclude city and state governments from working with the team (or with the Bears, for that matter, if they’re serious about staying in Chicago) to make any move as hospitable and supportive as possible. It’s not unreasonable to chip in on infrastructure and the public areas, especially if the site also is going to include housing, parks and the like. Even Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, whose ward long has been home to the White Sox, has said she is impressed with the plan.

No doubt tax increment financing will be needed, which some would call a form of public financing. Philosophically, in terms of insisting on private investment, the devil is in the details there — TIF money can go to public improvements that arguably a private developer might otherwise shell out for. We note the current mayor’s queasiness on TIFs, given the city’s cash-strapped situation. He ought to make an exception here if the public and private interests are properly aligned. And we don’t see a big problem with basically transferring the existing 2% hotel tax to this project, since that already is dedicated to a similar use.

The fate of Guaranteed Rate Field has to be part of this discussion, of course, and it’s unlikely that site would satisfy the Bears, for most of the same reasons that the White Sox don’t want to stay, even if there were a new stadium. But an empty concrete shell by the side of the Dan Ryan Expressway would not be acceptable. Part of the package should include redevelopment plans: housing, sports facilities for the community, a stadium for the Chicago Fire if they are interested, playing fields and other benefits appropriate for a facility built with public money and owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

All of those debates are to come. But of all the sports shenanigans we’ve written about these last few years, the idea of the White Sox at The 78 is far better than most. We cannot overemphasize the strategic importance of that connective tissue from an economic development point of view.

The 78 could make the Sox, South Loop, Bronzeville and Chinatown big winners, and that’s without having to stuff a slot machine or throw a pair of dice.

Join the discussion on Twitter @chitribopinions and on Facebook.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

()

MOBILE, Ala. — In the last 25 years, the Chicago Bears have drafted two edge rushers who went on to have a double-digit-sack season for the team.

Mark Anderson, a fifth-round pick in 2006, had a career-high 12 during his rookie season. Rosevelt Colvin, a fourth-round pick in 1999, had 10 1/2 sacks in 2001 and 2002 before departing leaving as a free agent.

The only other edge rusher to reach at least 10 sacks in a season did it elsewhere — Leonard Floyd, selected ninth in 2016, had 10 1/2 sacks this season for the Buffalo Bills and the same number in 2020 for the Los Angeles Rams.

The Bears have fueled their pass rush largely with free agents or trade acquisitions, and general manager Ryan Poles filled a gaping need midseason when he traded for Montez Sweat and then secured the defensive end with a four-year, $98 million extension.

For coach Matt Eberflus’ defense to reach another level — and that’s the goal — the Bears need a pass-rushing threat opposite Sweat. A handful of veterans will be worth consideration in free agency, including Danielle Hunter of the Minnesota Vikings, but in a perfect world the team would be able to pair a rookie with Sweat, who will turn 28 in September.

It’s way too early to project how things will shake out, but if the Bears draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick in the draft, they could consider a wide receiver, offensive tackle or edge rusher at No. 9. If Poles trades down at No. 9, he still could fish in the same waters for those positions.

UCLA’s Laiatu Latu is the most accomplished pure edge rusher in the draft and projects as a first-round pick after totaling 23 1/2 sacks over the last two seasons. The Pac-12 defensive player of the year also won the Lombardi Award as the best defensive lineman in the nation, and he has looked the part this week at Senior Bowl practices with some silky smooth spin moves on the edge and high-level hand usage.

Latu measured 6-foot-5, 261 pounds, so he has good size, but his arms probably aren’t an ideal length at 32 1/2 inches. For comparison, Sweat was 6-6, 260 at the combine in 2019, and his arms measured 35 3/4 inches. Eberflus puts a big emphasis on length when he’s scouting defensive players.

But the production is there, and the biggest question for Latu beginning next month at the scouting combine will surround medical reports. Latu briefly retired from football after suffering a neck injury at the beginning his college career at Washington. Latu suffered a stinger in practice as the Huskies prepared for the 2020 season.

“Just took a weird hit and got a stinger going down my body that lasted 20 seconds, like a lot of other people feel,” he said.

Latu didn’t feel right afterward, and following an MRI, Washington doctors decided he would need to sit out the season. He eventually required surgery for a slipped disk in March 2021. The Huskies medical team essentially decided it wasn’t safe for him to continue playing and basically medically retired him.

Rehab was supposed to be a grueling nine-month process. But 2 1/2 months removed from surgery, Latu felt no complications. He was still at Washington and had retained his scholarship but wasn’t allowed to play football.

“You can call me stubborn, but I went into playing men’s rugby and really just testing my body, tackling grown men and stuff like that,” he said. “I earned a contract from the Seattle Seawolves to go and play with them for an extended part of time. They’d pay me and give me housing, stuff like that, turned that down. I wanted to chase my passion for football.”

Latu sought another opinion on his neck injury and met with Dr. Robert Watkins in Southern California. Latu was cleared to play football, entered the transfer portal and turned into a heck of a find for the Bruins.

Every team here has asked him about his journey and the medical process, and he can point out he had no injury issues the last two years at UCLA.

“Head, neck and heart, those are the three issues that get really tricky for the medical teams,” a high-ranking personnel man said after practice Tuesday at South Alabama’s Whitney Hancock Stadium. “It could be a deal where half the teams pass him and half fail him.”

Sweat had a heart issue when he came out of Mississippi State. He was reported to be diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which results in thickening of the heart walls. Some later said that diagnosis was incorrect, but the official I spoke to said his team removed Sweat from its draft board. Sweat is a clear example of a player with a medical-related issue who can go on to have a productive and durable career despite the questions of highly trained doctors.

On the field, Latu isn’t great defending the run and has had a few instances in practices in which he has struggled to set the edge.

“He’s not overly strong,” a college scouting director said. “He’s willing and it’s not a lack of effort in the run game. You might want him to add some weight if he’s a three-down player. But there’s so many sub packages, if you’re just drafting him to hunt the quarterback, you’re fine.”

In a draft class that isn’t stocked with elite edge rushers, Latu could have skipped the Senior Bowl and kept his focus strictly on preparing for on-field testing at the combine in Indianapolis.

“I was told I could never play football again,” Latu said. “To me, I can’t get enough of it, especially learning from the best of the best while being out here. Really just gaining knowledge and growing.”

()

Sergio Santos always dreamed of playing in the major leagues.

He reached that goal in 2010, pitching for the Chicago White Sox. When his playing career — which included 194 relief appearances during six big-league seasons with the Sox (2010-11), Toronto Blue Jays (2012-14), Los Angeles Dodgers (2015) and New York Yankees (2015) — came to and end, Santos spent a couple of years as a stay-at-home dad and then worked at an MLB youth academy.

A little later, an opportunity arrived to join the Yankees system.

“My biggest fear was like, ‘Man, I did this grind for 15, 16 years and am I really going to want to sit through games again as a manager?’ ” Santos said during a video conference call Friday. “And within a couple of days, I knew this is exactly what I was built for.

“The way my career kind of happened from shortstop to converted pitcher, it makes a whole lot of sense as a manager because I’m able to relate to every single person in that dugout because I’ve been in that position.”

After two seasons managing in the Yankees organization — including 2023 for Class A Hudson Valley — Santos will bring that knowledge back to the Sox as the skipper of the team’s Double-A affiliate Birmingham.

“Anyone who knows Sergio knows he brings a lot of energy to the table, which I think is always welcomed,” director of player development Paul Janish said. “I’m excited for him. I know he’s excited to be back in an organization that he has some affection for because of having played here.”

Santos had a 3.29 ERA and 31 saves in 119 games with the Sox. He said he had “nothing but the fondest memories of Chicago, the fans.”

“In the back of my mind, there was always a hope I could get back with the White Sox,” Santos said.

The Sox announced the addition of Santos on Friday, along with their entire 2024 player development staff and assignments. Janish, hired in November, is in his first year overseeing the organization’s minor-league operations and player development system.

“The overall mission statement is trying to accumulate as many good people as we can that are into making the players better over the course of time,” Janish said.

Santos joins Justin Jirschele (Triple-A Charlotte), Guillermo Quiroz (Class A Winston-Salem), Patrick Leyland (Class A Kannapolis) and Danny González (Arizona Complex League Sox) as managers in the team’s minor-league system. Jirschele, Quiroz, Leyland and González each return to their managerial posts from last season.

Winston-Salem’s staff includes bench coach Darius Day, a Simeon graduate who was a member of the Chicago White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE) program.

“Being in that culture and being around those guys that kind of helped drive the passion of the game of baseball for me was something I admired for a very long time,” Day said.

Day appeared in 169 minor-league games mostly as an outfielder after being selected by the Texas Rangers in the 23rd round of the 2014 draft. He returned to the area with the ACE program and is set to make his professional coaching debut.

“It was very clear very quickly his passion for helping players,” Janish said.

Day is most looking forward to “getting back to the grind” in the role with the Dash.

“Just getting back to that structure, that everyday grind, everyday process of helping guys and trying to figure out what makes them go,” Day said.

“Being in the system now, it’s kind of surreal for me. I never thought I would be in this position, let alone in a jersey or uniform again. I’m just excited about the opportunity to be part of it.”

Here’s the full list of Friday’s announcement.

Player development staff

Director of Player Development: Paul Janish
Director of Minor League Administration: Kathy Potoski
Assistant Director, Baseball Operations: Graham Harboe
Manager, Player Development/International Operations: Grant Flick
Assistant, Player Development/Video: Jack Larimer
Manager, Player Development Latin America Operations: Louis Silverio
Manager, International Player Development/Education: Erin Santana

Player development instructors/rovers

Field Coordinator: Doug Sisson
Assistant Field Coordinator: Justin Jirschele
Pitching Coordinator: Matt Zaleski
Assistant Pitching Coordinator: Curt Hasler
Assistant Pitching Coordinator: Donnie Veal
Pitching Advisor: J.R. Perdew
Hitting Coordinator: Alan Zinter
Assistant Hitting Coordinator: Danny Santin
Infield Coordinator: Ryan Newman
Catching Coordinator: Julio Mosquera
Assistant Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Mike Daniel
Rehab Pitching Coach: Hiram Burgos
Hitting Initiatives: Devin DeYoung
Biomechanist: Jason Hashimoto

Medical staff

Medical Coordinator: Scott Takao
Physical Therapy Coordinator: Brooks Klein
Performance Coordinator: Gage Crosgrove
Assistant Performance Coordinator: Sergio Rojas
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Katie Stone
Physical Therapist: Evan Jurjevic
Sports Psychologist: Dr. Rob Seifer

Arizona operations

Facility Manager: Joe Lachcik
Minor League Clubhouse Manager: Dan Flood
Assistant Minor League Clubhouse Manager: Bryant Biasotti

Triple-A Charlotte

Manager: Justin Jirschele
Pitching Coach: R.C. Lichtenstein
Hitting Coach: Cam Seitzer
Bench Coach: Pat Listach
Trainer: Hyeon Kim
Performance Coach: George Timke

Double-A Birmingham

Manager: Sergio Santos
Pitching Coach: John Ely
Hitting Coach: Nicky Delmonico
Bench Coach: Ángel Rosario
Trainer: Carson Wooten
Performance Coach: Juan Maldonado

Class A Winston-Salem

Manager: Guillermo Quiroz
Pitching Coach: John Kovalik
Hitting Coach: Jim Rickon
Bench Coach: Darius Day
Trainer: A.J. Smith
Performance Coach: Logan Jones

Class A Kannapolis

Manager: Patrick Leyland
Pitching Coach: Blake Hickman
Hitting Coach: Charlie Romero
Bench Coach: Daniel Milwee
Trainer: Chaerin Yeom
Performance Coach: Donovan Clark

Arizona Complex League White Sox

Manager: Daniel González
Pitching Coach: Jacob Dorris
Hitting Coach: Gerardo Olivares
Assistant Hitting Coach: Mike Gellinger
Development Coach: Nausel Cabrera
Trainer: Jeremy Kneebusch
Performance: Siera Weathers

Dominican Republic Academy/DSL White Sox

Field Coordinator: Julio Bruno
Manager, Complex Operations: Wellington Morrobel
Manager, Administration: Carolina Santos
Manager: Anthony Núñez
Pitching Coach: José Brito
Assistant Pitching Coach: Stolmy Pimentel
Infield Coach: Guillermo Reyes
Assistant Hitting Coach/Catching Coach: Moisés Núñez
Coach: Ángel González
Trainer: Gustavo De La Cruz
Assistant Trainer: Estarlin Rosario
Performance Coach: Fran Batista
Assistant Performance Coach: Carlos Javier
Video Coordinator: Miguel Perez
Lead Educator: Pablo Frías
Education Assistant: Luis Villar

()