On April 19 Minneapolis police responded to a domestic assault call and found a woman with a swollen nose and black eyes. Upon further questioning, the woman revealed that she had been a victim of a series of brutal assaults at the hands of a 23-year-old man who had been living with her in her home since March. The victim described how the man’s behavior changed after he started using some form of drugs. She detailed incidents in which the man choked her and threatened to burn her with a blowtorch, or remove her teeth using a pair of pliers. She said that the man also removed the lock from the front door and installed it on her bedroom door in an effort to keep her in at night.
Police later arrested the Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, man and he has since been charged with felony counts of third-degree assault, four counts of terroristic threats and domestic assault by strangulation. He also is charged with a single gross misdemeanor charge of domestic assault. According to police, they later intercepted a call from the defendant to the victim’s phone from the jail requesting money. The defendant has one prior 2011 conviction on his record for fifth-degree assault.
Of course, there are two sides to every story, and the defendant should be considered innocent until all charges are proven. That being said, let’s assume that the victim’s account which she gave to the police is truthful. The fact that the defendant would call his victim for support while in jail for assaulting her reveals a common them in these types of domestic abuse cases. Far too often, the assailant convinces one’s victim that the violence done is the victim’s fault, or that somehow the assault might never occurred if the victim had just done something differently.
Victims who are faced with these circumstances need to know that the law provides certain protections which have been especially designed to help them from such harm. For example, an order of protection is a legal document which prevents someone who has threatened or harmed another from getting near that victim. However, some of these protection orders are only temporary or for specific locations. That is why it is helpful to have the help of an attorney when petitioning the court for a permanent restraining order or other similar protections.
Source: CBS Minnesota, “Man Charged In ‘Brutal’ Inver Grove Heights Domestic Assault” No author given, Apr. 24, 2014