CARBONDALE, Ill. /CitizenWire/ — Jury selection for the criminal trial of Melisa Vistain, of Jackson County, Ill., is set to begin March 12, 2013. Vistain faces felony charges for falsely reporting sexual assault. Rape Crisis Services of The Women's Center stands in support of Melisa Vistain.
She insists on her innocence of these charges, and adamantly claims to be a victim of multiple accounts of sexual assault and abuse when she was drugged and held captive for three days during March 2012.
Rape Crisis Services wants women who are victims of sexual assault to know that Rape Crisis Services believes them, believes sexual assault victims should not be penalized for reporting acts of sexual violence to law enforcement, and believes perpetrators of sexual assault should be held responsible for their crimes. We applaud Melisa's courage in reporting the violence committed against her, and urge the Jackson County State's Attorney's Office to drop all charges against Melisa Vistain.
The Women's Center provides comprehensive services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. All services are free and confidential. Crisis services can be accessed 24-hours a day by calling our hotline at 800.334.2094.
For more information about The Women's Center, including our shelter program, counseling, advocacy services, educational programming, community events, volunteer opportunities or to make a financial contribution, please contact The Women's Center at 618.549.4807 or visit http://www.thewomensctr.org/ .
The Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault 32 member board of lawmakers and professionals and 21 sexual assault organizations have signed and hand delivered a letter to Mike Carr asking him to drop this case, the letter is available on the website http://www.SexualAssaultMyths.com/ .
Copyright © 2013 CitizenWire™; and Neotrope®. CitizenWire is a publication of the Neotrope News Network.