By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A survivor of childhood sexual assault told her story at the Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast, hoping her story can encourage others.
Haley McKee of St. Joseph now works as a paralegal in the Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and delivered the address at the Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast.
McKee survived not only the assault, but the trials in Texas when she pressed charges against her stepfather. McKee wants to provide crime victims hope, especially those abused as children.
“What I really wanted to get with my story was that you can be successful and you can get past the hardships in your life,” McKee tells reporters after addressing the breakfast. “That’s the main thing. That you can do something. It doesn’t define who you are.”
McKee acknowledges she was angry after the assaults and during her journey through the criminal justice system. Her stepfather assaulted her at the age of eight when they lived in Texas and she endured testifying in two trials in her teens.
McKee says her speech before law enforcement, victim rights advocates, and the families of crime victims was the first time she spoke publicly about her ordeal.
“I think it was always something that I wanted to do and I just never had the opportunity to do it,” McKee says. “And when I was given that opportunity, I definitely wanted to take it, just to share my story and to help others.”
McKee says victims of childhood assault suffer not just once, but again when their case comes to trial.
“Very much and to see him, the perpetrator in the courtroom, had to do it twice; it was very, very scary,” according to McKee. “Like I talked about in my speech, I did not know what to expect when I got up there. It was very tough.”
McKee says the criminal justice system has improved over the years and is much better at meeting the needs of victims.
The Buchanan County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has been honoring the victims of crime this week. On Wednesday, a small ceremony was held at the Crime Victims’ Memorial at the Remington Nature Center. The Crime Victims’ Rights Week Breakfast was held Thursday at the Fulkerson Center on the Missouri Western State University St. Joseph campus.
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