BROOKINGS – A local legislator and prosecutor worked together this past legislative session to hold domestic abusers and sexual abusers of minors more accountable for their crimes.

District 7 Rep. Tim Reed and Brookings County State’s Attorney Dan Nelson collaborated to create House Bills 1080, 1081 and 1096. The bills passed during the 2021 legislative session and were signed into law in March. The new laws go into effect July 1.

Reed was the prime sponsor on the bills.

“House Bills 1080 and 1081 increase the penalties for repeat offenders of simple assault and protection order violations,” according to a press release from Reed. The South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault endorsed the bills.

Per FBI data, there were 23 family violence related fatalities in South Dakota between 2015 and 2019, Reed said in committee testimony during the session. Recent research completed in South Dakota shows that previous family violence offenders are a higher risk to victims.

Reed also filed HB1096, which makes sexual contact with a minor by a person of authority a Class 6 felony. 

“Current law does not protect a victim that is of the age of consent (16 years) but still a minor that has sexual contact with a person of influence, i.e. a coach, youth leader, social worker or teacher,” the press release says.

During committee testimony, Reed asked fellow legislators to support protecting minors from being taken advantage of for sexual gratification by a person in a position of authority.

The South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault and the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment supported the legislation.

All three bills were co-sponsored by District 7 Sen. V.J. Smith and Rep. Larry Tidemann.

The Brookings Register met with Nelson, Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter Executive Director Margo Dempsey and victim advocate Mandi Cramer to discuss the new laws, the Duluth Model, and domestic abuse in Brookings County.

Power and control

Nelson said domestic violence cases are the most difficult to prosecute, for a lot of different reasons. 

“The No. 1 reason is the cycle of power and control, and there was a study that was done and from that they came up with the Duluth Model. The Duluth Model is the framework that discusses the power and control that abusers have over their victims. That power and control takes on a lot of different forms – coercion, threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, trying to isolate the victim from friends and loved ones, minimizing, denying blame. Sometimes it’s using children as a pawn in a game … kind of pitting the children against the victim, using male privilege, using economic abuse, too,” Nelson explained.

According to the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP), the Duluth Model was created in the 1980s by DAIP and has been used to remove blame from the victim and to hold abusers accountable for their actions.

“What happens often in a domestic violence case is that you’ll have a victim who will report it to law enforcement either through a 911 call or sometime after the incident, there will be an investigation done, there will be an arrest, and then based on the facts that are presented in the investigation I’ll make a charging decision,” Nelson explained. “But after I charge a case, what we typically see is … I would say close to half of all domestic cases that we prosecute here in Brookings County, the victims are probably not going to cooperate or they’re going to request that the charges be dismissed.”

Nelson said domestic abuse victims requesting that charges against their abusers be dropped is a common occurrence throughout the country.

“The abuser … is often using these tactics to manipulate the victim into getting the charges dismissed. An example is … the person who inflicted the abuse is often the one who’s putting the food on the table, paying the rent, is providing other economic benefits to them, and they know that if the victim goes forward in a domestic violence case that those things they rely on could be in jeopardy,” Nelson said. “So, for many people, it’s a cost-benefit analysis issue.”

The attorney said another power and control issue arrises if there are children in the home.

“The abuser may threaten to take the children away if the victim cooperates with law enforcement or the State’s Attorney’s Office,” Nelson said, along with further threats of violence or economic stability.

Education, understanding

Often, advocates are educating the victim in a compassionate, empathetic way, trying to explain the Duluth Model of power and control to break the cycle of violence and abuse. 

“It’s important that they not only stand up for themselves but to also recognize the manipulation that is going on. To try and overcome all of that is pretty difficult,” Nelson said.

Nelson said some charges are reduced or dropped entirely based on whether or not there was witness testimony, injuries, or other extenuating pieces of evidence.

Nelson also said that the Duluth Model is important for prosecutors to use, because it can assist in gathering evidence for a conviction.

“When you’re trained in that, and you know the behaviors that are associated with abusers and their victims, I think you’re in a much better place to talk with them, from a place of understanding, but also being in a position to be able to get them to work with you instead of against you so that you can ultimately hold the offender accountable,” Nelson said. 

Dempsey agreed.

“The understanding of the power and control wheel is vital,” Dempsey said. “A lot of times the victim calls the police because they want the abuse to stop, but not to end the marriage. They still love these people, and that’s why it’s so hard for people to understand. … One of the best comparisons I’ve heard once was, ‘Have you ever stayed too long in a job you knew you didn’t like and wasn’t good for you?’” said Dempsey.

Dempsey said abusers often put the deed of the house and title of any vehicles in their name to perpetuate the power and control over their significant other.

“The victim can’t go back to their car because the abuser will say that it’s stolen. They can’t go back to their home because it’s not in their name, and that’s why they end up at the shelter,” Dempsey said.

Nelson said the court system has partnered with Lutheran Social Services on a new program in Brookings County for abusers. The program, called Moral Recognition Therapy for domestic violence (MRT-DV), is a mandatory 24-week class for domestic abusers to address the internal mental issues they are facing that causes violence at home.

“The court will order that (the convicted abuser) undergo an assessment, and after that assessment there will be a requirement that they take this 24-week program. We’ve implemented this on three different cases so far; we hope to do it more in the future,” Nelson said. Brookings County has been implementing the program since the start of 2021.

Nelson emphasized that this program is not a diversion program. The requirement for the class comes post-conviction and is not optional for the convicted individual, nor will they have the assault expunged from their record.

“For 24 years, I’ve been saying that we need a type of batterers’ program, because domestic violence isn’t about anger,” Dempsey explained. “The problem is about power and control. The whole Duluth Model that everybody was going off of – if you include the MRT-DV … this is what we’ve been saying for years is something that we’ve needed.”

Dempsey said there is a deep stigma toward individuals who allow their significant other back into their life after having been abused by them. She said the victim often has very little choice in the matter due to the cycle of the power and control their abuser has over them. 

Plus, Dempsey said, there is a relationship between the two of them that at some point had – or still does have – some love between them.

Deterring repeat abusers

Nelson and Dempsey said the new laws that are going into effect in July will be effective in deterring repeat abusers.

“There have been instances where we’ve had individuals become chronic abusers. Whether that was in the violation of protection orders or in the assault context, we had individuals who were committing multiple assaults in a 10-year period,” Nelson said. “And so what we realized was there needs to be a greater punishment for those who commit multiple assaults within a 10-year period.” 

Prior to the law change, someone convicted of three or more assaults within a 10-year time period was guilty of a Class 6 Felony. 

“But if you committed a fourth, fifth or sixth assault, the punishment didn’t get greater. It wasn’t like the DUI laws,” Nelson said. “We felt domestic assault should reflect the DUI laws. These are the people putting their significant others … and the rest of the community most at risk.”

Nelson said if abusers are not dealt with immediately, in most cases there is the tendency for the violence to become more serious. He said the new laws give prosecutors real teeth when dealing with repeat offenders.

Dempsey said Reed and Nelson have been instrumental in improving laws to hold abusers accountable in Brookings County and across the state.

“Statistically, children – females who are being raised in a home with domestic violence will end up in a similar relationship, and the little boys who grow up – seeing that as a role model – that’s what they’ll do, too, is become offenders. So, you can stop all of this in-between there, and that will actually make the difference,” Dempsey said. 

“When victims see this new process as a system that’s made to help them and help their children, they understand it and they don’t see it as something punitive any more because victims are so often on the defense,” she added.

Nelson said it’s very common for a victim to come into the State’s Attorney’s Office and demand that charges be dismissed.

“I can’t stress enough how common that is. So for the public to realize that victims of domestic violence – the physical abuse is one thing to suffer from, but the driver behind most of the cycle of violence is the power and control – they’re coming in and demanding the dismissal of the charges because of that power and control. 

“It’s not because nothing happened. It’s not because law enforcement didn’t get it right. It’s not because I don’t have any evidence. It’s not for any of those reasons. The reasons that they’re demanding – passionately demanding, yelling and screaming at you – that I dismiss the case is because they’re in fear. They’re fearful of the manipulation, the threats, potentially losing out on support for the kids, having a roof to live under and food to put on the table. So breaking through that and trying to educate them … we have to become, in some ways, social workers and psychologists,” Nelson said.

If you or someone you know is in need of help from domestic abuse, call 911 in case of an emergency, or the Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter at 605-692-7233.

Contact Matthew Rhodes at mrhodes@brookingsregister.com.