The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Utah News Dispatch.

Ann didn’t immediately go into the Hurricane City police station. Instead, she waited outside for nearly half an hour, trying to build up enough courage to walk inside. 

She was grappling with the decision of whether or not to report a sexual assault. Eventually, she did walk inside, taking a step the majority of sexual assault survivors do not: reporting to police.  

Ann knew that would only be the beginning of the process. She had to relive the incident each time she described it to police. It was also difficult to complete a rape kit, an invasive and often traumatic medical examination used to collect evidence after a sexual assault. It would all be worth it, though, if she could stop something similar from happening again. 

“I’m taking this very seriously and I’m trying to do the right thing. I recognize that this is his life, and it’s also mine,” Ann said during a hearing for the case that would stem from the report. “I don’t have the courage to do this just for me. It’s been horrific. … But I have enough courage to do this because I’m fearful for other women and I think that this needs to be stopped.”

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project is referring to Ann — a 58-year-old small business owner based in southwest Utah — by only her middle name in accordance with our policy on reporting about sexual assault.

A little over a month after Ann reported the incident, police arrested her alleged abuser. Ann knew that the process was far from over, and she said she begged the Washington County Attorney’s Office to only proceed with the case if they were going to take it seriously. 

“I asked over and over again, at least three times, if they were going to drop the case in the beginning,” Ann said. “‘Please,’ I kept saying, ‘Please don’t do this. Please don’t put me through this if you’re going to drop the case.’”

Ann said she was assured in a meeting with a victim advocate and the prosecutor that wouldn’t happen. But four months after filing charges, prosecutors were ready to throw in the towel. 

Court records show the prosecutor moved to dismiss the case “based upon the request of the victim.” Ann wasn’t aware the prosecutor included that language in his dismissal until she was asked about the case by a reporter. In fact, Ann said she pleaded with the prosecutor to pursue the case when they told her they were dismissing the case a few months in. 

“I cried and said, ‘Isn’t there another way? Can’t we do (something)?’” she said, adding that the prosecutor responded with “The case is not winnable.”

The dismissal was the final blow from the Washington County Attorney’s Office, which Ann believes disregarded her rights as a victim and left her in the dark about what was happening in the case.

“I was desperately trying to get them to take my case seriously,” Ann said, her voice breaking, “to help me out.” 

The UIJP has reported on two additional cases in Washington County where survivors of sexual assault alleged prosecutors failed to adequately address their concerns or inform them of what was happening in the case. 

In one instance, a woman claimed prosecutors sided with the law enforcement officer who allegedly sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors eventually declined to prosecute the case. When the woman pressed back on that decision, the prosecutor told her, “‘No’ is not a magical word.’” according to a recorded phone call shared with the UIJP. 

In another case, a woman was not aware prosecutors had dropped her case until the UIJP informed her. Prosecutors claimed they dismissed it because it had no witnesses to testify, but the woman said she was never notified about testifying. After that case was dismissed, the man went on to kidnap his ex-girlfriend’s three children, telling them they were going to “heaven” with him.

Trying to start fresh  

Moving to Hurricane was meant to be a fresh start for Ann after her decadeslong marriage ended in divorce. She planned to move closer to one of her adult sons and start a small business.

She felt healed after a rough year and filled with excitement and “optimism for my future,” she said during the case’s bail hearing.

She booked two weeks at an Airbnb, a sort of stepping stone as she settled into her new life. She says it was anything but. 

Text messages Ann shared with police and the UIJP show that she checked out early from the rental following a series of inappropriate messages from the host.  

The messages were initially innocuous — communications about picking up some cleaning supplies or whether the TV is working. Eventually, the host shifted the conversation to dating, asking Ann about how to meet “quality singles” in the area. The two then commiserated about dating later in life. 

Ann, who acknowledges she has little romantic experience outside her ex-husband, said she initially thought the host was her son’s age and was simply looking for advice. When the host asked her if she considered herself “a pretty conservative good Mormon girl,” Ann affirmed that she would not have sex unless she were married and doesn’t drink, but that she does like to have other kinds of fun, like dancing, playing board games or riding wave runners. 

“I think my friends would say this is flirting, honestly, I don’t know how to flirt, it’s been way too long,” Ann told the host in a text. “So please excuse me if that is what I am doing, I’m just an open book, I’m like this with everyone.”

The host meanwhile confirmed that he had been flirting with Ann the whole time, eventually telling her he was tipsy and that “I just wanna be naked in your room.”

That was the final straw for Ann, who texted the host that he had crossed a line and that she was leaving. 

“I can’t lose my business. I’ll lose everything. I’m really sorry,” the host texted Ann. “I long for intimacy. Please understand. I thought we were on the same page. I feel awful. I’ll play guitar for you. Come back.”

Shortly after leaving the Airbnb, Ann said memories from the stay began surfacing. They came back to her in bits and pieces, triggered by seemingly mundane events: the sound of water running from the faucet, a fridge turning on, the rustling of a bag. 

Each memory was accompanied by a rolling fear that began in her feet before spreading across her body. 

As the pieces began falling together, Ann concluded something horrific had happened during her stay at a Hurricane Airbnb. 

Other details of her stay began to come together, like her undergarments being inside out, a bruise on her chest, and how she felt drowsy and sick after drinking a pitcher of water the rental host provided. 

Ann told police she woke up around 11 hours after drinking from the pitcher — an unusual occurrence since she struggles to sleep due to a medical condition. Usually, she only gets about six hours of sleep a night, according to a police report. Police never obtained the pitcher for testing.

Ann felt a bit sick that morning and noticed her undergarments were inside out and there was blood in her underwear, according to police and court records. 

As Ann processed the ordeal, the optimism and excitement she’d felt when checking into the Airbnb was now gone. She told the judge during the bail hearing that she had barely slept in the nine weeks since the assault. 

“Every time I close my eyes, I hear myself scream. I couldn’t scream out loud then because I couldn’t speak. But I’m still screaming,” Ann said, according to a transcript of the court hearing. 

The host denied the allegations. His brother told the UIJP that the two shared the residence at the time of the alleged assault and that he was home the entire night. He defended his brother’s innocence, saying the allegations had turned the family’s life upside down and that he wishes local law enforcement and prosecutors had better guardrails in place to protect against false allegations. The case and how it was handled, he added, left his brother with “major PTSD.”

“(He) is not trying to paint a story of false accusation as far as she’s the one who should be in trouble. Obviously for us, we know she made a false accusation,” the brother said. “But what we felt like is there was a breakdown initially with the detective … the case should have never, ever been filed at that point.” 

He continued, “100% of accusations can’t be true, obviously. So just understanding there’s got to be some kind of guardrails, like something, and in this case, I think some of the guardrails are pretty obvious.”

The police investigation 

Ann gave police the clothing she was wearing the night of the alleged assault as well as the blanket she slept on. The items were tested for saliva and seminal fluid but came back negative, as did testing for male DNA from Ann’s rape kit.

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the largest anti-sexual violence nonprofit in the U.S., DNA evidence for rape kits needs to be collected within 72 hours in most cases and actions like bathing, changing clothes and using the restroom can damage evidence. In some cases, DNA evidence can be pulled from items like clothing months or even years later, although exposure to heat, humidity and washing can make DNA break down more quickly. 

Ann completed a rape kit approximately 90 hours after the alleged assault and said she had bathed multiple times during that time period. 

In sexual violence cases, the absence of DNA evidence can make it harder for prosecutors and investigators, forcing them to rely on other physical evidence. But a negative result doesn’t automatically signal the end of a case. 

“If DNA evidence is not found, it does not mean that the sexual assault did not occur,” reads an FAQ from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. “The perpetrator may not have left DNA, it may have been washed off, or the sample degraded over time. Any number of variables could have affected the ultimate result.”

‘It was a disaster’ 

The bail hearing was the first indication of trouble for Ann’s case and appears to be a tipping point for prosecutors. The defense came in swinging, while Ann said prosecutor Lane Wood was “stumbling” through the hearing. 

“It was a disaster,” Ann said. “It was like I was on trial.”

Defense attorney Cara Tangaro brought up Ann’s toxicology report, rape kit, medical records and text messages between her and the host, according to an audio recording of the hearing. 

“This is a really unique set of facts and bizarre claims and allegations,” Tangaro said during the hearing, asserting that the way Ann’s memories were triggered amounted to her simply changing her story as time went on. 

Southwest Forensic Nursing & Healthcare Director of Operations Meagan Riddle, however, said during an interview with the UIJP that Ann’s experience of memories surfacing after the fact through a series of triggers is consistent with what experts know about the mind and trauma.

“When your brain is flooded, the things that you’re remembering are very scattered and very sensory oriented,” Riddle said. “That’s very normal.” 

Tangaro also seized on Ann’s toxicology report, arguing that an ecstasy-like psychoactive drug that showed up was a result of the metabolization of a prescription drug Ann was taking. Wood didn’t appear prepared to counter that argument. 

“I do dispute that, your honor. I believe there were two different substances, one being mCPP, which I’m still doing more digging,” Wood said to the judge. “At this point, I’ve only had time to do a Google search on that.”

Wood did not address Tangaro’s assertions about Ann’s medical record, specifically that a condition she has that causes painful sex and scarring could explain away physical evidence of vaginal injuries from her rape kit. 

Ann said Wood had not yet reviewed her rape kit or requested her medical records prior to the hearing as she had asked. 

Washington County Attorney Eric Clarke, however, said that information isn’t pertinent for a bail hearing and that the only information that likely would have changed the outcome of the hearing would have been evidence of the host victimizing other women. 

“At a bail hearing, we are trying to show either a risk to the community or a flight risk,” he said. “And so you don’t get into the sufficiency of the evidence.”

Still, the issues identified at the bail hearing stuck with prosecutors. 

“Did we relook at the case after the bail hearing? 100%,” Clarke said. “It was already a really tough case. … Did we have additional questions after (how) her testimony and then the cross-examination against her went? Yes, we did. That’s just working a case.”

‘Such a lack of communication’ 

Victim advocates can be an essential link between victims and the justice system during what is often one of the most harrowing points of a victim’s life. 

When properly trained, they not only ensure the victim’s well-being but “also increase the likelihood that a victim will be willing and able to prepare for and testify at trial,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

The Washington County Attorney’s Office does have a dedicated Victim Assistance Program whose staff are tasked with helping victims obtain a protective order, providing case updates, attending hearings with victims and informing victims if they will need to provide testimony during a hearing, according to the office’s website. 

“They are there to help the victims understand the system and work with them,” Clarke said. 

Ann, however, said she often had difficulty getting information from her victim advocate or the prosecutor. 

“I had a difficult time even understanding what was going on in the process because there was such a lack of communication,” Ann said. 

Ann said the county attorney’s office didn’t notify her until the night before that she could speak at the bail hearing. She didn’t know beforehand that the judge could and would ask her questions or that her alleged abuser would be present. 

Clarke said that was a misunderstanding and that prosecutors were under the impression that Ann did not want to attend the bail hearing and that she decided the day before to attend rather than provide a written statement. 

“So there was a mad scramble there,” he said. “That’s probably on us and on her both for how that worked out.”

When the defendant was released on a $25,000 bail with an ankle monitor, Ann said she immediately asked for a protective order. That was on March 7. Court records, however, show the protective order wasn’t filed until March 18. 

Clarke acknowledged that his office dropped the ball on filing the protective order, but said since the judge had ordered one during the hearing, Ann would have been technically protected. 

“Had he walked out of jail and violated it before the paperwork was all processed, we would have filed a violation of a protective order,” Clarke said. “I don’t know why it took that long for that paperwork to get processed. That’s not normal for our office and that’s probably on us and not on the court.”

Ann also wasn’t notified until weeks later that the Airbnb host violated the terms of his release during that time. According to court records, the man’s ankle monitor died and did not record his location for a period of about four hours the day after the bail hearing. The host “changed his story regarding this violation multiple times and lied to AMP (Probation) about the situation,” a case manager wrote in a report to the court. 

When his ankle monitor was removed after the case was dismissed, Ann was not notified. Clarke said Ann knew in advance that the case was going to be dismissed, but that his office failed to notify her of the exact date as she had requested. 

“That is a fair critique of us,” he said. 

Victims rights 

Victims and witnesses of crimes have the right “to be treated with “fairness, respect and dignity” during the criminal justice process, according to both the Utah Constitution and state code. Those rights include: 

• Being informed about the level of protection available to them
• Being informed and assisted as to their role in the criminal justice process
• Having a clear explanation of legal proceedings
• Having a secure waiting area that does not require them to be in close proximity to defendant or the family or friends of defendant
• Receiving timely notice of court proceedings they are to attend and any cancellations
• Seeking restitution and reparations

Ann described several incidents that appeared to violate those rights. 

She didn’t find out about an additional charge in the case until reading about it in a news article. Before one hearing, Ann said she unknowingly shared an elevator with her alleged abuser’s mother. And she wasn’t informed when his ankle monitor was removed. 

“Do I have complaints about the (county attorney’s) office?” Ann said. “One hundred things.”

Patti Powers prosecuted sex crimes in Washington state for nearly 30 years before working for AEquitas, a nonprofit made up of former prosecutors and other experts that focuses on improving prosecution practices for gender-based violence. 

She said prosecutors should try to understand how involved in the case victims want to be and how often they want to be updated. 

“Prosecutors, I think, have a responsibility to maintain contact with victims, whether they’re supported by advocates or not,” Powers said. “When we talk about prosecuting cases or investigating cases, we’re doing so because of the victim and the information they brought forward. The victim is the heartbeat of the work. And whenever a victim wants to have information, that information should be conveyed.”

At some points, Ann took matters into her own hands. She said after repeatedly asking Wood to review her rape kit, she eventually scheduled an appointment to show him the photos from the kit. 

“I sat down in that room with a strange man and showed him my pictures,” Ann said, becoming emotional. “I went home and threw up. It should have never happened.”

Clarke said prosecutors do not recall Ann’s requests to view the kit and that prosecutors typically don’t review them unless they are flagged by the nurse who performed the exam. He argued that in Ann’s case, the kit “wasn’t evidence that changed anything in the case.”

Hard decisions 

By June, Wood was replaced as the lead prosecutor by Tyler Bonzo, who decided to drop the case. Clarke said the change in prosecutors was due to a rotation in caseloads due to a prosecutor on their special victims team becoming a judge.  

Powers, the former prosecutor with AEquitas, said prosecutors should take special care when deciding if charges should be brought in these kinds of cases, including working with law enforcement to decide if additional investigation is necessary. 

The decision to dismiss a case, she added, generally hinges on significant evidentiary issues that prosecutors feel they can’t overcome

“A lot of work goes into the charging of the case, and if there ever is a point at which a certain difficulty appears, I think it’s important to speak with law enforcement, to speak with experts that you might be working with to see if those can be overcome,” she said. 

Clarke said every sex assault case is screened by multiple prosecutors in his office and that if a victim is unhappy with their decision not to prosecute, they can take it to the Utah Attorney General’s Office, which can review and prosecute the case independently. 

He said at the time the case was dismissed his office understood that Ann was OK with the decision. That misunderstanding isn’t all that uncommon, he added, since a victim may nod along when talking to prosecutors and then later go home and process the interaction differently. Overall, however, he stands by the decision to dismiss the case. 

“We just didn’t feel like we had good evidence and couldn’t get to a reasonable likelihood to convict,” Clarke said. “Often the thing that we’re dealing with is the most traumatic or worst thing in their life, especially Special Victim Unit cases. We just need to give them a ton of grace on recovering through that. And they get to disagree with us; they get to be mad at us.”

Ann, meanwhile, has been left with the lasting trauma of the incident and what she sees as an unsuccessful bid for justice. 

“Every day I’m going to have this for the rest of my life. This assault changed me from my bones out and I live in my own new little prison,” she said. “I’m scared to go places. I’m scared to talk to people. I doubt everybody. I can’t get any justice.”

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