Each year, crime victims are recognized in solidarity with their communities with National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 8-14.Warren County held a brief ceremony in front of the courthouse April 9. It was attended by courthouse employees as well as law enforcement, EMS, Turning Point representatives and others. It was open to the public.The ceremony was led by Toni Truetken, a victim’s advocate in the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.“We recognize Crime Victims Week to let victims know they do have rights in the (legal) process and they have a community that supports them,” she said. “There are people out there who are fighting for them.”Truetken said in one year, her office handled 446 criminal cases. Those crime victims were provided with 5,779 services through the office.As a victim’s advocate, Truetken walks victims through the legal process and gets them to services they need, depending on their situation. She helps with legal jargon, keeping up with hearings, trial preparation, court actions, etc.“I keep them up to date to the very end, “ she said. “I believe no one should be alone during this process.”She also is there to remind victims that they have legal rights. Among those legal rights are the right to be present for all hearing, the right to protection, the right to be notified of the offender’s whereabouts, and the right to information about the crime.While Truetken assists victims of all types of crime, she spends more time on cases involving misdemeanor domestic violence and violations in orders of protection. She said she has seen an uptick in domestic violence against women.There were 119 of domestic violence from April 2017 to April 2018. In the same time span, there were 35 cases of child sexual abuse and 10 cases of domestic violence against men.Truetken’s position is paid for by a grant from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). She has held it for more than six years.For more information about crime victims’ rights and advocacy, visit ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw.

Toni Truetken, a victim advocate with the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, far left, leads a ceremony April 9 in front of the Warren County Courthouse to recognize crime victims during Crime Victims Week. The annual event reminds victims that they are not forgotten or alone. 

Record photo/Kate Miller

Courthouse workers, law enforcement, EMS personnel and others met outside the Warren County Courthouse April 9 to recognize crime victims during Crime Victims Week. On this display, each post represents a crime and each ribbon on the post represents a victim of that crime. 

Record photo/Kate Miller