What police can fix when responding to sexual assault

ST. CLOUD — "It doesn't sound like you said the word 'no,' honey."

"This is pretty embarrassing for you."

"This isn't going anywhere." 

Those are just a few things law enforcement officials told Abby Honold after she reported being raped in 2014. Honold told her story to a small crowd at St. Cloud State University on Wednesday. 

The former University of Minnesota student is the namesake of a federal bill that would help train police on how to speak to traumatized victims of sexual assault. U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar have sponsored companion bills. 

"I still can't go through my sexual assault in order, because my brain jumbled it all up," Honold said Wednesday. Trauma causes part of the brain to shut down.

Honold's perpetrator Daniel Drill-Mellum is in prison for assaulting her and another woman, she said.

Honold had two vastly different types of interviews after the assault. Police wanted her to recount details in chronological order; they interrupted her and later accused her of lying, she said. But the nurse who collected evidence after the rape asked different kinds of questions, like what did Honold remember smelling or tasting?

The nurse gathered a lot more information than police initially and documented more than 100 injuries from the assault, Honold said. But the case met roadblock after roadblock, and Honold met harassment from Drill-Mellum's defenders on campus. 

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Despite those roadblocks as well as post-traumatic stress and addiction, Honold and other victims spoke out. Drill-Mellum was expelled from the university, and Hennepin County eventually prosecuted, according to Honold and the Star Tribune. 

Now Honold, 24, speaks regularly about sexual assault to students in high school and college and to law enforcement. She also provides support for other survivors and promotes various legislation, including a state bill to require education on consent and the Abby Honold Act at the national level. 

Honold is a hero, Emmer said. She can't undo her experience, but she's lobbying for change. 

"This is about putting bad people, perpetrators away," Emmer said of the federal bill. "You've got to be able to collect the evidence that is necessary to convict these people."

When perpetrators aren't convicted they can continue to cause harm, he said. And it's psychologically harmful for victims who know they're still out there.

Honold experienced that firsthand after Drill-Mellum was released from jail, and before he was prosecuted. 

"I didn't know how I could move to the next day, let alone the rest of my life knowing this guy was just out there," Honold said.

The bill named for her has been proposed twice in past Congresses. Emmer hopes to bring in the full Minnesota delegation to support it, he said Wednesday. 

And it could be folded into the Violence Against Women Act, Honold said. 

The Abby Honold Act would provide grants to train law enforcement agencies in trauma-informed interview techniques. Those techniques can improve communication between victims and law enforcement to bring in more complete and accurate information and avoid retraumatizing victims, according to press releases about the bill. 

MORE:Task force sends rape investigation recommendations to lawmakers

Honold wants to make trauma-informed investigations the norm, she said. "Sharing my story alone is not enough, I need making changes."

Nora G. Hertel: 320-255-8746, nhertel@stcloudtimes.com and on Twitter @nghertel.