IL Rape victim at Pelo trial describes death threats, pregnancy
Indigo Ace
Rape victim at Pelo trial describes death threats, pregnancy
Woman: Attacker pleased after she claimed she was with child
By Edith Brady-Lunny
eblunny @pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON -- Death threats against a woman and her family were part
of the two-hour sexual assault recounted for a jury Thursday in the
rape trial of former Bloomington police Sgt. Jeff Pelo. | Why rape
victim wants name used, story told | Audio analysis: Trial Week 2 |
Special section: Court documents, story archive
Sarah Gliege spoke in a calm, firm voice as she disclosed the details
of the attack that ended with her left alone in a bath tub, afraid to
seek help, until dawn.
Gliege requested that The Pantagraph publish her name in coverage of
her testimony. The newspaper’s policy is to keep confidential the
identities of sexual assault victims unless a victim specifically
requests or gives permission to be identified.
Pelo is charged with sexually assaulting four women between 2002 and
2005 and stalking another woman between 2005 and 2006. Prosecutors say
Gliege is the fourth sexual assault victim.
Gliege’s testimony started with her telling about the appearance of a
man in her bedroom about 2:45 a.m., Jan. 26, 2005. She said she
doesn’t know how he got in, but she was sure her doors were locked.
After a brief struggle, the assailant made the first of what would be
many death threats against her and her family, Gliege said in response
to questions from Chief Felony Prosecutor Mark Messman.
“He told me if I made any noise — he pulled out a gun — that he would
kill me,” Gliege told the jury of six men and six women.
The assailant’s face was covered with a scarf, said Gliege.
Gliege described her efforts to calm her attacker, who became more
violent and threatening as the assault went on. At one point, she told
the man she recently had learned she was pregnant. When he demanded
proof, she pulled the results of a home pregnancy test from the
wastebasket in her bathroom.
The woman’s only tears came when she recalled her attacker’s apparent
thrill that Gliege’s fiance and other family members also would be
traumatized by the rape.
“He was elated — like a kid at Christmas — overjoyed that all these
other people were going to be violated as well,” said Gliege, as she
wiped away tears.
At one point during the incident, Gliege said the man asked “why would
I call the police and ruin his life?”
During the woman’s lengthy testimony, Pelo continuously took notes on
a legal pad.
The assault ended with the man ordering Gliege to take a bath. Before
he left the room, the man told Gliege he would kill her family if she
contacted police. He recited the family’s address in Normal.
Fearful that her attacker was still in the apartment, she said she
waited in the tub for about 40 minutes before putting on clothes and
locking the bathroom door. Two hours later, she left her home at the
same time she heard a neighbor leaving for work.
Gliege estimated that it was about 6 a.m. when she went to the home of
a family friend to report the rape.
“I just thought if I ran into him outside of our apartment, I wasn’t
going back in with him,” Gliege testified.
Missing after the attack were the clothes Gliege was wearing before
the rape and the bed sheet, Gliege testified. The aprtment’s phones
were disconnected and later found hidden, she said.
Gliege testified that in October 2004 she saw a man coming from the
area of the apartment she shared with another woman. The roommate was
not home during the 2005 attack.
The man seen several months before the 2005 assault had a distinctive,
lumbering walk, said Gliege, that matches Pelo’s gait.
Gliege, who had been blindfolded with a pillow case, picked Pelo’s
photo from a police line-up after the former police officer was
arrested in June 2006 in connection with the stalking of a woman. She
said she did not know Pelo or see photos of him before the meeting
with police.
Gliege also picked out Pelo’s voice from eight voice samples provided
by police.
Gliege was asked Thursday if her attacker was present in the
courtroom.
“That man right there,” Gliege said, looking directly at Pelo.
Defense lawyer Michael Rosenblat showed Gliege a police sketch of the
rape suspect wearing a ski mask. He then took a photo of Pelo and laid
a cut-out of a ski mask over the top and asked if the eyes were
similar to the police sketch.
She said they eyes were not exact matches. Gliege did not waiver from
her identification of Pelo as her attacker.
A large group of family members hugged Gliege in the hallway after her
testimony. The group gathered in a circle and prayed before heading to
dinner and a graduation ceremony for a family member.
Friday is a scheduled day off from the trial. When proceedings resume
on Tuesday, the state will move forward with witnesses related to the
Jan. 4, 2005, assault of another Bloomington woman.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/23/news/doc4835cbe6154ff229292460.txt
Decision to name rape victim departure from usual
By Edith Brady-Lunny
eblunny @pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON — Sarah Gliege wants people to know her name. Gliege’s
decision to allow her name to be used in The Pantagraph coverage of
the Jeff Pelo rape trial is a departure from the usual practice of
keeping the names of sexual assault victims confidential.
In asking that her name be used, Gilege said: “While I understand each
assault victim is faced with different sets of circumstances, I would
like my name used when I testify to send a clear message that neither
I nor any of the other victims should feel shame or embarrassment
about our assaults.”
The public should not hold victims responsible for the trauma of an
assault, said Gliege, the first of four alleged rape victims on the
witness list.
“I believe that the point of anonymity for rape victims can imply we
bear some responsibility for those vicious acts, or at the very least
that we should feel ashamed of what happened to us,” she said.
The director of a local sexual assault center applauded Gliege’s
decision, but said every victim must make up their own mind about
disclosing their identity.
“I think it’s commendable and inspiring that this woman is willing to
shrug off the shroud of silence that envelopes people,” said Yadira
Ruiz, director of Stepping Stones, a YWCA program that assists sexual
assault victims.
Safety concerns and a lack of understanding by the public of the
dynamics of sexual assault are among the reason many victims choose to
remain anonymous, said Ruiz.
Gliege’s family issued a statement late Thursday commenting on the
testimony she gave that day.
“It took great courage to testify about personal details of her rape.
She was both clear and articulate and did a very difficult task with
dignity,” Gliege’s mother, Carole Kalmes, said on behalf of the
family.
Taking the witness stand does not diminish the trauma of sexual
assault, said Kalmes.
“That experience has changed us all and the healing process will go on
for the rest of our lives. We can never go back to who we were before
Jan. 26, 2005,” she said.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/22/news/doc48362029902db599763923.txt
--
Anne, indigoace at aol period com
Jewelry: http://www.prettygoodjewelry.com
Cats: http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
tiny dancer
sadist. And to think he's been a cop all those years, and married too.
It's hard to believe there are only these few victims, 'eh?
td
"Indigo Ace" <indi...@a01.com> wrote in message
news:48391d52...@news.prodigy.net...
> "He told me if I made any noise - he pulled out a gun - that he would
> kill me," Gliege told the jury of six men and six women.
>
> The assailant's face was covered with a scarf, said Gliege.
>
> Gliege described her efforts to calm her attacker, who became more
> violent and threatening as the assault went on. At one point, she told
> the man she recently had learned she was pregnant. When he demanded
> proof, she pulled the results of a home pregnancy test from the
> wastebasket in her bathroom.
>
> The woman's only tears came when she recalled her attacker's apparent
> thrill that Gliege's fiance and other family members also would be
> traumatized by the rape.
>
> "He was elated - like a kid at Christmas - overjoyed that all these
> BLOOMINGTON - Sarah Gliege wants people to know her name. Gliege's