Ex-Hostage Goes Public, Wins Praise
Judi Villa       The Arizona Republic       Mar. 24, 2004 12:00 AM


Her name is Lois Fraley.

After keeping her identity secret for two months, the corrections officer who was raped and held captive during the state prison standoff near Buckeye went on national television Tuesday and told the world who she is.

Dressed in her officer's uniform, Fraley, 33, looked healthy and sounded upbeat during the interview on ABC's Good Morning America.

In Phoenix, Sarah Kennedy, executive director of the Arizona Sexual Assault Network, watched the interview and noticed the most "wonderful" thing: When Fraley spoke of the two sexual assaults she endured on the first day of her captivity, "you could really tell there was no shame."

"If you were sexually assaulted, there is a stigma, and there is a lot of blame and there are a lot of myths that people bring it on themselves when they don't," Kennedy said. "It shouldn't be shameful."

Those who work with sexual-assault victims say Fraley's stepping forward could be a positive thing for other women who have been raped. By speaking publicly without shielding her name or her face, Fraley chipped away at the stigma of sexual assault and perhaps took one giant step in her healing process.

"It helps people understand this is an extremely prevalent crime even though people are reluctant to talk about it," Kennedy said.

"We're very proud of her."

Fraley said she was sexually assaulted by inmates Steven Coy and Ricky Wassenaar on Jan. 18, when the pair took over the tower at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis. The ensuing 15-day standoff was the longest in modern U.S. history.

The officer said she lost 30 pounds during the standoff and contemplated suicide. Until the moment she walked out of the watchtower and was grabbed by officers, Fraley said she thought she would die.

"I took my family for granted, and I will never do that again," she said.

Corrections Director Dora Schriro said Tuesday that Fraley's appearance "shows she is progressing in her healing."

Fraley has been medically cleared to return to work, and prison officials are trying to determine an appropriate placement, Schriro said.

"I am so ready," Fraley said Tuesday.

Dan Levey, the governor's adviser for victims, said stepping forward isn't for everyone, but he said he hoped Fraley's appearance would at least spur other women to report rapes.

At the least, victims who tell their stories put a human face on crimes that are too often not spoken about.

"I think it is courageous," Levey said. "It lets the public see the enormity of what she went through."

In Arizona, a woman is raped every 5 hours, 31 minutes, according to the state Department of Public Safety's "Crime in Arizona 2002 Report." Yet sexual assault remains one of the most underreported crimes, and women rarely speak about it publicly.

"Sometimes when victims go forward, they feel empowered. The offender didn't get the best of them," said Cindi Nannetti, who leads the Sex Crimes Bureau at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. "They can stand up for themselves. They can take a bad situation and make lemonade out of lemons."

Scott Berkowitz, president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network in Washington, D.C., called Fraley's appearance "very beneficial" and said his organization encourages women to report sexual assaults and to speak openly about the attacks. The more that can be done "to show that this is a crime like any other crime," the easier it becomes to collectively do something about it, he said.

"It normalizes it in a good way," Berkowitz said. "It says, 'OK, I got through this and you can get through it. . . . You're going to survive it.' "