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Evidence of the Public Emails with DA Cruden’s False Statements about Sexual Assault Victim
This is the email DA Cruden sent to his assistant requesting that she respond to Deb Jackson with his written statement.
**This statement contains false accusations about the victim
This is the email send to Deb Jackson by DA Cruden’s staff
This is the email send to Teresa Pullin by DA Cruden’s staff
Here is the text of DA Cruden's statement he sent out:
Please see the following response from District Attorney Cruden:
I appreciate the email because contrary to the “anonymous” letter that was distributed, I take my obligation to protect the community where I live and work from sexual predators very seriously. I was a founding member of a Special Victim’s Unit that prosecuted sexual assault and abuse cases for years, many of those with evidence that my fellow prosecutors would not have prosecuted. There are literally hundreds of survivors of sexual assaults that would speak very highly of my work in those cases. Contrary to the “anonymous” letter’s representations, her case was investigated very thoroughly by the Dare County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). It was the decision of the DCSO that there was insufficient evidence to support charging the suspect, I reviewed their work and agreed with their conclusion. There are often obstacles to prosecutions for alleged sexual assaults, such as a lack of physical evidence, delayed reporting and other “issues” that would lessen the credibility of the reporting party. Some of those issues were that the alleged suspect and the complainant were husband and wife at the time of the alleged offense, and the allegations only came about after their divorce and the alleged suspect received full custody of their children. It was also only after attempts by the complainant to regain custody failed, did the allegations of sexual assault by her now ex-husband surface. Her ex-husband was interviewed, contrary to the allegations, and he categorically denies the allegation and is occupying his time trying to raise their children. At the same time the Dare County Sheriff’s Office was reviewing this allegation, the Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney’s Office was reviewing another allegation made by the complainant in Virginia. That allegation was also declined for prosecution, I can only imagine the “anonymous” letter campaign that is going on there too. The true victims here are the actual victims of sexual assault, their voices are diminished every time an unsubstantiated allegation gets made, especially ones like this that draw attention. My fear is that in the next sexual assault case my office takes to trial, and we try a lot of them, the victim will not be believed because of the doubt created by this “anonymous” letter. Please continue to support law enforcement’s and my office’s attempts to prosecute sex offenders, all too often they stand alone with no one to support them.
Very respectfully,
Jeff Cruden
District Attorney
I appreciate the email because contrary to the “anonymous” letter that was distributed, I take my obligation to protect the community where I live and work from sexual predators very seriously. I was a founding member of a Special Victim’s Unit that prosecuted sexual assault and abuse cases for years, many of those with evidence that my fellow prosecutors would not have prosecuted. There are literally hundreds of survivors of sexual assaults that would speak very highly of my work in those cases. Contrary to the “anonymous” letter’s representations, her case was investigated very thoroughly by the Dare County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO). It was the decision of the DCSO that there was insufficient evidence to support charging the suspect, I reviewed their work and agreed with their conclusion. There are often obstacles to prosecutions for alleged sexual assaults, such as a lack of physical evidence, delayed reporting and other “issues” that would lessen the credibility of the reporting party. Some of those issues were that the alleged suspect and the complainant were husband and wife at the time of the alleged offense, and the allegations only came about after their divorce and the alleged suspect received full custody of their children. It was also only after attempts by the complainant to regain custody failed, did the allegations of sexual assault by her now ex-husband surface. Her ex-husband was interviewed, contrary to the allegations, and he categorically denies the allegation and is occupying his time trying to raise their children. At the same time the Dare County Sheriff’s Office was reviewing this allegation, the Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney’s Office was reviewing another allegation made by the complainant in Virginia. That allegation was also declined for prosecution, I can only imagine the “anonymous” letter campaign that is going on there too. The true victims here are the actual victims of sexual assault, their voices are diminished every time an unsubstantiated allegation gets made, especially ones like this that draw attention. My fear is that in the next sexual assault case my office takes to trial, and we try a lot of them, the victim will not be believed because of the doubt created by this “anonymous” letter. Please continue to support law enforcement’s and my office’s attempts to prosecute sex offenders, all too often they stand alone with no one to support them.
Very respectfully,
Jeff Cruden
District Attorney