Confusion over change in state law leaves survivor’s case unprosecuted

AUSTIN (KXAN) – On Nov. 18, 2018, an individual KXAN spoke with said a stagehand groped them while working an event in downtown Austin.

The survivor identifies as transgender. KXAN is concealing their identity due to the sensitive nature of their experience. In this story, we will call them Morgan.

Morgan's story

“As a marginalized person, I feel like I don't get a lot of justice in the world, and I feel like this was kind of the one shot at it,” Morgan said.

That “one shot” was a chance at justice after their alleged attack happened.

Morgan said while the groping happened in 2018, they didn’t report it to police until 2020. Delays like this are common for survivors of these kinds of offenses.

The Austin Police Department said it assigned a detective to Morgan’s case to investigate.

“By the time they processed my paperwork, the statute of limitations had already expired. So despite having an already written confession from my assailant, which should have made this a slam dunk conviction, he was able to walk free,” Morgan said.

In early November 2020, Morgan said they told the detective they were worried about the statute of limitations, which would expire on Nov. 18, 2020, two years after the incident. On Nov. 9, according to email records Morgan shared with KXAN, the detective responded “As far as statute of limitations, you’re fine. It was reported before it would have been too late.”

So despite having an already written confession from my assailant, which should have made this a slam dunk conviction, he was able to walk free.

"Morgan"

However, in the end, Morgan received a letter from the City Attorney’s Office stating the case was “now outside of the statute of limitations.”

“I wanted to get justice so badly,” Morgan said.

How did this happen?

The Austin Police Department identified Morgan’s case as an Indecent Assault offense, a charge for forcible groping or fondling. But that charge didn’t exist until 2019. Morgan’s attack happened in 2018, before that law and charge change went into effect.

APD began investigating this case in 2020, when Indecent Assault was in effect.

Before the new law existed, groping and fondling charges were punishable by Class “C” Misdemeanors – the least serious type of misdemeanors – which carry punishments similar to a traffic ticket, not an arrest.

Morgan reported the crime to police within the statute of limitations, which for a case classified as a Class “B” Misdemeanor or above, would have met the criteria. However, for Class “C” Misdemeanors, complainants need to file reports with the City Attorney’s Office. Municipal courts handle these offenses in Texas, not police.

The Austin Police Department said Morgan’s detective “diligently” worked the case, and once he found out it wasn’t under the department’s purview, he told Morgan to file the complaint in municipal court. Morgan said that back-and-forth caused a further delay on their end.

“It just slowed things down,” Morgan said.

The City Attorney’s Office told KXAN Morgan’s filing missed the statute of limitations deadline by two days.

“Part of the problem is the lack of seriousness the offense received,” State Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) said.

Moody spearheaded the law change that made forcible groping or fondling a more serious offense.

“The punishment didn’t fit the crime,” he said about these acts being punishable by citations instead of arrests.

According to APD data obtained by KXAN, 512 people reported Indecent Assault to police after the law went into effect. Previous numbers aren’t as trackable because there wasn’t as finite of a designation for fondling or groping reports.

“I think it becomes pretty difficult to do because the data itself in Class C ticket world, where this used to be, is completely disaggregated around the state,” Moody said. “It’s hard to tell what those numbers look like prior to the law changing.”

As for Morgan, they said they would have filed their complaint in municipal court sooner had they known earlier that that’s what they needed to do.

“If there was an actual conviction I could point to, it would just be one more layer of protection,” Morgan said.