It takes a long time to get to trial

Even though my case is a little complicated, this seems to be something huge that is overlooked when reporting a rape. It takes a long time to get to trial. It just does. In my case my rapist was still technically a juvenile(even though he was 15 and I was 6) when he assaulted me so there were extra steps that needed to be taken to prosecute this case where we are now both adults, and extra time it took to achieve getting to where it could be prosecuted. It has been almost four years since I reported what happened to me as a child to the police. I reported in the wrong county. I didn't know if I needed to report in the county I currently live in or the one where it took place, and it turns out that you should report in the county where it takes place. Now, the wrong county did send my statement and information to the correct county and they picked up and requestioned me and then started the investigation, but it took almost an entire year for the correct people to get on my case. It's definitely a timesaver to report in the correct county/ jurisdiction.

The defense will try to stall in any way they possibly can. They want to make it take so long that you just give up and tell the District Attorney you don't want it prosecuted any more. This is the easiest way out for them, the easiest way for them to have a happy client. I found the best technique to deal with this was to just pretend during the long periods of waiting that nothing was happening, and trying not to think about it. In a way it taking so long to get to trial has been a good thing for me. It has allowed me time to slowly adjust to what prosecuting my rapist entailed, and I was able to focus on one step at a time, not allowing me to get ahead of myself. To get to go to trial in one year is quick, I've seen figures stating the average is about a year and a half to two years from reporting to end of trial. The justice system does not move quickly.