Helping victims find freedom from abuse. Earlier this month, Ithaca's mayor joined the police department to announce - more than 100 investigations had piled up with little progress. Many of them are sex crimes - some involving minors. The Tompkins County Advocacy Center says they can help those impacted. 

The journey is all up to each individual person. Some people decide to report, some pursue legal charges, and some just want therapy. The Tompkins County Advocacy Center connects them with what they need.

“Our services are all based on the survivors’ needs," said Heather Campbell, Executive Director of the Tompkins County Advocacy Center.

Campbell helps survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse. Advocates like her make sure survivors have someone along their journey.

“We ask a lot of survivors, when they’re going through the criminal justice process. They often have to tell their story multiple times to different people. For the small number of cases that end up in a trial, that’s very difficult for survivors, to have to tell their story in a public setting, to be cross examined," said Campbell.

For those reasons, some decide not to report. Advocates can connect survivors with therapy, or go with them to meetings with law enforcement.

“Help set up a meeting if they would like with law enforcement, help set up a meeting with investigators, and help them understand what the process would look like," said Campbell.

Earlier this month, the city of Ithaca said a number of cases over the past decade, many of them sex crimes, went uninvestigated. Ithaca Police have encouraged anyone with an overlooked case to reach out.

“We’re actually hearing from many survivors who have concerns about a report they made about domestic or sexual violence, that didn’t involve this investigator and didn’t involve IPD even. This has really raised I think a larger conversation about how we respond systemically to victims of domestic and sexual violence," said Campbell.

Campbell also says around 80 of the backlog of cases involved sex crimes. The Advocacy Center helped create a protocol for officers when reaching out to survivors. Partially due to social myths, prosecuting these cases is a challenge.

“Our community and our state and our nation really still has a lot of work to do to help survivors of sexual violence find both safety and justice and I think that’s a conversation I really hope we continue to have," said Campbell.

The city of Ithaca has laid out nine steps to correct the situation moving forward.  They include requiring an update on all open cases every two weeks and monthly supervision meetings with every investigator.

The uninvestigated complaints have been sent to the offices of the district attorney and the attorney general.

If you need help, the Advocacy Center has a 24/7 hotline at 607-277-5000.