The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "rape" ...
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Crime Data Investigation
The initial story in the crime data investigation found that from 2009 to early 2012 the Milwaukee Police Department misreported more than 500 aggravated assaults as lesser offenses not counted in the city’s violent crime tally. More than 800 additional cases followed the same pattern but couldn’t be verified with available records. Subsequent stories found police underreported aggravated assaults even when their own officers were severely injured; police clerks routinely changed dangerous weapon codes to generic ones in a way that allowed violent assaults to be underreported — and escape FBI scrutiny; the FBI’s crime auditing process is a fig leaf — metro police departments are rarely audited, and even then the sample sizes are too small to draw meaningful conclusions; Milwaukee police knew they misreported rapes and robberies, but didn’t mention this to city leaders or the public; high-ranking department officials raised red flags internally for years that there were problems but the public only heard a drumbeat that crime was down. In addition to these major installments, Poston and Diedrich wrote nearly two dozen follow-up stories that documented the fallout.
Tags: Crime data; police; assaults; city government
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Testing the System: Justice for Rape Victims
Thousands of rape victims in Colorado were victimized twice – once by their attacker and again by a system failing to utilize a crucial piece of evidence, a rape kit. Our investigation revealed the vast majority of rape kits police collected were never tested and the painful process a victim endures to provide the evidence is often in vain. Our story immediately prompted change. One department changed its policy and is testing old rape kits that should have been tested years ago. State lawmakers are filing bills to require rape kit testing. These changes have led to more thorough rape investigations in police departments and could ultimately prevent a rapist from striking again.
Tags: rape; rape victims; rape kits; police; criminal justice system; broadcast
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Intersecting Lives
Twenty years after a Kansas man was wrongfully convicted of a rape, a Lawrence Journal-World investigation revealed the real rapist, finally bringing closure to the victim and the wrongfully convicted man.
Tags: Crime; rape; wrongful convictions
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Broken Shield: Police force fails to protect state’s most vulnerable residents
Decades ago, California created a special police force to investigate crimes and unexplained injuries inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens – men and women with severe autism and cerebral palsy living in taxpayer-funded institutions. This police force, the Office of Protective Services, works exclusively at state developmental centers that have been the scene of horrific abuses. We sought to bring this story to readers in many forms, from working on all platforms, distributing condensed versions and delivering broadcast video stories to our partners, to creating a graphic novel video on one particularly human story -- a woman who was raped, apparently by a janitor. We also created an ebook of the series of stories and an interactive tracker that detailed key milestones of legislation drafted and signed into law. Producing this work on every platform helped to maximize audience reach and heighten the impact.
Tags: Autism; cerebral palsy; taxes; taxpayers; Office of Protective Services; abuse
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Broken Shield
Decades ago, California created a special police force to patrol exclusively at its five state developmental centers – taxpayer-funded institutions where patients with severe autism and cerebral palsy have been beaten, tortured and raped by staff members. But California Watch found that this state force, the Office of Protective Services, does an abysmal job bringing perpetrators to justice. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, exposed the depths of the abuse inside these developmental centers while showing how sworn officers and detectives wait too long to start investigations, fail to collect evidence and ignore key witnesses – leading to an alarming inability to solve crimes inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Dozens of women were sexually assaulted inside state centers, but police investigators didn’t order “rape kits” to collect evidence, a standard law enforcement tool. Police waited so long to investigate one sexual assault that the staff janitor accused of rape fled the country, leaving behind a pregnant patient incapable of caring for a child. The police force’s inaction also allowed abusive caregivers to continue molesting patients – even after the department had evidence that could have stopped future assaults. Many of the victims chronicled by California Watch are so disabled they cannot utter a word. Gabrielson gave them a resounding voice. Our Broken Shield series prompted far-reaching change, including a criminal investigation, staff retraining and new laws – all intended to bring greater safeguards and accountability.
Tags: California; police; autism; cerebral palsy; abuse; children
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Fugitives from Justice
Growing numbers of criminal suspects flee the U.S. each year to evade trial for murder, rape and other serious felonies. The investigation penetrated the government secrecy that shrouds America's interntaional fugitive extradition programs, giving a voice to forgotten victims.
Tags: murder; secrecy; extradition
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What Happened to Edie?
Edwina King's death was ruled a suicide by the very law enforcement agents she was investigating, regarding allegations that women in the Delaware County Jail were being raped and sexually abused. Edwina went missing the very day she was supposed to meet a Tulsa attorney to discuss a possible civil rights lawsuit on behalf of female inmates. Two weeks later, her body was found hanged in a horse tack barn on her own property, not more than 200 miles from her trailer home.
Tags: Suicide; Edwina King; Tulsa World; Trailer Home; Rape; Sexual Abuse
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Protect and Serve
The investigation of a Florida Atlantic University police officer, who was arrested for allegedly shooting escort Sheri Deann Carter in January 2011. Ho had a history of violence and a rap sheet that included many civilian complaints and battery charges from his wife.
Tags: Police; Florida Atlantic University, Rape, Escort, Sheri Dean Carter
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Corrective Rape
This story by ESPN highlights the notion of "corrective rape" in South Africa, where "men rape women to 'cure' them of their lesbianism." The 2008 rape and murder of former soccer player Eudy Simelane spurred an entire investigation into the practice of "corrective rape" in and around South Africa. The country continues to struggle with "sexual violence and homophobia."
Tags: Lesbian and Gay Equality Project; homosexuality; gay; lesbian; rape; South Africa
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Still Waiting After All These Years
The story examines the scandal of America's untested rape kits and tells the story of one woman who waited 13 years for her kit to be processed, during which time her attacker raped again. The story illustrates a larger issue -- a staggering 180,000 rape kits remain untested nationwide.
Tags: rape; rape kits; sex offense; untested rape kits