Prison Rape Elimination Aim Of FDL County Team

Taycheedah Correctional in Fond du Lac hosted a signing ceremony Thursday afternoon that establishes a team whose aim is to eliminate rape in prison. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes the County’s Prison Rape Elimination Act Sexual Assault Response Team only the second in the state, the first involves Dodge Correctional. However the Fond du Lac County model will serve as a template for future teams across the state. ASTOP Sexual Abuse Center in Fond du Lac has been working with Taycheedah officials since 2005. Sandy Hardie of ASTOP has been counseling inmates that have been sexually assaulted since 2007. She says no matter where sexual assault occurs it’s wrong. Linda Selk Yerges is the director of ASTOP. She says they were asked to formalize what they were doing to serve as a model for others, which took them a year a half to do. In addition to Taycheedah and ASTOP team partners include St. Agnes Hospital’s SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program, Community Corrections, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department, Fond du Lac Police Department, and Fond du Lac County District Attorney’s Office.