It took nearly four years for a sexual assault case to wrap in Boone County. Now, the two women involved in the case are sharing their stories.
COLUMBIA - Nearly four years after Mary Denson says a friend sexually assaulted her, she's finally getting a chance to tell her story.
"I think it's important for women to be heard, and for all victims of sexual violence to be heard," Denson said. "And it's not going to change until we continue to face it."
She said the assault happened after a local concert in Boone County in September 2017.
"Derek came in and got on top of me and pinned me down and assaulted me," Denson said. "And later Derek followed me out to the porch and got on top of me and assaulted me again."
Denson said she wasn't the only victim that night. Her friend Jeannine Anderson was also assaulted by the same man.
"It's just the right thing to do," Anderson said about sharing her story.
Anderson now lives in Colorado. She spoke with KOMU 8 News via Zoom.
"Some people think that survivors will make up the story, that it comes out of thin air, it's just statistically not true," Anderson said.
According to court documents, prosecutors charged Derek Tarwater with two counts of sodomy saying he "knowingly had deviate sexual intercourse with victims by the use of forcible compulsion."
The probable cause statement said in one incidence Tarwater picked up one of the victims over his shoulder and took her into a back of a van where he assaulted her.
The statement said she kept telling him "no" and "to stop" and hit him in the face to eventually get away.
"The next morning we talked and we agreed to go to the ER," Denson said.
Tarwater bonded out of the Boone County Jail about a week after his arrest.
"He was free, he was able to go about his life," Denson said.
Tarwater bonding out of jail in turn delayed the court process.
"By the time they met me rightfully so they were frustrated at how long it had taken to get through the justice system," Assistant Boone County Prosecutor Jessica Caldera said.
She said suspects out on bond is just one thing that can slow down a case.
"He was always lower priority as far as getting our jury trial than someone who was in custody, but once it, I mean, four years is inexcusable."
Caldera said crime lab testing can also cause delays.
"We see TV shows all the time where they get get lab results right away or within hours and in Missouri we only have a handful of crime labs," Caldera said. "So, it can take a year or more just to get DNA results back."
It wasn't until this past spring, nearly four years later, that the case went to trial.
"The system is very slow, it's quite flawed. It favors criminals, not victims in any way," Anderson said.
"Quick and expedient trial for whom? Definitely not for me and Jeannine," Denson said.
Denson and Anderson said they felt like they were living on edge for four years.
"Every day I was checking over my shoulder, it was constantly a state of peril," Anderson said.
"These aren't decisions that women just make willy nilly, or are off the cuff. They think about it and they think about whether it's something they could do," Caldera said.
Finally, the jury came back with a guilty verdict.
"I can barely describe it, I know I started weeping immediately," Anderson said about when she heard the guilty verdict.
"I felt like I lost 50 pounds in an instant. All of this pressure that had been on me for so long, just vanished," Denson said.
They said it was a long four years waiting for justice.
"The fact that 12 Missourians heard all the evidence and were willing to believe something hard to believe, it meant everything and I would do it again. I would absolutely do it again."
Anderson now works for a non-profit organization as a victim advocate for victims of domestic violence. And, Denson is headed down a similar path.
"I have enrolled in a victim's advocacy training certificate course, actually. And ultimately really hope someday I get to sit with other women in court and help them have their day, the way that I got mine," Denson said.
Tarwater received the minimum sentence of five years for each count totaling 10 years in prison.
A judge denied his motion for a new trial. Tarwater's attorney said he plans on filing an appeal and argues the judge did not allow important evidence into the case.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence, you can reach out to True North in Columbia. According to its website, it has volunteers who help provide victim access to services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The organization's toll-free number is 1-800-548-2480.
Other resources for victims of sexual assault:
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center
- RAINN
- MCADSV
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