Life can be cruel and sometimes quite vicious, but it's how we react that can make or break us. This is a story of one woman overcoming a traumatic and scarring event, not letting it control her life. Instead of letting herself slowly die inside, she decided that she wasn't a victim, but a survivor.
In the evening hours of Wednesday, August 26, a young paralegal, named Bethann Causten, working at the Asphyxiation Point Courthouse was studiously becoming acclimated with the court's filing system. Shortly after 9p.m. that evening she decided to take her break and would make her way to 'Flick the Bean' for some coffee and cookies. Being new to The Point and new at her job in the courthouse, she picked up several extra coffee's to deliver to the police station as a way of saying 'Hello." That's where her nightmare started to form as she recalls passing her attacker on the street outside the station.
After chatting for a few moments with the receptionist, she would head back up the hill to the courthouse. When she arrived she noticed that the pair of guards that were normally at the door were suspiciously absent and the door was open. Unfortunately she didn't think twice about it and entered the courthouse. She didn't recall seeing the man who was sitting in the lobby.
"He must have moved towards me because suddenly he was right behind me. I tried to move away while asking him if he needed help. He just kept moving closer. I'd back up and he'd step in. Eventually he grabbed me." Miss Causten told the Times.
What happened next would forever change Bethann's life. The man who approached her would beat, abuse, and sodomize the woman for what, to her, must have felt like an eternity. Miss Causten remembers trying to fight back at first until her injuries forced her into submission. She would reveal to the Times that she was a virgin prior to being raped viciously. Mercifully she blacked out and her assailant was gone when she woke up.
"When I came to I was bleeding all over. I crawled to the stairs. I slipped at some point going down them. That's where I got most of the bruises on my arms. I knew I needed help and crawled to the door." Bethann said.
Assistant District Attorney Dorian Kroll, who was returning to the office, found the woman in the courtyard. He and his now wife Morgana Amitié aided Bethann until Police and EMT's arrived. As medical assistance was being rendered she recalls seeing the man again.
"That's when I saw him. He was standing over in front of the spa. (The Zen Den) He was staring at me. He mouthed something and I lost it. I started screaming. Morgana let go of me. I just started running. Running away from him." she told the Times. Shock and blood loss didn't allow her to get far before she passed out again. Her next memory would be waking in the AP Hospital the next afternoon.
The man who committed the crime was arrested that same evening, but authorities have not yet released his name. In fact it took the APPD four days before they told Miss Causten that they had apprehended him, despite her making three separate trips to the station before she could speak with the arresting officer Jay Biafra.
"After days of running and hiding. Of looking over my shoulder and contemplating deals with the devil they had him in custody the whole time." she said about the incident.
When the Times first approached Miss Causten about her story she requested that we not write or print it, because she felt ashamed. However, despite everything that happened to her she returned to the Times and said she had a change of heart.
"A friend was the one who gave me my new mantra 'I was in a battle and came out alive.' While not a battle in the military sense I was fighting for my life, now I'm fighting for my piece of mind." she gave as her reason for coming forward. Her experience and resilience can be an inspiration to others who have or are facing seemingly unsurmountable situations in their life. Bethann presents herself not as a hero, but as a survivor. Her advice to those people is simple and profound, "No matter how bad it seems at the time, if you are still breathing you still have a chance. "
Bethann Causten has returned back to her job at the courthouse and is healing from her injuries, taking it day by day and moving forward with her life.
-Reported by - Pen Dragon
In the evening hours of Wednesday, August 26, a young paralegal, named Bethann Causten, working at the Asphyxiation Point Courthouse was studiously becoming acclimated with the court's filing system. Shortly after 9p.m. that evening she decided to take her break and would make her way to 'Flick the Bean' for some coffee and cookies. Being new to The Point and new at her job in the courthouse, she picked up several extra coffee's to deliver to the police station as a way of saying 'Hello." That's where her nightmare started to form as she recalls passing her attacker on the street outside the station.
After chatting for a few moments with the receptionist, she would head back up the hill to the courthouse. When she arrived she noticed that the pair of guards that were normally at the door were suspiciously absent and the door was open. Unfortunately she didn't think twice about it and entered the courthouse. She didn't recall seeing the man who was sitting in the lobby.
"He must have moved towards me because suddenly he was right behind me. I tried to move away while asking him if he needed help. He just kept moving closer. I'd back up and he'd step in. Eventually he grabbed me." Miss Causten told the Times.
What happened next would forever change Bethann's life. The man who approached her would beat, abuse, and sodomize the woman for what, to her, must have felt like an eternity. Miss Causten remembers trying to fight back at first until her injuries forced her into submission. She would reveal to the Times that she was a virgin prior to being raped viciously. Mercifully she blacked out and her assailant was gone when she woke up.
"When I came to I was bleeding all over. I crawled to the stairs. I slipped at some point going down them. That's where I got most of the bruises on my arms. I knew I needed help and crawled to the door." Bethann said.
Assistant District Attorney Dorian Kroll, who was returning to the office, found the woman in the courtyard. He and his now wife Morgana Amitié aided Bethann until Police and EMT's arrived. As medical assistance was being rendered she recalls seeing the man again.
"That's when I saw him. He was standing over in front of the spa. (The Zen Den) He was staring at me. He mouthed something and I lost it. I started screaming. Morgana let go of me. I just started running. Running away from him." she told the Times. Shock and blood loss didn't allow her to get far before she passed out again. Her next memory would be waking in the AP Hospital the next afternoon.
The man who committed the crime was arrested that same evening, but authorities have not yet released his name. In fact it took the APPD four days before they told Miss Causten that they had apprehended him, despite her making three separate trips to the station before she could speak with the arresting officer Jay Biafra.
"After days of running and hiding. Of looking over my shoulder and contemplating deals with the devil they had him in custody the whole time." she said about the incident.
When the Times first approached Miss Causten about her story she requested that we not write or print it, because she felt ashamed. However, despite everything that happened to her she returned to the Times and said she had a change of heart.
"A friend was the one who gave me my new mantra 'I was in a battle and came out alive.' While not a battle in the military sense I was fighting for my life, now I'm fighting for my piece of mind." she gave as her reason for coming forward. Her experience and resilience can be an inspiration to others who have or are facing seemingly unsurmountable situations in their life. Bethann presents herself not as a hero, but as a survivor. Her advice to those people is simple and profound, "No matter how bad it seems at the time, if you are still breathing you still have a chance. "
Bethann Causten has returned back to her job at the courthouse and is healing from her injuries, taking it day by day and moving forward with her life.
-Reported by - Pen Dragon
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