This week is National Crime Victims Right Week. To mark the occasion and to recognize and support child and adult victims in the area, the Liberty County District Attorney’s Office hosted a candlelight vigil on Thursday, April 28, at the Liberty Center.
The event came on the week that District Attorney Jennifer Bergman-Harkness and her assistant district attorneys successfully tried one of the worst criminal cases in recent memory involving the murder of a Cleveland mother at the hands of the man who fathered her child and in the presence of their child.
“I thought about what I was going to speak about last week. I was going to tell you that at this point my office has almost 2,000 felony cases and that we are on track to have the largest number of felony cases that we’ve ever had in a single year. We are on track to have 1,300 to 1,400 new felony cases this year. Can you imagine how many victims that encompasses?” Bergman-Harkness said. “Since I took office, we have increased the number of victim advocates and victim’s assistance coordinators. We had one but it was not enough, so we’ve expanded that. We are currently looking for additional services we can provide victims because it’s so very important to me. Domestic violence and child abuse are two of the most horrific and dangerous crimes that happen in our community, and they happen here on a daily basis.”
Bergman-Harkness said her plan to further discuss the challenges of an ever-increasing caseload of felony cases and how victims are being assisted were waylaid on Tuesday after the prosecution of the Cleveland mom’s murder case.
“This case touched so many lives in our community. This teenage child, who witnessed the murder, told jurors what happened, what she saw, how it made her feel. She stood there and took the oath and then sat down to recount every single thing from that day, and she did so without emotion. She had the support of her community, her family and therapy from our office throughout the entire process, and it works because she had closure from doing that,” the DA said.
She believes that if a child can have the courage to face the people who have wronged them or caused them great harm, the least that everyone else can do is support them as they try to heal.
“It can make a world of difference,” Bergman-Harkness said.
Rev. Shannon Bowdoin, pastor of Liberty Worship Center and a lieutenant for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Chaplain Division, spoke at the candlelight vigil about how people can move from victim to victor.
“You do not have to remain a victim. I’ll say it again. You do not have to remain a victim. Will you always have the scars? Yes, you will always bear the scars. Those scars don’t have to be a reminder of your victimhood. They can be a reminder of the victory you obtained because you overcame being a victim,” Bowdoin said. “We do not have to reside in the realm of victimhood. We can rise above it by embracing one another, encouraging one another and giving our testimonies to one another.”
He said that “people of good conscience” have to stand against evil and not be silent when they see evil acts taking place in their communities, and that God can provide healing in areas where men fail.
“It’s good for us to say, ‘I will not stand idly by and see another child or adult injured. I will not remain silent if I see something going on in my neighborhood or community that should not be happening,'” he said. “Whatever has happened to you, whatever wrong you have incurred, whatever wound you still bear and whatever scars you still carry, let the Great Physician heal them all.”
