DATE RAPE DRUG USE PREVALENT IN ASSAULTS.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

A 16-year-old girl goes to a party and unwittingly drinks a soda laced with a drug someone slipped into her glass. The next morning, she wakes up with her clothes off, unable to recall what happened.

Like an increasing number of rape survivors in Los Angeles County, the teen fell victim to a ``date rape drug'' that knocked her out.

``We're seeing a lot more drug-related rapes, particularly in Southern California in public places and private homes,'' said Susan Powers, Los Angeles County assistant head deputy district attorney.

Drugs such as rohypnol, a central nervous system depressant, and gamma hydroxy butyrate, an anesthetic that can scramble the memory, are being used more often, said Michele Mittelman, a coordinator for the Sexual Assault Response Team, a coalition of law enforcement and health agencies.

``We tell people to be careful if they are at a bar,'' she said. ``If you have a drink, keep that drink with you. You can't see the drugs, and they may cause you to black out or vomit.''

Victims can go in and out of consciousness, she said, ``not knowing what's going on.''

In the Santa Clarita Valley, reports of rapes have increased, officials said.

Last year, there were 24 rape reports in the Santa Clarita Valley - three attempts and 21 actual sexual assaults. Because 15 rapes have been reported already this year, the number of reported rapes this year could exceed those in 1998, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Tim Peters of the Santa Clarita Valley station.

It is difficult to track the drug-related rapes because the victims often wake up the next morning and don't know what has happened. With each passing hour, there is less of a chance that the drugs will stay in a person's system.

``A lot of times people wake up and are in a fog for a day, or all of a sudden they get this sense that something happened,'' said Carol Morton, clinical director of the sexual response team at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Rapists might use an eye dropper to insert the liquid GHB into someone's drink. They prefer the drug because it produces increased sexual activity, Morton said.

Rohypnol comes in tablet form and is odorless and tasteless. It has an amnesia effect and is 10 times more powerful than the tranquilizer Valium. Victims given the drug might wake up for just a second when someone is assaulting them and go back to sleep, Morton said.

Mittelman said many rapes go unreported because the rape survivors are afraid of how others will react or they feel guilty about what happened.

``In a lot of date rape cases, there is foreplay, touching and kissing, and women don't want to go further,'' she said. ``(The perpetrators) sometimes take a no as a yes.''

Sheriff's Sgt. Howard Fairchild said it is important for rape victims to come forward.

In some cases, authorities are able to contact past victims who will help in the prosecution of the case.

``It's a direction for us to go,'' he said. ``You figure, if they go to the lengths of doing this one time, they've probably done it before.''

Powers, of the District Attorney's Office, agreed, adding that a rapist's tendency to commit the crime repeatedly could work against him ultimately.

``Sexual assaulters tend to come back over and over again, so we use evidence in previous sex assaults in current cases,'' she said.

Powers said when a rape case is prosecuted, the law does not require any corroboration for the crime. However, it is very difficult to convince a jury to convict someone for rape based on he-said, she-said testimony.

``In reality, jurors want more,'' she said.

That is why it is so important for rape victims not to wash their clothes, brush their teeth or take showers afterward. Sometimes bruises that victims don't realize are there will show up later, Powers said.

If the rapist uses some type of condom, the lubricant can be tested for DNA. If a victim calls 911, authorities will have a tape of the statements made by the victim after the rape.

``The statements can be used for corroboration, such as the panic in her voice,'' Powers said. In the Santa Clarita area, rape survivors can call the Valley Trauma Center's 24-hour hotline.

All of the information is kept confidential.

Mittelman recalled how frightened a fragile rape survivor in her 40s appeared when she arrived at a hospital.

``She was very badly bruised and was hysterical,'' Mittelman said. ``She hadn't eaten, and she was bleeding a lot.''

That survivor had called the trauma center hotline and was met by an advocate at one of two hospitals in the area that have a sexual assault response team, Mission Community Hospital in Panorama City or Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

At the hospital, a trauma center advocate will stay with the survivor to answer questions while a law enforcement officer and a nurse will conduct an interview.

The nurse will examine any injuries, take pictures and collect samples for DNA testing. The survivor's clothing and other evidence is forwarded to authorities.

Mittelman said rape victims run the gamut of society. They are young, old, male and female. They include women raped by their husbands.

Mittelman stressed it is important for rape survivors to know it is not their fault and that there are services available to help them.

THE FACTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT

One in three females and one in five males will be sexually assaulted in some way by the age of 18.

Just 10 percent of rapes are reported.

Approximately 85 percent of rapes are committed by someone the person knows.

One in every six women will experience rape or attempted rape within one year of entering college.

RAPE HOTLINES:

Santa Clarita Valley: [phone]

San Fernando Valley: [phone]

Los Angeles County Rape and Battering Hotline: [phone]

Central Los Angeles Rape Hotline: [phone]

West San Gabriel Valley Rape Hotline: [phone]

SOURCE: California Coalition Against Sexual Assault

CAPTION(S):

Box

BOX: THE FACTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT (see text)