Sexual assault exams are performed by specially trained nurses who extract and catalogue evidence and photograph injuries. An Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital spokesperson denied that they stopped doing them, surprising advocates who say otherwise. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Rutherford County’s largest hospital will rebuild and expand its sexual assault exam program weeks after facing public criticism for turning victims away.
Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford County, once the county’s chief provider of the specialized sexual assault nurse exams, or SANE exams — also referred to as rape kits — abruptly stopped providing them early this year, according to Ericka Downing, director of the Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Center in Murfreesboro…