Rape

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) will deliver a check for $500,000 to Mission Community Hospital today for the creation of the first rape treatment and services center in the San Fernando Valley. Funding for the Sexual Assault Response Team, or SART, was approved by the state Legislature last month. Advocates for victims of sexual assault say that team programs--comprising social workers, doctors, nurses and police--increase the speed and efficiency of treatment for rape victims.

When Ramiro Espinosa used a butter knife to unlock the door to his wife's attic bedroom two years ago and then demanded sex from her, he figured he had the Catholic Church on his side. But when he tried to use that as a defense last week against charges of attempted rape and spousal abuse, it didn't quite work. Catholic officials said he was wrong, and a judge sentenced him to a year in County Jail. Would the Los Feliz man have fared better with another religion?

When Joe Hooven was elected to the Burbank school board, supporters loved his infectious enthusiasm and his push for excellence in academic and sports programs in local schools. But now, some say that same enthusiasm may have contributed to his political downfall.

A week after resigning as Burbank school board president, Joe Hooven said Wednesday he should have informed authorities after learning of an alleged sexual liaison between a 50-year-old school fund-raiser and a 17-year-old Burbank High football player. "If I had to do it over again, I would report it," Hooven said in an interview at his Burbank home. "I did nothing wrong, but ethically and morally, yeah, I should have reported it. I've learned from this."

A San Jose judge, refusing to release a notorious serial rapist, upheld as constitutional Friday a new state law that allows sex offenders who have served their sentences to be locked up in mental institutions. The law was challenged by Christopher Hubbart, 45, who has served his sentence and his parole behind bars. Hubbart, a native of Pasadena, has been linked to about 30 rapes, most of them in Southern California. He has been in and out of prison and mental institutions since 1973.

When Ramiro Espinosa used a butter knife to unlock the door to his wife's attic bedroom two years ago and then demanded sex from her, he figured he had the Catholic Church on his side. But when he tried to use that as a defense last week against charges of attempted rape and spousal abuse, it didn't quite work. Catholic officials said he was wrong and a judge sentenced him to a year in County Jail. Would the Los Feliz man have fared better with another religion?

A judge on Monday ordered a fired nurse's aide to provide a blood sample to determine if he is the father of a baby born to a woman who has been in a coma-like state for 10 years. John Horace, 52, worked at a nursing home in suburban Rochester where the 29-year-old woman was raped in August, and two co-workers told investigators they saw him acting suspiciously in her room, prosecutors said at a hearing. State Supreme Court Judge Charles J.

Parents of the teenage football player who was allegedly seduced by 50-year-old school fund-raiser Salle Dumm have filed a claim for damages against the school district, alleging their son was emotionally harmed by a conspiracy of school officials who forced him to keep the incident secret. The claim, filed with the Burbank Unified School District, does not specify the amount of financial damages sought by the family.

"Dateline NBC" airs an hour tonight titled "Screams in the Night." But first have come charges and countercharges in the night. Just as the screams were Karen Pomer's--those of a woman terrified by her savage attacker in Santa Monica on Oct. 4, 1995--so, now, are the charges. The segment is a powerful statement about rape. But to rape victim Pomer, 41, whose own case is the hub of the program, it barks a more shrill, uglier language.