What in the world are we to do about a woman like this?
A 28-year-old Fort Wayne woman hesitantly testified Tuesday in Allen Superior Court about being held against her will and sexually assaulted by a man she still loves.
The man, Anthony W. Shepard, 25, is charged with one count each of criminal deviate conduct, criminal recklessness, intimidation, domestic battery and invasion of privacy, and two counts of criminal confinement.
He is accused of taking the woman from her home before dawn Aug. 25 to a vacant apartment where he beat her, fired a shotgun at her and sexually assaulted her. He is also accused of violating a protective order the woman had against him.
She still loves him? There's a pathology at work there so deep it defies comprehension. Police, the criminal justice system and the social services have come a long way toward reaching out to women in these circumstances. But those who are drowning need to at least put their hands up so they can be lifted out.
Here's a statistic that might surprise some. On average, an abused woman will leave her partner six to eight times. Twice is one too many.
