EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
Police are still looking into unsolved cases, seeing if there are any more victims of sexual abuse after Tuesday night's abduction near Maxwell and Elliot.
Police say it was multiple tips from the community that led to the arrest of Jack Perkins III and Thursday, they're telling 14 News more about the sensitive process of dealing with sexual crimes.
Police say Holly's House is a safe place victims of sexual abuse can go and privately get help with investigations.
EPD tells 14 News tips from the public can prevent future victims.
"This guy was not on the radar. The DNA (would've said) if he was in any database, he wasn't on any registry," said Det. Brian Turpin with the EPD Sexual Violence Unit.
Turpin is a detective with EPD and co-founder of Holly's House.
He tells 14 News community tips are what led to Perkins's arrest. Turpin says they're looking into information from other victims, seeing if the cases are linked.
"We look at what their suspect looked like, what the suspect drove, if they know anything about where Perkins was at that time," Turpin said.
"The only silver lining to a situation like this is that it does trigger a community conversation," said Executive Director at Holly's House Sidney Hardgrave.
Holly's House interviews victims of intimate crimes in a homey, secure environment, working with law enforcement to track down suspects.
They say although in Tuesday's abduction, the suspect and victim were strangers, about 96% of the clients at Holly's House are harmed by someone they know.
"We need to look carefully at everyone who's interacting with children, not just focus on 'stranger danger.' That's only one piece of the message," said Hardgrave.
"We've had cases in the past where kids have been molested and the parents have found out about it and haven't reported it," Turpin said.
Tat fear of reporting is why Holly's House says they take extra care to keep clients' identity private, having separate waiting rooms for each one.
Anything to help stop crime and keep victims safe.
"An officer could bring them here, they can park in an area that's not so visible as our front parking lot," Hardgrave said.
Police say if you have any information about an unsolved case or if you or someone you know has been sexually abused, call police or an advocacy center like Holly's House.
Related stories:
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
