My r*pe & s*xual assault has gone to CPS

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I’m exhausted mentally and physically typing this but after a year of reporting historic rape and sexual assault if my ex partner and a nearly year investigation.. the police have decided to take it to CPS to ask them if they can charge him!

what are the steps after this? How long does a case take to ‘prepare the file’ like she told me? I’m nervous for the court process

It’s pretty much standard for it to go to the CPS. It could still take a while from this point.

Very normal for it to go to cps. I’d just hold fire and ask your legal rep. / case worker questions about the specifics

I can only give you my experience but it was about 15 months between going to the CPS and getting a charging decision. I think we then appealed there decision and there was a specific timeline by which they had to review (a few months maybe). In total, it was 18 months until it was done and dusted and they declined to prosecute.

I’ve known a lot of woman’s cases or men’s that haven’t even got to the review point :) for me this was huge as it was 4 and 6 years ago with not a lot of evidence

We’ve get evidence from him phone, from medical notes and some of his side of the story isn’t the same or consistent

I don’t have legal reps as far as I know. I get legal aid anyway due to domestic violence (emotional abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour)

Then there wouldn’t have been a shred of evidence to justify a charge if didn’t even get in front of the CPS

The relationship between police and CPS is often fraught, but in my experience it is different with rape and complex sexual offences. There is a lot of communication back and forth to ensure that Police are obtaining all relevant evidence to put forward for sufficient evidence to charge with CPS. The tipping point is that CPS will look at their threshold test in that there must be a realistic prospect of conviction at court, is it in the public interest, in addition to other factors. Domestic sexual violence can be complex as the realistic prospect of conviction can be diminished with she said/he said testimonies in the absence of additional evidence. I wish you luck and strength throughout this.

Thank you so much for the nice response. Most of these responses have really put me off and I’ve not replied but to clarify there was little to no physical evidence of the night however evidence through phones, text messages and proof I was on a medication that made me sleepy. It all happened while asleep and while we weren’t together but living together and while sleeping separately. There’s enough evidence to support me and we’ve gone through family court where his abusive behaviour has been confirmed by screenshots and his own behaviour shown throughout the family court.

The time with CPS can be lengthy. In the meantime, your officer in the case will be progressing with other cases. It is not uncommon that they get sidetracked and forget to keep you updated. My advice would be to contact your officer and establish reasonable update times that they are able to stick to and you feel fully supported. X

It could be quite a lengthy wait. I reported my exh. Very little solid evidence. I only really had some medical proof and that wasn’t much. But I went ahead and reported. The police were really supportive but CPS couldn’t give a charge. I was devastated but police told me even having something on record about him could help any future cases that may happen. And five years hater that’s exactly what happened. Another woman had reported him. I ended up going to court as part of the case. In total there were three of us. He was found guilty. So even if it doesn’t work out please don’t feel bad about it. You’ve put your truth out there and it may be needed to help another person in the future. Best of luck op and you should be very proud of your bravery xx

I’m so so sorry for all you ladies that have gone through something similar. It’s such a shame that the evidence has to be solid… in order to get a charge which I find crazy however I do see that it needs to be solid to be proven and stop innocent people being charged but still the percentage of woman lying is so small… I have 2 witnesses I went to straight after it happened who have put their statements in as expressed to them that I was crying and was quite upset and some other bits. I’m sorry again you all that have had to go through it. I’m so traumatised, I struggle to even get in a car with a man I don’t know how.

Investigations of abuse do not usually take that long to get sorted.

6 months of the investigation was downloading phone data from his phone as there was stuff on it.. the other 6 months was my interview, 2/3 others interview and collecting evidence. :)

Do his texts admit rape?

They admit guilt. He’s apologising and saying he feels disgusting and horrible but never actually admits to rape

dont talk such utter rubbish