Historic conviction: Colorado jury finds PTSD can cause physical trauma to brain
For the first time Colorado prosecutors have convinced a jury and judge that some forms of emotional abuse can result in physical trauma to a human brain. The Weld County District Attorney's Office successfully argued that a man from Dacono's emotional abuse to one of his victims caused physical damage to her brain in the form of post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Dante Larks was sentenced to 122 years to life in prison for physically, sexually and emotionally abusing several victims, several of which were minors. In an effort to protect victims of violent crimes, CBS News Colorado agreed to not share the names of the victims, or their relationship to Larks. However, in open court during a sentencing hearing, several of the victims of the abuse spoke out about their traumas.
"I am a survivor, but I am begging you, (Judge,) to not make my sacrafice in vein," the victim who experienced many traumas, including PTSD, said.
Investigators and prosecutors uncovered Larks' regular pattern of abuse for several years. His victims experienced sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Some accused him of punching and choking them during rapes. Others said he would make their peers belittle and bully them as a punishment.
However, the victim that helped the prosecution secure an historic conviction said she was sexually abused and locked in an unfinished basement for days at a time. She was also forced to shave her head if she acted in a way Larks didn't approve.
"A part of me will remain in that basement forever," the victim said. "I would be lucky if somebody threw a pack of peanuts down the stairs (for a meal)."
District Attorney Michael Rourke credited his staff for not only studying the case, but finding a unique and necessary way to prosecute it.
"What my attorney did was significant. The research that she did was out of this world," Rourke told CBS News Colorado's Dillon Thomas.
Psychiatrists were called to the stand during the trial and testified that some versions of emotional trauma can cause physical damage to the brain of a victim.
The court system, the jury and the judge ultimately agreed with the arguement.
"The science has now caught up to the law," Rourke said. "We now had scientific evidence to show that she had suffered physical harm to her brain which was evidenced by her diagnosis with PTSD because of the abuse that she suffered at the hands of the defendant."
"Yes, I will suffer from a diagnosis of PTSD for the rest of my life. I still struggle with the sound of footsteps above me," the victim said to the judge. "I panic when someone walks behind me."
Among several other charges Larks was also convicted of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, the first time someone has been sentenced to physical abuse charges for their emotional abuses.
The court made it clear that not all cases of PTSD qualify as physical damages to the brain.
Rourke said, going forward, he expects prosecutors both in Colorado and nationally to use this case as an example of how they can legally seek further necessary charges in cases yet to be resolved.
"(Physical damage to the brain) is, in my mind, and I believe most prosecutor's minds, a very aggravating factor that will be taken into consideration when charging, when trying cases and when arguing for sentences before a court," Rourke said.