Historical May 1992 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Ed Stout lives in a charming threestory house on the 6100 block of McPherson with his wife, Mary Bea, and their children, Bea, 23; Daniel, 17; Martin, 19; and Joe, 19. Mary Bea, who is an actor, encourages Ed to participate in neighborhood theaters. Ed plays softball at St. Roch’s and fishes.
His experience at Kenrick Seminary has left him with a love of singing. Ed Stout has been the Executive Director of Aid for Victims of Crime, Inc. (AVC) for eleven years.
He has had a wide variety of experiences come his way. One victim was an elderly woman in South St. Louis. Stout received a call on the hotline from a paramedic at the scene of the crime. Two men had broken into the woman’s house and ransacked it.
They tied her up so tightly that it left permanent nerve damage.
They did many things to torture her, but it was when they took her dog (her sole companion in life) and said that they had killed it to upset her that she became hysterical.
The victim would not go to the hospital because of the cost.
The hotline volunteer explained the state’s victim compensation fund that is available to crime victims.
The woman then agreed to go to the hospital if someone would watch her dog. Although dogsitting is not a normal service, Aid for Victims of Crime provided it in this case. Aid for Victims of Crime was the first victim assistance program in the United States.
It was founded in 1972 and is an assistance group for crime victims.
It offers immediate practical assistance through crises intervention.
The group helps guide victims through the criminal justice process.
It also provides help with utilities, employers, and landlords.
It helps victims file for state compensation for non-reimbursable hospital costs, lost wages, funeral and counseling expenses. AVC operates a twentyfour hotline for victims of crime in St. Louis and St. Louis County.
The hotline number is “OK-BE-MAD” (652- 3262). AVC is a not-for-profit organization and is financed by private contributions and state contracts. Ed Stout contends that in court, the defendant receives certain rights while the victim has none.
For three years, he has co-chaired a campaign to pass a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee victim rights. That amendment, which will be on the November 3 ballot, would guarantee these victim’s rights: • To be present at all criminal justice proceedings at which the defendant has the right to be present • To be informed of and heard at the hearings and sentencings • Restitution • Speedy disposition and appellate review of their cases • Reasonable protection from the defendant • Information concerning the accused’s escape or release • Information about how the criminal justice system works, the availability of services, and about the crime.
Original photograph caption
Ed Stout, Aid for Victims of Crime. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, May 1992.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1992_05.pdf, printed page(s) 7; PDF page(s) 7.
