Rape of Patty

1997-2006 – Madison, WI
This complicated case spanned nearly a decade. Patty, a visually impaired single mother, reported she had been raped at her East Side duplex on Sept. 4, 1997.

Police investigated, and within a month, told Patty they didn't believe her. She recanted her story under pressure, then quickly recanted her recantation. An obstruction charge was filed against her Feb. 9, 1998. Eleven days before Patty was to stand trial, Dane County dropped the case.

Patty filed a complaint with the Madison Police and Fire Commission and a filed a lawsuit. Neither did her much good.

In 2001 a DNA match to semen on her bed sheet popped up. It would eventually lead to 28-year-old Joseph Bong being tried in Dane County Court for sexual assault.

October 17, 2006, over nine years later, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray apologized to Patty on behalf of the Police Department. Wray, who was not the chief of police at the time of the case, said that the apology he read to the City Council on Tuesday "should have taken place years ago." She also received $35,000.

Patty's story is the subject of "Cry Rape," a book by Bill Lueders.