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Vol. 94, No. 021 WEDNESDAY February 5,2003
County real estate records online soon
By Steven H. Pollak
Staff Writer
A wave of technology
upgrades is about to hit the
Forsyth County Courthouse,
making jury selection more
efficient and real estate records
Internet accessible.
Doug Sorrells, clerk of
courts for the Forsyth County
Superior and State Courts, said
the upgrades will be in the
form of two new software sys
tems to be installed next
month.
The first software system
will allow citizens to access
Rape crisis center being
established in Forsyth
By Steven H. Pollak
Staff Writer
Rape victims are often trauma
tized twice.
They are traumatized once during
the actual assault and, sometimes,
again at the hospital.
Officials in Forsyth County, how
ever, are working to prevent that
from happening here.
According to an April 2001 study
conducted by the U.S. Department of
Justice’s Office of Victims of Crime,
emergency room staffs often do not
comprehend “sexual assault victim
ization” and do not treat victims with
an appropriate level of sensitivity.
Sometimes, victims wait hours
before being seen by hospital staff
and, due to the nature of the incident,
they are asked not to go the bath
room before an exam.
In addition, the study found that
physicians and nurses frequently lack
training in the proper methods of col
lecting evidence or, even worse, they
are reluctant to examine a sexual
assault victim for fear of becoming
involved in future litigation.
On Jan. 29, the unique problems
associated with the medical commu
nity’s handling of sexual assault vic
tims gained attention at the state
Capitol.
Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor read a reso
lution asking the state to offer incen
tives for registered nurses to receive
advanced training for working with
rape victims.
Also, Taylor said the state should
create a uniform “standard so that all
159 counties will handle sexual
assault cases in ways that minimize
pain to victims and increase likeli
hood of prosecution.”
To prevent these types of prob
lems from compounding the trauma
of a sexual assault, rape crisis centers
have been established in communi
ties across the United States. Forsyth
County soon will have its own at
Northside Hospital Forsyth.
The centers address the emotional
Child molester pleads guilty,
faces possible deportation
By Steven H. Pollak
Staff Writer
A 57-year-old man who molested
a girl under the age of 10 pleaded
guilty Friday in Forsyth County
Superior Court.
Juan Cortez Delaluz, who com
mitted the act while staying with
friends at a Cumming residence,
received a seven-year prison sentence
from Judge Jeffrey S. Bagley. The
maximum sentence for the offense of
child molestation is 20 years.
Delaluz had been arrested in
August and he was indicted in
November.
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real estate records through the
Internet instead of having to
come to the Cumming court
house. Initially, everything
except for plats will be avail
able online, including land
deeds, security deeds, warranty
deeds, liens, condominium
records, easements and con
demnations.
The clerk added that he
hopes to make plats available
online next year so long as the
courthouse purchases a “large
body” digital scanner capable
of reading the jumbo-sized
documents.
Rape in Georgia
Twenty-one sexual assault
programs in Georgia served
4,083 victims who had been
sexually assaulted between
Oct. 1998 and Sept. 1999. Os
these victims served:
• 70 percent also reported the
crime to a law enforcement
agency
• 95 percent were female
• 61 percent were assaulted by
someone they knew
• 29 percent were assaulted in
their home
Os the 2,209 forcible rapes
reported in Georgia in 1999,
only 671 (30 percent) resulted
in arrests.
One in six Georgia women
between the ages of 15 and 44
have been forced to have sexu
al intercourse against their will
at least once during their life
time.
Source: Georgia Network to End
Sexual Assault
needs of rape victims as well as the
specialized needs of law enforcement
and prosecutors investigating sexual
assault cases.
Some centers are in stand-alone
buildings while others such as the
one that will be opened at Northside
Hospital Forsyth are located with
in a larger medical facility.
Chris Munn, a registered nurse
and manager of the emergency room
at Northside Hospital Forsyth, said
he anticipates the room will be avail
able for public use in six to eight
weeks.
The advanced training the lieu
tenant governor referred to would
entail nurses learning how to conduct
forensic examinations of sexual
assault victims and learning how to
better assist their emotional needs.
See CENTER, Page 5A
Delaluz
assistant district attorney who prose
cuted the case, said she was satisfied
with the outcome.
“I’m pleased justice was served in
this case,” she said.
INDEX
Abby 6A
Classifieds 9B
Deaths 2A
Events 7A
Horoscope 6A
Legals 2B
Opinion 8A
Sports IB
“We’re trying to make it as
convenient as possible for the
citizens, the attorneys and the
title searchers,” Sorrells said.
The county paid $135,000
to the Worthington, Ohio-based
Cott Systems for the software,
the training on how to use the
software and three or four new
computer terminals to be
installed at the courthouse for
members of the public lacking
Internet access. All records will
be backed-up electronically.
“It’s a giant step forward,”
Sorrells said. “You qan retrieve
a document, view it and even
Because prose
cutors reported the
crime to the U.S.
Immigration and
Naturalization
Service, Delaluz
may be deported
back to Mexico
after his prison
sentence.
, Sandra
Partridge, the
Forsyth Central stadium
to be discussed at
Thursday meeting
Page2A
print it out and not have to
come into the office.”
An additional benefit will
be faster recordings of land
transactions. Sorrells said cur
rently the recording process at
the courthouse takes approxi
mately two weeks. The new
software should shorten that
procedure to three or four days.
Tom Guy, marketing man
ager at Cott Systems, said the
tentative date for the county’s
real estate records to go “live”
online will be sometime during
the week of March 24.
See RECORDS, Page 5A
IN MEMORY OF COLUMBIA
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The crew of the space shuttle Columbia was remembered in various ways Monday in
Cumming. Top. flags outside City Hall were flying at half-mast to honor those who died
aboard Columbia. Above left, students talk about the explosion in Shirley Jurczyk’s current
events and Janet Barger’s psychology classes at North Forsyth High School. Above right,
the marquee had a message at Sawnee Mountain Church of God off Hwy. 20.
Bill Shipp:
The two-party system is
woridng in Georgia
Page 8A
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Photo/Jonathan Phillips
Doug Sorrells and the room in which people must
now come to view the county’s real estate records.
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Photos/Jonathan Phillips
Partly Cloudy
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LAKE LANIER UEVHS
Date Level
Jan. 31 1069.64 ft
Feb. 1 1069.68 ft
Feb. 2 1069.69 ft
Feb. 3 1069.72 ft
Full 1071.00 ft