Photographs of Billy Dinkel show him as a second grader and a fifth grader — before the abuse began and when he was going through it.
He went from somewhat boy with a giant smile to “just attempting to survive,” he said Thursday.
During national Crime Victims’ Rights Week, Dinkel told his story of the childhood sexual abuse he suffered because he said he desires to help others share what happened to them or realize they’re not alone.
“There’s somewhat boy within me that appreciates when people listen,” said Dinkel, of St. Paul. “Every victim has that wounded child that wishes to be heard and believed. Empathy and compassion is how we should always treat our victims and sometimes we don’t.”
fortieth anniverary of passage of victims bill of rights
This 12 months marks the fortieth anniversary of the passage of the Minnesota Crime Victim Bill of Rights.
“These are rights that almost all people likely never take into consideration and now are sometimes taken as a right, but they weren’t all the time the law,” said Suzanne Elwell, Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s director of the Crime Victim Justice Unit.
The “landmark laws” included rights for victims to take part in the prosecution process, be notified when an offender is released from jail or prison, and be eligible for restitution, Elwell said. It also paved the best way for the creation of the state’s Office of Justice Programs, which Elwell works for.
OJP funds services for crime victims in all of Minnesota’s 87 counties and 10 tribal reservations, including for 170 organizations and 6 statewide crime victim coalitions. They include sexual assault programs, child advocacy centers, domestic violence shelters, legal advocacy programs and more.
OJP spent about $86 million in state and federal grants for victim services within the last fiscal 12 months. They’ve provided services to greater than 130,000 victims per 12 months during the last five years, Elwell said.
Breaking the silence a long time later
Dinkel grew up on a small dairy farm just west of Long Prairie, Minn.
“I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse,” he said at a Thursday press conference. “There have been again and again in my past where I wouldn’t have been capable of say that. … For a few years, for a long time actually, I hid it. I wore a suit of armor that showed that I used to be a victim of nothing. It’s very difficult and really heavy to hold that armor through life.”
The summer he turned 8, Dinkel said the abuse began by a farmhand who lived across the road from his family’s farm. He said he tried to get help from various people, but they didn’t need to imagine it or pretended it wasn’t happening. The abuse lasted until Dinkel was 13.
“There are experts that say if an abuser isn’t held to to account through the justice system, over the course of their lifetime they will have greater than 50 victims,” Dinkel said.
Dinkel said he didn’t get legal justice for the crimes committed against him, though the person was later convicted of a sex crime against a 10-year-old boy, in keeping with the St. Cloud Times. The person died at 48.
Dinkel said his life spiraled into alcohol abuse as he tried to numb his pain. He worked to search out his way and he became sober.
He went on to work for the campaign of St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and was a staffer on the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce. He now works in fleet management on the Ramsey County sheriff’s office.
On “Break the Silence Day” in 2018, when Dinkel was almost 50, he posted his story on Facebook. He’s since testified on the Legislature and says he’s open to chatting with groups interested by learning about trauma.
Dinkel said he believes the Minnesota Crime Victim Bill of Rights has helped victims move forward with their lives, but he still sees a necessity for more work.
It’s estimated that as much as 70 percent of childhood sexual assault victims don’t report it “due to shame that’s related to standing up,” Dinkel said. He said speaking openly about it’s one technique to diminish the shame.