ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — Facing criticism from every angle, new St. Tammany Parish Coroner Dr. Christopher Tape is backtracking on his first major act in office, saying he will reinstate the sexual assault nurse examiner program that covers five Northshore parishes.
"My decision was based on three factors: the cost to the people of St. Tammany, the liability to the agency I now lead, and legal factors regarding evidence collection,” Tape said in an email Thursday evening. “I understand that my decision has created a surprise hardship for the other four parishes in Region 9 of the State Health Department, including my fellow coroners, law enforcement, hospitals, and, most importantly, for potential survivors of sexual assault."
At least one of the two full-time SANE nurses told WWL she had been hired by St. Tammany Health System on Thursday and could no longer comment. Both of the full-time SANE nurses lost their jobs when Tape took office Monday and criticized the decision to end the coroner's operation of the program.
Tape's decision comes after a leading nonprofit and three Northshore parishes filed a lawsuit to stop Tape from punting the SANE program to area hospitals.
WWL Louisiana's exclusive investigation exposed child sexual assault charges against Tape from 2002, leading to near-universal calls among elected officials for him to resign. The indictment was thrown out before trial because the courts in New Mexico found the state took too long after arresting Tape to indict him.
In a telephone interview in January, Tape said he could run the Region 9 sexual assault response team and the SANE program fairly because "I know what a false accusation is like." But when he announced he was ending the SANE program in his office last week, he told WWL he could run it fairly but didn't promise he would keep it.
WWL has repeatedly asked for Tape to go on camera to answer questions but he has always refused. This reporter finally had to run after him and confront him as he was walking in to take office Sunday night just before midnight.
He backed away in his Tesla and drove twice around in a circle to avoid answering questions. Then when we caught up to him on foot, he refused to answer questions about his decision to stop the SANE program.
In a combative news conference the next day, he defended his decision by saying he's a "businessman" and the SANE program wasn't a "moneymaker." At the same time, he said he didn't understand the office's finances because he was "iced out" of the office by his predecessor, Dr. Charles Preston.
He said in his written statement late Thursday that he'd had a chance to review the financial records and still felt it was a bad financial deal for the parish. He acknowledged that grants and crime victim reparations funds pay for much of the program, but also said St. Tammany taxpayers pay for the SANE nurses' vehicles and more than half of the sexual assaults they investigate are outside St. Tammany.
“I may have failed to make clear that I think the SANE program is a tremendous asset to the community, and that my concern is the well-being of St. Tammany,” Tape said. “I’m coroner of this parish, after all, not the entire region."
Preston told WWL that the St. Tammany Coroner's Office is reimbursed for rape kits performed on sexual assault victims in St. Helena, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes by the coroners of those parishes.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that a SANE nurse had been rehired by the Coroner's office Thursday. She was actually hired by St. Tammany Health System.
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