ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — When Dr. Tape Announced that he had plans to end the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, parish officials weren’t the only people pushing back. The Sexual Trauma Awareness Response Center filed a lawsuit against him.
St. Tammany Coroner Dr. Christopher Tape has been in office for less than a week.
“Those four days have caused significant harm,” STAR CEO Morgan Lamandre said.
Lamandre says that the four days Tape has spent in the office have been detrimental.
“He clearly did not do his homework before agreeing to qualify and run for this position, and now he’s backtracking,” Lamandre said.
When Lamandre heard that Tape may reverse his decision to end the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, she had mixed emotions.
“I’m glad that he’s had an awakening, but it’s quite disturbing that it took a lawsuit from his colleagues from other coroners, in order for him to think of all of the issues that just abruptly ending this program would have on everyone,” Lamandre said.
On Thursday, STAR announced that they were taking legal action against Tape. Now, even if the program returns, the non-profit is stuck with a legal bill.
“We are on the hook for all of these costs that we have expended thus far,” Lamandre said.
When asked why Tape had a sudden change of heart, a representative from his office claimed he didn’t have all of the facts before taking office.
“Now that he’s in the office, he’s looking at records and saying let’s talk about this,” St. Tammany Coroner Representative James Hartman said. “Let’s talk to other coroners and other law enforcement and see if we can work out an equitable arrangement, so we can provide this level of service to all five parishes.”
Despite the back and forth, some parish officials are showing their support for the potential return of the program.
“Obviously, Dr. Tape has made a wise decision to reverse course and leave the SANE program as is,” Louisiana State Coroner Association President Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.