[wfaa.com]This Fort Worth non-profit designs cozy, soft interview rooms in law enforcement offices for sexual assault victims

FORT WORTH, Texas — What do you picture when you think about an interview room at a police department?

“The traditional model of interviewing a victim is in cold, stark and sterile environment, where the law enforcement sits across the table from the victim and asks what, what, when, where," Tracy Matheson said.

Matheson's 22-year-old daughter, Molly Jane Matheson, was raped and killed in 2017. Tracy Matheson said she started Project Beloved on the one-year anniversary losing her daughter.

[dallasnews.com]Mother of murder victim brings soft interview room to Mesquite police department

When Tracy Matheson set up the soft interview room at the Mesquite Police Department on Aug. 27, she wished she didn’t have to. The Fort Worth resident wishes the other 30 rooms she has created around Texas and the nation weren’t needed to help sexual assault survivors as they recall one of the most traumatic moments of their lives for investigators.

[cityofmesquite.com]Mesquite Police Department debuts new interview room for assault victims

On Aug. 27, the Mesquite Police Department debuted its new Soft Interview Room for victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes. The room featuring living-room style chairs, decorative lighting, a rug and artwork was sponsored by Project Beloved - The Molly Jane Mission.

[Starlocalmedia.com.com]Mesquite PD to have interview room for assault victims

The Mesquite Police Department debuted their new soft interview room on Aug. 27 on the third floor of the police station.

The room underwent a $3,500 remodeling by Project Beloved, a nonprofit that advocates for sexual assault victims.

[Fox News]Soft Interview Room #32

Tracy MathesonAugust 30, 2021Mesquite Police Departmentsexual assault investigation, sexual assault, trauma informed, trauma informed response, trauma informed investigation, Project Beloved, soft interview room, Mesquite Police Department

[kltv.com]Angelina County Sheriff’s Department creates ‘Soft interview room’ for sexual assault survivors

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - The Angelina County Sheriff’s Department implemented a soft interview room to grant comfort to survivors of traumatic events such as sexual assault.

This practice was put into effect in 2019 with the help of Project Beloved and Family Crisis Center of East Texas. Recently, the Family Crisis Center of East Texas donated new cameras to put into the room to allow survivors to only have to say their story once. Serena Holland, a detective at Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, said that the soft interview room has brought a good response so far.

[loudountimes.com]LCSO opens first 'soft' interview room with help from Texas nonprofit

Victims and witnesses of trauma will now be offered a more comforting environment in which to meet when being interviewed by law enforcement, thanks to a recent collaboration between the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas nonprofit Project Beloved.

The LCSO announced its first “soft” interview room for victims of violent crime at its Leesburg headquarters on July 14.

It is the 30th such room Project Beloved has helped create in the U.S. since the nonprofit launched in 2018, according to LCSO Director of Media Relations and Communications Kraig Troxell.

Tracy MathesonAugust 16, 2021Loudoun County Sheriff

[maestrovision.com]9 Elements to Consider When Designing a Trauma Informed Soft Interview Room

In response to the growing need for services that demand justice for sexual assault survivors, law enforcement is increasingly taking measures to create resources that are trauma informed. According to Tracy Matheson, the President/Founder of Project Beloved – trauma-informed care is a practice that takes the body’s biological response to trauma into consideration.

[wvdn.com]Sheriff's Department Installs Soft Interview Room For Victims

Recently, Emily Yates, law enforcement victim advocate for victims of crime at the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department, received the installation of a soft interview room in Greenbrier County funded by Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission.

[thegardenisland.com]‘Beloved Bundles’ celebrate forensic nurses

LIHU‘E — Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami confessed the dilemma he faced during the early days of the novel coronavirus when he contemplated the stay-at-home orders.

“They (potential victims) would be inside with each other,” Kawakami said Monday during a ceremony marking the start of National Forensic Nurses Week that is celebrated Nov. 9-13. “Sometimes, the only escape they have is to get out.”

[ntdaily.com]Project Beloved aims to create comfortable atmosphere for assault survivors

The university police department received a makeover in the form of a new “soft” interview room for victims of family violence and sexual assault from Tracy Matheson and her nonprofit organization Project Beloved.

The refurnished room now sports soft swivel chairs, home decor and walls painted in tones meant to calm. The installation includes a lamp and a diffuser to create a space where survivors can feel physically and emotionally safe.

[star-telegram.com]Texas law named for Fort Worth woman Molly Jane leads to arrest in sexual assault case

Molly Jane Matheson made a difference.

This week, a year after a law was signed in her honor, a man wanted in a September 2019 sexual assault in an Arlington park has been arrested because of it.

Jessie D. Ray was arrested last month in Tyler during a narcotics investigation. After a search of his iPhone showed a video of a sexual assault, law enforcers put details about that attack into the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database.

[messenger-news.com] Project Beloved Comes to Houston County

With a name like “Project Beloved: the Molly Jane Mission” one would not suspect a heinous crime was behind its creation. Unfortunately, such is the case.

Tracy Matheson, the mother of Molly Jane Matheson and Project Beloved founder, was at the Houston County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, Jan. 14 to discuss the project and to set-up a “soft” interview room at the HCSO.

[ktre.com] Project Beloved creates ‘soft interview room’ at Houston County Sheriff’s Office for sexual assault victims

A mother’s heartbreaking experience turned into a heart-warming, non-profit organization for victims of sexual assault.

Tracy Matheson’s daughter, Molly Matheson, was murdered and raped in April 2017. Since then, Tracy has dedicated her life to helping others speak up about their abuse, and she has provided soft interview rooms for them to go to.

[wfaa.com] Allen detective linked to Reginald Kimbro investigation transferred to patrol

An Allen detective who has been accused of mishandling a rape investigation is being transferred, records show.

Detective Kevin Miller received DNA results in 2017 that linked a man named Reginald Kimbro to a 2014 sexual assault. Kimbro was not arrested in the assault until after he was accused of killing two women, police records show.

[dallasnews.com] Rape, murder and a positive DNA test that the cops sat on for weeks

Nothing we as a community can do or say will ever bring back Molly Jane Matheson, 22, or Megan Leigh Getrum, 36, the two vibrant and much-loved Dallas-Fort Worth-area women police say…

[wfaa.com] 'This monster could have been stopped': DNA linked him to a rape, but he remained free. Then two women were killed.

Their deaths shocked North Texas.

Molly Matheson’s mother found her 22-year-old daughter raped, strangled and murdered in her Texas Christian University-area garage apartment in April 2017.

[startelegram.com] Two years after her daughter was killed, mother works to help sexual assault survivors

Molly Matheson used wit to maneuver in her family of three brothers.

She offered advice on handling girls and cheered their achievements.

It seems at times to her relatives that the Fort Worth woman, who was 22 when she was raped and killed in April 2017, is still in their lives.

[youtube.com] APD works to improve interview process for survivors of sexual assault

Project Beloved, a non-profit organization, recently completed the redesign and installation of six soft interview rooms for the benefit of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors. The rooms are beautiful and thoughtfully planned, and will allow Austin Police investigators and counselors to work with survivors in the most comfortable setting possible.

[austinchronicle.com] APD Unveils New Interview Rooms For Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

The Austin Police Department’s Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence units unveiled six new interview rooms redesigned with survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and their children in mind.

In use now, the “soft interview rooms,” located far out on Ed Bluestein Blvd. where those units are housed, were designed by Project Beloved, a Fort Worth-based nonprofit that works to empower survivors and improve prosecution rates.

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