Curt Massey was an exceptional human being and an outstanding police officer. He was genuinely compassionate and generous. He shared our values and our commitment to serving victims. He always gave his “all” to every victim and every case. In 1998, the Rape Treatment Center honored Curt at our annual event. I can still picture him coming up to the stage. He had done extraordinary work with a 14-year-old teen victim who had been brutally raped by a man who was supposed to be taking her home from a party, but instead drove her to his home. The assailant held her there for hours, sexually abused her, and threatened to electrocu te her. Then, he dropped her off at the Third Street Promenade. Curt was the first responder that night. When he interviewed her, she could not identify the location of the house to which she had been taken. She only knew that it was on “a long street that curved at the end.” It was a Sunday, on a holiday weekend, and it was pouring rain. Curt drove her around the city for hours searching for the house. They couldn’t find it. He took her back to the police station. They looked through the Thomas Guide together. That didn’t work either. He suggested they go out one more time. Towards the end of their search, they found the street. The victim recognized the house, and then she said, “That’s his car!” Curt set up a stake-out and when the man returned home, the police arrested him. The assailant had a taser gun in his hand, handcuffs and duct tape in his car. At the Rape Treatment Center event, the victim said: “A lot of people supported me: my parents, my friends, Stuart House, the Rape Treatment Center. But, there is one person who stands above everyone else. He never blamed me and from the moment I met him at the R ape Treatment Center, I knew he was on my side. He probably has no idea how meaningful his help was because he probably thought he was just doing his job. But, if it wasn’t for him, I would not be standing here today. He is my detective – Curt Massey.” Curt was always an extraordinary detective because of how he did his job. He also always worked collaboratively with us, as he did with victims. He emanated kindness, respect for others, and a very special warmth that engaged everyone he met. So at this time of great sadness for all of us who knew him, we want to pay tribute to him – for who he was and for how he did his job. He made a difference in the lives of so many rape victims and sexually abused children and he was a treasured colleague to all of us. ~Gail Abarbanel