The Role of Victim Advocates in the Criminal Justice System

Michelle Carpenter-Wilkinson has been a Victim Advocate for 28 years. She provides direct trauma-informed services to all victims of crime. Michelle has a Bachelor’s Degree in Paralegal Studies. She is a Credentialed Advocate at the Advanced Level as a Comprehensive Specialist for her work with domestic violence and sexual assault survivors through the National Organization for Victim Advocacy (#NO5-152-5166). She is also a Registered Advocate with Senior Standing in the State of Ohio (#RA-12-97-0228-MUL). Michelle has provided direct trauma-informed services to assist over 25,000 victims of crime. As the Chief Executive Officer, she also provides oversight of the daily operations of the Haven of Hope as well as direct supervision of her staff. Michelle is the Chair and Founder of Marsy's Law Task Force, the chair of the Southeastern Ohio Human Trafficking Coalition, co-chair of the Sexual Assault Response Team, a board member of the Community Corrections Board, and the President of the local FEMA board. She has used her years of service and expertise to create and implement on-scene response services that have built relationships between law enforcement and victims of crime. She provides 24/7 on-call services to assist local law enforcement at scenes that are very chaotic and traumatic, providing trauma support for law enforcement as well as victims of crime.

Cory Hamilton is the victim advocate for the Union County Common Pleas Court and handles all adult felony cases. She has been a full-time advocate for the Union County Prosecuting Attorney since 2011. Cory has a Bachelor of Political Science Degree from The Ohio State University and has successfully completed the Ohio Attorney General’s BASICS Advocacy Academy. Cory attends various training courses throughout the year to continually enhance her response to victim’s needs, including on Strangulation, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Marcy’s Law. Cory is also the Union County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Coordinator and has helped lead the Union County Walk-A-Mile-In-Her-Shoes Event since 2013. Cory has assisted the prosecutor’s office in hosting various trainings for local criminal justice professionals including the Statewide TRIAD Conference on Elder Abuse, Non-Fatal Strangulation, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human and Consumer Sciences with a specialization in Child and Family Studies in 2012. I started my career with a non-profit company, Youth Advocate Services, as a Home Visitor for one year. Then I moved to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office as a Victim Witness Assistant (Victim Advocate) in the Juvenile division for another year, then moved into the adult criminal division as a victim advocate. I became a certified application assistant for the Safe at Home Program with the Ohio Secretary of State. I was with the Franklin County Prosecutors office for 10 years before transitioning to the Ohio Attorney General’s office, Special Prosecutions section as a Victim Advocate. I have been with the OAG’s office since August 2023.