Comments on: Sexual Assault Survivor Jailed

By: sarahjp

sarahjp — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:59:46 +0000

the trial hasn’t…..the case certainly is underway, as i’m sure you know as well.

By: zuzu

zuzu — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:53:46 +0000

Hasn’t started yet, Sarah. As I’m sure you know.

By: sarahjp

sarahjp — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:47:02 +0000

how’s that duke rape trial going?

By: Molly

Molly — Thu, 25 May 2006 17:51:25 +0000

Hey Scorpio -

Not all Ohio resident’s are “patently insane”

By: Maia

Maia — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:31:47 +0000

Wow – and I thought what was going on in New Zealand at the moment was bad.

By: Kyra

Kyra — Wed, 24 May 2006 04:01:26 +0000

What gets me is that the guy she refused to testify against is always referred to as “the man accused of molesting her.” Passive sentence structure for “accused.” This makes it seem to me as though she isn’t the one who made the accusation, which in turn makes the accusation suspect, as it seems to be made by someone who wasn’t there for the alleged abuse.

It’s entirely possible that the charges spring from the girl’s parents simply suspecting them of having sex, and wanting to either protect or punish her. There’s plenty of parents who would attack any threat to their daughter’s chastity, simply on principle of “how DARE she have sex,” and plenty of parents who wouldn’t believe their daughter when she denies having sex.

That would fit with both her refusal to testify, and her running away from home. And if she’s being abused, by either or both parties, coercing her into testifying is truly cruel. If the prosecution has so little case that winning depends on coersion and bullying of the person on whose behalf they’re allegedly filing the case, they have no case. If she’s scared of the person she’s testifying against, the proper thing to do is whatever’s necessary to make her feel secure, not force her to testify. If you become what you’re fighting against in order to win, you haven’t won.

By: evil_fizz

evil_fizz — Wed, 24 May 2006 03:13:30 +0000

Why no mention of her parent/s? If they were objecting I would have expected at least a quote, so I wonder if they don’t approve of this.

I’m not sure what you’re saying here, but if it’s that the lack of a comment by her parents signifies their approval of her treatment, that’s ridiculous.

By: r4d20

r4d20 — Wed, 24 May 2006 03:05:29 +0000

Things in that story do not add up and something is missing.

Why no mention of her parent/s? If they were objecting I would have expected at least a quote, so I wonder if they don’t approve of this. She could well be a runaway threat, which does complicate the issue – given the oh-so-wonderful life that teenage runaways lead.

By: Reckless Tongue

Reckless Tongue — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:16:07 +0000

Is there anyone we can write a letter to? It’s just so incredibly awful.

By: Scorpio

Scorpio — Tue, 23 May 2006 20:42:10 +0000

Ohio:the NeueReich

If I have to cross the country by car again I’ll try to avoid Ohio. The people there are patently insane.