I know that things are kept pretty light around these parts, but today’s going to be a bit different. There’s been too much of this going on recently and I just had to throw in my two cents.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned my passion for Criminal Justice on this blog before. I studied it in school and even interned in the juvie sex department at HPD before taking on the wonderful world of commercial real estate. My focus was organized crime, specifically sex crimes so when I heard about this story and this story last week my heart immediately went out to the victims. I feel like these types of things are happening far too often, especially ones like the incident in Stanford. This woman was digitally raped and the only thing her assailant fessed up to was having too much to drink. He was charged and convicted of 3 felony counts and still only got 6 months in county and a lifetime membership to the sex offender registration list because the judge felt that anything more would have a “severe impact” on him. As if him raping her unconscious body behind a dumpster after a party didn’t have a “severe impact” on her. What made matters worse was that the incident happened a year ago and he was just now convicted and sentenced. What happened to the right to a speedy trial? And of course they’re painting the rapist as an upstanding member of society who just had too much to drink and made a mistake. His swimming skills and university affiliation along with his school photo and the few perp walk pictures that have snapped of him are what’s floating around the internet. I can’t find a single mugshot of him, not one single picture. The story is being twisted so that he’s the one the public feels sorry for instead of the actual victim. Now I don’t know exact specifics, but I have a feeling that the rapist got a light sentence for the combination of the following things: he’s a white male, he comes from an affluent background and apparently the judge was reportedly a Stanford alum. This “boys club” mentality coupled with the fact that society has a habit of throwing rape victims under the bus, claiming that they “enjoyed it” or “wanted it” just because of what they were wearing, drinking, eating, etc. Newsflash, that’s not true. No victim is ever asking for it.
Then we have the opposite side of the coin with the incident here in the Houston area. I heard guys in high school joke about hooking up with teachers like it was some sort of game and they’d won a prize. They’d brag about which staff member they’d bedded not realizing that they were confessing to being a victim of statutory rape. Well recently there was an incident between a middle school teacher and one of her students. Yes, you read that correctly the kid is in middle school and the teacher is in her early twenties. Not only did she repeatedly rape the student, but she even got pregnant by him. For some reason there’s an unspoken quasi-acceptance when it comes to the assailant being an older woman and the victim being a younger guy, but that’s still NOT OKAY. The perp claimed that their relationship was real, that the child’s family knew that they were together (that she was even introduced as his girlfriend after an open house) and even gave her permission to let him spend nights at her place. I don’t know how true that is, but if it has an ounce of truth then it’s sickening. I know that some cultures an age gap like that is acceptable, and if that’s what the boy’s parents want then sign off for him to legally marry the woman. I don’t think that’s the case this time. The assailant claims that she only got an abortion because CPS started pursuing her and the case. If everything was being done above board then she wouldn’t have had to get rid of the child, which would’ve been physical evidence of the constant rape.
How about we call a spade a spade and acknowledge that both of these situations are rape. The first one is clear as day, but the second incident is one that’s often brushed under a rug. Sexual assaults are something that completely change the victims’ lives, and I believe that it should change their assailants’ lives too. These half-assed sentences or lack of sentences aren’t doing any good for either party.
Like I said before, I know that this is a touchy subject and one that’s not really talked about on lifestyle blogs but I’m interested in hearing y’alls thoughts if you want to comment below or email me.