On January 7, 2016, an absolutely
horrific story hit the wire. An 18 year old girl was gang raped by
five teenagers in a Brownsville (Brooklyn) playground. Some initial
reports indicated she was walking near the playground with a male
friend. It turned out that the man she was with was her father. The
five boys accused of the crime had a gun and threatened him. The man
ran to a nearby store begging for help, but no one assisted. By the
time he was able to call the police, the woman had been gang raped
repeatedly, and all five boys had fled the scene.
Everyone reacted immediately. Two of
the suspects' parents were the ones who turned their sons in.
Eventually all five suspects were identified by the press: their
names and photos were circulated widely, despite the fact that all
five of the suspects were minors, ranging in age from 14 to 17. They
were arrested and charged as adults.
The immediate reaction was
understandable. People were shocked and outraged at the brutal nature
of the reported crimes. Everyone from Mayor Bill de Blasio to
Commissioner Bill Bratton to local community leaders to Twitter and
Facebook erupted. Most of the reaction was in support of the girl who
had been attacked, and how these kinds of attacks must be prevented.
I, myself, remember reacting to the
story. I too was horrified at the brutality of the attack. But I also
believe that people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty.
I remember well a similar situation many years ago when five
teenagers were accused of gang raping a woman in Central Park. They
were coerced and tricked into confessing and rushed through legal
proceedings. They too, despite their ages, were tried as adults and
convicted. And they were innocent. Known collectively as the Central
Park Five, they are a tragic example of what happens when “we”
jump to conclusions and rush to judgment.
Over the next couple of weeks,
additional details were quietly coming out. The girl and her father
weren't walking near the playground as originally reported. They were
actually (allegedly) having sex
when the five teens approached them. The father left, and the girl
consented to sex with all five boys. The girl allegedly recanted her
story of being raped. Despite the report of a gun, the police were
unable to find a gun on any of the suspects or in their homes. There
was allegedly video taken with a cell phone, showing the girl with
the suspects before the alleged attack, as well as showing her having
consensual sex with all five boys.
Today,
the Brooklyn District Attorney announced that all charges have been
dropped against all five boys. Rationale for the action included a
lack of evidence, the girl's recantation of the allegations of forced
sexual contact and her refusal to cooperate with the investigation.
In addition, an investigation into the alleged sexual contact with
her father was dropped because she refused cooperation with police in
that matter, too. Defense attorneys, of course, retain that charges
were dropped because their clients are INNOCENT, not because of a
lack of evidence and lack of a participating complainant. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160224/brownsville/rape-charges-dropped-against-5-teens-accused-of-attack-brownsville-park
No one
“wins” here. These five boys escaped the fate of the Central Park
Five boys. They didn't have to serve a single day of a prison
sentence. They did not have to register on any sex offender list. But
they aren't unscathed either. Their names and faces are now
associated with a heinous sex attack allegation. For the rest of
their lives, when their names are typed into a Google search, THIS
will come up. At 14, 15 and 17 years of age, when they apply for
college or a job or an apartment, THIS will come up. This can follow
them for the rest. of. their. Lives.
The
girl who was allegedly attacked doesn't win. Whether her behavior was
consensual or not, she was most definitely sexually abused. Sex with
her father? That was absolutely abuse! I can't help but wonder when
it started... Which adult in her life, who was supposed to take care
of her, put her on this path of abuse? How much abuse had she already
endured that she would have sex with her father, and then let these
five boys line up to take turns? How much more abuse will she endure
before she hits rock bottom? Because no matter what may happen in the
future, with or without her consent, she has a label attached to her.
And
women who are sexually assaulted might be the biggest losers of all.
As it is, even under the best of circumstances (if you can call them
that), when a woman says that she was sexually assaulted, there are a
lot of people who roll their eyes and dismiss her allegation as a
lie. They will say that she had sex with her attacker, and then
either changed her mind or he didn't call her and now she's “crying
rape”. She will have every aspect of her life looked at under a
microscope. How does she dress? How many dates does she go on? How
many men has she been intimate with... ever? In her whole life? That
many? My God, what a whore! Did
she have any alcohol? Was she dancing provocatively with him?
Flirting? Did she really say
no?
Every
single time a sexual assault is alleged, when no such attack took
place, it makes it that
much harder
for the next woman who is actually assaulted to come forward. It
gives people that much more “reason” to question the next woman
who says she was forced. To not believe her. To assume she's lying.
To side against her.
I
am relieved that if these young men did not force this girl to engage
in sexual activity, that they will not suffer the same fate as the
Central Park Five and any other man who has been falsely accused and
convicted of sexual assault. But there are no winners here.
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