And so it continues. We discover that “No,” in fact, does not always mean “No.” In the case of a recent assault in Davis, in which the accused attacker was acquitted because his lawyer made the case that he was too drunk to understand what “no” means while he was in the midst of having sex with a crying, kicking, intoxicated young woman, now the case has been made that some people just aren’t smart enough to understand “No.”
Today, the altnernet.org website posted a story about a 15 year old girl in New York who was sexually assaulted by three boys. The boys walked free because all of them are “mentally handicapped.”
The story explains that last May, “three boys attacked a 15-year-old mentally challenged student at Martin De Porres Academy, a school for students with special needs in Long Island. According to the police report, one of the boys repeatedly banged her head against the table while the other two forced her to give them oral sex and then tried to have forcible anal sex with her. In interviews with the police, the girl explained how she repeatedly said ‘no’ and ‘stop’ but that the boys continued to assault her.”
This echoes the story of the kicking, crying young woman that Thaddeus Jay Sonne of Davis was caught having sex with by police officers. He admitted that he heard her saying “No” but said, ON TAPE, that sometimes no is really just a dare. And, besides, he said, she could have gotten free if she really wanted to. Seems that alcohol really wasn’t such a huge factor in what happened, despite what his attorney said. Sonne never really understood what “No” means in the first place. Neither did the boys who assaulted the New York teenager:
“When she came home from school that day, her mother noticed that she had blood on her underwear. But the Nassau County Police Department recently decided to drop the case after learning that the boys also had learning disabilities and mental handicaps, which apparently made the situation far too complicated for the police department.”
Did you catch that? “Far too complicated.” What’s complicated about a girl having her head smashed against a desk while being anally raped by a group of boys? How much more clear-cut must it be? If this isn’t a black and white case of rape, for the love of God, what is?
“The department’s spokesperson told the New York Daily News,’It was more of a consensual situation with their mental capabilities.'”
This is consensual? What the hell part of having your skull smacking against a desk and screaming “No, stop!” while being gang-raped is consensual? It has a whiff of the Sonne case, no? That girl was too intoxicated to fight him off or give a clear explanation of what happened implied consent. Like the boys in the New York classroom, Sonne said he believed the sex was consensual. The jury believed him. Sadly for the New York teenager, she never had her day in court, or a chance for justice. She just ended up with a battered skull, blood on her panties, and a lifetime of psychological trauma. And the boys? Well, they’re not smart enough to understand “no,” so they’re excused.
Excused? Excuse ME! Do you think these boys are smarter than dogs? An average dog understands “No” just fine. A dog knows that “No” means “Stop” and if he continues doing what he’s doing, he’ll be in big trouble. A DOG understands this. And so did those boys. They just chose to ignore it.
The story goes on to note, “Of course, head-banging, blood and repeated pleas to ‘stop; are never consensual situations — regardless of the IQ level of the attackers. But, in this case, the police department is even further off target. As the family’s lawyer explained, the girl has an IQ of about 50 points, which puts her below the cognitive functioning level to consent to sex at all.
“The school meanwhile, has played its own part in attempting to cover up the case. Only weeks after the assault occurred, the school sent a letter to the police department, that read: ‘The school administration request (sic) no further police action and will handle additional behavioral and social issues with traning (sic) and additional counseling.’ The school did fire the teacher who was present in the classroom during the attack.”
So, the police department AND the school system covered this up and not only did not pursue justice for the girl, but endorsed the behavior of the boys. WHERE are the prosecutors? Not just for the boys, but for the police department and the school administration for aiding and abetting the group rape of a minor. And one more note: Any school administrator that can’t write a coherent statement without spelling multiple spelling errors probably should be demoted to janitor.
One more note from the alternet.org story: “Women and girls with mental disabilities are frequently the targets for sexual assaults — and few of their aggressors are ever prosecuted. According to one study, a staggering 80 percent of women with these disabilities are the targets of rape or sexual assault in their lifetimes.”
So, if the victim is developmentally disabled, or intoxicated, she’s unlikely to receive any protection from the law. As for the boys? They’ve learned that there’s a way, legally, to rape a woman and get away with it.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/15-year-old-girl-raped-police-dismiss-case-because-victim-and-attackers-have-low