This didn't quite fit for Glass City Jungle but I've been following the story and I wanted to blog about it. There is a blog that I've been reading for quite some time called Erie Voices mainly focusing on the communities just a bit Northeast from here. The latest chapter in this story is here.
The basic facts as I know them are these, a young girl stated she was raped when she was under 16 years old. She waited over a year to come forward. Her accused rapist was a policeman. After the rape she became close to a teacher. He is the one who helped her come forward and report the rapes. The girl started living with the teacher and his family and even became so close to this teacher that she changed her name to reflect her admiration of the teacher. Rumors started about this particular teacher and his relationshp with her and other students. No charges were filed against the teacher. Then the police officer involves pleads guilty to charges related to having sex with the minor but not rape. Two police officers who were involved in the investigation of the girl's accusations appeared at the police officers sentencing hearing in support of him asking the judge to not give him jail time.
In the end - the police officer, James Fitzpatrick was sentenced to 12 years in jail. However, rumors surrounding the teacher are still being circulated and his employment was ended. Is the teacher a hero? Is he being used to try to diffuse the situation by placing him in the spotlight? Is the victim been victimized twice or more by men she trusted? Those things we don't know. What little we do know paints a picture of a not fantastic household prior to all of this that is pretty evident could have had some bearing on this whole situation.
The video compliation on Erie Voices is disturbing and detailed. Yet one can't help but wonder how police officers would ask that there be no jail time after hearing what this victim had to say in her victim impact statement. I also have to wonder what the public knowledge of this will do to the victim. I hesitated writing about this because of that part of the story.
Yet this bothers me, it bothers me because people who are in a position of power do take advantage of our children and too many times they get away with it. Whether it is a priest, a teacher, a counselor, anyone who rapes a child should be punished whether they felt it was "consensual" or not. A child that young is not in a position to "consent" to an adult.
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6 comments:
You would have to wonder about those officers that came to support him. I could understand character statements, but you can't minimize his actions by asking for no jail time. I would ask for more because he abused his power and tarnished the badge for everyone
This is truly a disturbing story - if true, but with so many women crying "rape" at the drop of a hat lately, I will need a good deal more information than you have provided here to make any judgement as to the officer's guilt or innocence, and/or appropriate punishment for his acts.
One has to wonder about the parents of this girl, and the circumstances of these incidents. If she were under 16 at the time, how is it she came to be in Police custody without her parents involvement or knowledge? Was she a drug addict, a drug dealer, a prostitute? Such things are all irrelevant to an actual rape, but would certainly bear knowing if she is lying, and this was a consensual sex act - as the officer asserts.
An officer of the law should not be engaging in sexual acts with detainees, nor with underage girls of any sort, but if she was indeed a prostitute or drug addict, her actual age may not have been apparent to the officer at the time, and she may well have lied about her age (a hard life tends to age ones appearance). If he had consensual sex with a prostitute, that is a far different act than raping a 15 year old girl, and any punishment should reflect the difference. If one takes the officer at his word, and the girl was a prostitute who consented, I can easily see why the other officers would stand up for him to be punished - but not put in jail. Jail for anyone is unpleasant, but for an officer of the law, it can be a death sentence, and I don't believe consensual sex with a prostitute carries a death penalty, even for an officer of the law.
Additionally, how is it this underage girl came to be living with a Male teacher in just a year after this incident? If she were under 16 at that time, that makes her still an underage girl (under 17) when she moved in with the teacher, and I suspect no male teacher would be taking in teenage girls to live with them, if there were not a LOT more to this story. (Again, where are this girls parents?)
As I said, you have provided waaaay to little information to form a judgement, but I urge you to withhold your judgements, as well, until you have all the facts. If you can see no scenario in which "No jail time" could be a reasonable outcome, you are lacking in imagination, and are obviously unaware of what a police officer is likely to be subjected to inside a prison.
Far too many people take the fashionable "Zero tolerance for Rape" to mean Zero tolerance for accused rapists, and hold the accuser unaccountable for their actions, when in fact the accuser is often exagerating, or outright lying about the incident. Such lies and exageration are encouraged by our society now, because rather than investigate the accusations to see if they are valid, they are immediately believed without any investigation, and the accuser is immediately held up as a victim, and the accused is villified - Frequently his entire life is destroyed, all because some girl cried rape.
Think about it for a second. If I were arrested for being a drug dealer, or prostitute, and I wanted to get out of it, the fastest way to do so would be to entice the officer into having sex with me, then cry rape. Even if he declined my offer, I could still cry rape, and just say he used a condom, or pulled out. Particularly if I waited a while before reporting the crime, there would be no way for the officer to defend himself, as any physical evidence would be gone, and it would just be my word against his. How convenient.
Well, you know what... what if it was really not rape? What if all of this are the girl's doing... just to get men in trouble? People these days don't look at 2 sides of the stories anymore, huh?
Folks, watch the video footage. I think these comments are coming from people who didn't even read the posts. Or look at the original story on the other blog.
Here is the video:
http://erievoices.blogspot.com/2006/07/video-fitzpatrick-sentencing-hearing.html
It contains the explanation from the girl - who was a STUDENT participating in a "ride-along" program with the cop - NOT A DETAINEE.
The police officer admitted to the acts. He got 12 years in prison. Watch the video.
I'd recommend taking Bryan's advice and watching the video or reading the posts on Erie Voices which is why I liked them.
I'd also point out that this is not a situation where it is a Woman - it was a young girl and the police officer knew she was under age. So even if you prefer to believe it was with her consent? He knew it was against the law.
Many of the cops that I know treat their work as just a job, with certain rules for the role that they play in the game of society.
They in no way equate this to their personal lives, with most believing that they (personally) are above the law, and that those rules do not apply to them.
And, I find that truly sad.
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