Cornelius Walker comments about the problematic story of a young girl who falsely accused her father of rape, admitted her crime, and is not being tried for the offense.
There is nothing good about this story.
In 2001 Cassandra Kennedy was 11 and had accused her father of raping her on three occasions. Based on her testimony and that of a medical examiner, Thomas Kennedy was convicted and sentenced to over 15 years of which he served nearly ten. Now she has recanted and he has been exonerated and released from jail.
A decade of a man’s life is gone, based on the false testimony of his own child. He’s lost his family, his friends, his reputation, his trust in our judicial system, perhaps even his sense of humanity. But here’s what really caught my attention:
Baur said Cassandra Kennedy will not be prosecuted for her apparent lies about her father, partly because prosecutors do not want to discourage people in similar circumstances from coming forward.
I can understand not prosecuting her because she was 11 when she made her false allegations. It’s a tragedy, to be certain, but what good would come of jailing a woman who was clearly a troubled girl at the time? But just how many “similar circumstances” does the prosecutor think there might be? Shouldn’t that give us pause?
It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.
Blackstone’s formulation has been at the cornerstone of our jurisprudence, but this case raises a troubling question: is it truly better for ten false rape accusers to go free if it encourages one to recant and free an innocent man? Can we really trust our judicial system?
Photo courtesy of 826 PARANORMAL
This makes me so angry that I really can’t say anything. If I was king of the world, that woman would be going to jail for exactly as long as her father did … 11 years old or not.
There are plenty of false rape allegions every day. False rape allegations are a convenient crime, if you are a woman and you like the idea to bring your father, teacher, ex-husband etc. into big troubles. No evidence needed, just your word as a female is enough. Just today in the news, link below. The man was lucky, he made various video and voice recordings. How else can you defend yourself against false rape allegations? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126070/Spurned-housewifes-rape-claim-backfires-husband-shows-police-video-having-consensual-sex.html A spurned housewife who claimed her husband raped her has been jailed after he showed police a video of them having consensual sex. Judge… Read more »
So, had he not made a video he could be serving 10 years in jail based on her word alone?
Why did she only get nine months?
Men have also been jailed for making CCTV videos of themselves having sex. This is illegal in most parts of the world.
The guy is lucky she didn’t find out about the video before making the false allegation otherwise he would be going to jail for making the video.
My concern about that article has more to do with the effort at the end to justify the woman’s actions, and worst, make him the bad guy…
“Defending counsel Katherine Duncan told the court: ‘She is full of remorse for her actions. Her marriage had broken down and she was an emotional state.
‘She said he had behaved in an unchivalrous way towards her and she had been hurt by this.'”
I don’t buy the ‘we can’t prosecute false rape accusers because then other false rape accusers won’t step forward’ story. It defies reason – we don’t treat any other false crime report that way. We don’t ignore false accusations of theft, or battery, or anything else. So why would this be different? What’s the argument that this is in some way unique? I’m sorry, but that just sounds like a smokescreen women and feminists use because they have some degree of sympathy for this girl and people like her, and they don’t really want to see them punished. The same… Read more »
“We don’t ignore false accusations of theft, or battery, or anything else. So why would this be different? What’s the argument that this is in some way unique?” Those other crimes are rarely prosecuted on a he said/she said basis. There is other evidence that can show the report was false. Battery? Show me the injury. (There can be self-inflicted injuries and doctors can often determine if one is.) Robbery or burglary? What was stolen? (Um, do you have a recipt for that Picasso you say they stole? Why is there no evidence of forced entry?) Arson? Where’s the fire?… Read more »
I’m sorry, but that’s BS.
Theft? you can claim to own things you never owned; that you know the other person has, but can’t prove he owns because nobody keeps receipts anymore.
Assault? People can (and most often, do) commit injuries to themselves and then accuse other people of it.
Arson? You can set a fire yourself and plant the accelerants on another person. Chances are, if you hate them enough to frame them, they hate you enough to be a viable suspect.
You’re going to have to try a whole lot harder than that.
Not hard to notice you completely ignored the second part of my argument, either. You claim this is about preventing men from rotting in prison, yet you have to know that it won’t. It’ll embolden every crazy or unethical woman in this country to make accusations like this for any reason they see fit – revenge against an ex, to ‘get’ a neighbor they don’t like, as a convenient excuse as to why they were late to an appointment or stayed out past curfew. A whole lot more people will rot in prison because we’ve given women a pass to… Read more »
“Not hard to notice you completely ignored the second part of my argument, either.” That is because I was not trying to answer your second part of the argument. I actually agree with it. So, do I have to say so? Here you go: I understand that there is a HUGE moral hazard here. But, back to my point, I was specifically responding to this: “We don’t ignore false accusations of theft, or battery, or anything else. So why would this be different? What’s the argument that this is in some way unique?” Let me be direct: Rape, more than… Read more »
“Let me be direct: Rape, more than any other crime, is likely to have a lack of corroborating evidence.” And yet it still manages to get convictions… Thereby, don’t you think there should be far more accountability to the evidence that is used, IE, the she said part? Your argument is actually a further reason why we SHOULD prosecute false accusers. Given how much weight is put on the she said evidence, precaution really should be made to ensure those are genuine, and rape shield laws that keep accuser anonymous and accused public, failure to prosecute false accusers with the… Read more »
In 2001 Cassandra Kennedy was 11 and had accused her father of raping her on three occasions. Based on her testimony I really wonder how it is possible for an only 11-year old girl to produce 3 different rape-stories out of fantasy without inconsistence and nobody – even not experienced police investigators, judges and prosecutors doubt that she is telling the truth – and finally as a result of those lies an innocent man is convicted to 15 years in jail? I cannot help but I think, somebody was assisting her to make up these stories. It’s impossible for her… Read more »
Read some of the articles about this. She says she modeled her accusations based on a friend who was an actual abuse survivor. And who knows, maybe she was sexually abused herself, but by someone else.
I’ve seen five year olds scheme successfully. Don’t underestimate a determined 11 year old with an under-developed moral ethic.
Man this is a complicated issue already.
http://tdn.com/news/local/prosecutor-clarifies-remarks-about-overturned-rape-conviction/article_88f316a0-7ea2-11e1-90b7-001a4bcf887a.html
Prosecutor clarifies remarks about overturned rape conviction
The fact that she’s throwing up, like, 3 different ‘reasons’ for doing this says everything that needs to be said. If you have a good reason – a real reason, and not an excuse – you only really need one. If you start doing this, you’re really just trying to BS people. I was alive back in 2003; I’ve seen this game played out, writ large. She’s hoping that some people will accept the uncertainty argument, excuse # 1. She’s hoping that other people will accept the Backlash argument, excuse # 2. And if that doesn’t shut everyone up, she’s… Read more »
If you can falsely accuse someone and have them goto jail over it, you should receive 100% of the jail sentence served. Being that she was 11 at the time, they can probably adjust the punishment, if she were n adult I’d say jail her for 100% of the time served. You need to discourage false accusations, if the accuser genuinely believes they were raped then of course this isn’t a false accusation and shouldn’t be tried as one. You should be able to encourage rape victims to seek justice whilst also protecting against false rape. You can destroy a… Read more »
Require 10 years community service with a rape crisis center and/abuse victims organization; repayment of court costs and counseling. This way the accuser does some good and learns not to cry wolf which damages real victims and gets the help that is clearly needed.
Maybe if feminists would stop talking about how we ‘have’ to believe women when they make these kind of accusations, this would’ve never happened in the first place. If all you have for evidence is he said/she said, then acquit. The same ‘sympathy’ that has some people here declaring that we have to give this woman a pass should require you to recognize that if all you have is an accusation, then you don’t have evidence. You have reasonable doubt. And yeah, some rapists will go free. But some people here clearly don’t care if false accusers go free, so… Read more »
“Believe the accuser” is a very, very bad model for a criminal justice system. I thought the U.S. understood that, but it seems to have been forgotten in the panic over sex crimes.
So let me get this straight (and this is so going to become a post at my blog soon). A girl/woman falsely accuses a man of rape. He is convicted and sentenced to prison. She comes forward to tell the truth (probably more to ease her own conscience than to actually help him I bet). The line of thought is that: In order for that man to get the rest of his life back the girl/woman that got him put in that prison in the first place gets a free pass on the actions that got him put away? Meaning… Read more »
In order for that man to get the rest of his life back the girl/woman that got him put in that prison in the first place gets a free pass on the actions that got him put away? Meaning that a girl/woman can ruin a man’s life, and then quite literally use the rest of his life as a barganing chip in order to escape punishment for the very crime that got him put in prison? The argument is that if the penalty for coming forward about a false accusation is criminal indictment and jail time, fewer people will be… Read more »
How many would make the false accusation in the first place if they knew they could get jail time for it? Or should we not think about that because it might prevent real victims from coming forward. Men can rot in jail and suffer without justice, so long as women don’t ever feel bad about coming forward.
Has the threat of incarceration proven to be effective at deterring other criminal acts? If not, why should we expect it would be with this one?
Sure as hell stopped me from knocking a few people out. The fear of jail saved a few bullies in high-school from going to the hospital.
Hell, by that logic, let’s just repeal all the laws!
After all, people keep committing those crimes anyway.
No, that’s not the same at all. I’m simply saying that the threat of incarceration isn’t a significant deterrent for crime. Most criminals don’t believe they’re going to be caught. There’s no reason to believe that Mark’s proposal will lead to significantly fewer false accusations. There is a way of offering a carrot-stick type approach that doesn’t give carte blanche to criminals. If you (as prosecutor) discover an allegation to be knowingly false and the accuser did not volunteer this information, by all means prosecute! By offering a sort of amnesty if you confess willingly (not necessarily absolute amnesty –… Read more »
It most certainly is the same. You’re arguing we shouldn’t punish false accuser because laws don’t deter everyone (anyone?)… “By offering a sort of amnesty if you confess willingly (not necessarily absolute amnesty – it could just be the difference between community service and jail time), it might prompt more people to come forward.” But how many more people could avoid jail time altogether if we did charge false accusers? I just don’t understand how you could think jail time would deter people from coming forward, but not deter them from making those allegations in the first place? It seems… Read more »
Except that’s not how people behave. How many more people could avoid being raped altogether if we charged rapists? Oh wait, we do, and yet people are still out there raping other people.
Sometimes when you realize that punishment and the threat of punishment don’t work you have to look for other solutions to reduce harm, even though they may run counter to our ideals.
“How many more people could avoid being raped altogether if we charged rapists? Oh wait, we do, and yet people are still out there raping other people.” Same thing for murder, robbery and probably every other violent offense. Shall we abolish those laws as well because they apparently have no deterrent effect on people committing those crimes? Perhaps you could address the second part of his response regarding your apparently contradictory depictions of the effectiveness of potential punishment. You are saying that the threat of punishment is entirely irrelevant and ineffective when somebody is deciding whether or not to make… Read more »
What is there to address? I never made the claim that we should abolish crime. Nor do I think it necessary to address the caricature of my position that you have made. I never said any of the things you claim I said, so why should I address or defend positions I don’t hold? You should find someone who holds those positions or failing that have that argument with yourself.
“I never said any of the things you claim I said” Of course you didn’t. My apologies. Regarding the deterrent effect of punishment on persons deciding to commit crimes, you said: “I’m simply saying that the threat of incarceration isn’t a significant deterrent for crime. Most criminals don’t believe they’re going to be caught.” “Has the threat of incarceration proven to be effective at deterring other criminal acts? If not, why should we expect it would be with this one?” Regarding the deterrent effect of punishment on persons considering recanting their false allegations, you said: “The argument is that if… Read more »
Thanks for quoting what I wrote, because when you asked before, Shall we abolish those laws as well because they apparently have no deterrent effect on people committing those crimes? it implied I said we should abolish laws and of course I claimed no such thing. When you wrote, You are saying that the threat of punishment is entirely irrelevant and ineffective when somebody is deciding whether or not to make a false rape allegation. Yet you say that the threat of punishment is entirely definitive and controlling when somebody is deciding whether or not to recant the false allegation… Read more »
Well, as an attempt to sort of smooth things over, I’m going to try to explain what I think Nick is saying…mostly. 😉 First, Nick’s pointing out that threat of punishment doesn’t deter criminals from committing a crime. Punishment does just that, it punishes. Incarceration also protects the general populace from criminals (when that protection is needed). This doesn’t mean we should get rid of our justice system…it just means that our justice system isn’t preventative. Second, it looks to me like Nick is pointing out that a problem with criminalizing false accusations is that it requires that someone admit… Read more »
Sorry heather, but our legal system is very much a deterrent. It works to deter many, and it punish’s those it fails to deter. As an example, do you ever double park or park in a fire zone? or park on a street and not pay the meter? If not, why? is it because you’re a good person and don’t want to take a spot someone else might need? Or is it because you don’t want to pay the punishment that you may very likely incur should you do so?
it implied I said we should abolish laws and of course I claimed no such thing No, you did not. However, because of your example with laws against false reporting and false accusations, you invite the implication that if a law does not seem to effectively or satisfactorily deter offenders from violating it, there should be some consideration of relaxing that law or not punishing offenders for violating that law. As for my claim that the threat of incarceration isn’t a significant deterrent to crime, I’ll only point to our current incarceration rate in the US. Pointing to the large… Read more »
“Sometimes when you realize that punishment and the threat of punishment don’t work”
and we return to Soullite’s quote that you objected to…
“Hell, by that logic, let’s just repeal all the laws!
After all, people keep committing those crimes anyway.”
The fact is, it does work to deter people. not everyone, but some, enough to make it worth having huge volumes of laws. But by your choice of rape as the crime chosen, clearly you are more concerned for women’s interests then actual justice.
No, and it isn’t justice, either. In no other circumstance do people do this. If someone files a false robbery report, they charge that person for filing a false report. If someone files a false report for assault, they get charged for filing a false report. If someone files a false report for rape, we give the person a pass. That creates a massive moral hazard. If you give someone power, they will use that power. If you take away accountability, they will abuse that power. Why shouldn’t women just accuse men of rape whenever it’s convenient? After all, they… Read more »
I think the problem with comparing this to other crimes like robbery or kidnapping is that the conviction was most likely obtained on a he said/she said basis.
The problem with rape allegations is that, oftentimes, there is no other supporting evidence. As a result, the only thing that will exonerate the person is the same thing that convicted the person: another person’s word.
-Jut
And you don’t think a person being convicted in the first place, based on such a lack of evidence, is a problem in and of itself? Furthermore, given how little is required to get a rape conviction, do you really think it is in justice’s best interest to openly state there will be no consequences for making false allegations, so go ahead and make them all you like, leading to a whole lot more false allegations that result in convictions based solely on a he said/she said scenario? You’re looking to get those falsely accused out of jail for a… Read more »
“I think the problem with comparing this to other crimes like robbery or kidnapping is that the conviction was most likely obtained on a he said/she said basis.” Nonsense. A person can tell the police, “That man robbed me at gun point and took all the money from my wallet.” If the robbery really did happen, odds are, the robber has spent that money. It would not be like finding the robber with the stolen car or stolen computer that can somehow be traced to the rightful owner. Money is fungible, and tracing it back to any particular person is… Read more »
“By taking away the threat of punishment, we entice them to come forward, clear their consciences, and do the right thing for a change. How many people would do the right thing if they knew jail time was waiting for them at the other end?”
If they are only going to “do the right thing” when they are certain that they will not suffer punishment, then “clearing their consciences” is probably a negligible concern of their list of priorities.
A prosecutor could easily make the opposite argument: punish people who make false accusations as a way to deter false accusations in the future. Keep the wongful accusers scared from coming forward with false accusations. It’s actually hard to imagine the justice system making rape victims even more frightened of coming forward. If an alleged rapist fights a rape charge in court, the defense is already going to say she’s lying. Her reliability and honesty will already be put on trial, so I’m not sure how prosecuting false accusations will be all that different. I’d agree that punishing an 11-year… Read more »
It’s actually hard to imagine the justice system making rape victims even more frightened of coming forward. If an alleged rapist fights a rape charge in court, the defense is already going to say she’s lying. Her reliability and honesty will already be put on trial, so I’m not sure how prosecuting false accusations will be all that different. The difference is in the details, and it’s the difference between the unfair system with the just outcomes, and the fair system with the unjust outcomes. I’m intentionally ignoring whether rape trials are biased towards the plaintiff for the moment to… Read more »
I think there’s an element of Cornelius’ piece that’s being missed.
What happened at the Medical Examiner’s office that made the ME go along with her story?
Did the child show signs of forcible penetration? If so, who, how, and why?
It wasn’t purely on her testimony that this conviction happened, right Cornelius? Or am I missing something?
The ME said there were signs of trauma to the girl’s genital area (keep in mind the word trauma has a very specific meaning in a medical context). I believe it has since been suggested that the trauma may have been caused by sexual contact with someone else, and clearly this girl was emotionally unstable enough that it’s quite possible she may have been sexually active (consensually or no) at an early age.
The real problem in this story is that of the failure of the criminal justice system to protect an innocent person from false accusation. This goes on to show that in the present system of rape prosecution an accused is “guilty until proven innocent.” People would lose all faith in the criminal justice system due to these development. The girl cannot be prosecuted because she was minor or may be mentally ill when she made those accusation. The real culprits are medical examiner, investigators, and prosecutors, Now how are they going to make up for the lost decade for this… Read more »
I honestly think something needs to be done to this lady. And I don’t buy that crap that she didn’t know what she was doing when she was 11. If you accuse your father of rape, you’re doing so knowing full well what that accusation is going to do; thus, if you can accuse an innocent man of rape, then you are old enough to accept the consequences of a false accusation. There are plenty of 11 year old girls who manage to not accuse their fathers of rape because they know better, so I don’t see why she shouldn’t… Read more »
There is a VERY problematic issue here: “Prosecutor Sue Baur says charging Cassandra Kennedy might discourage girls from reporting sexual assaults.” No. The only legitimate reason to not prossecute the false accuser is to protect the rights of the falsely accused. The sexist tripe offered by this heartless prosecutor is inexcusable. She should be fired. That is a misquote. The first story I read about this framed it that way, and I too was outraged. But then I read a dozen more stories on this and the reason she isn’t prosecuting is because she doesn’t want to discourage false reporters… Read more »
My post got messed up, lol. I just don’t understand markup hyper texting, or whatever it is called.
I speak for myself, and not for all MRAs. The false accuser SHOULD NOT be punished in any way. Full stop. There are two ways a falsely accused person can obtain relief: 1) Third party investigation and/or new evidence. 2) Voluntary confession >>> Third party investigation and/or new evidence <<>> Voluntary confession <<< If the fase accuser recands voluntarily, without pressure or new evidence, the false accuser should allways receive a free get out of jail card. The only appropriate punishment is a mandatory appology. Why? Because if even 1 in 10 remorseful false accuser decide NOT to confess because… Read more »
If the fase accuser recands voluntarily, without pressure or new evidence, the false accuser should allways receive a free get out of jail card. The only appropriate punishment is a mandatory appology.
Can we at least make it a public apology? If she was “brave enough to speak up” when she had people believing she was the victim then she should have no problem being “brave enough to speak up” when the truth comes to light and it turns out she was the criminal.
The police and judicial systems have a responsiblity to not simply convict without corrorborating evidence, or face stiff penalties, such as compensating the wrongly convicted person by $500,000 per year. That would make them think a few times before convicting someone thaty are not 100% certain is guilty.
I think you’re right, Anthony.
The priority has to be getting falsely accused men out of jail/prison/charges immediately.
Not just in false rape accusations, but in any false accusation.
“The priority has to be getting falsely accused men out of jail/prison/charges immediately.” Men and women. One day, women will probably be falsely accused as often as men are falsely accused. According to the “National Intimate Partner and S. Violence Surv.” women and men are equally likely to perpetrate s. assault: 1,267,000 male victims of female SA in 2010 1,270,000 female victims of male SA in 2010 If female s. assault of males is ever taken seriously, there will be tens of thousands of women indicted under s. assault statutes every year. There will also be thousands of false accusations… Read more »
“Why? Because if even 1 in 10 remorseful false accuser decide NOT to confess because of fear of punishment (resulting in continued incarceration of the falsely accused victim) the price is too high. The priority HAS to be to encourage false accusers to confess, for the benefit of the victim who is either in prison or on death row.” You are saying that false accusers should be exempted from punishment to maximize their incentive to admit their false allegations, in order to stop the ongoing harm that is happening to their falsely accused victims. Stopping the ongoing harm to a… Read more »
I disagree. I think a better solution is to change the default presumption in such cases from “man is guilty unless proven otherwise” back to “man is innocent until proven guilty.” You know, the way it’s SUPPOSED to be in all court cases. In addition, what do you think will happen to the false-accusation rate once accusers know that their actions will never, ever be punished even if their lies are exposed? Your urge to make it easier to free an individual who’s wrongly convicted is admirable… but in the long run, we’ll just wind up with many more innocent… Read more »
Maybe the blanket policy of “always believe what a child says” should be re-examined in our justice system… yes, even when it comes to accusations of molestation.
Presumed Guilty is not how our system is supposed to work, but it sure looks that way whenever sex crimes or children are involved.
Julie: “(and perhaps her actions were spurred by the divorce, inattention of both parents, treatment at school, depression or other issues) ” Wait a minute. Hold on. Am I hearing this right? You’re actually suggesting perhaps her actions were spurred by divorce and inattention of both parents? Doesn’t this sound a bit like you’re blaming the father for the situation he found himself in? So a girl was feeling unhappy and going through her own issues. Does that make it all right to falsely accuse an innocent man, her OWN FATHER, of rape? He was in prison for ten years.… Read more »
Nope. I’m saying I think the child was probably disturbed AND I think systems DO have impact on ALL family members. Perhaps the divorce was part of an influence on his drinking, smoking pot and ignoring his child. Perhaps the mother was abusive and the daughter couldn’t face blaming her (wrong by the way, but possible). We are all influenced by systems we are in AND we have to have the wherewithal to fight past selfish impulses to hurt others. AND my guess is that she had, early on, some significant emotional disturbances that needed (at the time) therapy and… Read more »
And you think I don’t know how fucked up a world is that men (and more and more women) don’t want to intervene or help or care for kids because of the ramifications??? It’s HORRIBLE. We are moving farther and farther away from love and connection in this country and closer and closer to “taking care of me and screw anyone else, everyone is out to get everyone.” A horrible world we are setting ourselves up for. It’s a self fulfilling cycle where more and more people will let others be bullied, lied about, hurt all out of fear that… Read more »
Sometimes a disease is fatal, and you just have to accept there’s nothing you can do but try to make the dying person relatively comfortable.
America needs a hospice.
But to accept that humanity itself is terminally ill and there’s nothing to be done about it?
That’s a pretty tall order.
Sometimes I get the feeling that in thinking, “taking care of me and screw anyone else, everyone is out to get everyone” people genuinely don’t see how f’d up the world as a whole has become (or at least they don’t see that clamming up is not the solution since that shell would probabaly eventually break).
I understand what you mean, Julie.
This is something that bothers me as well. I wish this weren’t the case with the world but it is reality.
I think the only thing we can do is just come together as a community and support one another. That’s when you feel valued and personal value goes a long way.
Baur said Cassandra Kennedy will not be prosecuted for her apparent lies about her father, partly because prosecutors do not want to discourage people in similar circumstances from coming forward. This bothers me a lot. In all seriousness can someone name any other instance where people say someone shoultn’d be prosecuted for a false claim because it would discourage people from reporting actual instances of it? Does this mean we should not prosecute insurance fraud out of fear that people won’t speak up when they have a true need to make an insurance claim? Does this mean we should not… Read more »
She seems like she was a very very disturbed child, then a disturbed teen. Which is not an excuse at all. I think she should be made to offer penance in some way, not that it could possibly make up for his loss. I’m smelling something really foul about the whole case. I suppose he could sue her for wrongful imprisonment. The entire thing seems like a walking bleeding wound.
This may be my Vengeance Streak talking but while I know punishing her now may not do much good I think she should pay some sort of penance, some sort of recognition that she did something terribly wrong. I am not a fan of thinking that someone feeling bad about wronging someone in the past is proper penance and I get the feeling that this is what it is going to turn into. This will probably turn into yet another case of a person being falsely accused of a crime, having their life damaged, and getting nothing but some half… Read more »
Not sure about julie but it sounds like the DA is dodging flak.
She is disturbed. But there’s a difference between being ‘disturbed’ and being legally unaccountable for your actions. Ironically, by coming forward she proves that she knew that what she did was wrong. Therefore she is legally accountable for her actions.
You don’t get to define insanity down just because you have some sympathy for this girl. You can have sympathy for someone – even understand where they’re coming from – without forgetting the things they’ve done.
Nor do I have N argument with you. I’ve stated called for some
Kind of compensation of some sort.
This bothers me a lot. In all seriousness can someone name any other instance where people say someone shoultn’d be prosecuted for a false claim because it would discourage people from reporting actual instances of it? Danny, that was my first reaction as well, but then I realized I was misreading it (I read a lot more stories about this case as well, which helped). What the prosecutor is saying is that she doesn’t want to discourage women who’ve made false allegations from coming forward and admitting the allegations were false. And I agree – if you want to encourage… Read more »
I get your point (and I bet this is probably why so many MRAs get pissed over this, its a double bind that mostly leaves men holding the bag and women getting away with nothing more than some hurt feelings). I’m reminded of another story about 3 years ago where (several years before) a woman falsely accused a man of raping her and when she came forward (after he had been convicted and was on year 4 of a 20 yr sentence) to tell the truth she tried to make a deal: She tells the truth, he goes free, and… Read more »
Frankly, this statement from the court screams of female privilege. “We’re not going to punish false accusers because we want to reassure OTHER false accusers that it’s okay to admit they were lying, and we promise we won’t punish them.” How is that anything other than an admission that false accusations are the norm, and the only hope of proving a defendant’s innocence is to bribe the lying accuser into relenting?
“This bothers me a lot. In all seriousness can someone name any other instance where people say someone shoultn’d be prosecuted for a false claim because it would discourage people from reporting actual instances of it?” He didn’t say anything about “actual instances”, he said similar circumstances. By similar circumstances, he ether means other false accusers, in which case, one must ask “why do you want false accusers to come forward?”, or else he is viewing this as an actual case of rape, despite her recanting. A case where he wants others in similar circumstances (IE, actual rape victims) to… Read more »
Exactly what I was wondering.
There are some things troubling me about this story. If you read the account of the girl, she was miserable expelled from school (before her accusation) for telling a teacher she was going to bring a gun to school, was claiming her father also smoked pot and was not an attentive parent. She sounds like she was an extremely troubled person prior to the accusation, was using the logic of an 11 year old (my friend told me about this so I’ll try it and get the attention I need), I am not sure if she should be prosecuted as… Read more »
Something similar happened in Ireland a while back, althought the man was released when his accuser (now an adult) came forward and told the truth. He still spent 20 years (!) in jail though for a crime he didn’t committ. I don’t know the full backstory but it was something to do with a dispute between the girl’s family and the man’s (they were neighbours).
At any rate it shows how low the bar is for proving guilt.
It also shows the level of cruelty humans will go to, easily.
Yeah… I wouldn’t want to see her prosecuted either: she was clearly too young to know what she was doing.
But that rationalisation is way off. Innocent men should go to jail to avoid discouraging accusers?
What really shocks me is that her testimony was able to put him away with no physical evidence or testimony from anyone who say it happen. I don’t know what the medical examiner testified to but obviously it can’t have been very concrete if it put an innocent man in jail.