In terms of date rape, it really is, as it comes down to a "he said, she said" back and forth. When the only evidence comes down to the word of one person who makes a claim it is really hard to prove. In most cases, the woman's word is believed and the man is already guilty in the court of public opinion. But the cases we have seen in the past of false rape accusations play a lot into people's decisions. There are people who would rather have a guilty person go free than to see an innocent man locked up. The guy ended up getting charged with something, and has a record now at least there is that. But false rape allegations are damaging to men. No one remembers the dropping of the charges. A guy at my high school got a full ride to an Ivy League. Brilliant guy, hard working, didn't come from a rich family or anything. Went to a party, hooked up with a girl a year and a half younger, (which is technically legal in our state) that he had been into, and she had been into him. The girls dad found out, she cried rape, he made her press charges. Next thing you know, the guy is in jail for several days, loses his scholarship, and then the girl comes forward and admits she lied about it. Well, the scholarship was gone, and he couldn't get another one, ended up going to community college instead as he couldn't get into any schools.
Thankfully nobody knows that Rakheem Bolton was the one who did it or what he looks like or anything.
Woah, wait, he is black. This changes everything. He is totally guilty. Lock him up and throw away the key. Actually, him getting off with a rape charge in Texas, and being black makes me think that the case must have been pretty weak.(If the accuser was white) They drag black guys behind pick up trucks for less down there.
But it also means he can play ball, dude. So you can see why they left him on the team. Oh, the quandary of it all.
Not surprising if he was one of their star players. Texas takes love of winning in high school sports to a new level after all.
The girl that got "raped" must not have a daddy. Cause I'd like to think if she did, Rakheem Bolton wouldn't be able to play basketball anyway. At least if I were the daddy that would be the case.
I second this, as a parent. I can't imagine the pain and suffering I would inflict on someone who harmed my child.
I coach a highschool team. It is an all-boys private school, so things are different. But if I heard about that kind of thing from one of my boys they would be immediately on suspension from athletics. Everybody signs a waiver for their team (in public schools as well) saying that they will keep a certain GPA, as well as stay out of trouble, this could be for something in school or out of school. Athletics are a privilege, not a right. My perception is that the coach, and school, could have done something, and chose not to. So what if they weren't legally required to do anything? It sounds like he got a minor slap on the wrist for alleged rape. They should have at least put him on the bench for a bit!
So, people need to be punished for having been accused of a crime? I hope I'm not the only one suspicious of that. Also, even if he had been put on the bench for a bit (and we have no way of knowing if he was or wasn't); that benching would have expired, and then he'd have kept playing, and we'd be right back where we are now.
That's the thing though. He plead guilty to assault. Even if it wasn't a sex crime, assault is no joke. While it sucks that word got out, he probably should have thought about that before either A: assaulting a GIRL, or B: pleading guilty to it. Athletes in college ball get thrown off their teams for doing less. The fact that he's not only playing but still starting is amazing to me.
At least he didn't engage in consensual sex with the girl. The punishment is much more severe. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/04/AR2011030401742.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01742.html</a>
Yes, because BYU and a public high school are totally analogous. Some relevant facts (although they don't make the school look like non-assholes. Just a little bit less so): The assault and rape thing is...complicated. He was first not indicted by a grand jury on rape. He then was later indicted (by a different grand jury) on charges of sexual assault (the difference between rape and sexual assault is sometimes a distinction without difference, hinging on technicalities like "Was it forcible?"). He then pled guilty to simple assault. He was in fact barred from campus after the initial accusation, along with other involved students. He was only allowed back once a grand jury failed to indict him. A different grand jury would later indict him, in light of later evidence. The cheering incident happened in between these two indictments. So while he was playing and she was cheering (or not cheering), he had not yet pleaded guilty to anything.
In Texas, the difference between rape and sexual assault is that rape isn't a crime. ...And what I mean is, crime in Texas is called "sexual assault." It becomes an aggravated assault if the perpetrator caused serious bodily injury or death, threatened to cause serious bodily injury or death, used a roofie, had help from another attacker, and a few other things. Simple force doesn't rise to the level of aggravated sexual assault, but anything past that would. Simple sexual assault in Texas is just sex (or sodomy) without consent, no force required. (And for anyone wondering, in most states a threat of force has the same effect as force, and administering a drug counts as force too.)
Christ this is making my head and /or heart hurt. Here's the article that most blogs were getting their info from. For the "she could be making it up" crowd: while it's perhaps not an iron-clad case legally, one would think that other partygoers hearing her scream would be enough for most of us. You, sir, can go fuck yourself.
There must have been some sort of lag between the screams and the phone call. Had she been raped by 3 men (I use the term loosely) and the police arrived shortly thereafter some physical evidence should have been obtainable and then the case could have been more than he said/she said. If I were more conspiracy minded, that would bother me. Anyone who thought of the team before the girl, presumably the bulk of this shithole Texas town, deserves the same thing the guys that raped this girl deserve.
Not knowing the town, I can't be sure. But in a lot of towns with a population of 7000, a call about a teenage party that doesn't include the word 'shots fired' is often a pretty low priority call, especially if the duty officers are occupied with grownup drinkers and car accidents already. It's real easy to write off a phone call from a drunk teenager as a paranoid stoner, or a call about a girl screaming at the teen party next door as a neighbour who's sick of you ignoring the music volume noise complaints. No idea what the actual story was, but there's lots of plausible circumstances where it took the cops a while to arrive.