Post by Logan on Oct 23, 2016 3:46:00 GMT -6
A Montana judge gave a man 60 days for raping his own 12-year-old daughter. How can we say we take sexual assault seriously?
Thanks — or no thanks — to a presidential candidate entangled in accusations of sexual harassment, we're paying at least cursory attention to the topic. It's a "microphone moment" for women who have been victims, ranging from unwelcome groping to violent sexual assault, to tell their stories, if they choose.
There's a victim you won't hear from, though, in Montana. She was raped — prosecutors say repeatedly — by her own father, who this month received a grossly lenient sentence of 60 days in jail.
You will not hear from her because she's a child. As a 12-year-old rape victim, she had no voice in the courtroom. No one spoke about the aftereffects of this staggering violation of her body, her trust, her confidence in the adults in her world to protect her.
Instead, the victim's mother and grandmother begged the judge to keep the defendant out of prison, characterizing the incestuous rape of his child as "a horrible mistake." They said his two other children, boys, "will be devastated if Dad is no longer part of their lives." In a pre-sentencing report, a psychologist said the man is contrite, low-risk, attends church and would fare better under community supervision than in prison.
Read more: www.dallasnews.com/opinion/opinion/2016/10/21/montana-judge-gave-man-60-days-raping-own12-year-old-daughter-can-say-take-sexual-assault-seriously
Thanks — or no thanks — to a presidential candidate entangled in accusations of sexual harassment, we're paying at least cursory attention to the topic. It's a "microphone moment" for women who have been victims, ranging from unwelcome groping to violent sexual assault, to tell their stories, if they choose.
There's a victim you won't hear from, though, in Montana. She was raped — prosecutors say repeatedly — by her own father, who this month received a grossly lenient sentence of 60 days in jail.
You will not hear from her because she's a child. As a 12-year-old rape victim, she had no voice in the courtroom. No one spoke about the aftereffects of this staggering violation of her body, her trust, her confidence in the adults in her world to protect her.
Instead, the victim's mother and grandmother begged the judge to keep the defendant out of prison, characterizing the incestuous rape of his child as "a horrible mistake." They said his two other children, boys, "will be devastated if Dad is no longer part of their lives." In a pre-sentencing report, a psychologist said the man is contrite, low-risk, attends church and would fare better under community supervision than in prison.
Read more: www.dallasnews.com/opinion/opinion/2016/10/21/montana-judge-gave-man-60-days-raping-own12-year-old-daughter-can-say-take-sexual-assault-seriously