Upcoming British player escapes prison life sentence.

[nickynu]

Originally Posted by Topaz

What in the world? Where do you guys think you get off saying such things?

First of all, there is *nothing* in that article that suggests that the girl is anything but possibly another college student. Why is she being called names? And, the reason he was cleared was because the prosecutor decided to drop charges, citing a lack of evidence.

We don't know what happened. We certainly also do not know that he is innocent. Do you guys have *any* idea how many women are assaulted and NEVER come forward? One of the reasons is because, unless the victim immediately goes to an ER and gets a *ape kit done, the actual evidence is gone. And the LAST thing a woman wants to do after being violated is to go to an ER and get poked and prodded some more. Then, if they do go, and they do find evidence, it is often the victim that goes through h*ll during the trial. Most cases are never even reported because the victim doesn't want to face her attacker again, much less get dragged through a trial.

How is this guy's life ruined exactly? He was cleared. Whether or not he did it...only he and the girl will know. How about the girl? Where are the sympathetic comments for her? If it actually happened, her life is not exactly roses and peaches from here on out. What about *her* stigma? What about how she would feel?

What if this happened to your sister? Daughter? Mother? Would you guys still type the same distasteful comments? I really wonder about some of the people inhabiting this forum. Disgusting.

This will be a very sensitive subject for anybody who has actually been in a similar situation and you reveal from these crass and simplistic views that you do not even have the basic capicity of empathy required to engage in reasoned debate. Therefore it is not appropriate to continue any dialogue with you

Originally Posted by Topaz

What in the world? Where do you guys think you get off saying such things?

First of all, there is *nothing* in that article that suggests that the girl is anything but possibly another college student. Why is she being called names? And, the reason he was cleared was because the prosecutor decided to drop charges, citing a lack of evidence.

We don't know what happened. We certainly also do not know that he is innocent. Do you guys have *any* idea how many women are assaulted and NEVER come forward? One of the reasons is because, unless the victim immediately goes to an ER and gets a *ape kit done, the actual evidence is gone. And the LAST thing a woman wants to do after being violated is to go to an ER and get poked and prodded some more. Then, if they do go, and they do find evidence, it is often the victim that goes through h*ll during the trial. Most cases are never even reported because the victim doesn't want to face her attacker again, much less get dragged through a trial.

How is this guy's life ruined exactly? He was cleared. Whether or not he did it...only he and the girl will know. How about the girl? Where are the sympathetic comments for her? If it actually happened, her life is not exactly roses and peaches from here on out. What about *her* stigma? What about how she would feel?

What if this happened to your sister? Daughter? Mother? Would you guys still type the same distasteful comments? I really wonder about some of the people inhabiting this forum. Disgusting.

Someone I know was assaulted (kind of a manipulation type of situation but an assault nonetheless) while at a D1 school. She was a full scholarship athlete. She didn't come forward - because it was an assistant coach that did it. How sad is that? I don't even think she told her parents. She ended up leaving the school and giving up the sport (not tennis) and her scholarship. She turned out okay in the end, but actually struggled a lot in relationships and had some recreational drug problems. I think she just felt really stupid, like it was her fault.

That said, there are some bad women out there too. My poor mother had to deal with some crazy stuff. I think the most important thing we can do is teach our children to respect themselves and try not to get in bad situations.

[origmarm]

I tend to agree with most of Topaz's comments. There is a huge problem with people not coming forward on these charges and suffering in silence. I also feel that she is right to protest at some of the comments in the this thread. We know little if anything of the circumstances in this case (or most in fact).

I do however feel that until anonymity is provided to both parties in these cases the accused will always suffer also when innocent and it's important to bear in mind the power of accusation without any evidence. Accusations do destroy lives

It's an emotive area but one that needs to be addressed with the same respect for proven guilt as any other in law. These cases in my opinion should not be made public in any way such as to ensure a degree of anonymity for the accuser (and hence hopefully promote them coming forward) and for the accused. This would allow justice to run it's course without public scrutiny until the outcome.

[mrmo1115]

Errr. I don't know what to say lol. Like previously stated by someone else, if he was innocent than great for him, if he is actually guilty, he will get stung eventually. *ahem* o.j.

[raiden031]

Originally Posted by nickynu

Innocent until proven guilty is the law I believe. Your post actually casts doubt with the IF which is not fair. Think about it.........................
This guys life is pretty much destroyed and he has to live with the stigma il his dying day, how is that right. How would you feel?

Why shouldn't someone cast doubt? So because the case was dropped, you are saying he is 100% innocent? The fact that a charge was filed at all should bring up the question of whether it happened or not. But I see both sides to this issue.

I think there are way too many occurrences of women accusing guys of the R word when it didn't happen. They ruin it for women in cases where it did happen.

As far as not reporting the crime, I must say that as traumatic as it may be, if you want justice served you have to report it immediately. Otherwise their should be no case, especially when a prison term of like 20 years is at stake for someone.

I think the justice system is more fair to let off a rapist due to lack of evidence than to convict an innocent person. Thats why we have innocent until proven guilty.

Its possible this guy may never find a decent paying job because of this case, which would be unfortunate if he is innocent.

Its often a lose-lose for someone. Sometimes its the accuser, sometimes its the accused.

[raiden031]

Also I'm not surprised there is so much biased existing between men and women when it comes to this issue.

A woman is more likely to believe the accuser because she will never be threatened by false accusations herself, and may be targeted by a r@pist in the future and will want the law to protect her and provide justice.

Any guy who attends parties where alcohol and women are involved could easily find himself being accused, so obviously his agenda is to protect the guys' rights to prevent himself from being falsely accused.

[Chauvalito]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=98001964


The above links to an article discussing the 12,000 untested assault kits that have yet to be processed by the L.A. Police, and L.A. Sheriff's offices.

Below is an opinion piece from the L.A. times discussing the same subject. Women not only have to deal with the stigma and difficulty of making accusations, they also have to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare that follows.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,7035497.story

[origmarm]

Originally Posted by Chauvalito

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=98001964


The above links to an article discussing the 12,000 untested assault kits that have yet to be processed by the L.A. Police, and L.A. Sheriff's offices.

Below is an opinion piece from the L.A. times discussing the same subject. Women not only have to deal with the stigma and difficulty of making accusations, they also have to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare that follows.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,7035497.story

That is absolutely shocking. I can't believe that can happen in a relatively well off society. I'm also frankly shocked at the sheer amount of tests that take place, that's a huge number.