Double victim
If your blood needs boiling, consider this Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel column about a 15-year-old girl who was forced to perform oral sex by a 17-year-old classmate at a Milwaukee high school. She reported the assault. The boy, who claimed the sex was consensual, was suspended for five days. So was the girl. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to "abusive, indecent or otherwise disorderly conduct," after his lawyer used the girl's suspension as proof the sex was consensual. The boy got a 30-day stayed jail sentence and 18 months probation, and paid $400 restitution. He transferred to another high school where he was allowed to compete in basketball.
The girl, an honor student, is trying to get her record cleared of the suspension, which she fears will hurt her college admission chances. The school district refuses to admit that it made a mistake by punishing the victim for reporting a sexual assault.
Right after sentencing, Assistant DA Michael Mahoney took the extraordinary step of firing off a letter to school officials expressing his anger with how they handled the matter.
"(She) did not consent to this assault and, indeed, did not know the defendant or his name, prior to the assault," Mahoney wrote Jan. 21. "Also please note that (she) was not legally capable of consenting to this sexual activity alleged by the Defendant."
The suspension remains on her record.
Via Eduwonk. |
