Rape Survivor Feels Shamed By Judge
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A teenager who was raped by a classmate 2 ½ years ago said she now feels shamed by the judge who sentenced him.
"I was okay… I was okay until this morning," said the young survivor as she started to cry.
Dallas County District Judge Jeanine Howard ordered convicted rapist Sir Young, 20, to serve 45 days in jail and 5 years probation. It's considered a light punishment by many victim's advocates, who were outraged.
Judge Howard further enraged victim's advocates by telling the Dallas Morning News that the light punishment was in part, because the girl wasn't a virgin, saying she "wasn't the victim she claimed to be."
"To me, this sends the message that, basically, you can come forward as you're supposed to and tell the truth and say what happened to you and nothing's going to happen," said the teenager, who added that she was a virgin before the crime.
"If you've driven a car before, you can't be the victim of a DWI? That's just stupid. Why do we turn the lens on this crime to the victim? Why don't we turn the lens on the perpetrator? It's outrageous," Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Bobbie Villareal said.
There isn't a question, according to the rapist's own handwritten confession that the girl said "no" repeatedly.
"What it boils down to, is, did she say 'no' this time… and if she said 'no' this time, it's a sexual assault. It's rape," said Prosecutor Andrea Moseley.
Young's confession goes on to say that he apologized and asked the victim to keep it quiet. But, prosecutors worry that the silence of victims, endangers us all...
"If we have victims who are afraid to come forward, we have offenders and rapists still on the street," said Moseley.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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