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feedback@baltimoresun.com
publiceditor@baltsun.com
letters@baltsun.com
lisa.goldberg@baltsun.com ------
gus.sentementes@baltsun.com ----- These 3 are the "reporters"
liz.kay@baltsun.com -------
I wrote them 2 days ago. And a, waiting, and hoping for a reply. In the next post I will include my letter I wrote to them.
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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Prosecutors will formally drop all charges against Roderick D. Rudolph, 15, Christopher S. Berry, 16, and Demitris R. Myrick, 18, all of Ellicott City, in the next few days, the state's attorney said. The Sun identified the juveniles because they were charged as adults.
...and later...
The 15-year-old girl's step-grandmother said the situation was "unfortunate." The Sun is not naming the grandmother to protect the identity of her granddaughter, a juvenile.
It seems that if a 15-year-old is male, he's not a juvenile, and as such can have his and his family's name dragged down the proverbial street although they are 'innocent until proven guilty'. A 15-year-old female, however, is a juvenile, and needs to have her lying ass 'protected'.
The attorneys representing all three said they had set up meetings with Mount Hebron school officials to discuss their clients' futures. Some said they still hope the boys can return to the school, but Lawrence B. Rosenberg, who represents Rudolph, said he doubts that will be the case.
Despite the poor judgement used in participating in the consensual sexual act... it seems the girl is guaranteed a return to the school and the boys are not.
If I interpret this line from Carol A. Hanson, District Public Defender, correctly, this is the one sane line in the entire article:
"It does make you wonder how many times false accusations go uninvestigated and innocent people are convicted and imprisoned."
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Dear writers and editors,
I am writing to you as a member of several men's groups, and as a private citizen. I am concerned not only with the results of the "investigation" but also your reporting of it. I refer to the story:
Girl admits she wasn't raped by classmates
Charges will be dropped against 3 Howard teens
The first thing that caught my eye was the "kid gloves" treatment of Missy (the UN-NAMED accuser). You interviewed her grandmother and mentioned that Missy was "sorry" and that it was "unfortunate". However, nowhere in your article did you go over in detail what happened to the boys who were accused. Where was your investigation, reporting, or attempt at empathy for these young men? Where was the mention of the humiliating arrests, their interrogations, their processing through the system, or their time in jail? When women are raped we are given quite of bit of detail to the horror of the event, but you were curiously silent on the repercussions to the boys. Where was the story about how some of their friends parents won't allow them to associate with the "rapists" anymore? Where was your mention of the dirty looks, the ostracism, and the permanent life altering effects to these boy's futures? Is the "unbiased press" afraid of Feminist Ideologues?
Also, the boys were named, according to you, because they were charged as adults. This young woman COULD be charged as an adult on may charges. But I, once again, did not see you mentioning the charges that could be brought against Missy. Obstruction of Justice? It's a felony. And since the boys were placed in danger (jail for sex offenders is not a Holiday Inn) she could be charged with Conspiracy in charges related to assault. You could have named Missy in your article, but once again the Feminist pressures were bowed to by our "unbiased free press". And the whole "considering charging her with 'filing a false police report'" comment at the end of most false allegation stories is a sham and you know it. The ADA often has to say SOMETHING to end a story like this. In this case no charges are going to be filed. But how many times have you published the "considering filing charges..." footnote to close out a false allegation story. Your reporters know the ADAs and DAs and the Police. That's their "beat". And this blatant red herring is used to drop the story. There was no "considering filing charges" in the case of the 3 boys. You need to follow up the false allegation stories to make sure the ADAs and police are doing their jobs, and stop sucking up to your sources in the police and ADAs office. You could have named Missy in your column. What is she going to do? SUE? Not too damn likely. So the pressure wasn't coming from there. And where were the "victim's advocates" when it was time to talk to the boys. Where were the experts when it came to citing false rape allegations and their use? Were the reporters too lazy or just following the Feminist script? There are numerous men's activist and advocacy groups, but your reporters didn't even bother doing a freaking "Google" search to find one of them to find men's advocates to hear advocates for men who might have rounded out the story. Stories about rape raise awareness and get out information that may save women from rape in the future. When you publish stories about men who are falsely accused you do a duplicitous thing when you don't help provide information to men who have been similarly falsely accused and help get THEIR advocates messages out. Once again you need to ask Lisa Goldberg, Gus G. Sentementes and Liz F. Kay if they were journalistically lazy or playing gender politics. If the press is not supposed to favor racial or religious preferences in ideology, than neither should one gender's politics be supported while ignoring the other's. That's what not being biased means.
You mentioned in your report how the medical evidence initially showed that rape was probable. Now it appears that same evidence is "inconclusive". So, where was your reporting that such evidence can be read in any damn way it fits the ADAs agenda? Where is the reporting about how often that same "expert" who found "physical trauma consistent with forcible rape" (quotng from your article) now has to admit that his "opinion" (paid for by the state which is paying the ADAs salary - rather a conflict of interest) is now worthless? Where was your reporter when he came out of his office to ask him how many OTHER cases he had given an opinion on, affirming rape, that turned out to be completely unfounded? And where was the reporting of how often inconclusive evidence, which juries take seriously, has put innocent men behind bars? Again, are your reporters lazy or afraid of Feminist retaliation?
And the reporting about the school board meeting was soft soap. Limp. The school board, parents, and students met to "to discuss the incident and other safety issues." Really? Does anyone else NOT see the Feminist buzzwords in play here? Did they meet to discuss how to protect boys from being turned into pariahs in the town? Did they meet to discuss how to prevent false allegations of rape? Did they meet and discuss how to spot false allegations? Or was it more of the "we need to protect our children (especially girls)" gender bias? Now, I know you didn't control that meeting and were even barred from it, but WHERE WERE THE QUESTIONS? Why didn't you show how none of my above mentioned questions were raised? Where was your focus on the real victims: the falsely accused.
You could have brought up what happens to men who are falsely accused, the stats, found SOME men's group to talk to, and/or told the horrors of men who go to prison as convicted sex offenders. It is estimated that 1 in 10 men are raped. And not raped ONCE, but REPEATEDLY. That is why the 2003 Rape Elimination Act was passed in Congress. Were your reporters not so lazy or afraid of the Feminist "outcry" they could have contacted some prominent men's groups leaders to get accurate information to find out men's perspective on false allegations and the consequences of this kind of vile crime.
It's time for Lisa Goldberg, Gus G. Sentementes and Liz F. Kay to start being reporters again. They need to find all sides of an issue. Find out what the issues are, both underlying and overt. And to stop reporting false allegations from, at best, a "kid gloves" attitude, to, at worst, a sympathetic view towards those that falsely accuse.
I was told I needed to include my contact information. Notice WHERE I live. I live in Alaska. Men's Rights groups use the internet to help advocacy due to, as you may guess, the fact the "free press" doesn't seem to give us much voice nor notice.
L Steven Beene II [personal info left out - for obvious reasons]
Member:
iFeminists (Owned and run by syndicated Fox News Columnist Wendy Mc Elroy)
http://www.ifeminists.net/index.php
Men's Activism.org
/
National Coalition for Free Men - Los Angeles Chapter
http://www.ncfmla.org/index.html
Hisside with Glenn Sacks (widely respected men's commentator)
http://www.hisside.com/
Men's issues are not SECONDARY issues. They shouldn't be reported like they are.
====End of Letter===
Also, a point I forgot to mention was this:
The DA is going to get the girl "help". The counter argument to this could be that rapists get help too : IN PRISON. Prison serves two purposes: it's a deterrent and it keeps the offender off the streets. Guaranteeing Missy (the false accuser - got the name off a BBS in her area ) anonymity will only reinforce her feelings of non guilt, she will have no record and can move away and can do it again (and with no court record how can the NEXT guy defend himself), and it will send the message that false allegations are not only not taken seriously. (even in a widely publicized case) And Also, that the penalty is to go to a therapist who will reassure you that "something" caused you to do this action.
Plz write them about this and let them know that men and women in the Men's Movement will not be silent.
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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First, Good Work Beene on the letter to the paper. I have to admit, I'm a new register, but I have been staying current with the site since i found it about three weeks ago. My question in all of this is; Did anyone write the Mayor, Governor, State Reps, or the State Senators, to get thier opinion on the issue. It seems to me that from what I read in the article and the threads, nobody ( nobody as in the elected officials or people with the power to prosecute the false accuser) cares that she put these boys through hell and slandered thier name with false accusations.
Now I bet you if it was the Senates son or even the mayors son, there would be the proverbial " Nine kinds of hell to pay" because this girl made a false accusation. I bet there would be charges brought against her.
As far as it not showing up in her criminal record, thats plain stupid. It should and needs to be documented somewhere, ie...... Med records, Criminal records, anywhere just as long as its documented.
If she is able to lable them a "rapist" just by word of mouth and its a lie, then she needs to be punnished.
I apologize if it seems like im ranting, but this stirred my thought noodle on the endless posibilities and opportunities that a girl or woman has if she feels a need retaliation.
Thats just my two cents, thought I would ask.
OMS
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OMS,
First off, Welcome. Feel free to rant, most men do when they get here. Normally "Men's and Father's issues" are not very popular.
Sure, we write gov't types too. I was focusing on the reporter because the media often is the "teachers" on social issues. Also, if we can get the press to humanize men who are falsely accused, or to portray men's issues in a positive light, then we can educate the public.
Glad to have you here. If you see an article, suggest a story. Anyone can. If you have an issue, present it. Many people here are very well read and have archives to back up our points of view. I've learned a lot in the past 8 months of posting here and other boards.
Hope to "see" you more here OMS,
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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this stirred my thought noodle on the endless posibilities and opportunities that a girl or woman has if she feels a need retaliation.
If one person’s thought noodle has been stirred by this thread then it’s a success. Prejudice can be challenged only by people opening their eyes to what they have previously refused to look at. One person at a time.
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It's not that I had my eyes closed, or looking through rose colored glass's. Think about it for a minute. It was all the endless possibilities that the females have, IE... the boyfriend/husband makes them mad over some unknown reason, the boss makes them mad, someone in the market crouds in line, heck it could be a driver in another car that cut them off. The possibilities are endless. I know some of the examples I gave are extreme. All she did was say the word, and the world came down around them. No "hard" proof, just her saying rape.
I know it exists, I see examples every other day about it. I also see paternity fraud, and fathers losing thier children in divorces because the mother screams, abuse, or she is scared.
It just got me thinking that my girlfriend( if she wanted to) could put me in jail for a week or two just because I burnt dinner or because I came home late from work. I know ( at least I hope she won't.....lol) she wouldn't do that.
OMS
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It just got me thinking that my girlfriend( if she wanted to) could put me in jail for a week or two just because I burnt dinner or because I came home late from work. I know ( at least I hope she won't.....lol) she wouldn't do that.
I hope your girlfriend wouldn’t do that either. But the point is that she could if she wanted, for any reason, or for no reason at all.
BTW my comments were meant to be general, not implying anything about you personally. In my book, the fact that you’re here means your eyes are wide open compared to most people.
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People should have thier names in the public. If the accused has thier name in the public when they are "innocent until proven guilty" then so should the so called victim.
Now to keep the name a secret even after they found out she was lying well my friends that is just plain sick.
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I disagree. I agree that the inconsistency is horribly unfair, but I believe in (the ideals of) "innocent until proven guilty", and to name someone is to punish them.
In other words, NOBODY should be named until there is a conviction.
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either both parties remain anonymous or both get nameed.
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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It's especially sickening to me that they named them on the grounds that they HAD been charged as adults, even though the charges are now dropped! WTF? "Let's just keep calling attention to this incident for them!" Ugh.
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And I know what I am about to say falls under the catagory of "closing the barn door after the fact", but: the newspaper could THEN have NOT named them.
Point is, ANYONE, as this case shows, can be charged with ANYTHING. If it's a serious felony they will be charged as adults. The papers know this. They use that argument as a fig leaf to print the boys names and not MISSY's.
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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in a men's prison. Just as long as the three boys would have had to do. So she fantasizes about being gang raped in a bathroom huh? Why not grant her wish.
Even bigger tragedy is that she is free to do the whole thing all over again, since her name is not being published. Next time she will be able to tweak her fantasy, er uh "story", in order to make it a little more believable. No doubt she will brag to her friends about this for years to come. She is a rapist and will never be properly labeled and stigmatized as one!
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by Anonymous User on 07:03 PM April 26th, 2004 EST (#12)
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"Even bigger tragedy is that she is free to do the whole thing all over again, since her name is not being published. Next time she will be able to tweak her fantasy, er uh "story", in order to make it a little more believable."
She's out there, beyond the bounds of all reasonable constraints. There is only one way to deal with people like this 15 year old felon, (Click) "Felon" who the man-hating legal system has given so much preferential treatment to: (Click) "False Accuser"
As far as keeping her name secret, while releasing the boy's name, that's just plain "insult to injury." (Click) "Rad Feminist Influence"
Ray
(Please do not scroll up the page of the linked item(s). All the info I am trying to convey is only as the page comes up initially.)
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Hey folks,
I got a "reply" to my E-mail/letter.
You're gonna love this.
From: Gus Sentementes (one of the journalists I wrote to)
Mr. Beene,
I refer you to the story we wrote on Saturday April 24. Please read and
let me know what you think.
Gus
P.S. We would ONLY name juveniles WHEN they are charged as adults. Not
because they MAY be charged as adults.
Yes, THAT's it. That's the ONLY part of the letter he replied to. If any of you read my letter (it WAS long, so I understand if you didn't) I brought up several point. And this is the only one he replied to.
I'll read the new story, then craft an answer and post it.
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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by Anonymous User on 07:17 PM April 26th, 2004 EST (#13)
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"Yes, THAT's it. That's the ONLY part of the letter he replied to. If any of you read my letter (it WAS long..."
Well Steven, I'll translate what he said. Here's how I read what he's saying:
" Dear Steven: YOUR RIGHT! However the only thing this journalist can find that isn't 100% pointing out the media's bias in this story is a technicality. I guess this kind of a reply really does show how prejudiced against men the media really is."
What could he say? You pointed out clearly how bigoted and unfairly these boys were treated by everyone, and how favored and coddled this criminal girl was with her privileged treatment.
Good Job!
Sincerely, Ray
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It seems our activism made a difference.
I was contacted by Gus Sentementes, who referred me to the new story put out on Saturday 24 Apr 04. In it they completely changed the tone of the article, placing the emphasis on the REAL victims. It tells of the boys being humilitated, put into holding cells, being scared, and how when they were put into general population one convict tried to pick a fight with the "sex offenders".
OUR ACTIVISM MADE AN IMPACT!!!
Link to article (you have to join, but it's FREE)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal- te.ho.rape24apr24,1,3958850.story
Article:
By Gus G. Sentementes and Tricia Bishop
Sun Staff
Originally published April 24, 2004
A week of fear, humiliation
Ordeal: Though a rape charge is dropped, a Howard County teen says the experience 'ruined' his life.
The story was as horrible as a principal - especially one at a competitive suburban high school - is ever likely to hear.
A 15-year-old girl said she was led into the boys' bathroom of Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City by three teen-age boys and sexually assaulted in the middle of the school day April 15.
"She was shaken," recalled Principal Veronica Bohn. She consoled the girl, who appeared traumatized.
Police moved in swiftly, setting in motion a chain of events that would result in the three boys' spending six days in jail and roil the high school campus for a week.
The three accused teens were pulled out of class about 1:30 p.m., questioned and arrested by police officers. They were handcuffed and whisked by police to the Southern District headquarters in Scaggsville, where they sat for hours in holding cells without food or water, awaiting interrogation.
"The handcuffs were tight and cold," said Demitris Myrick, 18, one of the accused, adding that officers led them out of school just as the day was ending - a humiliating experience.
"Being led out of school in handcuffs isn't cool," Myrick said in an interview at his home yesterday, sitting on a couch while his 4-year-old twin sisters played with dolls at his feet.
But soon after the teens had been arrested, witnesses began coming forward to defend them.
Police began confronting the girl with inconsistencies in her story as investigators worked around the clock.
Prosecutors, growing doubtful of the girl's accusations, agreed Wednesday to release the teens.
Later that day, the girl recanted her story, according to prosecutors, who said they would drop the charges in the coming days.
"A lot of questions just went unanswered," said Kim Myrick, Demitris' uncle, who said he believes school administrators should be held accountable for the events. "They were so quick to rush to judgment. It's just a shame."
Reached at home last night, the girl's stepfather adamantly contested that she recanted her story. "She never admitted to him not raping her," he said. The Sun is not identifying the girl or her stepfather because she is a juvenile.
A spokesman for the state's attorney's office declined to comment on the father's statements but referred to statements made by Howard County State's Attorney Timothy J. McCrone, who said that the evidence in the case no longer supported the allegations.
The rape charges that Myrick and the other two teens faced were severe, carrying possible life sentences. "I was nervous. I thought I was going to go to jail for the rest of my life for something I didn't do," Myrick said.
Although two of the teens were juveniles, because police charged them all as adults, media outlets - including The Sun - printed and broadcast their names.
For the three Ellicott City teens - Myrick, Christopher S. Berry, 16, and Roderick D. Rudolph, 15 - their lives had been turned upside down.
"It's ruined my life for the time being," Myrick said. "My reputation has just gone down the toilet."
(Berry and Rudolph, and their parents, did not respond yesterday to requests to be interviewed.)
School officials and police said the girl's allegations had to be taken seriously. Bohn said she called the girl's parents right away, and both came to school immediately and took the girl to Howard County General Hospital for a medical examination. It found physical evidence of forcible rape, police charging documents said.
By then, the teens were in custody.
At the police station, the teens had their clothes taken away and replaced with paper uniforms before being placed in tiny holding cells that Myrick described as smelling of urine.
Myrick spent the next 12 hours in jail with no water and no food. "I was scared. I didn't know what was going on," he said. After midnight, two investigators took him into another room and questioned him for about an hour, taking DNA and pubic hair samples. "I was thinking in my head, 'I hope I don't get in trouble,'" Myrick said. "I know I didn't do anything wrong. I knew she was lying."
In one-on-one interviews with investigators, the teens - who had not talked to one another since first being called to the office - provided similar accounts of what had happened in the handicapped stall of a boys' bathroom.
In the charging documents, which were filed with the District Court commissioner early on April 16, an immediate and obvious discrepancy was revealed: The girl told investigators she had engaged in sex acts with one boy, but two boys admitted that they had committed sex acts with her.
Media uproar
The day after the arrests, about 11 a.m. Friday - about the time Myrick was being taken to the Howard County Detention Center in shackles - the Police Department issued a news release about the incident, which triggered a media uproar. But Myrick knew nothing about that yet. He was going through intake at the center.
"It was scary. I felt so embarrassed when I had to take my clothes off," said Myrick, who was placed with the general population.
Back at the District Courthouse in Ellicott City, Carol A. Hanson, the district public defender, had been reading the charging documents and thought something didn't seem right.
At a court hearing that day, the teens were each denied bail, based on the severity of the charges.
Hanson later visited with Berry, who was being held at the detention center in Jessup, for more than an hour. She left the interview more certain than before that something was wrong with the case.
"Friday, I had a gut instinct," said Hanson, who tracked down a prosecutor in the state's attorney's office parking lot to share her concerns. "By Monday, I was certain. By Monday, it was falling apart."
On Tuesday - after Myrick had to defend himself in jail against a murder suspect who tried to pick a fight - Bohn and other school system officials conducted an audit of the school's security procedures, to figure out what safety measures they had in place and what more would be needed.
Meanwhile, as new witnesses came forward, defense attorneys began speaking with greater confidence about the prospects of success for their clients.
"Based on the information I had heard, and the different witnesses, I knew [prosecutors] had no case, or a very weak case," said Lawrence B. Rosenberg, Rudolph's attorney.
McCrone, the Howard state's attorney, said the girl's story had "changed substantially" by the time the teens appeared in court Wednesday for their second bail hearing. They were let out on bail that day.
In the end, attorneys for the defendants said six students came forward with eyewitness information, including one boy who walked into the bathroom during the incident. He told investigators he had been offered sexual favors by the girl, but he declined, according to one defense attorney.
McCrone also offered another interpretation of a key fact - the medical exam that found evidence of forcible rape. He said that consensual sex would not be "inconsistent" with the exam's findings.
'Dumb decision'
When he heard the charges were being dropped, Myrick said, "I was screaming, I was hollering, I was just happy." He said he doesn't begrudge his accuser, though his attorney and Berry's say they hope she faces charges for filing a false report.
Still, Myrick admitted he violated school policies against sexual acts on campus.
"I made a mistake, and I know what I did was wrong, but I didn't deserve what happened to me," said Myrick, who is hoping he will be allowed back in school. "Spending six days in jail was hard enough. I think I've paid for my actions."
Bohn will determine next week what discipline will be meted out to the boys and their accuser, who Myrick hopes learned the same lesson he did: "One dumb decision can cost you the rest of your life."
Sun staff writer Lisa Goldberg contributed to this article.
Writing letters does make a difference. To those who wrote: Thanks!! If you did not write a letter, and I have not on many occasions also, this is a great example of how letter writing makes a huge difference!!
Steven
Guerilla Gender Warfare is just Hate Speech in polite text
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by Anonymous User on 08:45 PM April 26th, 2004 EST (#14)
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Great work. The ongoing criminalization of male sexuality is disgusting. You are making a difference!!
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*sigh* The dumb decision was having sex with a female in our current "male-sexuality=evil" climate.
However, excellent on your part LS! :)
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by Anonymous User on 01:13 PM April 28th, 2004 EST (#20)
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What about assistance for the three young boys to deal with the trauma and shame of being painted as rapists for a week?
Oh, I forgot. They're boys -- they don't need any help or have any feelings.
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