Massachusetts: Supreme Judicial Court sees possible bias in rape case

Submitted by anthony on Sat, 2009-02-07 20:58

Article here. Excerpt:

'A sharply divided Supreme Judicial Court said yesterday that a 14-year-old boy accused of statutory rape may have been a victim of gender discrimination because authorities charged him and not the three underage girls with whom he allegedly had sex.

The case, which originated in Plymouth County, involved a high school freshman football player who is accused of engaging in various sex acts from August to October 2007 with three girls. Two were 12, and the other was 11.

"None of the complainants reported being afraid of the boy's behavior," Chief Justice Margaret Marshall wrote for the majority. "Indeed, sexual behavior seemed to melt seamlessly into games of 'manhunt,' 'truth or dare,' and 'making out.' Some of it occurred with more than one complainant present."
...
In its 3-to-2 ruling, the majority emphasized that statutory rape laws, which once exclusively protected girls, are now gender-neutral. The boy, the court said, has a constitutional right to see if Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz's office discriminates against boys when prosecuting statutory rape cases.'

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ORLY?

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Submitted by Michael on Sun, 2009-02-08 11:03

If the girls did not object and were willing participants, then the boy is not guilty. And if they want to charge him for sexual activity since he is under 16, they have to do the same for the girls or it it is a violation of the constitution's equal protection clause. Sadly, that gets violated all the time and little is done about it.

It just seems ridiculous to me that because a boy was curious and fooled around with willing participants that he will now have to register as a sex offender and be stigmatized for life. I thought the sex offender registry was created to help protect children from predators, not other children.

Evan AKA X-TRNL
Real Men Don't Take Abuse!

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Submitted by xtrnl on Mon, 2009-02-09 14:42

Readers please spread the word that under the law in all states “any” underage sex or sexual activity even if it is consensual between two underage kids is a felony!!

DAs have become relentless in prosecuting underage consensual sexual activity cases under the very statutory laws put in place to protect kids. They seem to care less that this is ruining otherwise innocent kids and families across our nation. And courts are sending kids and teens to jail, requiring kids as young as 14 to register as a sex offender "for life", and forcing them into barbaric sex offender treatment programs (see comments below).

Our schools are not teaching this fact and most parents do not even understand this tragedy, but there are tens of thousands of untold heart-breaking stories involving kids across our nation who are now faced with a life of complete ruin as a registered sex offender for consensual sexual activity.

In so-called "sex offender treatment programs", boys as young as 12 are being forced to listen to videos and audio recordings of violent rape and other deviant sex acts while they wear a metal ring around their genitals to see if they get aroused (search Plethysmographs ); they are forced to repeatedly masturbate while watching and listening to violent rape and other deviant sexual recordings (search Masturbatory Satiation), and it gets worse (search arousal reconditioning, cognitive restructuring).

Again, please spread the word before an entire generation of boys ends up in abusive sex offender treatment programs and on the sex offender registry for life.

James Regal

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Submitted by slaute on Sun, 2009-07-12 22:23