Tragedy of Luke King Reminds Us Rape Suspects Are Always Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Article here. Thanks, IBT, for continuing to have the courage to state the obvious. These days, it can indeed take courage to do that. Excerpt:

'Luke King, 23, of Whitehaven, Cumbria, England, committed suicide on 23 May 2014. King had been falsely accused of rape in 2010 and detained for two days until the accusation was thrown out. In the aftermath of his temporary detention King struggled with drugs, and depression, before eventually taking his own life.

It's perhaps easier for someone older to place such a harrowing experience in life's context, especially if they have no significant mental health issues. But for a 19-year-old, just or almost out of adolescence, the ordeal of a false rape accusation can be truly horrendous, especially if that person also has a tendency towards depression.

Plenty of crimes spark outrage and condemnation, but rape accusations seem to be in their own class. Of all violent crimes, including murder, when victims are women and the most likely suspect(s) men, it is rape that generates the greatest outrage among both sexes.
...
Presumed innocence isn't just a fair, ethical criminal standard, but often a life-saving one -- assuming of course you value the lives of men.'

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