You might remember Ohio’s Patricia Dye from August, when we learned prosecutors were having a hard time getting charges to stick to her for pretending to be a boy in order to have sex with underage girls. Going by the name Matt Abrams, Dye was only discovered in June when one 16-year-old girl ran away from home and stayed with her in a hotel room, then fled when she learned of the ruse. Yesterday Dye plead guilty — and received just a six month sentence and two years of probation.
After initially pleading not guilty, Dye plead out on misdemeanor charges of sexual imposition, attempted sexual imposition, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
But isn’t this woman a … pedophile? (Actually, she’d be considered a pederast; her victims, of which there are at least two or three, were post-adolescent though one was under 16, the age of consent.) Yes, she is. She targeted young girls to have sex with them — that she disguised she was actually a woman might be discomforting to some, but it’s besides the point.
Or it should be. Prosecutors found themselves without any appropriate criminal laws to work with because, apparently, felony rape charges were designed for adult men who prey on women. (I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t fully understand how penal code outlawing rape can be gender specific, so please enlighten me.) After Dye was arrested, Warren County prosecutors lamented about not having the ability to charge Dye with a crime for pretending to be a boy, which sounds utterly preposterous.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Regardless of Dye’s cross-dressing ways (she cut her hair short and, at 4-foot-11 and skinny, managed to play the part), she is a monster. She molested children. And she’ll only serve six months. Can we even legally call her a rapist?
Pip
honestly, she looks kind of cute.
Devon
This is just disgusting. Any man who pulled the same scam would be rightfully prosecuted to the fullest extent, and he’d serve substantial jail time. This country, a lot of countries actually, have a serious problem with women receiving grossly lenient sentences for committing sex crimes that men would be locked up for…For years, not a few months.
Ian
Oh lord, I wonder which actress will be acting in this “Monster” redux?
Romancing the Bone
I’d do him…I mean her.
REVEMUPMAN
hummmmm
Are my words starting to penetrate now? Or do we need more evidence of this obvious inequity?
Wake the fuck up, or stay asleep.
Your choice…
REVEMUPMAN
And look at the bum ass first comment down playing her pedophilia…..
lmfao…. But I’m a misogynist huh?
Chris H
@REVEMUPMAN: oh fuck off. saying that there’s an inequality in sentencing, like this one did, isn’t misogynistic. Saying that women are profiting and pursuing situations like it’s some kind of global plan of womanhood is what makes you a fucking misogynist.
REVEMUPMAN
@Chris H
Enjoy that long rest my friend…..
Tori
She looks like the brother on gossip girl.
Michael
You ask: “Can we even legally call her a rapist?” Without penetration, the answer is no.
B
QUEERTY: “(I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t fully understand how penal code outlawing rape can be gender specific, so please enlighten me.)”
You can read http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2907 – there doesn’t seem to be a sex offense for “pretending to be a boy.” Rape or other sexual offenses involving sexual contact are defined to require some sort of coercion or taking advantage of a victim who cannot for some reason make a decision or a victim below an age threshold.
FYI
Ohio has always been a rabidly homophobic state. I remember when a young man was sent to jail for several weeks for just whistling at another man jogging in the park. But there are other examples.
The case Below is an old case from several years ago, but look how screwed up the laws were then (and still are) concerning the GLBT community.
From the link below, an excerpt:
http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories06/march/0331061.htm
“The Eleventh Ohio District Court of Appeals opened the way for the suit in December when it cleared Phillips of all wrongdoing in the case.
Phillips, 19 at the time, was convicted twice in 2003 of violating Ohio’s importuning law, which had been struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court seven months earlier.
The measure had made it a crime to ask someone of the same sex for sex, if it might offend them. It did not apply to heterosexual situations, which is part of the reason the court found it unconstitutional.
Phillips served four months in jail, and did not discover there was no such law until after he was released.
His attorney Randi Barnabee of Bedford told the appeals court that her client was “failed at every level, and by everyone.”
The city of Warren, which prosecuted Phillips, did not file a brief in the appeals court or show up for oral arguments.”
Enron
Kinda looks like James Franco.
JoeyO'H
@Devon: I agree with you 100%. If it had been a boy, he would be charged to the full extent of the law.
Why didn’t this girl hook up with other lesbians is beyond me. I guess she has a thing for st8 gurls. Stupid girl.
DR
Ok, first, Queerty, you neglect to mention the FIFTEEN YEAR registration requirement which is a condition of the Court finding her to be a sexual offender. Hefty requirement despite the perceived light sentence.
Second, explanation of rape coming from a lawyer (I don’t practice in Ohio, but this law isn’t too difficult to understand, and thanks to B for linking the relevant laws)….It’s not a matter of the crime being “gender specific” or “only between a man and a woman”, rather it’s what I would call “fact specific”. Rape, as applicable to *this* scenario, would have to entail sexual conduct via force, threat of force, substantial impairment of the victim’s ability to consent via use of drugs or alcohol, or with a person under the age of 13.
Sexual conduct under Ohio law is defined as: vaginal intercourse between a male and female; anal intercourse, fellatio, and cunnilingus between persons regardless of sex; and, without privilege to do so, the insertion, however slight, of any part of the body or any instrument, apparatus, or other object into the vaginal or anal opening of another. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete vaginal or anal intercourse.
*If* there was any sexual contact (including cunnilingus), the rape law would apply regardless of gender (note the language “regardless of sex”). If the victim says that no cunnilingus or other penetration happened, or that it wasn’t forced, then rape doesn’t exist. Don’t worry, women in Ohio can be charged with rape for preying on women *if* there is sexual conduct as noted above.
Third… sexual imposition is really the only statute which fits. (A) No person shall have sexual contact with another, not the spouse of the offender; cause another, not the spouse of the offender, to have sexual contact with the offender; or cause two or more other persons to have sexual contact when any of the following applies: (1) The offender knows that the sexual contact is offensive to the other person, or one of the other persons, or is reckless in that regard.
Sexual contact is defined as: any touching of an erogenous zone of another, including without limitation the thigh, genitals, buttock, pubic region, or, if the person is a female, a breast, for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying either person.
Sounds like there was heavy petting but no attempts at intercourse, so rape doesn’t fit, but the sexual imposition charge does.
The reality is that the sentence, in terms of the six months in jail/two years probation fits the crimes with which she was charged and the facts of those crimes (two misdemeanor threes and a misdemeanor one). The finding that she is a sexual offender and must register every six months for the next FIFTEEN YEARS takes into account how she chose to solicit sex from minors, in this case by pretending to be a boy. You should not have left out that fact, Queerty, I suspect it changes people’s perception of the actual sentence.
How would *you* like to have your picture, name, address, place of employment, and other info on the web for all to see with the designation of “pervert” attached to it for the next fifteen years?
Lamar
The thing that REALLY pisses me off is that when a woman commits a sexual crime no one shows anywhere near as much anger but if it was a man way more people would be commenting negatively about him as if pedophilia is less disgusting when it’s a woman is the perpetrator. The government should actively work to make sure that men are treated fairly when it comes to sentencing. They make laws to help females in society such as the Violence Against Women Act but when its about primarily male issues such as unequal sentencing or prison rape suddenly they aren’t as concerned. Even feminists should be campaigning against this if, after all their goal is to be equal with men.
April
Um…can I just say that this is a way more typical sentence for a crime like this than many people realize? Yeah, it’s a disgustingly light sentence. Most of them are. Someone, male or female, who has sex with a teen close to the age of consent is unlikely to even get jail time in my state. Without the gender issue I doubt this would have been prosecuted. It would have been the same old doubting of teenage girls I’ve seen dozens of times: “she had sex and then didn’t want to get in trouble with her parents…so she invented this story…” or “well, he says she lied about her age…” Contrary to popular belief, the only place rape victims are consistantly believed and taken seriously in on TV.
Granted, I’m not from Ohio. But I’m reading this story and thinking: “hey, jail time, win!” Sad, I know, but that’s the reality of sex crimes in our criminal justice system.
April
…and Lamar, I haven’t seen anyone not taking this case seriously because of the gender of the offender. Whenever I see stories like this I see a lot of accusations of such attitudes, but have yet to actually hear from someone who feels that way.
Feminists are incredibly active on issues like prison rape. The government has dedicated enormous resources to that as well. Check out PREA.
Here’s another fact that might be surprising to you: I work for a VAWA-funded program that serves men daily. The Violence Against Women Act is intended to bring attention to the types of violence that disproportionately impact women, especially domestic and sexual violence. It does not ban us from serving male victims, and every domestic violence program I know of does.
That’s what makes me crazy about people who call themselves “men’s rights” advocates. I serve more male victims of abuse than they do, but I supposedly hate men and don’t want to help them. It’s rediculous. These people have never worked in a domestic violence program. They have no idea what we do. Not a good source of information.
Lamar
@April: Some people are not taking the crime seriously because of the gender of the perpetrator. Some people are making inappropriate jokes about what happened as if it’s nothing serious but if it was a man who did this I guarantee you that their would be less jokes made.
I think most people have heard about feminists criticizing the wage gap but I doubt many people have heard about them campaigning about prison rape.
If the Violence Against Women Act was actually intended to bring attention to the types of violence that disproportionately impact women, especially domestic and sexual violence it would have a neutral name, not one that suggests that women are always victims and men aggressive criminals.
DR
The truth is that Lamar’s comments are decidedly untrue.
First of all, women make up only 3.5% of all sexual offenders; there’s not exactly a surge of female sex offenders out there to begin with.
I did a little surfing and found some interesting stuff. Admittedly a lot of the research is focused on teachers, but it provides some interesting insight as to why claims that female sex offenders get slapped on the wrist while men get hammered are patently untrue.
According to the study “Women and Men Who Sexually Abuse Children: A Comparative Analysis”, researcher Craig Allen studied 75 male and 65 female offenders in the Midwest. “Relatively similar proportions of female and male offenders had charges pressed against them (52% and 55%, respectively),” Allen reported. “However, more female offenders (30%) were put in jail than male offenders (25%).” Five of the 65 women were in prison during the study, which inflated the female number. But at best, the gender comparison was a wash. (as cited by Slate Magazine, http://www.slate.com/id/2134158/, January 16, 2006).
Additionally, Slate staff did some research of their own, and found that there are certain aggravating and mitigating factors between male and female sexual offenders which impact sentencing. Men were more likely to solicit sex from teenagers under the age of 15, while women were more likely to solicit sex from older teens. Most men molested multiple victims, most women did not. Most women sought long-term relationships with their victims, men did not. However, Slate’s research also showed that where the crimes were comparable, women generally received harsher sentences than their male counterparts.
This was a tough case. The case law and statutes don’t provide a lot of options if there was no intercourse, and the state had to work with the law as it existed. I’m personally not keen on amending rape laws to suggest that manipulation such as this falls into the category of rape. Think about the ultimate ramifications on the T community if courts began holding that this type of manipulation equated rape…
michelamio
I am a victim of the same thing he did to these young women,although my perp was a bio male.It has tainted every relationship I have ever had with men, including my own father.Deception seems even more cruel regarding his gender identity, concerning misleading these young women. Most trans suffer from Gender Dysphoria, some so bad it can be considered a psychosis.I feel compassion for all trans that suffer .I also feel compassion for the victims here, and their families.I can understand a parents anger and wrath toward this young man also.Their child was deceived by him, lured in by him,and had sexual acts performed on them, by him.Perhaps he suffers from deep mental problems that have gone unchecked; pathological lying is a psychosis too,but it looks like a light sentence was meted out for a serious crime. Yes, cunnilingus is sex, and there is no soft stepping it, because of “lack of penetration”.
Being married to an FTM , I asked him what he thought about this article, and this young man,and he agrees that he has committed an act of pedophilia, and no matter who commits this crime, it should have serious consequences.I don’t hate men, nor do I hate women, but I fear for a society that thinks this is “a cute boy” that used poor judgement.What difference does it make , or how relevant is it that he looks like a movie star ? He needs help, and he may have really screwed with his victim’s minds, and young psyche’s ,for a long time to come.Perhaps they will never trust men, or women .From a legal standpoint, I hope he does not use gender dysphoria as an excuse for committing an act of sex with a minor.I would very much like to see the defense testimony used by his attorney.
Hmmmmmm (John from England)
@DR:
That you know of. The amount of women I know who have sexually abused their sons but it will never see the light of day because the children are scared and too macho.
In fact a friend was telling me the other day how his first girlf was 18 whilst he was 12 and no one bit their eye lids. We recently had a story in the uk about the 15 year old girl who climbed she was pregnant with a 13 year old boy. Not once was she bought up on it.
But at the end of the day it’s the men that made these rules……
Lamar
@DR: By the way I wasn’t implying that cases of sexual abuse by women are surging I’m just saying that they aren’t taken as seriously. The particular study that you sited may very well be true but generally across the world I’m sure that the opposite is true, common sense can tell anyone that.
DR
@Lamar:
Lamar, did you read any of what I linked to? Did you even read my post? When women go to jail more frequently than men for committing the same exact crimes, clearly they’re being taken seriously. Stop generalizing. It’s obnoxious. It’s arrogant. It’s ignorant.
How do you know what happens around the world when it appears you can’t even bother reading and comprehending the results of a study I posted AND summarized for you, dismissing it as false because it doesn’t fit YOUR opinion?
Alex
When I get my SRS I’m going to have sex with straight guys that are going to know nothing. I know that there are huge sexist, moral problems with gender specific rape definitions and the sentencing resulting from that. I don’t really see this as being a horrible thing. Imagine if the people were all over age. It starts to sound a lot like we’re dammin’ them faggots fer trickin’ the straights into bein’ gay. I don’t see what’s wrong with that aspect of the case.
Kay
@Ian: This will not be made a movie, that poor girl and her mother has say so and I KNOW they wont allow it.
Emma
Your answer: No, she is not a rapist. I have heard no reports that she ACTUALLY had sex with the girl she was attempting to seduce. The reason she only got six months is because it seems like she never got the chance to do anything THAT bad. Even your use of the term ‘molestation’ seems stretched.
cch
dude thats not funny i was involved in this crap!!! im 15 and she ruined my life!!!!! have a heart for the kids this happened to.
Kaleigh
@Ian: No one because It is not going to be made a movie. The families invovled will not allowe it