Seven male high school students ranging in age from 15 to 17 have been charged with sex crimes following an investigation of the shocking football locker room hazing rituals at New Jersey’s Sayreville War Memorial High School.
As we reported yesterday, Superintendent of schools Dr. Richard Labbe had cancelled the remainder of this year’s football season in light of allegations of sexual misconduct in the boy’s locker room. According to an anonymous tipster, ritual hazing included upperclassmen shoving their fingers in the rectums of underclassmen, and then into their mouths.
After the discovery of “credible and substantial evidence” to support the claims, the AP reports six of the boys were arrested and charged with “aggravated sexual assault, criminal restraint, hazing and other crimes for an act of sexual penetration.” The seventh boy charged is still being sought.
“We will come together as a school district and greater community to harness the strength required to support the young men who may have been victimized and then to begin the healing process for our beloved community,” Dr. Labbe added.
He said on Friday, the school launched investigations to squash any harassment, intimidation and/or bullying in the school’s other athletic teams. Tomorrow night, concerned parents plan to hold an anti-bullying rally in a nearby park.
The boys in custody are awaiting a Family Court decision that will determine whether they’ll spend time in a juvenile detention facility for their crimes.
Alton
Jesus Christ. Yes, this was stupid, and yes, the perpetrators deserved to be punished. But these boys were not raped. They were HAZED. Treating them like rape victims only serves to demean rape victims, and MAKE these boys feel more ashamed and embarrassed than they could possibly have ever felt without the school making such a huge deal out of this.
If the worst thing that happens to you throughout your life is that your high school football captain sticks a finger in your ass and then sticks it in your mouth, I’d say you’re having a pretty awesome life. Grow up, Dr. Labbe.
aliengod
@Alton: I completely agree with you. This is being blown way out of proportion!
stranded
I can understand the sympathy one might have for the football players charged with sexual assault. They’re teenagers who are just following a system of abuse they no doubt were victims to when they were freshmen. So i do think there should be some leniency, but then again if this was done to a girl by a group of football players, I doubt i’d be so lenient. So i guess justice being served. I don’t agree with @Alton at all, there is a huge difference between being woken up in the pre-dawn morning and having to do burpees and run a couple of miles and being held down and sodomized. To be honest, i don’t understand hazing at all. I don’t understand the point of demeaning a recruit as a way of encourage loyalty. I was amazed to see parents of football players angry at the school board for shutting down the season. How can parents be so unsympathetic? What about the coaches? No charges against them?
Ummmm Yeah
@Alton: Sticking things in people that don’t want this stuck in them is rape. It is a pretty simple definition that anyone but a rapist understands.
Ron Jackson
Well I DISagree with both of you. Hazing should not be tolerated. Bullying should not be tolerated. Sexual penetration of another without consent is called rape. Grow up. Dr Labbe did the right thing.
ssnowdes
@Alton: The UCR states, “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” is rape. This was rape. It fundamentally lacked consent, and ironically, by using the pass of “hazing” you are giving tacit assent to sexual assault. This is not “boys will be boys” bullshit. This IS rape.
Paco
@Alton: while I am sure some guys are having fapping fantasies about this (perhaps you?), having a person’s finger forced into your rectum and then your mouth to humiliate and demean is abuse and assault. Apparently someone didn’t enjoy it very much. It got reported. People who think sexual abuse is just a day of fun and games really worry me.
Stache99
@Alton: I wonder if you’d feel the same if it was girls being subjected to this. You seem to the attitude the guys can’t be raped.
DarkZephyr
@Alton: What a horrible attitude! YES it was rape! Are you kidding me!?!?!?
adventuretime
@Alton: This…is such a silly comment.
“Rape” and “haze” are not mutually exclusive terms/activities. One can easily be a part of the other, and it doesn’t make either more acceptable. Not to mention, as others have said, if a group of guys had held a girl down and done the same thing, there would be ABSOLUTELY no question of whether it was rape/sexual assault.
I don’t know about you (or because of your comment, maybe I do), but if a group of guys is gonna hold me down and force their fingers into my ass and my mouth (and God knows what else), you better be damn sure I’m calling assault. To think otherwise is ridiculous, and I’m happy somebody had the balls to come forward and speak about it, with all the hive mentality/peer pressure/covering up that exists as a part of team sports and (typically male) hazing rituals.
Stefano
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johnmanuel-andriote/gay-american-men-shocking_b_5962684.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
Alton
Since I’ve actually BEEN raped, I feel pretty qualified to tell the difference. I certainly don’t need any instruction from a bunch of pearl-clutching queens.
Since the story makes no mention that these boys were tied down, or even that they ever once said “no”, I’m wondering where you drama queens got the idea that this was non-consensual? Do you have evidence that any of these guys refused to participate? Do you have first hand knowledge that any of them tried to go to the coach, and was stopped by the ringleaders? Do you even know if the “anonymous tipster” was one of the victims, or someone who found out about second-hand? What exactly DO you physic abilities tell you about this case?
I can assure you, being beaten with a board, having your pants ripped down, and having someone stick their dick in your ass while they cover your mouth with their hand is not comparable with participating in something mildly uncomfortable and gross because you gave into peer pressure in a high school lockerroom.
Stop making people feel like victims just because you lack the ability to see degrees. Not one of those boys would change my experience for his. The fact that you look upon this stupid and juvenile incident as something that should scar them for life says way more about how asinine you are than it does about me.
montserrat
@Alton: You are absolutely, mind-numbingly ignorant and delusional if you think that this unwanted and forced behavior isn’t classified as rape or sexual assault. Either educate yourself or just stop speaking in general.
islandjim
I’m just wondering, if the persons involved had been women, would this just be hazing? Hmm, double standards, anyone?
tardis
I’m surprised to hear some people defend these kids. How is this correct and “jocks being jocks”? Sorry, but this is not okay.
Paco
@Alton: So because their assault wasn’t as severe as your own, it doesn’t count? Just because you were a victim of a horrible sex assault doesn’t make you an authority on who gets to feel victimized by any sexual assault upon their person. Someone felt victimized enough to report it to his parents, AND the previous article about this does say that the victims were allegedly restrained while the assaults took place.
I can only begin to imagine how traumatizing this “ritual” could be to a young teen that might be struggling with his sexual identity. When I was in high school, the locker room was a very uncomfortable place to be without any sexual “hazing”.
vonric
a response to alton. I, too, have been raped, some of which was seductive, some of which was violent and involved knives and broken bones. Some of the abuse was from men, some was from a woman. Some of it started when I was a kid, it all stopped when I moved away from my family of origin and started a life far, far away from the crazies.
I note the above in order to place my comments in a frame of parallel reference to your sad and unfortunate circumstance..
shoving fingers up an unwilling person’s ass, and then shoving it in their mouth is rape. It is rape legally, and it is rape in terms of the unwanted nature of the activity. The school is (finally) stepping up to what I strongly suspect may be a pattern of violent sexually oriented hazing that may have gone on for years……To that degree, I would have been concerned about “working with” the predators to determine where they learned this behavior… violence of this sort is frequently learned……but THAT said, these young men need to have a “lesson learned” that their behavior, however, seemingly condoned by a culture of ‘hazing’ is not acceptable.
as for the varied response on the part of the community, simply reflects the presumption that young men cannot be victimized …. which is BS
T101
This sounds like it’s right out of a FraternityX porno – wish I could have been in that locker room! 😉
Stache99
@T101: Yeah, seeing kids getting raped is HAWT! My dream is getting sent to prison and watching guys get brutally raped while I’m jacking off to it.
Alton
@tardis: Who is defending the kids?
I specifically said it was wrong, and should be punished.
What I object to is the trivializing of rape by comparing what these boys went through with what an actual rape victim goes through. There are degrees of sexual assault, and by all reported accounts, what these boys experienced is quite mild. Still wrong? Absolutely. Worth all this screeching melodrama? Definitely not.
Still no word on whether or not this was consensual, BTW, but feel free to speculate. I DID miss in my first read of the article that one of the charges is “criminal restraint”, so it’s possible that these boys WERE tied or held down. Hell, it’s even possible that this WAS truly non-consensual. My point is, whether it was consensual or not, it was wrong, and it is being made worse by treating these boys as if they are rape victims. That is far more about bystanders making themselves feel morally superior about being SO! VERY! OUTRAGED! than it is about getting justice for these boys. But sure, let’s go ahead and ruin both the perpetrators AND the victims lives by making this a huge deal. I’m sure that’s EXACTLY what the hazed kids want.
Alton
@Paco: Why don’t you ask the kids if they feel victimized, rather than telling them how victimized they were?
Paco
@Alton: I don’t need to and I wasn’t. One of them felt victimized enough to tell his parents on his own. You, however, should stop turning a sexual assault into simple horseplay. It’s rather f*cked up that you would do so.
Merv
@Stache99: You and me both, bro. You and me both.
But, seriously… It definitely sounds like rape, but there are degrees of rape. There’s brutal rape at knifepoint, and there’s kids horsing around that goes too far. I hope the law recognizes the difference.
Oli1023
@Alton: either you made up the fact that you were raped to make yourself “qualified” for this argument, or you’re severely handicapped mentally. It is creatures like you who downplay bullying, sexual assault and violence.
Alton
@Oli1023: Yes, obviously, because no one who’d been victimized could have a nuanced view of cases of assault.
You’re clearly more interested in maintaining your moral outrage than the welfare of those kids. I’m sure all your internet hand-wringing will do them wonders as they get whispered about and mocked and condescended to for the rest of their high schools days, and probably for years after. All because people like you won’t let them forget how very victimized they were. What a moral creature you are!
Alton
@Paco: It’s rather fucked up that you would assume those kids view it the same way you do without knowing anything about it…including if any of them was actually the one to tip off the school/cops.
Paco
@Alton: from the first article…
“The allegations have since been confirmed by the parents of a freshman child who was subjected to the ritual, and has sparked a criminal investigation with Sayreville police.”
But you go right on ahead minimizing it and promoting a continuation of this rape behavior. Just sweep it under the rug because they probably enjoyed it. Right? You sound more like a rapist than a victim IMO.
Alton
@Paco: Yes, that’s what I’m doing. Because the only options were to have a huge media circus or threaten the kids into silence. Anyone who doesn’t believe that a finger up the ass = rape OBVIOUSLY believes the victims were TOTALLY digging it, and must, in fact, be a rapist himself.
Don’t worry, kids! The Qeyboard Qrusaders of the Queerty Qomment Board are seeing to it that no one will forget that you’ve been horribly raped! They’ll make sure that any attempt to downplay the terrible ordeal you went through will be shouted down, and that you’ll be able to hang on to the shame and pain we insist you feel for the rest of your lives! Remember, you’ll ALWAYS be a victim!
Paco
@Alton: “If the worst thing that happens to you throughout your life is that your high school football captain sticks a finger in your ass and then sticks it in your mouth, I’d say you’re having a pretty awesome life. ”
Your words. Bye nutter.
Alton
@Paco: Yes, those are definitely my words, and I stand by them. If you haven’t had anything worse than that happen to you in your life, you’ve led a pretty charmed fucking life.
ultra
Alton, being a rape victim does not make you the authority on what constitutes rape and what doesn’t. I’m sorry for what you say happened to you.
The fact that so many people here disagree with you on this tells me that maybe your experience has robbed you of the ability to talk objectively about other instances of sexual assault, without making a clumsy attempt to minimise the experiences of others.
T101
@Stache99: Whatever… don;t tell me you never jacked off to one of those hazing.. frat porn sites..
Alton
@ultra: It seems to me that I’m one of the few here clearly displaying objective reasoning. By refusing to have a knee-jerk “OMG someone touched a bunghole RAPE!” reaction to this crime, it’s easier to determine what might be more helpful to the boys involved than shrieking to the world that they’ve been violated.
I’m wondering if anyone talked to the boys, separately and as a group, to find out how they felt about the incident. I’m wondering how much of the talking was telling the boys they’d been victimized, instead of asking the boys if they felt victimized. I wonder if the boys’ wishes about how to address the situation were taken into account, or if the superintendent was merely thinking about the trouble the school was in for once it became public knowledge that the incident happened on school property.
It’s possible that everyone involved DID take all the steps necessary to spare the boys additional pain and humiliation, but given the fact that their entire community has been told they’ve been raped, I tend to doubt it. It’s also possible that the boys are quite happy with the way the situation was handled, but having been a teenaged boy myself who experienced even more horrific circumstances, I tend to doubt that too.
But the most important thing is that the boys know that the Qeyboard Qrusaders of the Queerty Qomment Board are gonna by-god see to it that everyone scream about how they were raped until the perpetrators are sent to prison for life, and the whole world knows what was done to them and how horrific it was.
Randy
I was raped when I was a boy. As a young man I finally received some counseling. Maybe too little too late. I’m 50 years old now. It affects me still. I am lucky to have an understanding partner.
BlogShag
Oh my god, please haze me
Chris-MI
Each state sets its own legal definition of rape. Some states don’t even have rape per se, but instead refer to first, second, third, fourth degree sexual assault. These laws often make reference to penetration and coercion. If they’re being charged, the prosecutor would have looked at the circumstances and chosen the crime based on the statutes.
I really would urge people not to compare this sort of assault to their own experiences. The laws are designed to express the callousness of the assailant, and don’t capture all the circumstances that go into the degree of trauma to the victim, nor should they.
Bryguyf69
@Alton: Oh really? Are you even familiar with the case? The assault occurred on FOUR separate occasions. This was not a one time spontaneous event. Would you be so blase if 6 football players forcibly held you (or any other adult) down, anally penetrated you with fingers and then forced you to suck on the fingers? All the while being watched and laughed at by others? Keep in mind that unlike gay men cleansed for sex, their rectums probably had traces of feces. If you, like most people, consider this a sexual assault on an adult, why is it so harmless on a child? FYI, criminologists recognize that sex crimes are especially psychologically damaging, which is why many Police Departments have Special Victims Units.
You’re also clearly ignorant of the research on hazing — especially that which includes sexual assault. Your simplistic statement sees the event as a single moment in time, ignoring the psychological component and lasting effects. The International Journal of Adolescent Medicine & Health had excellent articles of male hazing a few years ago. For one thing, unlike “normal” rape, the offenders are often heroes within the community and receive widespread support despite the crime. As a result, the victims are further victimized and stigmatized — and often called sissies, crybabies and squealers. Many even receive death threats, especially when sports is affected. In fact, the families of the victims are also ostracized, often blamed for ruining the lives of the college-bound perps. Don’t believe me? Google prior cases. In normal rape, the victim receives universal sympathy.
In hazing, there is usually also no way to cleanly separate oneself from the trauma. The perps may go to prison, but how do you avoid seeing their friends, teammates and supporters? How do you avoid the audience of the hazing, most of whom probably won’t be arrested? Short of moving away, you can’t. And how do you know there won’t be retribution for the arrests, whether psychological or physical? At the very least, the victim can forget about rejoining the team since they’ll be blamed for ruining the season. Do you see anything similar in normal rape? Nope.
In male hazing, the whole point is humiliation and emasculation (much of which is based in homophobia) — so there is intentional psychological damage. In fact, the damage is often escalated, i.e. each successive act is more humiliating than the previous one. In other words, there is INTENTIONAL psychological AND physical hurt. Not so in most rape, where the main goal is physical sex, and the hurt is incidental.
In hazing, the act is prolonged, sometimes for hours and even days. In most normal rape, the rapist couldn’t wait to climax and flee. In this case, there were at least 4 incidences of sexual assault. And that’s not counting any intimidation outside of those incidents. For example, how do you think the victims felt seeing their tormentors in the halls, fearing that they may joke about the anal violations? Psychological intimidation is very much part of hazing, whose point is to reinforce a pecking order.
Finally, consider the ages of these victims. The pubescent years are already a time of sexual confusion and inadequacy. Sexual hazing and humiliation can, and does, have lasting effects on psychosexual development.
I’m also willing to bet that some jerk recorded the entire hazing, as is common in these days of social media. If so, the psychological trauma would be lifelong since you never know when the photos/videos may surface, and how many people have copies.
In short, please don’t ignorantly dismiss sexual hazing as less harmful than rape. Or claim that the case is overblown. Familiarize yourself with the case as well as hazing and sexual assault before posting further.
Alton
@Bryguyf69: Don’t worry, I’m done with this. If you and others are determined to make this the defining moment in these boys’ lives, it’s pointless to discuss it further. I just hope that no one in their families will find it necessary to constantly tell them what studies have shown they’re supposed to feel about being raped and hazed. God knows they’re going to get enough ridicule and stigma from their classmates and the community at large, since their parents and the school decided to make this a media freak show. You should present your expert, long-distance diagnosis at the trial, to ensure those boys are told exactly how traumatic this was for them.
Bryguyf69
@Alton wrote “Why don’t you ask the kids if they feel victimized, rather than telling them how victimized they were?”
===
And why don’t you do the same before proclaiming that our reaction is somehow overblown? And for some reason, you seem to think that criminal charges DEPEND on how the boys feel (as if they don’t feel peer pressure to keep silent). Wrong. The assaults happened on school ground so the boys don’t even have to press charges. Don’t believe me? Consider the ongoing case of Ray Rice knocking out his his then fiancee in the elevator. Now married, she has explicitly said that she doesn’t want to press charges and wants to be left alone. Yet experts universally agree that criminal charges don’t depend on her wishes or cooperation because an assault occurred property that they don’t own. Likewise, the [alleged] sexual hazing and assault not only violated school policy but many laws as well.
The fact that you seem to think that asking the victims is paramount shows not only your ignorance of the law, but also the psychology of sexual victimization, hazing and adolescence (i.e. peer pressure to keep quiet, and the male tendency to hide sex abuse). Look back to the notorious Mepham hazing case if you think it’s as easy as asking the victims. Seriously, pick up an academic journal and read what experts have found before arrogantly extrapolating your supposed experiences.
adventuretime
@Alton: Or maybe you should, seeing as you consider yourself the expert on all things rape.
At the end of the day, it was sexual assault, and it’s pretty fucked up. More than enough people have died or become severely injured as a result of stupid hazing rituals. Whether this is prosecuted as rape or not (although it, by definition, undoubtedly rape), I’m just happy that things were caught, stopped, and severely punished in this instance.
adventuretime
@Bryguyf69: And I second everything that Bryguy said to Alton about “asking the victims” about how traumatized they are. Wtf? Not OK.
Lvng1Tor
@Alton: Seek therapy. I’m not being mean or catty. I can see by your posts you are deeply angry inside over what happened to you and I hope that you get the help you need to heal.
These boys were sexually assaulted. The boys doing it are the ones who jeopardized their own futures. Yes, many of them may have been “initiated” the same way and may have unresolved anger issues too. They will need therapy as well as the boys they aggressively sought to torment and humiliate by raping them. That doesn’t mean (and depending how many boys come forward) that they should be let off the hook. They committed aggravated criminal sexual assault and must be held accountable for their actions.
Lvng1Tor
Also, to Queerty. It’s NOT OK that you used pics of under-aged boys not involved in the investigation for your piece. I don’t care if other “news” agencies did the same. Not Ok!
Bryguyf69
@T101 wrote “Whatever… don;t tell me you never jacked off to one of those hazing.. frat porn sites..”
===
Were any of those actors held against their will? Were any laws broken? Sorry, but the depiction of something is a far cry from an actual occurrence. And we as mature viewers know that. Furthermore, were these boys financially compensated for being hazed? Finally, I’m willing to bet that those frat porn guys were no virgins, and were psychologically and physically comfortable with anal penetration. Do you seriously think that these pubescent boys (probably 14-15 y/o) were similarly prepped? Do you think they enjoyed sucking on a finger that was just taken out of their dirty rectums? If not, they suffered. And I think that I can speak for MOST people when I say that we’re not turned on by actual suffering.
esemple
Boys will be boys. It is not a crime to be a boy. Good lesson to keep their rectums clean.
KwisatzHaderach
@Lvng1Tor:
Not involved in the investigation? So neither perpetrator nor victim? I think some of these boys might appreciate having that known at least…
Lvng1Tor
@KwisatzHaderach: yes…at least. The very least. Then the pic should be used in a story about not every member of the team is a rapist.
stanhope
@Alton: I won’t further abuse you by saying what I candidly think of your comment. Suffice it ti say that we’ll pray for your enlightenment and be empathetic for your ordeal. You are just wrong.
stanhope
@Alton: @montserrat: Alton was not only physically raped but mentally as well. This is apparently from his comments and the tenacity with which he holds them. I just hope that one day he’ll come to understand that his attitude is just flat out wrong. Peace.
StephK
@Alton I live in a neighboring town to where this horrific incident took place. Yes, the community protested the sacking of the football season, but that was before full details were disclosed as to exactly what happened. It should go without saying, nobody is protesting anymore. If anything the whole community is in shock. These are their sons, nephews and cousins who were sodomized ( and not hazed). As for the kids themselves and their families, who can say how much of their lives have been ruined by these assaults? Certainly you can’t. Your lack of empathy is appalling, as you seem to be incapable of understanding the gravity of this situation. Let us just hope and pray that nobody.. not the victims nor the perpetrators… feel that they have to take their own lives to escape the shame, anger and hurt from this horrible crime. And btw Dr. Labbe did what he had to do in compliance with new anti-bullying legislation that followed the Tyler Clementi suicide.Alton.. did you forget that happened? Dr. Labbe is to be commended, not ridiculed, and Alton ..you need to grow up!
Cagnazzo82
@Alton: Sorry but sticking your finger into someone’s butt and then putting it in their mouths is pretty much rape.
It’s also utterly, utterly disgusting.
If you penetrated a woman against her will with your finger *that would be rape*. Just because it happens to a man doesn’t make it any less so.
And again, it is utterly disgusting to think that a group of kids would actually find this to be a funny hazing ritual.
Merv
The report forgot to mention the name of the football team. It was The Aristocrats.
Leonard Woodrow
Don’t be so bloody silly! Minimising such bestial, demoralising practises is condoning them.
Of course it’s not as bad as rape, but it still needs publicising and eradicating. My congratulations to the authorities in going for it.
Leonard Woodrow
@Alton: Don’t be so bloody silly! Minimising such bestial, demoralising practises is condoning them.
Of course it’s not as bad as rape, but it still needs publicising and eradicating. My congratulations to the authorities in going for it.
frubino
I’m looking forward to it as The Magnificent Seven will have to surrender his uniform and leave the arena and tear-stained with tears in his mothers arms as all of you have raised the nose to the sky.
The young men of America are not normal for us. They can not think of the proper logic that you are the instrument of human society into one understanding .. but as I see you, you’re so fucking selfish and primitive.
tricky ricky
what I find particularly disturbing is that some of the people in this town think this was nothing. they blame the kids who told that this was done to them for ruining the football season and not the jackasses that did the actual hazing.
Chris
Three thoughts:
(a) rape is rape. And what happened here certainly qualifies as that. I do not wish to deny that people may be raped in other, seemingly more-horrific circumstances (as seems to have happened to some other posters here); but a line was crossed and the district’s response of cancelling the football season so as to provoke the needed conversation about hazing and the police response of charging the perps with crimes seem appropriate.
(b) how long has this sort of hazing been going on? I cannot believe that this is the first year it happened. Based on the all-too-often-true truisms that abusers were themselves abused and that bullies were themselves bullied, I must wonder what happened and how long others on this football team have been abused in the name of hazing.
If the district and police really want to clean house, then they need to ask the larger, more long-term question and be willing to follow it to its logical end point.
What is more, I’d hope that we can wrap our minds around the possibility that this event was the latest in a cycle wherein some victimizers may have been victims a scant two or three years prior.
(c) and finally, I do hope that the victims find the help they might need to overcome the trauma of being raped; and my hat is off to the courageous young man/men who reported this to their parents and school personnel.
Jack86
@T101: Please Kill Yourself
NoCagada
@Alton: LEGALLY, it fits the definition of rape.
NoCagada
@esemple: Straight men always have a problem with that! Especially, when they take it up the butt.
vive
You cannot say that people under 18 are unable to consent to sex (as in all the “statutory rape” stories here) and then turn around and criminally charge people under 18 with sex crimes. It’s by definition a contradiction.
I am not saying there shouldn’t be punishment, but the legalities here seem totally inconsistent.
Bryguyf69
@vive wrote “You cannot say that people under 18 are unable to consent to sex (as in all the “statutory rape” stories here) and then turn around and criminally charge people under 18 with sex crimes. It’s by definition a contradiction.”
===
I don’t understand. Where is the contradiction? First, who said, “people under 18 are unable to consent to sex”? The age of consent in NJ is 16, with 13 being the minimum age if his/her partner is not more than 4 years older. So all these boys — the victims as well as perpetrators — could have had a legal orgy if there was consent. The issue is that the victims were held and sexually assaulted against their will. Hence, a sex crime. And it would be a sex crime regardless of the age of the victim or perp. Where is the contradiction?
MacAdvisor
@Ummmm Yeah: Alan, I am sorry, but, by and large, your definition of rape is simply not historically accurate and I am not even sure it is accurate in most states. Those children were clearly battered, perhaps sexually battered, likely assaulted, but not raped by the historical definition. Not until 2012, did the FBI changed their definition of rape from “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will” to “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Even the standard dictionary defines rape as, “the crime, typically committed by a man, of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse with him without their consent and against their will, esp. by the threat or use of violence against them.” Fingers and anuses do not sexual intercourse make. Under the Common Law, rape happens only to females, must be by force, must include vaginal penetration, and the victim must protest, either verbally or physically try to resist.
Because of the history bias built in to rape, sexual assault or battery are the preferred terms (and, just as a basic primer, “assault” is putting someone in the reasonable fear or apprehension of being battered and battery is “any form of offensive or unwanted touching”). Whether the act is battery or sexual battery generally depends on if the goal of the perpetrator was sexual pleasure. I am not sure the facts here support such a conclusion. I think the goal of the act was humiliation nor sexual gratification. I don’t have the time to run down all the specifics of Florida law, but I think we can confine ourselves to battery without raising the flag of “rape” without diminishing the appalling attack on these children.
Bryguyf69
@MacAdvisor wrote ” I don’t have the time to run down all the specifics of Florida law, but I think we can confine ourselves to battery without raising the flag of “rape” without diminishing the appalling attack on these children.”
===
I’m not sure why you’d have to refer to Florida law when this took place in New Jersey. And at least one of the episodes fit New Jersey’s definition for Aggravated Sexual Assault, aka Rape, which lumps humiliation and degredation with sexual gratification.
1) There was anal penetration with an object, including the finger, regardless of depth.
2a) The victim was 13-16 y/o and the perp had supervisory or disciplinary power over the victim,
– OR if you disagree that a senior teammate holds such power over a junior member then consider 2b…
2b) The perp was aided by at least one other person and physical force or coercion was used
1 and EITHER 2a or 2b are enough to charge someone with Aggravated Sexual Assault of the First Degree, aka Rape, in New Jersey. And most prosecutors will go for the maximum charge that can stick, and battery ain’t it.
kernowcraig
@Alton: Only an American would say that. You may be interested to know, the rest of the world wouldn’t think this as normal behaviour.
Bob LaBlah
I’ll bet the one in the middle of the picture is really hung. Why else would they have put a minority in the picture except to show how painful penetration had to be? They are trying to be subtle about the hint but it is too obvious.
Bryguyf69
@Bob LaBlah: I know/hope you’re joking but being an anal-retentive (no pun intended) academic, I have to respond…
1) “They” (Queerty) didn’t put a minority in the picture. It is a publicity photo from the high school so the contents was determined by the photographer.
2) That player is of undetermined race. He could be a tanned Caucasian, a Latino, light-skinned African-American — or mixed race. If Queerty wanted to display dark skin, there are other photos of darker players, i.e. used by The Wall Street Journal, which Queerty can crop to focus on the Black player.
3) The penetration was done with fingers. As far as I know, dark skinned people don’t have longer or thicker fingers.
4) Finally, there’s been no accusation of physical pain YET — which is actually irrelevant for a charge of Sexual Assault (aka Rape). The victim could have enjoyed it and it would still have been rape because it was done without his consent and he was restrained.
stranded
@tardis: I’m not defending these but i am sympathetic. They probably had the same or similar things done to them, they also grew up in a community that turned it’s back on any of their bad behavior as long as they won the game. These guys need help, therapy. Incarceration solves nothing, it only leads them down a tougher road. They need to go to juvie, but instead of just bouncing within those walls, they need a mental health professionals to show them what they did was wrong and how to move on from this.
MacAdvisor
@Bryguyf69: “I’m not sure why you’d have to refer to Florida law when this took place in New Jersey”
I stand corrected. I thought the incident took place in Florida, but I don’t have time to chase down New Jersey law either. My point was the incidents were certainly battery, likely assault (the article doesn’t speak to the aspect of apprehension necessary for assault), and, depending on the specific rules, sexual battery or assault. However, those are not, legally, synonyms for rape, which was my point.
Bob LaBlah
@Bryguyf69: Between me and you, I wouldn’t have told anyone about me being one of those (anal-retentive). But I am not offended. I actually laughed until I looked up the definition of it. Then I laughed even louder thinking about those who mistook you for a regular as…….well, you know. (smile, hugs and kisses).
Billy Budd
I wouldn’t put the kids in a correctional facility. I would 1)Make them pay with community service and 2)Would expel them from the school and 3)Would not allow them to ever play in a school team again.