Real Panic At The Disco: 13-Year-Old Sexually Assaulted At A School Dance

kellieann
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 05:01 pm: [report]

Why would you not press charges?! This OBVIOUSLY isn’t in America! That poor girl is going to be messed up for life.

LiciMama
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 05:15 pm: [report]

Parenting FAIL. That is their little girl and they arent pressing charges?! I would be sleeping in her room on the floor for a while until she felt safe. Counseling would be a must. Anything she needed to get her self worth and safe feeling back, I would do it.

C.Munro
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 05:39 pm: [report]

Of course the parents of the girl should press charges.  If this were something the school could “handle” there wouldn’t have been a freakin’ sexual assault in the first place. 

But I suspect the real parenting failure lies with the families of the boys who committed the assault.  How is it that they think they can do this kind of stuff?  Where the hell is their empathy, their respect for others?  Chaperones are there to keep necking couples in line, not to stop kids from committing outright crimes.

CheeeeEEEEse
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 08:01 pm: [report]

Yawn! This is nothing compared to the racial violence that 2 undercover Islamic reporters experienced in Britain. Read up on that stuff.

dizzy
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 09:19 pm: [report]

Despicable. The entire school staff should be replaced.

Kati-Anne
wrote on October 19 2009 @ 09:48 pm: [report]

Something very similar to this happened at my middle school, but the media never caught wind of it (likely because we weren’t locked down in the school). There definitely weren’t any charges pressed though, I think it was because it wasn’t “rape-rape”. How utterly horrifying.

misspixie
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 01:21 am: [report]

Ok, I am going to play devil’s advocate for a second. Let’s say they did press charges - let’s look at the repercussions of that happening. Their 13 year old daughter will have to relive the experience over again in public in court - which could be more damaging if anything. If the kids get convicted they will have a permanent criminal record for life. Additionally, all of them are under 16 which causes more issues as 16 is the age of consent and convicting those under the age of 16 is a more complex issue. So, screw up all the kids lives or maybe just expel the boys from the school and deal with it that way. I know - you should probably throw them in jail, right, but how constructive is that going to be, really?

Cheese - yes, we have racism in this country, but let’s look at yours a second shall we? Not exactly got a clean sheet where racism is concerned. A lot of places in my country are actually fairly well integrated, those reporters went onto a very rough estate which is a tiny microcosm in and of itself and I suspect the US has ghetto type areas like that, too. No, ghettos are not great and shouldn’t happen, but sometimes acceptance can take a long time and there are people who will hold a grudge for a long time, especially where Islam is concerned (which is unfortunate as the few have tarnished the many, especially where 9/11 and our 7/7 bombings are concerned) and I suspect a lot of people in the US will take a long time to accept them too. So, let’s not start pointing fingers at each other’s countries, hmm?

LiciMama
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 06:39 am: [report]

So the alternative is too let the boys off easy? Doesn’t that send the message, not just to those 2 boys but to all that viewed it, that no one is really going to do anything about it. The girls don’t feel safe and the boys get what they want.

bogart4017
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 07:23 am: [report]

If there exists any eqivalent of a District Attorney over there serious action should be taken. Chaperones, principal,asst principals,admininstration—goodbye! Parents of the victim, parents of the perps and parents of the punk kids who stood around and watched should be publicly rebuked! Severely!
The parents of the 13yo may think they are protecting their daughter but ultimately more harm is being done than good. Rape is not something you just “put behind you” and “move on”.

writergirl
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 07:34 am: [report]

Actually, Bogart, I think the legal system in the UK works similar to ours.  If charges aren’t pressed the “DA” can’t move forward with the case because essentially, there is no case.

So unless her parents agree to cooperate, this can’t move forward.

Unfortunate, really, I think there should be some case brought against the boys and then the kids who watched—they should be held as accomplices (they would in the US, at any rate).  I’m very surprised by the parents actions, yet, on the other hand, MissPixie makes a valid point as to why the parents may be acting as they are.  I don’t agree with it, but you have to hope they know what is the best course of action for their daughter.

Riley
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 08:02 am: [report]

Placing the blame entirely on the school staff is like blaming the police after a murder.  They aren’t mind readers, and how can they possibly keep every single student in check at all times?  It is especially difficult when there is no cooperation from the rest of the students.

There should be charges brought up against the boys for sure. 

As for the legal system compared to the US system, ours is dependent on the state law with regard to crimes against an individual.  Some states do not require the victim’s approval to press charges, the state can decide to go ahead and prosecute based on what evidence they have.  It makes things more difficult without victim testimony, but it isn’t all that uncommon.

Side note: When will “FAIL” become passé?  It is about as tired as uber or pwn.

Raugiel
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 11:42 am: [report]

@ misspixie - I agree that, IF the daughter does not want to press charges, the parents should respect that. No symptahy for the futures of these boys though. 15 is old enough to know that holding someone down and forcing a sex act on them is WRONG and carries consequences.

spatula
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 11:59 am: [report]

@miss pixie: seriosly? no one pointed fingers at anyone’s country, so chill.

I am inclined to agree that it should be up to the parents as far as pressing charges goes, although if I were a parent, I’d see to it that they were.

jackofhearts
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 12:26 pm: [report]

To give the article it’s context, The Daily Mail is a right-wing, pretty bigoted and, in some cases, extremist newspaper which is known for exaggeration, manipulation of facts and (in some cases) downright lies. You don’t read The Daily Mail for a balanced view.

This is pretty much par for the course for The Daily Mail. If you notice, the full article reads,

“A source at the school said of the attack: ‘It was in the school hall in front of everyone… All the pupils in her year have had their mobiles and laptops taken away so they don’t tell anyone.’”

Who is this source? Presumably it’s not anyone who actually saw the attack and therefore is going on hearsay and rumour. That quote appears to add credence to the article, but actually adds nothing whatsoever.

If the alleged sex attack did take place, then I’m not condoning it in any way, I’d just advise all foreign readers, unfamiliar with this paper, to not trust any spin The Daily Mail puts on story like this.

In addition to this, I attended a school of a similar ilk to the one in this article. They are hothouses for rumours and scandal and things get blown out of proportion quickly, often with dramatic results.

At my school a visiting guest was accused of trying to rape a girl, during which attack her arm was broken and her face scratched. It was duly reported in newspapers, but was later revealed that the whole thing was part-fabrication, part-misunderstanding. Nevertheless the public, and even pupils themselves, believed it had happened.

I’m not suggesting that this is the same, but merely illustrating my point that these schools are very cloistered and inward looking communities, which breed chinese whispers like nowhere else I know.

Of course, when you put your child in the care of a boarding school, you have to have a huge level of trust in the school and its staff. I would imagine that the school and parents are acting in the best interests of the child - restricting information about the incident until it becomes fully clear what has happened.

I did a cursory google on the subject, and The Telegraph (a far more respected and reputable British newspaper) reported the following, a few hours after the Mail,

“The spokesman said the school could not “comment of the specifics of the situation, because our internal enquiries continue”, but stressed earlier press reports had contained a number of details that were “grossly exaggerated”.”

The only press report earlier than The Telegraph was The Mail.

KatieBlue
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 12:39 pm: [report]

I agree with Jackofhearts.  If this is from the Daily Mail, it’s pretty much on the par of the Weekly World News.  Unfortunately, many of the UK papers don’t have journalistic standards.  I was a bit shocked by that when I lived there for a few months.

If there is any truth to this story, I’d say the local judge is remiss in not taking away the girl and pressing charges for her.

william.paul
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 12:40 pm: [report]

@Katie-Anne

I think it was because it wasn’t “rape-rape”.

Is that like homicide-homicide?

spatula
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 12:45 pm: [report]

thanks for the insight, @jackofhearts

Kati-Anne
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 05:32 pm: [report]

@william.paul I was using the term facetiously. Unfortunately communicating sarcasm via comments is difficult, I thought using the quotations would get my point across.

william.paul
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 06:18 pm: [report]

@Kati-Anne: Indeed, it would seem that sarcasm is difficult to detect.

Iammina
wrote on October 20 2009 @ 07:46 pm: [report]

Yes, the parents should file charges. Rape is never okay regardless of the age of the rapist. These little rapists will grow up and become big rapists. It is no wonder that I am pro home schooling. Schools can be more dangerous than the streets in some areas.

ootie grl
wrote on October 21 2009 @ 02:48 pm: [report]

Thats disgusting. Her parents are insane for not pressing charges. Did all the chaperones go to the restroom at the same time or somthing? Theres no reason that should have been allowed to happen. The parents of the girl and of the boys who did it definately fail