|  Today is World AIDS DayGet tested, be safe.And, as always, this entry is dedicated to those who are living with, living with, living with not dying from disease... And those that have gone before their time. And, Shiva, if you read this, I love you and I believe in you. Stay safe. |
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| When is rape not rape? When a sex worker is involved!This is so fucking appalling, I just have no words...
Jill Porter | Hooker raped and robbed - by justice system?
A
DEFENDANT accused of forcing a prostitute at gunpoint to have sex with
him and three other men got lucky, so to speak, last week.
A Philadelphia judge dropped all sex and assault charges at his preliminary hearing.
Municipal
Judge Teresa Carr Deni instead held the defendant on the bizarre charge
of armed robbery for - get this - "theft of services."
Unbelievable.
Deni told me she based her decision on the fact that the prostitute consented to have sex with the defendant.
"She consented and she didn't get paid . . . I thought it was a robbery."
The
prostitute, a 20-year-old single mother, agreed to $150 for an hour of
oral and vaginal sex on Sept. 20, according to assistant district
attorney Rich DeSipio. The arrangements were made through her posting
on Craigslist.
She met the defendant, Dominique Gindraw, 19, at
what she thought was his house, but which turned out to be an abandoned
property in North Philadelphia.
He asked if she'd have sex with his friend, too, and she agreed for another $100.
The friend showed up without money, the gun was pulled and more men arrived.
When
a fifth man arrived and was invited to join, DeSipio said, he asked why
the girl was crying - and declined. He helped her get dressed so she
could leave.
It's true the prostitute negotiated sex with the defendant - but not unprotected gang sex at gunpoint.
"The Legislature has defined sex by force as rape," said DeSipio, accusing the judge of "rewriting her own laws."
DeSipio said Judge Deni's ruling was based, not on the law, but on moral contempt.
"Certainly
if a jury wants to make that judgment, they're entitled to. But for a
judge to make a judgment on a human being - I've never seen that
before."
Deni did seem contemptuous of the victim:
"Did she tell you she had another client before she went to report it?" Deni asked me yesterday when we met at a coffee shop.
"I thought rape was a terrible trauma."
A case like this, she said - to my astonishment - "minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped."
The defendant was charged in an identical incident involving a 23-year-old woman four days later, DeSipio said.
Neither woman knew the other and both told identical stories. The other men involved in the attack couldn't be identified.
DeSipio was so stunned by Deni's ruling in the first case that he refused to present the second one.
"I wouldn't demean her that way," he said of the second victim, calling the proceedings "a farce."
Judge Deni then threw out the second case for failure to prosecute.
Police
Detective Jack Ryan, who investigated the incidents, said the victims
in the two cases "were in fear for their lives. Since they saw one of
the doers really well, it crossed both of their minds that they'd be
killed."
Deni's decision to drop the sex charges is " frankly, appalling," he said.
Deni acknowledged that her ruling and remarks would be controversial.
"I know I'm going to get killed on this."
But she said she has to "sleep at night with what I decide."
And on the night of Oct. 4, when she ruled in the preliminary hearing of this case?
"I slept well."
Certainly the victims don't inspire much sympathy.
Why waste taxpayers' money for what some people consider an occupational hazard?
There are enough sympathetic victims without wasting time on prostitutes who ask for trouble, right?
But
crimes are prosecuted not out of sympathy for victims, but to maintain
the rule of law in a civilized society, to punish a criminal and
prevent further crime.
I like Deni, but reducing rape to theft of services?
It's
an insult. And it's more evidence of the skepticism and contempt most
rape victims - prostitutes or not - confront when they seek justice in
court.
DeSipio said he'll file to reinstate the charges in both cases right away - before a different judge, of course.
Hopefully, the next judge will be better able to differentiate between a violated business agreement and a violent attack.
Link
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|  Happy National Coming Out Day. |
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| I'm pretty sure I am going exclusively protected from here on out, save the occasional post.
If you want to be on the list and you are not already let me know.
(To figure out if you are on the list, come to my page and look about 2 posts down - there should be a post with big yellow header that says "Protected Posting Down Here" or something like that...)
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| ATTENTION
There is a protected posting below. If you cannot see it and want to, leave me a message on this post. Because of the nature of the posting, it was necessary for me to redo my entire protected list and it is very possible that I may have missed you. Nothing personal - I'm just going through a lot right now. The posting explains it.
Anyway, if you wanna read it, and what is sure to be many more protected postings to come, leave me a message here.
* UPDATE: Since some people seem to be missing the entry, if you are viewing my page from your subscription page, you won't be able to see it (maybe). Go to my actual page and it is the entry directly below this one - it has a title that says "PROTECTED POSTING DOWN HERE".
This means that throwingroses, Momma Kate, Megan and Summerland73 should already be able to see it. I have added RedRabbitAF and Yo_BreFF_StaNk.
Let me know if it's all working right.
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