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This is all pretty scary stuff. I was speaking to a group of college students last weekend. Immediately before I spoke, a judge came in to address this very issue. Apparently, the universities and law enforcement now operate from a position of presumed guilt. If a guy and girl sleep together, he’s raped her unless she specifically said yes. The absence of no does not mean yes. This just means guys need to be careful, but it gets worse.

If she does say yes, but there are no witnesses and the next morning she changes her mind and reports it as rape out of guilt, her friends egging her on, whatever the reason, then the guy is guilty unless he can produce a witness who heard her say yes. It’s he said, she said, but the male is guilty.

So what happens next is a grand jury is formed that only hears the prosecution’s case. He gets indicted, thrown in jail, and must come up with $50K for bail, or $5K for a bond, plus attorney fees. Even if he uses a court appointed attorney, he has to pay the state back (didn’t know that one). Since most college kids can’t raise that kind of money, he’s likely stuck in jail and now is out of school. If his parents put up the bond, he’s got to wear a gps device on his ankle and is restricted on where he can go. Plus, he has to pay rent on the gps device.

He either pleas or takes his chance with a jury, which is uncertain. If he pleas or is found guilty, he’ll do time, have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, won’t be allowed to travel to a lot of countries, will have to explain this on every job application, etc. Basically, his life is over.