Posted on 08/18/2004 3:09:18 PM PDT by PinnedAndRecessed
ROME, Georgia (AP) -- A high school football star whose college career was derailed by a rape conviction will attend Hampton University in Virginia this fall on an athletic scholarship.
Marcus Dixon spent 15 months in prison after being convicted of aggravated child molestation, a felony, and statutory rape, a misdemeanor. He was accused of assaulting a 15-year-old classmate in a trailer behind Floyd County's Pepperell High School in February 2003, when he was 18.
A jury acquitted Dixon of rape, but he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on the molestation charge. Some called the case an injustice because Dixon is black and the girl is white, although prosecutors denied that race played a role.
On May 3, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the felony conviction and its 10-year sentence.
An A student at Pepperell, Dixon had a scholarship offer to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, before his arrest. Vanderbilt rescinded its offer.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
So? The guy served his time. Is he now to be denied certain educational opportunities?
And, this was a big story in Atlanta. The girl consented.
Yes, she even told the DA that, I heard.
Less than a year-and-a-half for raping a girl and he gets out with a scholarship. What is there to say?
It's still statutory rape. Or don't you believe states have the right to enact and enforce their own laws?
You may not hhave followed this story closely but as far as I can determine there was not rape and the girl said there wasn't. She , however, was underage and that was what he went to jail for and the sentence was an automatic 10 years.
"And, this was a big story in Atlanta. The girl consented."
The girl was too young to consent.
Was this the case you told me about Rush?
I do, and they did, and he served his time, and his case was adjudicated.
Did the sentence also say "You cannot go to college" and "You cannot play ball?"
What this guy did (despite getting the OK from the girl)was reprehensible.
But he served his time and I believe in second chances...in most cases.
I hope the guy makes the best of this second chance. I don't believe he'll get a third one if he screws up again.
really STUPID people - let's all reward criminal behavior! Hell! He will make an outstanding progressive democrat raping piece of 'kerry'!
No, he didn't "serve his time". The court overturned the conviction and the sentence. There is no detail as to why the conviction was overturned, but "his time" was 10 years and he served 15 months. There are a lot of questions unanswered by this article, but to read it and conclude this "guy served his time" is a rather strange response.
I don't fault the perpetrator for seeking a college education.
I fault the school for offering an athletic scholarship to a convicted felon. If he was an "A" student, as it says in the article then he should go to school based upon his grades, not his atleticism. Chances are that he'll be a repeat offender as a result of his "popularity" of being an athlete AND being a convicted felon.
The courts have the right to do what they did.
They felt he served his time, they were within the law.
Are you suggesting extra-judicial measures to deny this kid his scholarship?
Well, since there aren't too many girls below the age of consent in college, he may not run into the same problem.
Considering he has another charge on his record, that of exposing himself to a teacher and a bunch of students, I see more jail time in this thug's future.
Did the sentence also say "You cannot go to college" and "You cannot play ball?"
NO! But it also did NOT say - let's make all the taxpayers pay for his school either. Scum begets scum begets clintonian "republicans".
The next step - no such thing as statutory rape? then boy rape? the, what the hell, let's have dirty old mens screw the hell out of your 2 year old?
Sorry about the rough language, but that is exactly what these incremental libertine attitudes will achieve --- Your 2 year old son being the sexual gratification toy of some perverted old wino. Ted Kennedy even?!
First lesson in adulthood, deal with the consequences of your behavior, lose the scholarship, but still go to college on loans and hard work like the majority of average Joe's. IMHO
I know about this story, and this fellow has had several run-ins at his HS and apparently IIRC, he has had similar episodes that were not reported or not acted on, which brought the school district a lot of heat.....
Of course the states have the right to enact and enforce their own laws. However, the states DO NOT have the right to not be criticized about law they enact and enforce. In this case, I see a lot of room for criticism and disdain.
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