Posted on 08/20/2007 11:32:16 AM PDT by rednesss
Judge dismisses sexual harassment charges against 2 Ore. teens
08/20/2007
By WILLIAM McCALL / Associated Press
Two 13-year-old boys accused of slapping girls' bottoms and poking or cupping girls' breasts at school apologized on Monday as a judge dismissed charges against the two, ending a six-month case that drew national attention.
The charges triggered a debate over whether such behavior in school should be considered criminal.
Four girls listed as victims by the prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the charges against Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison.
Yamhill County Judge John Collins did so on Monday, saying it was in the "interest of justice."
A number of young girls were in the courtroom during the hearing. They included at least some of the four who asked that the charges be dropped, attorneys said.
During the brief hearing, the two boys faced the girls and apologized.
"I never intended to hurt you in any way," Mashburn said.
Cornelison told the girls: "I hope we can still be friends."
The News-Register newspaper of McMinnville reported that a "civil compromise" reached by prosecutors and the defense called for both boys to apologize, to pay each of the four girls $250 and to complete a "boundaries education" program.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys said they could not comment on the newspaper report or release details of the settlement because they are confidential.
Pressure has been building on prosecutors to drop the charges, with critics saying they had blown the matter out of proportion and were overzealous.
The boys, apparently inspired by the movie "Jackass," were accused in police reports of swatting girls on the bottom in a school corridor, grabbing girls' breasts on at least two occasions, teaming up to "dry hump" girls, poking girls' breasts and engaging in what's known as "party boy" dancing mimicking sexual intercourse.
They were originally charged with felony sex abuse, misdemeanor sex abuse and sexual harassment in February. Amid growing public opposition to sending the boys to prison and putting them on a sex offenders' registry, prosecutors first dropped the felony sex abuse charges and later the misdemeanor sex abuse charges, leaving the sexual harassment counts.
The judge dismissed the final charges following negotiations between prosecutors and the defense, and discussions with the four girls about whether they wanted the case dismissed.
Sorry, just picked the first state that could have been in Deliverance off the top of my head.
They need to get in touch with their feelings.
I think it was their "feelings" that got them into trouble in the first place...
No children should have to put up with that. These boys behavior was completely unacceptable. I don't think I saw anyone here saying otherwise.
Those boys needed to learn that such behavior would not be tolerated and that it was wrong, and they should have been punished to a reasonable extent as well to dissuade others from doing such things as much as to make sure they don't do it again.
I can’t believe that you think that they should just have to duke it out.
They shouldn't. They shouldn't be punished if they choose to defend themselves from such unwanted behavior, but they shouldn't have to do so.
However, why call the cops? Why not call the school? Why not call the kid's parents?
This is not a new problem. This has been happening between young teens in schools for a very, very long time. They might be getting a bit bolder because of the decay of dignity in our society, but it is not a new problem.
You should be able to call the school, and the boy should get punished through detention and / or suspension, and maybe having to do some work around the school or in the community. The boys parents should be called and they should be involved in his punishment.
If that fails, then I guess you would have to call the cops. However, do you really have much faith that our criminal justice system and prison will rehabilitate these boys?
I am glad your are teaching your girls self respect, and I hope that they never have to deal with such actions from schoolmates. If something like this does happen at their school, I hope the teachers and administrators correct that behavior immediately. However, calling in the cops is not the right way to do that unless other reasonable options have failed in dealing with these boys in the past.
Your choice of terms is somewhat surprising. "Acting like adolescents?" "Childish prank?"
I don't know about you, but I don't see how "dry humping" girls against their will is "acting like adolescents" -- not normal ones, anyway. And it's rather difficult to dismiss their actions as a "childish prank."
Again -- whether the prosecutor went too far, is a valid question. But let's not minimize what these boys did.
Comment:
Why?
I would expect a liberal non FReeper to reason the money should go to charity.
Liberals like to give others money to all kinds of causes to make them feel better.
Groups like the NAACP, La Raza, PETA and other socialists come to mind.
I believe it should be up to the offended party where the money goes.
I am not minimizing their behavior...I'm just not in favor of giving them a life sentence for what could have been an act of idiotic, peer driven, adolescent groping.
...and the man would be laughed out of court even faster than a man claiming domestic violence protection.
the double standard is alive and well.
If the genders had been reversed these little girls would have praised and the boys ridiculed. (see also those nifty little t-shirts that advocate throwing rocks at boys)
Not picking on you just pointing out that while you are 100% right on the black letter law, the real world courts would not follow the letter of the law.
Because the behavior was disrespectful towards these girls. And the boys should be witness to what that disrespect can lead to. Both the boys and girls in this sad situation should be required to visit, or volunteer at, a battered woman's center so they can see what their behavior, if left unpunished, can lead to.
Life in general was a whole lot better when people were able to handle things themselves and not feel the need to run to the law every time something unpleasant happened.
And if you really truly believe that jail is appropriate for 13 year olds who play grab ass, then you’re more a part of the problem than they are.
In January 1999 the UK Government’s Home Office published the results of a survey into domestic violence. It was the biggest ever carried out anywhere in the world and involved more than 10,000 men and women. It was called Study 191 and it stated, quite categorically, that 4.2% of men and 4.2% of women perpetrate the crime of domestic violence. In other words they had discovered that men and women are equally violent.
Please explain to me, under the law, how a young man of 17 is not responsible enough for his actions to be eligible for the death penalty, but a boy of 13 is responsible enough to be imprisoned and labeled a sex-offender for life. I can't think of any response that does not quote Lord Acton ("The law is an ass")...
BTW, the sort of person who runs to the authorities when any little thing happens is the worst form of sheeple. The authorities are there for the things people can't handle by themselves (think MS-13 or Al Quaeda). And everything you add to the list of things your daughters (or their families or friends) can't handle makes them weaker people...
When I was growing up, this sort of behavior was “controlled” by the alpha males (jocks, JROTC and FFA) at school. With the clear understanding that such would not be tolerated.
________________
You had nice jocks at your school. At our school they were often the perpetrators.
Mrs VS
Just for the record, do you think that groping, grabbing, and "dry humping" girls without their consent qualifies as "any little thing?"
We can also take into account these idiot boys' age ... but at what age do you suggest we begin to take their actions seriously enough to "run to the authorities", when boys grope, grab, and "dry hump" girls without their consent?
Do you have in mind some sort of age limit for perpetrators where one is no longer a "sheeple" if one calls the cops on them?
Just curious....
Considering that the preceding does not describe this case (where several of the "victims" admitted doing the same to the accused boys), the police are for problems that cannot be solved through other means. Were the parents called and the behavior continued? Did the school punish them and the boys continued? Or was the first step for the school principal to call the cops (which is what happened here)? If the latter (which it was), then the people involved here are sheeple, and have reduced themselves to dependence on government.
It's not about a "magic" age... it's about an escalation of measures...
I suspect it's about a lot more...enforcement of, and blind adherence to, feminist sexual politics. Enforcement of political correctness. Feminist score-settling. The Anti-boy Agenda. And finally, too many lawyers with not enough to do.
Which is why I said the girls should also take the trip to the battered women's center.
I took the description from the article, which quotes the police report. So ... are you sure about your assertion?
True, the girls should have just given the boys a good kick in the 'jewels' and that would have been the end of it.
I do recall reading elsewhere, however, that the girls reported this to the school authorities. It was their decision to bring the cops into it.
Uh. . .what? It's about feminist sexual politics to not want to be groped and fondled against your will?
The Anti-boy Agenda.
Would it be 'anti-boy' if the girls chose to kick these guys in the 'jewels' and ended up injuring them permanently? I'd recommend the kicking, but not all females are aggressive enough to do that kind of thing, so they go to the authorities. That is perfectly acceptable.
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