Posted on 02/19/2002 4:24:16 AM PST by Lance Romance
Teen rape victim blasts lenient judge: Confessed attacker got probation
A 14-year-old rape victim yesterday lashed out at a lenient New Bedford Superior Court judge, calling the jurist ``an idiot'' after he sentenced her confessed assailant to probation two weeks ago. ``Now I have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life,'' said the nervous high school freshman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, at a press conference her mother arranged in the backyard of her Mansfield home. ``I'm not the only one out there afraid. Other victims are going through the same thing I am because Judge (Ernest B.) Murphy chose to free their attackers, too. Judge Murphy made me feel that I was guilty and that Dean (McSweeney) was the victim.'' Murphy has come under heavy fire by law enforcement officials for imposing light sentences on a slew of violent criminals, including Dean McSweeney, 19, who received eight years probation after confessing to twice raping the Mansfield girl in her home last summer. Murphy, a civil attorney appointed in 2000 to the superior court bench by former Gov. Paul Cellucci, also sentenced a convicted armed robber to five years' probation after he assaulted a 72-year-old sausage vendor and stole $1,100, and a Brockton man to five years' probation after he pleaded guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery. Murphy has also released four accused rapists without bail, pending their trial, including one man who police tracked for 18 months before finding him in Louisiana. After McSweeney's controversial sentence, Murphy chastized the young girl for wanting a harsher sentence on her attacker. ``She can't go through life as a victim,'' Murphy told a prosecutor, according to courthouse sources. ``She's 14. She got raped. Tell her to get over it.'' The young victim maintained her composure yesterday as she responded to his comments. ``After he knew everything that had gone on, he said that and I thought it was really disrespectful of him,'' she said. ``Dean walked out of the courtroom a free man. I will never be free. This will follow me for the rest of my life and I will always be a victim.'' When someone asked her for a word to describe Murphy, she said, ``an idiot,'' echoing earlier comments by her adopted mother. The girl's mother, Teri Taylor, last week filed a complaint against Murphy with the Judicial Conduct Commission, seeking to oust him from the bench. ``The more I read, the more I realized this guy's an idiot and needs to get down off . . . that bench,'' Taylor said earlier in the press conference. ``I feel sorry for all the rest of the victims that are going to come into his court.'' On Friday, Judge Suzanne DelVecchio, the head of the state's superior courts, said she wouldn't remove Murphy. Instead, she wants him to attend a ``judge rookie school.'' Murphy's attorney, J. Owen Todd, didn't return a call yesterday. The young girl, with her hair in a pony tail and wearing heavy eyeliner and jeans, said she has not been able to live a normal life since the rape. She didn't attend the final tryout to be a varsity cheerleader, which she described as being her ``life.'' She doesn't trust anyone except her family and friends and she finds it difficult to sleep at night. ``Every time I close my eyes, I see everything that happened all over again,'' she said. ``I (used to) have nightmares about him killing me in the courtroom.'' Taylor said about four days ago, she called McSweeney's probation officer to report him for yelling profanities out of his car window while driving by her son's employer. ``He's been warned to stop,'' Taylor said. ``He got slapped again.''
by Franci Richardson
Tuesday, February 19, 2002
If I was the father the bastard would already be dead. And I would look the judge right in the eye and tell him: yes, I killed him, and I will kill anybody else who tries the same thing. If I must go to prison for it I will. Tolerance? You just hit the limit of my tolerance.
Of course I would be crucified in the press but that's what usually happens to anybody who isn't "tolerant" (i.e. believes in something other than the divinity of Hillary Clinton).
Sorry about the rant but this hits me in a sore spot.
Was it date rape? Did the defendent force entry into the house, then rape her? Was there a party going on?
What difference does it make whether it was date rape, a party or forced home entry? He raped her. He should pay, not be given a slap on the wrist. I do not need the gory details about the rape to know that justice was NOT served here.
How are complaints handled about judges? Does anyone know the process?
Maybe she ought to consider that before they take the bench!! And maybe, just maybe, DelVecchio should sit in on a few courses as well.
I bet Tom Daschole would appoint Murphy in a heartbeat if the President submitted him for congressional approval!!!!
In California they are. Rose Bird, he he he he.
Okay...and how old was he? 19? 21? 46?
Life is not as simple as all that. Certainly there are circumstances that would make rape more egregious than another incident of what is called rape You know in some peoples mind ogling or staring flirtatiously should be an actionable offense punishable by time in jail.
If you don't know the circumstances, that's okay. I appreicate the reply. But, it does make a difference what the circumstances were in determining if a sentence is to lenient.
Make that a shotgun. Left barrel for the rapist; right barrel for his black-robed accomplice. There was a time when Americans knew how to defend their own against criminal predators. High time we learned again.
If this is not grounds for removal of the judge from the bench, I can't imagine what could be.
I guess killing the unborn isn't keeping them busy enough, so they're going after the born. Now they're defending Andrea Yates. The murderer who drowned her five children.
If it wasn't for Free Republic I never would have known about this story. This judge sounds like a whacko liberal. I guess that's redundant. Tony Snow should report this on his "Below the Fold" segment.
Over 18, 'nuff said. Did yo bother to read the article?
Yep, you can read a lot between the lines there. This judge seems to think that rape is just part of growing up. What does that say about him? After such a comment would anyone be surprised to find out that he's raped a few teenagers in his life? I sure wouldn't want to raise my kids in that state.
No, that's not 'nuff said. The article says this.
"Dean McSweeney, 19, who received eight years probation after confessing to twice raping the Mansfield girl in her home last summer."
Now, I am not saying this is the case (but it is why I am asking the question), but as I read that sentenc I say to myself, how does a 19 year old guy rape a girl twice? That could range from he raped her once, she did not report it, then he came back at a later date or time and forcibly raped her again. Or it could mean they had consensual sex twice but becuase she is a minor it is being called rape (according to the law and in this article).
The referenc to last summer as opposed to on a date certain could be indication of the later.
The "twice" does lead one to ask, what actually took place here. So I ask again, and if you don't know the circumstances, that is quite alright, but what exactly did the 19-year-old boy do that is being called rape. The article, which I did read, does not explain this in the context I am asking above.
It is a pertinant detail in determining if the sentence is just or not. A 14-year-old saying he should go to jail and the judge is "stupid" is hardly enough to make an informed opinion on this.
If he forced himself on her, twice even, then certainly he got off light. But if she was complicit, especially if it was consensual and then she changed her mind about things, then that is another story. And of course a 19-year-old should not have sex with a 14-year-old so some punishment is in order. Is eight years phrobation and all else he went through enough of a sentence. The Judge says it is.
You seem to have the quick answer. You must have the details. All I am asking is for you to give them to me. What were the cirumstances?
This judge deserves a severe beating and another one after he recovers from the first.
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