[acb-hsp] Rape Case Not Prosecuted Because of Mental Disabilities

[peter altschul]

15-Year-Old Girl Raped, Police Dismiss the Case Because Victim 
and Attackers Have "Low IQ's"
  Laura Gottesdiener February 13, 2013
  In some of the most disturbing and sickening news of the day, 
New York state police have decided that a 15-year-old girl who 
was sexually assaulted by three boys was in fact not sexually 
assaulted because both she and the boys are mentally handicapped.
  In May of last year, three boys attacked a 15-year-old mentally 
challenged student at Martin De Porres Academy, a school for 
students with special needs in Long Island.  According to the 
police report, one of the boys repeatedly banged her head against 
the table while the other two forced her to give them oral sex 
and then tried to have forcible anal sex with her.  In interviews 
with the police, the girl explained how she repeatedly said "no" 
and "stop" but that the boys continued to assault her.  When she 
came home from school that day, her mother noticed that she had 
blood on her underwear.
  But the Nassau County Police Department recently decided to 
drop the case after learning that the boys also had learning 
disabilities and mental handicaps, which apparently made the 
situation far too complicated for the police department.
  The department's spokesperson told the stationew York Daily 
Newsst, "It was more of a consensual situation with their mental 
capabilities."
  Of course, head-banging, blood and repeated pleas to "stop" are 
never consensual situations--regardless of the IQ level of the 
attackers.  But, in this case, the police department is even 
further off target.  As the family's lawyer explained, the girl 
has an IQ of about 50 points, which puts her below the cognitive 
functioning level to consent to sex at all.
  The school meanwhile, has played its own part in attempting to 
cover up the case.  Only weeks after the assault occurred, the 
school sent a letter to the police department, that read:
  "The school administration request (sic) no further police 
action and will handle additional behavioral and social issues 
with traning (sic) and additional counseling." The school did 
fire the teacher who was present in the classroom during the 
attack.
  Women and girls with mental disabilities are frequently the 
targets for sexual assaults--and few of their aggressors are ever 
prosecuted.  According to one study, a staggering 80 percent of 
women with these disabilities are the targets of rape or sexual 
assault in their lifetimes.