Post Classifieds
Rapists let off hook with light convictions
By Tyeisha Prior
On April 17, 2013
Lately in the news, I've been hearing about cases of teens accused of sexual assault and rape,
and how these offenders are given lighter sentences for their crimes. Take, for example, the
Steubenville trial, where young football players Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond were accused
of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl while she was intoxicated at a party in 2012 and, since
then, have been found guilty of their crime and as a result both are required to register as sex
offenders.
Mays was sentenced to a juvenile correctional facility for a minimum of two years, while
Richmond was sent for a minimum of one year. The two will be released by age 21 depending on
behavior.
Similar cases have appeared in the news recently, and according to CNN, three boys in Nova
Scotia are being charged after their victim, Rehtaeh Parsons, committed suicide. These boys are
faced with two felonies and one misdemeanor charge of sexual assault.
The offenders in both of these cases have also shared these photos and videos of their victims on
social media sites, and a lot of people want to empathize with these boys due to their age, but I
don't feel any sympathy for them.
I've watched part of the video evidence from the Steubenville case in one of my classes a couple
weeks ago. The words coming from the mouths of these boys were vile and offensive. There
was nothing acceptable about it, and they sure didn't seem to feel sorry for their actions at the
time. It really boils my blood when I hear about these cases in the news, especially when enough
evidence is presented in the case.
What bothers me is the fact that both cases involve evidence that the offenders are guilty, in
the form of video and photos. Isn't that the ultimate piece of evidence that you can get? It may
seem like it's not enough, but it doesn't settle with me, especially since the offenders recorded it
themselves.
In both of these cases, the teenagers got off really easy with their sentences. It shouldn't matter
if they're underage or not - there should be harsher sentences, and teenagers should be tried
as adults in these cases. If you have the nerve to go out and sexually assault an unconscious
girl while laughing and cracking jokes on tape, you know exactly what you're doing, and you
deserve to be punished for the crime.
Sure, they're going to be in juvenile hall until they're 21, but what's to say that something like
this isn't going to happen again with these boys? What if they go even further with their actions?
Perhaps giving harsher sentences will have a more lasting effect on teenage offenders, and assure
that they learn this behavior is unacceptable, regardless of age.
Tyeisha Prior can be reached by email at prior.record@live.com.
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