Philly Judge dismisses charges for armed gang rape of prostitute -- calls it theft of services?!?

[stranger81]

"A city judge who reduced a rape charge to "theft of services" in a case involving a prostitute assaulted at gunpoint was harshly criticized yesterday by the head of the Philadelphia Bar Association. . . . . According to testimony, a 20-year-old single mother agreed to an hour's worth of sex with Gindraw for $150 on Sept. 20. When she arrived at the address, Gindraw allegedly asked if she would also have sex with his friend; she agreed for an additional $100. When the friend arrived, according to testimony, he had no money and was armed. The woman said she had been forced at gunpoint to have sex with four men. Deni dismissed the rape and sexual-assault charges and held Gindraw for trial on a charge of 'armed robbery for theft of services.'"



"A week after the hearing, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jill Porter quoted Deni as saying in an interview that the woman had consented to sex, and that her complaint 'minimizes true rape cases and demeans women who are really raped.'"

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20071031_Phila_...

Who the hell put this woman on the bench?!?

[MonkeyFunk]

1. That's nuts

damn

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. She should have been charged with a crime herself.

Isn't prostitution illegal? I'm not saying that I agree with the law, but it *is* the law, right?

[aquart]

3. You mean, arrest the victim of the rape?

Focussed heavily on the least important aspect of the case, aren't you?

[Ghost in the Machine]

8. What's so unimportant about someone committing a crime?

"According to testimony, a 20-year-old single mother agreed to an hour's worth of sex with Gindraw for $150 on Sept. 20. When she arrived at the address, Gindraw allegedly asked if she would also have sex with his friend; she agreed for an additional $100.

She conspired to commit the crime of prostitution. She conspired to commit the crime with more than one person. It's a pretty easy read. However, no, it doesn't diminish the fact that she may have been forced to commit sexual acts with someone she didn't conspire to commit a crime with, and I never said that it did. I only questioned why she wasn't charged with the crime of prostitution since she admitted to it in a court of law.

Can we stick to the issue here?

[yardwork]

10. I'm actually speechless.

[stranger81]

13. I know . . . . . I can't even dignify that with a response.

Jeebus.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. Why, was the question too hard?

[Hekate]

4. Ew. Way to make victims come forward. nt

[kestrel91316]

7. No prostitution took place. She wasn't paid.

[Ghost in the Machine]

12. But she still *conspired* to commit the crime of prostitution, did she not?

[kestrel91316]

15. Probably. But that pales in the face of rape, IMHO.

And it's cancelled out by the rapist doing the same thing.

[Ghost in the Machine]

16. Yes, that's true, it does pale by comparison, but the fact still needed to be pointed out.

If you think of it on other terms, let's say person A agrees to sell person B 5 kilos of cocaine. Person A shows up with the goods, Person B shows up with a gun. Person B shoots Person A then steals the coke. Has Person A committed a crime? If he didn't die in the shooting, should the fact that he got shot during the commission of a crime be overlooked just because he became a victim of another crime during the commission of a crime?

For the record, I personally think that rapists should be castrated with dull, rusty butter knives then have gasoline and turpentine poured on their open wounds.

[stranger81]

5. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this Judge is a woman . . . . [n/t]

[kestrel91316]

6. Well, then, I'd call it ARMED ROBBERY.

Theft of services, my ass.

[yardwork]

11. It sounds like kidnapping, rape, armed robbery, assault, and a whole lot of other charges.

In many states it is still impossible for a woman to bring charges of rape against her husband.

[robertpaulsen]

9. Being forced at gunpoint to have sex isn't "true" rape?

I'm sorry, what part of this act was consensual?