Alleged Teen Rape Victim Being Held in Juvenile Detention to Make Sure She’ll Testify

[MineralMan]

71. A very difficult situation to discuss.

On one hand, there is a rapist who may go free. On the other, there's a young victim who is, quite naturally, reluctant to testify.

Why is she reluctant? It could be many things. She may know friends of the accused and know that they might retaliate against her. She may simply be fearful of the trauma a court trial will create. Jailing her as a material witness is a very extreme way to compel her testimony, and risky, since she may recant the entire thing.

On the other hand, the accused may have a long record of rapes and witness intimidation. Getting such a person out of society may be a very important thing. It seems to me that a D.A. would be very reluctant to put a material witness into custody, but may believe that is the only way to deal with a serious and dangerous criminal.

So, not having all the necessary information, I won't state an opinion about the situation. Since I won't ever have all the information, I'll just have to wait and see what happens, assuming that gets reported here.