There have been many cases about rape and sex offenders who plead guilty and received the punishment they deserved, but there are also many cases that should've been frowned upon a little more and taken much more seriously than to just give out minor consequences for actions that should've received more than expected. A lot of cases have been misunderstood, having someone's life ruined by being classified as a sex offender only because they simply grasped someone the wrong way, or two teenagers that are only a couple years apart who are reported because the child's family doesn't approve of their relationship, are prime examples of harsh punishments a judge can give someone over something as serious as rape. These prime examples that were taken as a serious crime and given punishments as long as year's in prison seems kind of rough doesn't it? Well, what about a former school teacher who is given remorse by the judge and only received thirty days in jail for raping a fourteen year old student who later on commits suicide?
Rambold's Case
This particular case about a fifty four year old school teacher who rapes a fourteen year old female student shocks my interests in knowing what was this judge thinking when he only gave this man thirty days in jail for his crime? Stacey Dean Rambold had at least three sexual encounters with student Cherice Morales in 2008. In 2010, the student committed suicide a few weeks before her seventeenth birthday, the Billings Gazette reported. Yellowstone County Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Rambold to fifteen years in prison, with all but only thirty one days suspended for sexual intercourse without consent. The judge then gave Rambold credit for one day served, bringing the offenders total jail time to just thirty days (Murdock). This judge didn't even consider what this young girl's mother had to say about how unfair this situation was for her daughter, it was almost like the rules have changed and he had forgotten that people who are under the age of eighteen are off limits to those who are over that age. Baugh giving Rambold credit for only serving a day was another sad thing to hear, how can it be as easily forgiven and not looked more in depth of the situation to find out what this teen was really going through. Being a female at an age like this can be frightening because our minds are still developing and when wrong is being done we still might not know what right is, anyone who is that much older than you can either manipulate your mind or help you learn the ways of life. Unfortunately, this young girl's life is ended shortly as she commits suicide, but it also explains that she was going through a lot and being in this type of relationship with this older man must have not been making anything any better.
'There were 400 protestors who appeared to support the Morales case'
Judge's Wrongful Opinion's
The judge also explained that victim Morales was "older than her chronological age". Again, this judge isn't making a very reasonable argument for this case; can't anyone appear to be older than what they really are? How strong can this perception be of this female student that it allows it to almost be okay for this teacher to have a serious relationship with this student? As more proof of this action being wrong comes to show in court, less is being done. The same year Rambold was hired as a business teacher for Senior High School in 2004, principal Scott Anderson met with Rambold to discuss allegations that he touched a girl's thigh and waist. A court affidavit said Anderson told Rambold to "keep his hands off all students" and that anything further would result in a formal investigation, KTVQ reported (Murdock). Considering this new information, wouldn't this hint off another reason for the court to think that if he had complications dealing with touching other students before, that it would send off a red flag stating that he is comfortable doing this regularly with other teenagers.
Minor Consequences
Attorneys for Rambold said the teacher has lost his job, his license, his house and his wife and suffered the 'scarlet letter of the internet' as a result of the allegations. Defense lawyer Jay Lansing said his client had been punished enough for his crime (Zennie). When being convicted of any major crime as this one, it is likely that the person convicted will lose these minor things but will also have other punishments that court will give out. In any other case, a judge will not care about what someone has lost for their actions so why should he care about this man's lose? This man not only disrespected his wife by having an affair with a child but he also disrespected his job by doing what he was warned not to do ahead of time.
More Evidence
The Gazette reports that with the girl's death, prosecutors were forced to defer prosecution. They agreed to dismiss the case if Rambold admitted to one count of rape and agreed to enter a three stage sex offender treatment program. In December, prosecutors revived the case and re-filed charges after they learned that the teacher had been kicked out of the program for having unsupervised visits with minors (Zennie). This man was given several chances and all evidence kept being ignored, not enough was done and knowing that Morales was clearly troubled, Baugh still thought she was 'as much in control of the situation' as the teacher, the Gazette reported.
Speaking Out
Actions speak louder than words and in this case this saying should've been applied. This judges opinion wasn't correct and wasn't enough to bail this man out that easily. Even with all the evidence pointing against the teacher, all the citizens who tried to support Morales mother into giving Rambold more time in jail, and the sudden death of this young girl, still couldn't make this court decision change into the right decision.
Work Cited
The Huffington Post by Sebastian Murdock article called "Stacey Rambold, Former Teacher Who Raped Student Gets 30 Days Jail" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/stacy-rambold-raped-suicidal-student_n_3822640.html#slide=1097148
Mail Online by Michael Zennie article called "Teacher who admitted raping student, 14, who later committed suicide gets just 30 days in jail after judge rules girl was 'older than her years' and 'in control of the situation'" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402937/Cherice-Morales-Teacher-Stacey-Rambold-gets-30-days-jail-raping-student-14-committed-suicide.html
This is a great post, but with an introduction that seems to work against the content! What I mean by that is that the introduction led me to believe we'd read about cases that were tried too harshly for the crime committed. But what you did here was the opposite, right? You then took great, painstaking detail to highlight an important, current case of rape that was treated too leniently. So keep the data, but reconsider the introduction? Switch the focus around: focus on warming readers up to the idea that some criminals basically get away with rape and murder...then it will fit the content.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?