Acquittal in Illinois Rape Case

Via LeMew, the recently discussed rape case in Illinois, during which the presiding judge threatened to jail the victim for refusing to watch a video of the incident, has ended in an acquittal.

After repeatedly viewing a videotape that captured the alleged gang rape of a 16-year-old girl, a jury acquitted a Burr Ridge man Friday of sexual assault and child pornography charges.

The lawyer for Adrian Missbrenner, 20, went frame-by-frame through the video, taken during a party at which teens were drinking heavily Dec. 7, 2002, pointing to every gesture he said might indicate the girl's consent.

…The verdict appalled victims' rights advocates, who said the defense sought to affirm every rape myth.

"We're down to those same stereotypes--she was drinking, she was asking for it," said Linda Healy, executive director of Mutual Ground, a suburban counseling program for sexual assault victims.

"We hold the standards that the victim, who is almost always a woman, is somehow supposed to prevent this from happening if it's something she didn't want," said Polly Poskin of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

The defense contended that the victim’s having put her hand on the accused’s head, kissing him, and smiling was indicative of consent—evidently both to have sex with him and another man and to allow them to write vulgarities and spit on her.

She wasn’t brutalized, just taken advantage of. What’s the big deal? If she didn’t want to be part of a gangbang, get spit on, and have her naked body defaced, she never should have had anything to drink. Geez, you’d expect 16-year-olds to be more responsible. Her fault for not knowing her limit. Right?

Absolutely despicable.