He’ll use the Trump Defense: “When I see a woman I just can’t help myself. I just start kissing them. ____But____It didn’t happen. Never happened. They’re all liars.”
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This is a serial abuser. Detailing how he behaves is helpful to the public in identifying similar people who may come in contact with themselves or loved ones. It’s important to educate the public about such horrible people. I think that the more times these people are outed in the press may become a deterrent to some of the crimes–just like the drunk or buzzed driving PSAs we should also inform the public about what happens when you touch what isn’t yours and act in an uncivil way towards any
victim.
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Yeah, really. It’s just a story about a serial rapist, who might have be or have gone on to be a serial rapist/murderer, and why it’s important for women to go forward when they are assaulted, not just for themselves but because they may save others from assault or worse, and why there needs to be far more awareness of the behavior of these type of guys because they don’t stop at one victim, and we need to stop shaming women and blaming them for when these things happen, so that they will feel they can come forward without being disbelieved.
What’s important about that?
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I wonder how many MAGA hats he owns?
What national significance does it have? Well, I can think of one presidential candidate from a major party who is accused of analogous behavior, so it is instructive to see how that situation gets handled when the accused isn’t “a star”.
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Soooooo don’t read the article if you feel it’s so unimportant?
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“Much of what has been on Facebook has been character assassination of my client,” Van Wagner told the Star Tribune. “He’s been accused of serious crimes, but the media firestorm has prompted a lot of people to apparently go back and re-examine their relationships with him.”
Sound like any current candidate we know?
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there have been serial sexual abusers as long as there have been sick young men going to co-ed colleges. We aren’t going to “solve” that problem with more national exposure. It is handled one case at a time at the local level by police and prosecutors and mostly by young women brave enough to come forward. What this story is about is click bait and you seem excited to take the bait.
If you want a story of national significance involving college students and sexual assault, there is a New York Times story out today about Brigham Young University changing its procedures when young women report sexual assault. Until now the University has punished young women for reporting. The University, having been fairly pummeled by the press and the Obama administration, has changed its policy. Young women are not going to face honor code violations for reporting sexual assault. That is a national story. This creep doesn’t deserve the press.
Obviously some people find it topical, Ron. When women share their similar experiences it gives courage to others.
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It’s not easy to come forward.
Were you drunk, did you flirt with him, will you be believed, be accused of false accusations, be slut shamed?
It’s frequently a he said/she said story and many women know they won’t be believed.
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Eventually it does take national exposure. Look at Trump supporters and see how many guys, young and not-that-young, still think that sexual assault is cool.
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Ah yes, the victim blame game. Come on, guys!
All of his accusers are all lying. Why did they wait so long to come forward. If they can’t handle sexual perverts they should be teachers. Why haven’t they sued the accused?
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As a follow-up: I was taken advantage of several years ago while I was incapacitated but semi-conscious. I went to the hospital afterwards, got a rape kit done, took various medications, etc. I asked whether enough evidence had been obtained, and when the kit would be tested, and the response was that it wouldn’t get tested unless I filed charges, and I only had 60 days to decide before the kit would be destroyed. But…I didn’t want to file charges if it turned out that there wasn’t enough evidence to get the guy, who I later learned thought that we’d had fun and he hoped I had “enjoyed” it too, and that it hadn’t gone “all the way” even though I was scratched up internally. How would that have shaken out, had I pressed charges? How would I have fared? Not very well, I don’t think. It’s easy to try to blame women for not coming forward at the time, but these are some of the realities we face when this kind of thing happens.
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A search warrant filed in Dane County this week said Madison police have also been contacted by “dozens of other females” since Cook was charged in the Oct. 12 case.
Officers searching Alec Cook’s Madison apartment found a black book with names of women he had met, Madison police investigator Grant Humerickhouse told the Star Tribune.
“The entries went on to document what he wanted to do with the females,” Humerickhouse said. “Disturbingly enough, there were statements of ‘kill’ and statements of ‘sexual’ desires.”
Looks like the cops have turned this into a legal clusterfuck already.
Who could possibly blame you or anyone for not pressing charges. Most woman would rather deal with their pain in private than risk being humiliated and degraded for a second time – in public. Men who have been raped by other men fare even worse.
It’s definitely push back time folks.
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What a terrible experience, and it happens far, far too often. If guys hear about such things often enough, some of them at least will not take advantage of women, even when drink, drugs or just fatigue would provide the opportunity.
As for the authorities, how did it make you feel to be taken so lightly over a serious incident?
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It’s absolutely of merit to highlight a case like this to reinforce that if more people come forward sexual abusers can actually be put away, and that the police will actually pursue your case and can find evidence.
Usually I’d prefer the reporting be done on the actual trial rather than on social media posts, but we’ve crossed the Rubicon on the issue of social media entwining with the news.
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I don’t think I actually ever spoke with the authorities–it was just the medical professional who did the exam. They might have brought in a counselor, but I don’t exactly recall. I’m not even sure whether/how the incident itself was reported to law enforcement. I remember being very concerned about how much the exam would cost, and fortunately it was an expense the state covered.
It was a very confusing time. The antiviral meds I had to take as a precaution (for maybe a month, I think, or maybe it was just a week) made me feel sick all the time and I was reeling, suspecting my drink the previous night had been poisoned, and feeling betrayed by two other people who were around that night and were either unaware of what was going on or didn’t care or try to intervene. And yet I struggled for those 60 days over what to do, because I wanted to have the incident documented in case this guy ever did the same thing to other women, but from the sparse information offered to me at the time, my options seemed frustratingly inadequate. I was just a year or two out of college, and I didn’t know about the process or any other options I might have had.
Here’s something that will curdle your blood. It details a student’s attempt to bring her rapist to justice and how resistant the system is to going after these sick perverts. It shouldn’t require the victim to have such fortitude, persistence, and intelligence as this brave young woman has.
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