The three boys accused of taking it in turns to rape a girl have been found not guilty

[Lougle]

The three boys accused of taking it in turns to rape a girl have been found not guilty on all counts despite some of the incident being filmed. How could that be? That poor girl. I believe in justice, I wasn't in court. I just can't understand it though.

Oh and that old trope that girls from troubled/poor backgrounds are more likely to consent to this kind of sex. alive and well and living on this thread.

No, suck it. Quite obviously

Another rape myth... consent needs to be enthusiastic ..

Something just doesn't add up.
Reading the itv articles she appears to have agreed to having sex.
Why is beyond me, but she wasnt alone it was 2 girls and 3 boys.
Given the ages the boys might actually have been smaller than the girls were.

This is not as clear cut as people are making out.

Im answering someone else's post, not peddling any myths.

This thread really doesnt need to be combatative no matter how much posters are trying to be hostile.

100 agree
A barrister in a belfast rape trial actually called a rape victim a liar because "there were middle class girls downstairs who would have stopped it"
This was in 2017
Sees people still believe these shocking myths

We have to be careful not to assume that actions that appear atypical to us or even extraordinary would not be considered typical to others.

The suggestion that 13 year olds could be engaging in sexual intercourse after having met someone only hours earlier sounds ludicrous, however this is reality for a section of society.

I have not seen all the evidence and testimony so cannot make a judgement, however a recording evidencing a sexual act does not equal evidence of a crime.

To my mind, the criminal justice outcome is secondary to preventing traumatic and or damaging experiences,. We need to encourage greater supervision of young people, greater investment in youth facilities, and to increase efforts to reduce social media and consumption of digital content not intended for children.

It is horrifying that girls and women are still seen as second-class citizens in this country.

The girl might have frozen in fear and shock over what was happening. If two people passed by and called her a slag, rather than intervening, is it any wonder that she didn't scream or shout out for more attention? If you were frightened for your life, would you comply or take the risk of shouting for help that might not come?

Unfortunately, you do get a lot of judgement when you come from anywhere near that area (I did, and I got called scum and treated with contempt, based on people's stereotypes of the area; this was largely during the grooming scandal that had been known about locally for years). For those of you wondering, that particular tram stop is surrounded by a lot of trees, bushes and high fencing; parts of it are very well-screened. One side backs onto a giant supermarket car park.

I fail to understand why the boys were not at least made to serve jail time for creating and circulating a video that involved rape of a child. That, and if video evidence of a rape isn’t enough to prove that the crime was committed, and clearly shows which person/people did it, then the justice system has lost the plot and needs overhauling. Yes, they were all children at the time of this crime, but the perpetrators should be punished, and the victim should not be silenced with shame.

I reluctantly did jury service years ago. The jury business, though… in short, if we didn't get to a 10/2 decision, the court didn’t want to know (we were a 9/3 jury). The more domineering members of the jury tried to pressure those who disagreed with them into changing their minds.

Some of the responses on here explain why juries often fail to convict in rape cases. It is frightening.

The suggestion that 13 year olds could be engaging in sexual intercourse after having met someone only hours earlier sounds ludicrous, however this is reality for a section of society.

What section would that be? Girls who are hoping for excellent GSCE results? Girls who are members of the pony club?

Bet the Rotherham police said something very similar with grave faces and understanding sympathy for "that section of society"

You're misunderstanding the law. The law, in criminal cases, requires "beyond reasonable doubt". Note the word "reasonable". I think it's quite likely that the jury couldn't meet that high bar of evidence given all the circumstances. There IS "reasonable doubt" in this case, given the actions of the victim, the actions of her friend, the lead up to the assault, etc. A criminal case isn't "balance of probablity, i.e. 50:50 which is probably easily met here, but is "beyond reasonable doubt) which is more like 75%+ which really requires hard evidence, rather than "he said, she said" which isn't hard evidence.

Children of that age would have been taught about consent and how it should be obvious.

Sorry, they might have been smaller than her? Are you seriously suggesting she could have faught off 3 boys if she didn't want sex with? And what do you mean she appears to have consented? Based on what?

God I fucking hate this world.

I have not seen all the evidence and testimony so cannot make a judgement, however a recording evidencing a sexual act does not equal evidence of a crime.

Actually recording and threatening to share/sharing a sexual act without consent IS a crime. But maybe that section of society likes videos of them having gang sex being sent to people. We mustn't judge them by our standards must we?

Reasonable doubt to some people seems to mean any doubt whatsoever - the two are not the same. The suggestion that there is reasonable doubt because another nearby female wasn't raped, is fucking sick.

My dad abused me as a child. He didn't abuse my sister. Does that make me likely to be a liar?

I would assume the video is a crime in 2 ways, videoing without consent but also sexual images of a minor.

Kids never get even so much as a caution for making/sending videos of sexual activity with each other/peers. The idea that these 3 would literally be jailed is so wide of the mark.

The entire youth justice system is designed around not criminalising children. Not everyone is comfortable with that

I dont know about filming without consent but certainly making and distributing indecent images. She is a minor so its automatic.

Were they cautioned even about this? I doubt it.

Yes its a huge risk factor for children who have been abused or neglected that they are at a higher risk of CCE and CSE and wider abuse due to their need to seek external validation. It makes children extremely vulnerable and higher risk.

Contrary to popular belief that external validation doesnt always manifest itself in the 'dirty old man' it can manifest itself from the grotty 13 year old at school who, may or may not be also vulnerable, but who could take advantage in the same way.

If you read the ITV stuff.

They were all on the tram, one of the boys asked her if she wanted to have sex, she said yes.

Now she might not really have meant it. It might have been teenage bravado. There was also a discussion on condoms.

But I don't think this as clear as people are making out its very messy. And her pal was with her.

No it doesn't.
But I'll bet he didn't abuse you in full view of your sister.

Where is the reference to her saying yes, that was the point of my post earlier, I didnt think she had said yes or no to anyone?

But I'll bet he didn't abuse you in full view of your sister.

and if he had???? Would that make her story not credible?

Regrettably, the data does support your analysis, yes.

Read the links someone posted earlier.
She said Yes on the tram.

Now it might have been said in jest, not really meaning it, but....