Ever notice how the MSM trips over a situation, gets a sensational reaction and then suddenly variations on the original theme are everywhere. Take, for example, “Killer SUVS”. I recently commented on a plane crash. A light airplane crashed on a road. It landed on an SUV, killing the occupants. Can you guess the headline? New video shows plane crash into SUV in Florida, kills 3 people (nypost.com) The latest meme is about students who sexually assaulted. School administrators then went out of their way to cover the incident up.
I started out working as a police officer in a college town back in the mid 70’s. The university had its own police force. The patrol cops got along and cooperated with one another. We were having so much fun driving fast, jumping high and chasing bad guys that bureaucratic daring do never entered our minds. But even the patrol cops assigned to midnights noticed a trend.
If the city officers arrested a football player or shut down a loud party at a frat house, the university cops were there to gather up a report and report to the college administration. If the city cops worked a fatal accident involving a student the university cops were there. This time because who doesn’t like blood and gore? Car wreck, dead student, off campus…sucks to be them. There was no official university interest.
Sexual assaults fell into the same category. A student raped off campus, well that was too bad. As a statistic it went on the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) filed by the city. When it happened on campus, nine times out ten in never happened. The one time a sexual assault got reported was usually because patrol arrested a suspect.
Forty years later one incident sticks with me. A coed was in her dorm, asleep. She was woken by an intruder and sexually assaulted. At the conclusion of the assault the suspect demonstrated his eligibility to join the Mensa Society. He demanded the victim’s money. She explained that she didn’t have any, but she could write him a check. He agreed to take a check and didn’t demand two forms of identification. With the check in hand he made his escape and she made an outcry.
During the follow up investigation the victim waivered. Follow up with a prosecution or not? The investigator became the university police hero of the day. He pointed out to the victim that she had undermined any potential prosecution by writing her rapist a check. That made it appear that she had paid him for sexual services and therefore engaged in an act of prostitution. She decided to let the matter drop. The university maintained a clear record of having no rapes reported on campus. The poor girl got screwed twice in one day.
I understand the thinking of the school board in Loudoun County. One student rapes and another student on campus. What to do? There are several considerations. The school district gets paid by the state for each student that attends school. There is a high probability that the victim’s parents will withdraw her from school. There goes that income stream. The suspect is a juvenile and will likely be released on bail. If the school district expels him they would lose another income stream. Allow him to stay and it’s money in the bank. It all comes down to the bottom line.
