VICTIMOLOGISTS SEEK THE TRUTH
BY UNCOVERING SOLID EVIDENCE
BUT THE STUDY OF CRIME VICTIMS OFTEN RAISES QUESTIONS THAT PROVOKE STRONG EMOTIONAL BIASES, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER
The need for objectivity is thoroughly discussed on p. 6 in Chapter One of the Tenth Edition.
The cases cited below have become so highly politicized that objectivity is difficult to maintain.
HUGE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS REDRESS FOR THE TEENAGE GIRLS SEXUALLY TRAFFICKED AND RAPED BY A MULTIMILLIONAIRE WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE IN JAIL
It is a highly politicized and complicated case that will take years to unravel and resolve. A wealthy “financier” who was accused of sex trafficking underage girls apparently successfully hanged himself in his cell after an earlier attempt, while he was awaiting trial in a federal facility in Manhattan.
Some accusers and commentators allege that the sex trafficking of teens led to blackmail schemes. Some extremely prominent and powerful men may have exploited girls as sexual commodities; the serial sexual abuser and rapist routinely partied with friends from the highest levels of society and government, including a past president and the current president, as pictured here. Conspiracy theories circulate about the offender’s unexplained riches and prominence, the government’s failure to shut down his activities, and his suspicious death after his second arrest .
When he was caught the first time, in 2006, the financier received an extremely light sentence secretly negotiated by his high powered lawyers with the agreement of the federal prosecutor in Florida, who later became the Secretary of Labor in the Trump Administration before he was forced to step down. Investigative reports by a journalist who interviewed his victims led to a renewed interest in the scandal. Timelines highlighting the major developments and the serious charges by the victims (teenagers at the time, more than a decade ago) appear here and here.
–A young victim who was “purchased” from her parents abroad at age 15 and was considered a “sex slave” inexplicably was willing to visit him – and was permitted to do so 90 times by the authorities – while he served a suspiciously lenient sentence in a Florida county jail during 2008, according to this news article.
–His estate is being sued by women who allege that he sexually exploited and abused them, some in recent years, some as far back as 1999. Some claim he paid them for “nude sexual massages” when they were underage (14 and 15 years old). An investigative reporter helped to reopen this case by locating as many as 60 of the girls and getting 4 to speak “on the record.” The alleged acts of sexual abuse took place between 1999 and 2005 are recounted here.
–One of his victims who was exploited when she was a teenage runaway is interviewed here.
–Some of his other young victims are interviewed here.
–One victim charges he raped her when she was just 15 years old, with the assistance of a female accomplice, in this graphic account.
— Another victim filed a lawsuit against the dead offender’s estate plus four women who allegedly enabled the systematic sexual abuse of underage teens. She was able to sue because of a recently enacted New York State law that permits suits for acts that happened to children many years ago, as explained here.
— So many victims have filed lawsuits against the financier’s multi-million dollar estate that its executors have proposed setting up a compensation fund that will be administered by a highly respected expert, as explained here.
-An attempt to cash in on the scandal by a con man led to an unusual examination of the possible role of some of the lawyers representing the women is presented here.
_________________________________________
AUTHOR CHARGES DONALD TRUMP RAPED HER IN A DEPARTMENT STORE DRESSING ROOM IN 1995
Adds another serious charge against President Trump, in addition to those cited on p. 386 of Chapter 10 of the Tenth Edition.
She accused him in a book of using force to complete the penetration after some banter about buying a dress in an upscale store. The alleged crime was not reported at the time. When the President denied her charges, she sued him for defaming her reputation, as recounted here
Find out how President Trump’s denials sparked more controversy here.
Review the older charges against Donald Trump that emerged when he was running for president in 2016 here.
_____________________________________________________________
DID JOE BIDEN SEXUALLY ASSAULT A STAFFER IN 1993? WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
The author of this review article concludes that “one of the slogans that emerged from the nascent #MeToo movement was “Believe women.” But it was never that simple; nobody ever said, or meant, “Believe every woman, no matter how incredible or undocumented her claim.” Read about the charges, and the inconsistencies surrounding the disturbing allegation here. Then view this video with what might be additional evidence here.
Finally, watch an interview with a leading advocate for rape survivors here.
____________________________________________________________
MOBILIZING CRIME VICTIMS TO VOTE
A campaign to “get out the vote” has been launched by the Alliance For Safety and Justice, an advocacy group that opposes mass incarceration. They hope to sign up 100,000 crime victims to take part in electoral politics and vote for rehabilitation over punishment, as described here
_____________________________
“Angel Mom” Barred From Speaking At the Republican National Convention
Angel Moms are a group of relatives of crime victims who are grieving the loss of a loved one at the hands of “illegal aliens.” One was supposed to speak at the Republican Convention in favor of Trump’s hardline policy against immigrants. Her son, a police officer, had been killed by an undocumented worker who was driving drunk. But when she re-tweeted a QAnon conspiracy theory post laced with anti-Jewish slurs, she became an embarrassment and was removed from the program, as explained here.
____________________________
Parents Of Children Murdered in An Elementary School Massacre Find The Strength To Sue Conspiracy Theorists
A terrible slaughter of defenseless children and their teachers by a deeply disturbed young man armed with his mother’s high powered guns sparks an outcry against assault weapons in civilian hands. Fearing that public opinion might be swayed toward stricter gun ownership laws, conspiracy theorists question whether the mass shooting actually took place. A professor writes a book claiming no one died; a retiree keeps contacting relatives demanding “proof” such as autopsy reports and photos and urges that the victims’ bodies be exhumed; and the host of “Infowars” (an ardent supporter of President Trump against so-called “hoaxes” undermining his agenda) promotes these accusations on his show. As the years roll by, the still-grieving parents of the murdered Connecticut pupils keep fighting back against these outrageous accusations by suing them in civil court, as recounted here.
____________________________________
New Documentary About A Sensationalized Case Helps To Understand How It Was Viewed Politically
Highlights the latest developments in a highly publicized case discussed on pp. 9-10 in Chapter One of the Tenth Edition , and reviews how the incident was viewed through a political lens.
In 1993, she garnered media attention across the globe when she cut off her husband’s penis. In 2019, a four part documentary brought even more media attention to this case. How various political groups viewed this case as part of the “gender war” is reviewed in this article. In the early 1990s, sexual violence against women (including rape within marriage) was becoming recognized as a real problem. Many women, especially feminists, defended her actions and argued that the way he abused and tormented her drove her to commit this act of desperation. This case sparked a national dialogue that raised consciousness decades before the “#Me Too” movement. But she also sparked a backlash,when her detractors portrayed her as an unsatisfied, unhinged, and vindictive woman who deserved to become a subject for crude jokes -View the trailer for the documentary here.
