In cases of sexual assault or rape, many don’t get to the trial stage for a variety of reasons. Only about 30% of the cases are reported and of those many are not investigated, some of the perpetrators, even though known by the victim, are never interviewed. Even when the victim reports the incident immediately and subjects themselves to the rape kit testing, being interrogated by the police, in many cases not being believed because they are confused — which is not an indication of lying — or being told there isn’t enough evidence.

For those cases that do actually make it to trial and there is a conviction in the case, there is a wide range of sentencing that occurs, depending on the judge in the case. For juxtaposition’s sake, let’s look at a recent (non rape) occurrence. A girl was filmed by her boyfriend opening a Blue Bell ice cream tub and licking it, while her boyfriend egged her on, and then put it back in the case. The video went viral and there are now copycat cases happening. The first headline I saw for the case was that the girl could face being sentenced from 2 to 20 years … for licking ice cream.

Now, I don’t want to downplay the potential seriousness of the crime — it is disgusting, extremely juvenile in nature, and has the potential for passing on communicable disease. If it had not been captured on video and shared, and no one knew about it, someone could have purchased the tainted ice cream. For someone with a strong immune system, should they have not recognize it had been tampered with, they may have contracted an illness, but something that could be fought off. For someone like me, who has an impaired immune system, depending on what the communicable disease was, it could seriously harm or even kill me. Not a laughing matter at all.

But the potential sentence the girl could face was determined based on violating the ice cream (yes, the account I read used that word), not on any aftermath. An aftermath in this case which will not happen as the tainted ice cream was identified and removed.

Brock Turner was caught in the act of assaulting an unconscious woman and was convicted on 3 counts of felony sexual assault … he was sentenced to 6 MONTHS and walked out of prison after 3 months. Shane Piche admitted raping a 14-year-old girl and was sentenced to zero prison time and 10 years probation. With both of these cases, there is no question … there is no doubt … they violated their victims and yet they both received sentences far lighter than a potential sentence for a girl who licked ice cream and put it back.

Let me say this loud and clear: They both willingly and willfully violated another human being and received a lighter sentence than what could be meted out for someone violating ice cream.

I italicized the could be in the sentence above because it is unlikely the girl will be prosecuted at that level as she is a minor and it will be processed through the juvenile system. However, her boyfriend, who is an adult, may also be charged.

Our justice system is broken, and how sexual assault and rape cases are handled truly highlight the many ways in which the system has crumbled. We have numerous safeguards in place to protect the accused, and while necessary, we seem to have forgotten about treating the victims with the same compassion we do the perpetrator. Case after case can be listed where the outcome for the victim is nowhere near close enough for them to think justice has been served or even to feel safe. Because I know for sure, were I the victim in the Shane Piche case, that he is on probation will not do one thing to reduce the nightmares of the event or the fear that since he is free to walk around without restraint, I may come face to face with him again. I wouldn’t feel safe.

Do these individuals who have perpetrated these offenses against other human beings need help? Yes, they most certainly do. Is prison the answer? Not really, because it isn’t doing anything to address the root cause of the problem. It isn’t addressing the issue that Brock Turner only wanted to have “outercourse,” but fails to recognize how wrong it is to do anything to an unconscious woman — except to get her help.

In this country, we still do not provide appropriate consideration for the victim. We still have blinders on when it comes to a defendant of specific socio-economic background, race, or gender. Protection of the defendant’s rights before prosecution, and throughout the course of the trial are imperative. But once a guilty verdict has been rendered, the consideration needs to shift to the victim and their circumstances.

As no harm came to anyone in the violation of ice cream incident, a light sentence to ensure the perpetrators recognize the possible severity as well as the gross stupidity of their actions and to serve as a deterrent against future acts of the same kind would be reasonable; however, the penalty for violation of a human being should not be predicated on the potential damage to the perpetrator, but on what is just for the victim.

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Let’s talk a little bit about what those numbers mean … like only 0.5% of the perpertators will wind up in prison. Or to put it another way, 99.5% of the perpetrators will remain free to sexually assault another person. What about the every 92 seconds? That’s 39 people every hour, over six of which will be children, and 939 per day, 160 of which will be children. That is 342,782 people every YEAR and of those 58,400 are CHILDREN. Roughly ONLY 1,714 will go to prison. My heart is breaking.

Another case rose to media attention this past week because an appellate panel overturned a judge’s decision not to try a 16-year-old as an adult. The judge’s comments in the case made me think … and I gained a new perspective, after calming down because frankly Judge James Troiano’s reasons for not trying “G.M.C.” as an adult enraged me. And let me be clear, it wasn’t the decision, it was the reasons given that were upsetting.

As background information: the case involved a pajama party where a 16-year-old boy who filmed himself assaulting an intoxicated girl and then texted the video to his friends. The legal definition of rape is: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

• Judge Troiano stated that in his mind there is a distinction between sexual assault and rape and further elaborated to state that traditional cases of rape include two or more (generally) males involved forcing the victim at either gun or knife point or threatening to injure the victim. I won’t go into the further inanities of his statements as to traditional cases of rape because his statement already shows he lacks the ability to perform as a judge in ANY rape or sexual assault case. He is a judge and as such his JOB is to hear the specifics and make a determination not based on what is in his mind but by what the law states. Yes, the law is subject to interpretation, but he wasn’t basing his decisions on what the law states, but on what he as an individual thought.
• The text sent to the friends stated, “[w]hen your first time having sex was rape.” To me, this indicates the he knew EXACTLY what he was doing. However, the judge dismissed it as “stupid crap” 16-year-old boys say to their friends. Do 16-year-old boys say “stupid crap”? Absolutely, and you can expand that to people of any age or gender. We have all said something stupid at one point or another. But this was not a case of stupid braggadocio — it was backed up with a video of the event and a girl incapable of giving consent.
• And the final bit of enraging rhetoric from the judge: The boy comes from a good family and gets good grades, so will probably be able to get into a good college. Which, of course, has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether he should be tried as an adult — the only determination the judge was supposed to be making. I feel like this needs a “You had one job …”

At this point, my brain was taking me on an emotional roller-coaster over how we as a society can allow these things to happen over and over again, how we need to weed out these judges who treat victims with such little regard because they are so worried about the impact on the poor perpetrator and how their life will be ruined for one mistake. But then when I went down the alley of “he obviously DOESN’T come from a good family or they would have taught him about consent, what it is and why you need to have it, and oh, by the way, no one from a “good” family would ever think it was OKAY to send a video of a sexual encounter to their friends whether it was consensual or not.

And then I stopped and realized what I was doing … blaming the family for the perpetrator’s actions. I don’t know them. They may be a good family indeed. They may have had all the right discussions with their son — who chose not to listen. But this is what happens. We hear of these horrendous events and start casting blame at society, the judge in the case, the family, the friends, and the biggie, the VICTIM, but we do not put enough emphasis of responsibility on the shoulders of the perpetrator.

In this case, do I blame the judge for ineptly executing his job? You bet. BUT I should be enraged at “G.M.C.” more than the judge in the case who made a decision not to try him as an adult. I should not automatically assume that the family has not tried to impart moral values to their child. They very well could have. Each person is responsible for their OWN actions and we need to start holding them accountable for those actions. But with only 0.5% of perpetrators being held accountable, we have a mountain to climb.

What struck me so forcibly about this particular case were the similarities to Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak, which was published 20 years ago. In it, the main character, Melinda, had been at a party where she had a drink for the first time and was plied with alcohol by a classmate who then took her away from the party and raped her. While he didn’t video it and share it with his friends, she was made an outcast because sick and hurt she called the police. She didn’t speak about what happened to her because of her shame — her voice was effectively silenced.

In my upcoming book, Speak No Evil my main character starts the book having been silent for the prior two years because she felt silenced by the situations she encountered. Speak came out twenty years ago, and yet we still don’t listen and put the needs of the victim first. I wrote Speak No Evil to give Melody a voice, and as a survivor of rape myself, my greatest hope is that through reading the book others will find their voice and with it some peace.

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Here is a man who admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl, yet because he doesn’t have any prior arrests for the same type of behavior, the judge was lenient and didn’t sentence him to any jail time. What about the jail time that girl has to serve?? No, not in an actual prison, but the mental prison and hell she is now in. I cannot imagine her mother’s pain at knowing he is free to walk around as he did before. Yes, he is on probation. Yes, he is restricted from interacting with anyone under the age of 17, but honestly that does not compare one iota to what the girl is going through?

He won’t even be listed in the online sexual offender database because the status is that of a Level 1. HE RAPED A GIRL! HOW is that NOT worthy of being listed in the database? What kind of message is that sending to EVERY OTHER 14-year-old girl out there?

We already have an issue with getting women (and men) to come forward to report rape, and even with the swell of support that has been evident in recent times, we are also seeing a backlash against those who have spoken up. With decisions such as these, we are teaching children that when something horrific happens to you, the perpetrator is basically going to be given a wrist slap and sent on their merry way. As a kid, I expected the justice system to protect the innocent. This is not protecting the innocent.

My heart is breaking for this girl. As I am getting ready for the release of my young adult novel, Speak No Evil this travesty brings the segments in the novel forcibly to mind. My main character, Melody Fisher is raped by her foster father when she is fourteen and she doesn’t speak out because she has been threatened with severe bodily harm if she says anything. And more than anything at this moment, I wonder how we give girl’s a voice when we continue to disregard the severity of their experience. For too long, Melody chose silence. The judge in the Piche case ruled as he did as it was a “first offense” … and I have to wonder about that. Is it truly? Or is it the first offense we KNOW about?

Does Shane Piche need help? Yes, he does. But my bigger concern is that we are failing another girl who took the steps to speak up about what happened. This is a personal issue for me, because I spoke up as well — being older and knowing nothing would happen. In the back of Speak No Evil I have a note to the reader which talks about how I came to write the book and my greatest wish for those who remain silent is that you will find your voice and with it peace. And that concept is so hard to believe in, that of finding peace, when the perpetrator walks free with the requirement to pay $375 in court fees and surcharges, plus a $1,000 special sex offender registration fee. Is that how little we value the girl who will live with that moment for the rest of her LIFE?

For anyone who would like to read my note to the reader, please click here.