I thought that marrying off a rape victim to the rapist in order to conceal that a crime has been committed was a thing of the past. But that’s not how things are:
A former Brunswick County teacher charged with having sex with a student pleaded guilty last month to a lesser charge after she married the victim, preventing the state from compelling him to testify against her, a prosecutor said this week. . . Shipman was a married Brunswick County Academy teacher when she was arrested in January 2009 on charges of sexual offense with a student, statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a student.
The boy was 15 years old when this predator raped him. Now she will avoid prosecution for her crime because she has “covered his shame”, as people would say two hundred years ago, by marrying him. The victim’s mother is fully complicit in handing him over to the rapist, as usually happens in such cases:
According to the Columbus County register of deeds office, Ison was 17 at the time of the marriage, and his mother, Susan Wilson, signed the paperwork allowing him to marry.
Rape victims’ families still often see their raped children as a problem that needs to be removed out of sight as soon as possible.
Without the testimony from the victim (who cannot now testify in court since he is “married” to his rapist), this is the extent of punishment the predatory teacher got:
Shipman was sentenced to a suspended 30-day jail sentence, 12 months of probation and $345 in restitution. She was also ordered to surrender her teaching license.
We all know that pedophiles never commit a single crime. If there has ever been a recidivist crime, sexual abuse of a minor is it. I find it impossible to believe that this is the rapist’s first or last offense. Unfortunately, the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring her to justice and stop her from raping children, albeit temporarily, has been lost. As for the victim, here is what his life will now be about:
On the same day, Ison, now 19, pleaded guilty on unrelated charges to one felony count of breaking and entering and two counts of larceny, Department of Correction records indicate. He received 24 months probation.
Note that his probation is twice as long as that of the criminal who raped him and turned him into an offender. Now that he is “married” to his rapist, I don’t think this young man is likely to receive any help for the trauma that will allow him to heal. And until that happens, his life is likely to be about crime, addiction, depression, and misery.
P.S. In case you are new to the blog, I have to warn you that I have a very intense reaction to child abuse, so don’t even try to justify this horrible crime in any way.
Clarissa's Blog 
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/20/youth-expelled-from-montreal-college-after-finding-sloppy-coding-that-compromised-security-of-250000-students-personal-data/
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I know, it’s out of topic.
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The kid is still too young and innocent, so he lost a fantastic opportunity to make a load of money. He should have hired lawyers before he talked to anybody else.
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And he shouldn’t have talked to the police.
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“And he shouldn’t have talked to the police.”
– I agree. Just hire lawyers immediately and decline to talk to anybody else. The kid is still very naive, though. I hope this teaches him and other bright innocent kids a lesson.
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Nan, nan, nan, nan, there’s no such woman rapist! 😉
Nan, nan, nan, nan, there’s no such boy victim of a female rapist. This is consensual!;)
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Age of consent is problematic.It varies in different countries.In some places it is as low as 13 years
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Yes, like in Russia where such a bill was sponsored by a powerful pedophile lobby. Is that what you are trying to defend here?
Age of consent is only “problematic” for pedophiles.
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What a nasty mess all the way around….
From what I remember of being a 15 year old boy I’m pretty sure this was technically “consentual” on his side (nb am _not_ saying that makes it okay).
Age of consent laws are a poor compromise for dealing with messy realities. Having sex before they’re ready for it can mess a person up pretty badly but there’s no legal way to determine when someone is ‘ready’. Physically sometime after puberty, mentally? Some people make into their 20’s (or later) before they can deal with it.
What really makes me furious about this is the abuse of the teacher-student relationship.
Note to all those who teach pre-adults:
– If you’re so attracted to your students that you actually want to fuck them then YOU’RE IN THE WRONG JOB!!!! CHANGE JOBS BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING AWFUL!!!!
– If you decide to actually fuck one of your students anyway, then YOU’RE A HORRIBLE PERSON WHO SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED NEAR YOUNG PEOPLE!!!!
All that said, the ‘groom’ was probably headed for a lifetime of conflict with law enforcement long before this sad excuse for a human being got ahold of him. The mother’s complicity just underscores it. I notice the word “father” appears….. nowhere in the story (who’da thunk it?)
Finally, as awful as this story is, it’s not nearly in the same universe as the Moroccan case where a girl was forced to marry her rapist (and then killed herself). I’d post a link but don’t want to be caught in mod limbo.
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“From what I remember of being a 15 year old boy I’m pretty sure this was technically “consentual” on his side”
– She was initially charged with rape until he wasn’t precluded from testifying, so this means it was not legal.
“If you’re so attracted to your students that you actually want to fuck them then YOU’RE IN THE WRONG JOB!!!! CHANGE JOBS BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING AWFUL!!!!
– If you decide to actually fuck one of your students anyway, then YOU’RE A HORRIBLE PERSON WHO SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED NEAR YOUNG PEOPLE!!!!”
– Exactly. Stupid, vile freaks who make the entire profession look bad.
“All that said, the ‘groom’ was probably headed for a lifetime of conflict with law enforcement long before this sad excuse for a human being got ahold of him. The mother’s complicity just underscores it. I notice the word “father” appears….. nowhere in the story (who’da thunk it?)”
– Pedophiles always target children from bad families who don’t have anybody to care about them. 😦 Poor guy, with such a mother like this. . .
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“I’d post a link but don’t want to be caught in mod limbo.”
– The spam attack continues, especially after the midlife crisis post that has attracted a crowd of gurus that claim to have a magic remedy.
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Remember, Clarissa:
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2010/02/24/but-women-dont-rape/
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2012/09/19/is-it-rape-if-you-dont-mean-for-it-to-be-rape/#comments
If you think the articles are bad, then read the comments. I have tears in my eyes when I read then, but I don’t know if it’s from laughing or sadness.
But seriously, slap on the wrist punishments for female predators must end. It’s not only US or GB phenomenon.
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These posts traumatize me. They are permeated with entitlement and stupidity.
“But seriously, slap on the wrist punishments for female predators must end. It’s not only US or GB phenomenon.”
– Of course not! In my country, this happens all the time and nobody cares. This is a culture where parents would flay the rapist alive if he were a man molesting their daughter but giggle when it happens to their son.
This is a very sensitive topic for me. I just get angry.
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Wow.Digusting comments by amanda marcotte in second thread
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She is nothing if not consistent.
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“Note to all those who teach pre-adults”
In fact, it’s a note to all whose who teach.
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those
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“In fact, it’s a note to all whose who teach”
There’s a question of degree. If the teacher and student are both adults (let’s arbitrarily define that as finishing high school or reaching 18 whichever comes last) and realize they are attracted to each other then the ethical thing to do is wait for the course to end.
If there’s a good chance the student will have to take another class with said teacher then it stiill probably shouldn’t be explored. If there’s very, very low probability of them ever having a teacher/student relationship again then they’re as free to proceed as any other pair of adults in my book (absent other counter indications of course).
A high school (or middle school) teacher is, however, ethically and morally impelled to not act on any attractions they may feel toward a student (even if the student also gives evidence of attraction). They shouldn’t necessarily agonize or beat themselves up over the attraction but they should have a strong enough conscience and enough willpower to not act on it. period and no excuses.
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I agree.
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This, in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? I thought these sorts of medieval practices happened in places like the Middle-East, India and Africa
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