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Department of Horrible Human Beings
By Jeff Fecke | September 10, 2007
Gosh golly gee, whatever are we going to do for those poor, poor boys unjustly accused of rape?
If being a serial creep was a felony, 21-year-old Carl Wolfe would have been sentenced to life.
In August of 2005, Wolfe, a small-town boy from southern Ohio, arrived on the campus of tiny Notre Dame College in South Euclid. He had been recruited to play basketball, and seemed to think that small detail alone entitled him to everything from homework answers to the inner regions of coeds’ pants.
That fall, Wolfe and Jessica Fiorelli, a shy freshman, began chatting on the phone and instant-messaging each other. One night she invited Wolfe over to her dorm to watch TV. They sat on the bed talking until she fell asleep, but she woke a short time later to find Wolfe “on top of me.” She tried to push him off, but he wouldn’t leave. His hand wandered underneath her bra and over her panties. She again told him he needed to leave, but “he wasn’t going anywhere.” When she tried to bolt, he pushed her back inside.
[...]
A few days later, she received an unsigned letter blaming her and warning her not to tell anyone. “Whatever happened just happened . . . It was your own damn fault for inviting me in . . . You can’t accuse me because you have no proof.”
Lovely guy, huh? I’m sure many of the women reading this are nodding their heads right now; unfortunately, there are all too many guys like Wolfe out there, and it’s even money you’ve crossed paths with one. No, unfortunately, Wolfe isn’t unusual.
The unusual thing in this case is that his victims fought back, and the prosecutor’s office charged him with nineteen rape, gross sexual imposition, intimidation, harassment, and kidnapping.
I wish I could point out additional unusual occurrences in this case, but alas, I cannot.
The acts occurred on a college campus, where sexual experimentation is considered commonplace. And Wolfe, defense attorney Robert Dixon said with a hearty chuckle, was “not a shy guy.” He was good-looking, and he liked to “date a lot.” Prosecutors were hunting an innocent kid.
As far as the defense was concerned, no crimes had occurred. Jessica Fiorelli, after all, had “invited” the boy over. In another incident, a girl had taken her shirt off, only to claim Wolfe kept groping her when she wanted to stop. It was all consensual, said defense lawyer David Doughten, and the girls were lying. “In every situation, the defendant stopped when [the victims] told him to stop.”
More than a few jurors believed him.
Last Wednesday, Wolfe walked out of the court a free man — at least temporarily. The jury found him not guilty of seven felony counts and was undecided on seven others, which included the more serious charges of sexual assault and menacing. (Five other counts were dropped.)
Though more than a few believed there was some guilt there — especially in the Jessica Fiorelli case — there were no fingerprints or DNA inextricably linking Wolfe to the crime scene, explained one juror, who didn’t want his name used.
They also didn’t perceive Wolfe as a predator. Some believed the women were ganging up on him, though the accusers didn’t know each other before the trial. A few insisted they would never convict Wolfe, “even if they sat here till Christmas,” the juror reported.
Now, I may be hopelessly naive, but when nineteen different women come forward to explain that a guy is a rapist, I tend to believe he’s a rapist. After all, it’s not he-said-she-said here; it’s he-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said -she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said-she-said.
But unfortunately for the women involved, there are at least some people who agree with Wolfe that it’s the women’s “own damn fault for inviting him in.” Because it’s the victim’s fault. They probably led him on, right?
The good news, if there is any, is that Wolfe still faces seven felony counts, and the prosecutor intends to retry him. As for Wolfe, he’s banking on his celebrity:
But the decision fulfilled a prediction Wolfe made two years ago while being escorted off campus by police. “This must be a basketball thing,” he told Notre Dame Police Lieutenant Robert Lambert. “If Kobe Bryant got away with it, so will I.”
I hope he’s wrong. But sadly, I wouldn’t bet on it. So long as rape apologists wander free and sit on juries, there will be people who don’t see anything wrong with a little sexual assault, other than the damage to the reputation of a poor, innocent boy.
(Cross-posted from Shakesville)
Topics: Feminism, Sexual Assault | 2 Comments »
September 17th, 2007 at 3:42 am
LINK
NOT GUILTY IS NOT GUILTY 12 PEOPLE SAY NOT GUILTY 0 SAY GUILTY THE TRUTH ALWAYS PREVAILS
September 17th, 2007 at 11:38 am
“But the six men and six women on the jury deadlocked after four days of deliberation on many of the most damning counts involving a fifth accuser, a fellow freshman athlete.”
Reading comprehension, obviously not your forte.