Outrageous: La. Parish Says Jailed 14-year-old Consented to Repeated Rape by Corrections Officer

Rape victimization that was common 60 years ago is still alive and well in South Louisiana where a parish says it should not be held liable for a detention center correction officer raping a mentally distressed 14-year-old girl, who had a history of being abused as a child, because she consented to being repeatedly sexually assaulted.

A 40-year-old corrections officer at the facility raped the girl, now 20 and filing charges against her assailant, former guard Angelo Vickers, and against Terrebonne Parish. 

Government commits documentary sexual assault against child

“To say that a 14-year-old mentally and emotionally distressed girl with a history of having been abused and neglected as a child should be found at fault for consenting to be raped by a male guard while in confinement at the hands of my local government, which is charged with the responsibility of keeping her safe, not only sets the cause of children’s advocacy back a hundred years, but I believe the parish government commits ‘documentary’ sexual assault against the child by taking this position in a public record,” Carolyn McNabb, an area attorney and child advocate, stated in a letter to parish attorneys.

 Hamilton is one among many locals harshly criticizing the parish’s victim-blaming, 

The parish’s defense “has no basis in law,” says Marci Hamilton, a sex crime victim advocate and professor at Benjamin Cardozo Law School in New York. “She is a victim of statutory rape. The age of consent in Louisiana is 17.”

Rates of sexual abuse reported at juvenile facilities are estimated to be 10.3%.

ThinkProgress says the detention center has a sordid history of enabling prison guards to prey on their young and defenseless victims:

The Terrebonne juvenile prison was exposed by a Department of Justice investigation in 2010 for arbitrarily putting children in isolation cells and leaving guards unsupervised. Several staffers were fired and even indicted for exchanging candy, fruit, time on the telephone, and other favors in return for sex with the underage inmates.

Women began alleviating rape victim-blaming sixty years ago, but some say it is still rampant today, especially in the United States conservative party.

“Unfortunately, blaming and punishing rape victims for their own assaults is running rampant in our society,” Steven Vickers of Addicting Info says. “For years, Republicans in and out of Congress have attempted to redefine rape to make it harder for victims to come forward.

“In their minds, a rape is a forced act that leaves physical evidence such as bruising, tearing, scratches, etc., but that is not always the case. Rapists often use weapons and intimidation in order to force their victims to submit to the assault. Afraid for their lives, many victims will choose not to fight back so as to survive the assault,” Vickers states.

“Many women are also violated after being drugged or having too much to drink, making it easier for a rapist to violate the victim without leaving physical marks. In short, it is wrong to assume that it’s only rape when there is physical evidence of force.”

The former guard, Vickers is now serving a seven-year sentence for molestation.

Hamilton also said, “The defense is also offensive to sex assault victims everywhere.”

Source: Salon, Addicting Information

Photo Credit: Media Freedom International