http://time.com/4546379/university-wisconsin-sexual-assault/
Possible 30 charges relating to 4 women. More women have contacted police.
I do wonder if women are adequately communicating to the guys that these are unwanted advances. Why did he get away with 15 inappropriate touches before she did something about it? Wouldn’t just one be enough to say hey, that’s enough?
This is horrifying. I was discussing the case with some coworkers this morning. We were particularly disturbed by the fact the defendant allegedly prepared notebooks about his potential and actual victims.
Because even in the 21st century, women are brought up to “be nice”, “not make a scene”, and even to question our own perceptions of what is happening to us. It’s a virtual certainty that when a woman of any age dares to report that a man has touched her inappropriately, she is certain to be blamed for either lying about it or somehow causing the behavior in question.
How in this current news cycle, is this even a question anymore?
edit:
It’s not an “excuse”, it’s a reality. Please tell me how the legal system would deal with inappropriate touches at a ballroom dance class.
@JoBlue: Depending on the state that would probably be some form of sexual battery.
Yes, it will be dependent on the state. It’s pretty hard to convict “criminal touching” in Michigan unless it is a child or someone who is mentally impaired. “Most” people can extricate themselves from “criminal touching” so in Michigan the laws protect people that are not capable of protecting themselves, i.e. young people and people with mental illnesses.
That aside, this case could be very serious if there are other parties who allege assault or actual rape and it sounds like from the article linked that they have accusers claiming such things as sexual assault, false imprisonment, and strangulation which is a whole different ballgame than inappropriate touching and it sounds like the prosecutor has enough confidence int he evidence to push forward. But again…time will tell as the investigation into the claims continue.
Since this guy was also accused of roofieing a woman and raping her, I’m guessing the “inappropriate touches” weren’t on this accuser’s shoulder or the top of her head. What kind of communication is the woman supposed to be giving the guy that he shouldn’t grab her breast or her what-that-other-guy-said-he-grabbed, when they’re in a ballroom dance class? She doesn’t need to communicate anything, any more than she needed to tell him not to steal her wallet. It’s not up to the woman to tell a guy not to assault her.
It’s not up to her to tell him not to commit crimes. It’s up to him not to commit crimes. “Well she didn’t say I couldn’t steal her wallet so I did it,” is not an an excuse, and neither is “Well she didn’t say not to assault her in dance class so I did it.”
He is due in court today. They found a black boo listing women he knows and what he wants to do to/with them in his apartment. Ugh.
“Because even in the 21st century, women are brought up to “be nice”, “not make a scene”, and even to question our own perceptions of what is happening to us. It’s a virtual certainty that when a woman of any age dares to report that a man has touched her inappropriately, she is certain to be blamed for either lying about it or somehow causing the behavior in question.”
All of this is true. It is also true that swift, well-timed kick works great.
This happened to me in a (bar association!) show during group dance scenes in 2002. I told some old-timers and they said, “Oh yeah, McFeelerson, he’s always after the young ones.” During the next crowd scene, I used my dance heel on him, and he never went near me again.
As soon as the performances were over, I quit the show, not because of the octopus, whom I’d scared away, but because the leadership thought it was OK to force the young women in the cast to handle that crap on their own.
People in power need to get their acts together about this, AND I recommend that women in a ballroom dance situation fight back against that “be nice” training while we’re working on the larger problem.
Ugh, indeed. However, if I were the judge, that book would be excluded from evidence unless it were clear that the women who claim he assaulted them are in it, and his “plan” for them at least somewhat resembles what they claim he did. It’s not illegal to have sexual fantasies about attractive people you meet. It’s not illegal to write them down, either. If the book provides evidence of advance planning for specific assaults, it’s highly relevant, but if you can’t make that connection it’s not relevant at all and highly prejudicial. Because, ugh.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/lawyer-20yearold-accused-of-sexual-assault-going-through-character-assassination/42262656
As a local (and a lawyer), what I consider most significant from this article is the skilled, well-known lawyers the defendant and his family have hired.
Ha! That is awesome, and I am a guy. 
Totally support women defending themselves in these situations. What I don’t support is the idea that a woman’s word be given more weight over a man’s in a courtroom. Both are equal, and if there is no evidence or witness, there is no case, IMO.
And therein lies a big portion of the problem, the reason many women don’t report, and why skeevy men get away with this so often.
@rosered55 It’s not surprising he has good lawyers, he is from Edina.
You gotta admit…there’s an awful lot of trial by media these days. It’s pretty distasteful in my opinion and his lawyers are right. He’ll get his day or more in court and then the commenting can commence.
Parents, please emphasize and tell your daughters to report aggressive sexual behavior and for God’s sake, criminal assaults. If guilty, this madman could have been stopped after the first complaint.
Nope. Because