Girl Accuses Construction Worker of Rape--an Unbelievable Outcome
January 14th, 2008 by Glenn Sacks, MA for Fathers & Families
Amazing--a middle school girl makes a false allegation of rape against a construction worker who is working at her school, and the result is:
a) An outpouring of support and sympathy for the falsely accused construction worker.
b) A tearful apology from the false accuser to the falsely accused construction worker.
c) A tearful apology from the false accuser's parents to the falsely accused construction worker.
d) A call for increased awareness of false allegations of rape.
e) A call for increased vigilance against construction workers.
If you picked "e", you're correct. The unbelievable story is below.
I suggest readers contact the reporter, Gina Davis, and ask her why a story of a man being terribly victimized was instead turned into an exercise in anti-male fear-mongering. She can be reached at 410-494-2938 or at gina.davis@baltsun.com.
Sun reporter Jennifer McMenamin, who also contributed to the story, can be reached at 410-494-2940 or at jennifer.mcmenamin@baltsun.com.
To write a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun, email letters@baltsun.com.
Police say girl lied about school attack
Perry Hall Middle student was not assaulted, they say
By Gina Davis
Baltimore Sun, 1/12/08
A sixth-grade girl at Perry Hall Middle School lied about being sexually assaulted this week in a school restroom, Baltimore County police said yesterday.
Based on their investigation, police concluded that the incident did not occur, said Bill Toohey, a county police spokesman.
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said that prosecutors have reviewed the facts of the case and decided not to charge the 11-year-old girl.
"The [girl's] family acted extremely appropriately," Shellenberger said, "and we've decided that the situation is better handled in the family and not in the criminal justice system."
County schools spokeswoman Kara Calder said yesterday that she did not know whether the girl would be disciplined by school officials, and would be prohibited in any event from discussing the issue because of student privacy concerns.
The girl described her alleged attacker as a construction worker employed on a renovation project at the school, but police determined that he had no involvement, Toohey said.
Police said their investigation included interviewing the girl and the worker and reviewing video from one of the school's 18 surveillance cameras.
About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the girl reported to the principal's office that a man had followed her into the restroom between classes and sexually assaulted her, police said. The girl said she fought off the man, ran out of the restroom and reported the attack to a county police officer stationed at the school, police said.
Police initially incorrectly said yesterday that the girl had admitted to lying, but soon after said she hadn't made such a confession. Though relieved to hear the girl hadn't been harmed, parents said the incident helped raise awareness about the potential dangers posed by contractors working in the buildings during the school day.
Some said school officials should consider requiring background checks and fingerprinting of contractors and their employees, as they do of teachers and other school workers. They also said construction workers should be further restricted from areas where children might be.
"I'm glad nothing happened and I feel sorry for everybody involved, but I still think maybe it was an eye-opener," said Crystal Curtis, whose son, James, 11, also is in sixth grade. "Everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is something they want to look into."
Amy Vahle of Perry Hall, whose daughter, Alexis, 11, is in sixth grade, said construction projects such as the two-year renovation under way at the school should be limited to weekends, holidays and summer.
"The school system should not allow contract workers or outside sources during school hours," she said. "Even if a school is a good school, bad things can happen. Instead of waiting for something to really happen, they should make some changes."
Calder said she did not know whether the system would begin requiring background checks of contract workers.
She stressed that while police had concluded that nothing had happened to the girl, the school had made changes in response to safety concerns.
Children were instructed to travel in pairs, more teachers were in the hallways between classes and more police were stationed at the school.
Also, construction was curtailed the day after the girl's accusations were made to give the general contractor, James Ancel Inc., time to install a separate entrance to the work zone by replacing a window with a door, Calder said. Any worker who doesn't use that entrance during school hours will be barred from the project, Principal Allen H. Zink said earlier this week.
Calder said she believed the entrance was installed Thursday and workers had returned to the 1,500-student school yesterday.
"In the past 10 years, if not more, we have had a huge scope of projects," she said. "By and large, we've been very successful at getting them done in conjunction with operating schools successfully and safely."
Calder said it isn't always possible to limit construction to off-hours, weekends and holidays.
"Our primary objective is for the work to happen before school, after school, during holidays and summer, but given the breadth and scope of projects, it isn't always possible to do the work at those times and meet the public's expectations that we improve the physical quality of the schools," she said.
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January 14th, 2008 at 10:49 am
"The school system should not allow contract workers or outside sources during school hours," she said. "Even if a school is a good school, bad things can happen. Instead of waiting for something to really happen, they should make some changes."
SOMETHING DID HAPPEN!!
But, as a male was the victim of something bad happening, we will now carry on with our lives.
Is there any way to bring a suit against a DA for failure to press charges?
January 14th, 2008 at 10:51 am
This is simply unbelievable. If the allegation is false, and nothing happened, why would there need to be any call for further restrictions on construction workers?
I can see not charginan 11yr old with a crime, but there should at least be some form of mandated counseling by the court system. What's to stop the family from simply ignoring the issue completely? Obviously the girl is troubled and seeking some form of attention for whatever reason, and it should not be shrugged off. I can only imagine the trouble the guy would be in if there wasn't videotape.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Thank god, maybe we have reached our scottsborro boys event!!
January 14th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Seriously, so from an incident not occuring, they concluded that we should be wary of similar incidents...that didn't occur?
That's like witnessing a reduction in burglary rates and saying that we need to be more worried about burglary.
In no other circumstance would people come to a conclusion the complete opposite of what the evidence presented to them suggested.
Ludicrous, absolutely insane.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said that prosecutors have reviewed the facts of the case and decided not to charge the 11-year-old girl.
"The [girl's] family acted extremely appropriately," Shellenberger said, "and we've decided that the situation is better handled in the family and not in the criminal justice system."
What if their familly has a father who barelly has a voice anymore, who has been turned into a mute, work mule, who has no say anymore!! Do you really think this situation will be dealt with inside the familly???
January 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am
MCA, I think you are hypothesising too much. Just stick to the facts that we know; a man was victimised and the result was the focus on what he was FALSELY accused of rather than what actually occured, and is extremely common and ignored.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am
It's the construction workers who should be traveling in pairs. Really.
Also, this supports the notion that construction workers should refuse to work anywhere near females unless the construction workers are protected from false accusations by continuous video surveillance at all times.
A failure to punish this non-sexual assault victim -- including by publishing her name, which should be legal since she is not a victim, right -- simplly invites more such misconduct.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:14 am
This just shows how sick our media journalists have become!! They are the mouthpieces that are fomenting rape hysteria!!
America has a dark past with rape hysteria!!
Men that want to save this country from hysteria, and innevitable breakdown, must educate themselves and others!! goto..menscollegeactivist.org
January 14th, 2008 at 11:17 am
AP-
Yes, imagine if the construction crew decided to strike based on this.
By god I wish they would.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:19 am
callum: "That's like witnessing a reduction in burglary rates and saying that we need to be more worried about burglary."
You just hit on a fundamental problem with our educational system (not just US but most if not all of the world): a complete and utter lack of training in risk management. The fact is, the powers that be don't want people to understand risk and how to manage it. Fear is too easy to use as a tool of manipulation. In this case, rape hysteria allows all of us to be controlled, money to be allocated, and laws to be put in place to preserve female privilege.
Take all of this terrorism nonsense. Can things like September 11th happen? Yes. Can it happen again? Yes - and they probably will. But walking around in fear and setting up asinine, restrictive, and expensive policies will do little fix the problem of terrorism, but will do a lot to get people elected.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Yay, surveillance!
This is EXACTLY why I've turned down jobs to work in a school system.
Was the construction worker here illegally? Was he a different race than the accuser? Aside from the surveillance tape, and deducing from that that the girl lied, what has cleared the filthy construction worker? You can't get more of a stereotypical "Man" than a construction worker, so when it comes to making a false accusation, what better case do you have to further villify men? Good grief, the parents are acting like there's a prison work gang picking up trash and mopping floors in the place.
Typical reaction by the soccer mom crowd, too. Some one dirty might touch her little snowflake. We just can't have her around those, you know, "blue collar" types. Ewww. As if...Where's my latte?
If the union boss had any balls, they'd walk off the site. If I were bidding on any further contract for that school, I'd demand 24x7 video, and punitive compensation for any false allegation.
Wow, and "Atonement" won best picture. Go figure. Obviously, little miss future entitlement princess saw it, and came to the correct conclusion on how to get attention in america.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:22 am
"Children were instructed to travel in pairs, more teachers were in the hallways between classes and more police were stationed at the school."
more womens hysteria that is psychologically collapsing our children!!
you go girl!!
January 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I guess what really angers me is the sexist presumption that men are criminal perverts, just waiting for the opportunity to hurt someone.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
really, let's do a comparison -
Number of Teachers who have statutory rape charges vs number of construction workers or contractors who have assaulted students.
I think students face a statistically higher threat from teachers.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am
That, and the classism present as well. He's a construction worker, poor people usually do that job. Since he's poor, he's probably a rapist.
Although poor people are more likely to be involved in crime, most rapes are by aquaintances, and not by strangers. Presumably because he is a poor stranger, he is suspect.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
"Though relieved to hear the girl hadn't been harmed, parents said the incident helped raise awareness about the potential dangers posed by contractors working in the buildings during the school day.
Some said school officials should consider requiring background checks and fingerprinting of contractors and their employees, as they do of teachers and other school workers. They also said construction workers should be further restricted from areas where children might be."
Unf_____g believable. How sick am I of neurotic yuppie parents!! These are the same dorks who mow you over with their $800 double-seater SUV baby carriages on their way out of Starbucks.
Let's go one even further. Let's just require everone to be listed on a naitonal fingerprint database. Let's also go ahead with national ID cards that you need to present at the border of every state. It's all about (sob) the CHILDREN!!
Of course, no punishment for the girl, right? That's good. Let her go on thinking that she can do anything she wants without direct consequences. That makes sense.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am
COPY
Ms. Davis:
In your article “Girl lied about school attack,” you note that “the incident helped raise awareness about the potential dangers posed by contractors working in the buildings during the school day.”
Excuse me? Where in the world did that come from? The incident that you write about disproves the supposed lessons you claim are to be drawn from it. The girl lied that a man had sexually assaulted her. The implications of this lie were potentially devastating because if the lie had its intended effect, an innocent man would have been sent away to prison for decades. Apparently no one with whom you spoke was concerned about the fact that a man, and his loved ones, might have had their lives destroyed over this lie.
The only thing this incident “raised awareness about” is the potential dangers men face when women decide to concoct claims of sexual assault and there is often no way to disprove it.
The focus of your piece obviously was intended to feed into some hysterical, irrational fear of men, and it was wholly irresponsible.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:35 am
May I suggest that anyone writing to the newspaper about this incident also share their notes here?
January 14th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Here's the letter I just sent:
Dear Ms. Davis and Ms. McMenamin,
I was shocked to read your story regarding false allegations of rape from a middle school student in Baltimore. Clearly, the girl tried to use the fact that good-hearted people naively tend to believe such allegations. Her goal was to victimize a totally innocent man. Rather than focus on the damage this probably did to his reputation --- and the damage it certainly could have done to him if the lie had not been discovered --- you instead ended the story by talking about the perceived threat of construction workers. None of the facts of the story support this alarmist and unfounded attitude!! The construction worker was innocent!!
Unfortunately, men are victimized by these types of allegations far too often in our present culture. You may not be aware of the types of damage that these false allegations can do. Completely innocent men end up jailed. Domestic violence laws allow vindictive women who make false allegations to strip children, property, and money from their ex-husbands with no evidence whatsoever. Rarely does anyone come to the defense of the innocent men who are falsely accused. I believe stories such as yours simply encourage this process to continue. I've heard statistics that suggest that as many as 50% of rape accusations are false. I would be happy to find them for you if you would like to pursue this issue.
Please do not misunderstand me --- I think that rape is a serious and terrible crime, and that clearly it does go on. However, it is also clear that unsubstantiated allegations of rape or violence happen very frequently and that these false allegations also victimize innocent people and destroy lives. We need society to move toward a model in which people cannot get away with either of these things. Instead, I think that writings such as your article tend to push society toward the "men are guilty even if proved innocent" attitude.
Please, imagine for a moment that the man falsely accused of rape was your father, or your brother, or your own husband? What sort of story would you want to write then?
Please, don't contribute any more to the crimes committed against innocent men who are falsely accused. Please, search your hearts, do some research, and think also about the problems faced by innocent people who are wrongly accused and "convicted" in our society, without any evidence.
Most sincerely,
January 14th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Good Lord. And this, on the morning that I just bought and started reading "Until Proven Innocent" about the Duke case. As if on cue.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
The perplexing part is why an 11 year old would make a false claim and I wish somebody deal with her motives. I don't want to punish an 11 year old and I can certainly understand why the school would still take measures to protect themselves from a future event even though this was a false one. Rapes do happen and we need to prosecute them as well as false rape accusers whenever possible but an 11 year old girl is too young to prosecute. I am not saying she gets off without consequences and I am not even sure what should be done against her but whatever it is is cannot be a full prosecution. She's just too young....
January 14th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Ms. Davis sent a thoughtful reply. She said:
Hi __________
Thank you for your note.
For the record, let me start by saying that the article said that PARENTS said they felt that the incident had helped raise awareness.
I'm hoping my further reply will give you some insight into our reporting of the story, and our efforts to accurately do so.
First, I'll say that I am aware of the damage that false accusations can do to anyone --- men and women, alike. After all, I work for a newspaper and am an avid news reader.
As for the situation at Perry Hall Middle School, from the very first day, it was clear to me (from my interviews with police and school officials) that video surveillance tapes were providing ample information to prompt further scrutiny of the girl's story. The existence of those tapes was reported in my stories. From my additional conversations with the principal, it was also apparent that the tapes were providing significant information for investigators.
Even school officials, from the outset, acknowledged that they work to ensure as much distance as possible between construction workers (or contract workers, in general) and students/teachers/staff. So, it doesn't strike me as unreasonable that parents would subsequently see this situation as an opportunity to further tighten those controls.
The executive director for the National Safe Schools Coalition told me that he generally advises schools to develop contracts with contractors that call for separate entrances to work areas, etc., as precautionary measures. He says most contractors are likewise interested in alleviating any gray areas.
In the end, as I have shared with another reader who called me today, it's unfair to assume the school system and legal authorities aren't taken the girl's false allegations seriously. As I reported, the school system is prohibited from discussing with us what, if any, consequences the girl may face (such as suspension or expulsion). And the state's attorney's office made it clear, as we reported, that they felt confident the girl's family was best suited to handle this situation.
One of the questions I asked of all the parents to whom I spoke was whether they worried that these false allegations would cause them to initially doubt other reports of similar accusations, should this ever happen again. Most of them said it was unfortunate, that one who lies can create this layer of doubt for all others. Again, they came back to the point that it would be better to take this as an opportunity to tighten those controls at the school site to avoid being in this position again.
Take care,
MY REPLY TO HER NOTE:
I very much appreciate your thoughtful reply. I am a supporter of the Innocence Project http://www.innocenceproject.org/ (anything but a conservative organization) where hundreds of men wrongly convicted men of rape and other crimes have been released from prison, often after serving many years.
Every time there is a false accusation, we hear that the problem is that it will discourage others from coming forward with similar accusations or will cause their claims to be disbelieved. The innocent men, who often have no way to defend against such a terrible lie, are always a secondary consideration.
We all should want to discourage similar false accusations, but using incidents like this to warn children that they should fear men only promotes a culture that engenders false accusations.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Something "bad" did happen and again through misdirection, misinformation and distraction the wrong issue was addressed and corrected. Ummmm if it is not broken do not fix it!!!! DUH!!!! Instead, although young a sexual predator of false accusations is running loose in the hallways. If I were Crystal Curtis whose son, James, 11, also is in sixth grade who said "I'm glad nothing happened and I feel sorry for everybody involved, but I still think maybe it was an eye-opener," .. . "Everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is something they want to look into." I would be more concerned about my boy being falsely accused that a construction work who was proven not to be a problem. Again DUH!
b
January 14th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Sending letters to the authors is only half of the solution, you also need to send a copy of your letters to the Baltimore sun Editorial staff, that is the only way to ensure the issue gets the editorial attention needed. besides, why would the "editors" post a correction if only the writiers are getting the heat.
The editorial e-mail is publiceditor@baltsun.com
January 14th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Kevin Merck has requested that his comment here be deleted.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
There is actually a source that acknowledges that being falsely accused of rape is almost exactly just as stressful as being raped itself. I believe this piece of evidence is important, and I cite it often. Yes the values seem a bit arbitrary, but at least it is a start in acknowledging herjury (false alegations of sexual midconduct) as the serious issue it is.
I believe this is the online source:
http://cwx.prenhall.com/bookbind/pubbooks/morris5/medialib/images/t12_01.pdf
Feminists have a choice: They can either advocate to punish herjury more seriously, or they can advocate to treat rape less seriously. Regardless of their decision, one thing seems certain with masculists: kid gloves are out, and justice is in.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
AnonymousPamphleteer Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 11:09 am
It's the construction workers who should be traveling in pairs. Really.
= = =
NICE ! ! !
b
January 14th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Maculist, I think if you took a poll of 100 men -- which would you prefer, being raped or serving 20 or 30 years for rape? That's a no-brainer. The majority would rather be raped. Read the bios of the INnocence Project men who had their lives taken from them while they rotted away for decades in prison, not to mention the lives of their loved ones. No, sir, as terrible as rape is, there is no comparison.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
"I'm glad nothing happened and I feel sorry for everybody involved, but I still think maybe it was an eye-opener," Unless you are part of the minority that is aware of the problems faced by the falsely accused, which are trivialized if not ignored by the media, then people will focus on the usual media focus of 'a bad man is out there'. This parent believes her eyes are open but I think this shows how the minds of people can be shaped, made to focus on what has been 'given' to see. Is she more aware of false allegations and how they affect the lives of so many people? I don't think so.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Here's my bottom line: Using incidents like this lie to warn children that they should fear men only promotes a culture that engenders false accusations.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Thank God they caught this guy before he actually committed a crime!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
A copy of my e-mail to Ms. Davis and her cohort:
Ms. Davis,
So soon after the Duke University "rape" debacle, and the report of the man falsely jailed for rape for 27 years, you report yet another provably false rape allegation. But instead of condemnation of the false accuser, or comment on what seems to be an epidemic of men being terrorized by false allegations of rape, or, heaven forbid, any mention of sympathy for the poor guy who came close to having his life ruined at the whim of a disturbed female, the focus of your oh-so-politically-correct article is that we should all be more afraid of male construction workers!! I suppose you don't have any sons, brothers, a father, or other men that you care about. Otherwise, you wouldn't be quite so ready to have them thrown under the bus when its their turn to be a randomly accused rapist in a world where women are more than allowed to lie about rape -- they are virtually encouraged to do so, given the lack of any consequences for their lies. You are contributing to the problem. I wonder if this through thoughtless inadvertence, or casual malevolence.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
"Maculist, I think if you took a poll of 100 men -- which would you prefer, being raped or serving 20 or 30 years for rape? That's a no-brainer. The majority would rather be raped. Read the bios of the INnocence Project men who had their lives taken from them while they rotted away for decades in prison, not to mention the lives of their loved ones. No, sir, as terrible as rape is, there is no comparison."-Judge Rufus Pechham
I agree with your comment above Rufus. I believe the scale treats rape as more serious than it really is. However, with that said, I am still surprised that false rape accusations were even acknowledged, period, especially in a PC milieu.
I know the scale is not very scientific, and is intended for "classroom use." So it should be taken with a grain of salt.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
"I am still surprised that false rape accusations were even acknowledged, period, especially in a PC milieu." Excellent point, and one that I'd overlooked, Masculist.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
"Thank God they caught this guy before he actually committed a crime!" --Mr. O'Brien, a great line!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
The liars are getting younger every day. Actually the same thing happened in my school when I was in the sixth grade (in 1973). This girl who was in my grade made an allegation of rape against one of the male janitors which caused an uproar. Virtually everybody on campus jumped down the girl's throat for telling a blatant lie! She eventually admitted that the charge was false. But it was too late. The janitor was heartbroken and ruined and he immediately left the school. Boy, times were different back then.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I talked to Gina. She seemed irritable.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
"Also, construction was curtailed the day after the girl's accusations were made to give the general contractor, James Ancel Inc., time to install a separate entrance to the work zone by replacing a window with a door, Calder said. Any worker who doesn't use that entrance during school hours will be barred from the project, Principal Allen H. Zink said earlier this week."
Could the contractor sue the false accuser for lost time on the job and the added cost of a door not required when the job was bid?
January 14th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I got nearly verbatim the same response as "The Judge." I think she missed the point...
January 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/MRA_06/ProsecuteFalseAccusers6.jpg
Prosecute False Accusers
January 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
stephen..
"Boy, times were different back then."
MCA.. But cultural... lynche attack, rape hysteria, remains the same!!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Stephen, the problem is what goes on outside the school -- some mothers feed into the "evil male" hysteria and get their eunuch husbands to do the same thing. Then the PC school picks up on it, and the media, and you've got "the perfect storm" of anti-male political correctness.
The result of it all? The culture created by this will not discourage liars, it will only encourage more young liars to crucify some innocent man.
Women better wise up. Your husbands and sons have a big bullseye on their chests for angry girl to destroy with a lie.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Lewis, the contractor can sue the accuser. By the way, the contractor is only taking reasonable precautions to protect it and it's men from the liars.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
The writers of the article are women.
Trying to persuade women into giving up their rape hysteria power, Is like trying to convince a southern baptist that the bible is false!!..(you're wasting you're energy)
Energy should be focussed on supporting media that does give a balanced perspective, media like Glenn sacks.org!!
But writing letter of protest to "Lace Curtain" journalists couldn't hurt!!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Interesting data point XY. And excellent line Mr. O'Brien.
With regards to Glenn's son, I don't think our kids will have too much to worry about false accusations for too much longer. Within 5-10 years there will not be a public space that is not constantly surveilled and recorded. Within 10-20 years, all private spaces will be too.
Surveillance is easier than common sense, and it has a nice tidy little profit to go along with it.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Judge said: "Lewis, the contractor can sue the accuser. By the way, the contractor is only taking reasonable precautions to protect it and it's men from the liars.
It appears they are most wise to do so and should, as someone mentioned, have their workers travel in pairs (although that will probably be seen as twice as likely to result in a 'problem'.)
And to the suggestions that these workers strike or boycott this project, they probably can't risk falling behind on their child support payments.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
By setting us a system whereby females can accuse men of anything they please without potential reprocussions we have created a Frankenstein.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
MCA, I disagree that 'women' don't want to give up the right to accuse with impunity.
Consider Wendy McElroy, Christina Hoff Summers and other women like them (there's more I'm just bad with names)
No, what we need is intellectual honesty, not mindless sexism on your part.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
The problem is, Lewis, that the school district would probably not look kindly on that and could even ban the contractor from future jobs. And great line, Lewis: "And to the suggestions that these workers strike or boycott this project, they probably can't risk falling behind on their child support payments."
January 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I agree, Callum. Almost every woman has a husband, boyfriend, father or son for whom they care deeply and would not want to see accused. The "women" are not the problem, per se. It is a hysterical anti-male culture that many MEN foment, engender and encourage.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
After the loss of my contact with my beloved children through parental interference and PAS with the very active assistance of the courts, I considered going into teaching as well. I was attracted toward the elementary school level, as my background is in history and I'm not PC enough to teach that.
However, like most males considering teaching, no way with all of the presumptions about men and children.
Mike
January 14th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
BTW, I also sent a slightly revised version to the public editor, per the helpful suggestion posted above.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
callum: "MCA, I disagree that 'women' don't want to give up the right to accuse with impunity."
Excellent point callum....just look at Betsy, Davina, Celia, and any number of other women here. I honestly don't think that in a majority of "person-on-the-street" cases, women/men want gender-privilege (except when it comes to bodily risk such as war and so on - then some/many women like to hide behind their privilege or give men the "privilege" of fighting - depending upon one's point of view).
The larger problem is the propaganda of a few corrupting the overly-risk-adverse many through fear and hysteria. We have become a culture of weaklings who are scared of our own shadows. Our politicians don't help by pandering and utilizing this fear to gain votes. In this instance, I believe it will get much worse before it gets better and I'm really not sure what will fix the problem. Perhaps once the sensory overload of on demand, 24 hour news becomes far more ingrained in our culture? I don't know. Maybe it will work itself out. Unfortunately, people are being told what to think instead of how to think.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Lance: "(except when it comes to bodily risk such as war and so on - then some/many women like to hide behind their privilege or give men the "privilege" of fighting - depending upon one's point of view)."
I should also note that this isn't just a trait of women...far too many men believe exactly the same thing!
January 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
(interviewed mother of student at the school) – “… bad things can happen. Instead of waiting for something to really happen, they should make some changes."
(Judge Rufus Peckham) – “Here's my bottom line: Using incidents like this lie to warn children that they should fear men only promotes a culture that engenders false accusations.”
Mr. O’Brien) -- "Thank God they caught this guy before he actually committed a crime!"
Now, sometimes I like to try to connect-the-dots between local events and our broader cultural malaise.
This kind of event is so perfectly illustrative of what's been dubbed "the post-9/11 mentality."
Which is, we are all participating in a culture of pervasive suspicion and distrust, and increasingly, we are willing to put up with unconstitutional surveillance (i.e. the Patriot Act) and "sus laws" which are based on the premise that it might be actually legal to arrest someone for the possibility that they might commit a crime in the future.
This case goes a whole lot deeper than just profiling male construction workers, even though the story does not specify whether there are also female workers on the crew capable of being falsely accused.
It's actually about the climate of pervasive fear, suspicion, and imminent disaster that has infected this country.
Gender warfare against men is just a small part of the totalitarian enterprise, though a very lucrative one, given the $1 billion a year that VAWA receives to demonize men.
America is becoming a very dark place in which to live.
There are historical parallels to be appreciated, about people who traded their liberties for "safety."
January 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Lance, I agree completely. The news media is fueling much of the panic -- you will notice it's not confined to these issues, it's about everything. In this day and age, EVERYTHING is exaggerated, sharpened, and magnified by the news media. That's why the Balt. Sun and most other news outlets need to tone down the "male-as-evil" slant.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Kevin Merck Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
It’s easy to pay lip service to how terrible this is Glenn, but would it be so difficult to *un-ass* one of your precious *campaigns* to confront this rape hysteria?
I hope your son does not grow up to be falsely accused. If he does, then you will have to live with the nightmare, of possibly having had a means to stop it, and chose not to do enough.
Sorry if you find offense to that statement, but none was intended. I’m just very angry and disgusted with the results of this occurrence.
Your son will someday have very little freedom and maybe his own “dad” could have done more to prevent it.
If this isn’t a good enough reason for one of your precious campaigns, Glenn, then what is?
Maybe it will be when you, or your son, are arrested on similar charges.
= = =
I am confused by your post. This is one way that Glenn brings unjust things like this to light. Given the fact that this only happened on the 12th it will take him time to lead the charge of this "precious campaign" if he chooses so that it can be done properly with the right answers before the retort questions can be asked and to arrange for the most exposure per media event.
b
January 14th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Judge: "In this day and age, EVERYTHING is exaggerated, sharpened, and magnified by the news media."
Exactly. It is about selling copy in an already extremely competitive marketplace. Historically, people had a hand full of available news outlets, and subscribed to even fewer (perhaps a news paper, one of NBC/CBS/ABC night news, and a magazine or two). Now we have an almost unlimited number of options and they are all vying for our eyes. Being a more libertarian minded person, I'm all for as many choices as possible and for the market to decide the "best" sources... The problem is that now everyone is being overloaded with facts, figures, conjectures, and stories and simply put, we are having a tough time dealing with it as a culture. On top of that, all of these news sources are competing hard and if a source's news isn't entertaining, no one will tune in. So what happens? It becomes a vicious circle people sources with the most sensational, the most "heart felt" stories get the most eyeballs which in turn positively reinforces the management of the source. Just goes to show: other then how they wash their crotch, there isn't much difference between a dog and a person.
I don't think there is a fix except for people to do exactly what Glenn has suggested in this article: write letters, contact advertisers, etc. We don't need new laws - we need more enlightened people who are fed up with the junk-news.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I wrote angry letters to Gina, Jennifer and the editor at the Baltimore Sun. I told them that men are on to their feminist hogwash. I also said that I hope men stop buying their newspapers until they show men in a more favorable light. I said more but I won't go on about it. I'm going to take advantage of the internet and write even more letters when I see a negative bias against men.They will no longer be able to sit in their ivory towers and dish out their garbage to the masses without someone protesting it.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Lance Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Unfortunately, people are being told what to think instead of how to think.
= = =
That is one of the biggest problems facing our society today!
b
January 14th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I agree Bernie...I'm not sure what Kevin's problem is either. This seems to be EXACTLY what Glenn should be doing (and we should likewise be writing the letters/etc in response).
January 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
In response to:
Bernie Misiura Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Thanks Bernie for at least paying attention to my post. There are people masquerading as former judges, and whatnot, who are trying to dominate the discourse here and it’s really pathetic.
The thing people should understand here is that every time you go to the refrigerator, take a nice hot shower, drive to the mall to go shopping, or do just about anything imaginable that people do in this world, you owe to some “lowlife construction worker”.
They are the most underpaid and underappreciated members of our society, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to have something “meaningful” to say here.
The chances of Glenn, or his son, falling victim to this hysteria is very real and I think he needs to be proactive in dealing with this ominous threat.
Okay, now go back to the “chat room” everyone, and enjoy your lopsided debate.
January 14th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
roy Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
This kind of event is so perfectly illustrative of what's been dubbed "the post-9/11 mentality."
Which is, we are all participating in a culture of pervasive suspicion and distrust, and increasingly, we are willing to put up with unconstitutional surveillance (i.e. the Patriot Act)
NOT me brother and I am a fireman!
and "sus laws" which are based on the premise that it might be actually legal to arrest someone for the possibility that they might commit a crime in the future.
See Minority Report 2002
b
January 14th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Kevin wrote "you owe to some 'lowlife construction worker'...They are the most underpaid and underappreciated members of our society."
Kevin, that's not what people are reacting to--they're focusing on your odd criticisms of me over campaigns, etc. As for the importance of and the sacrifices made by construction workers, I agree with you and have written about it on numerous occasions. I suggest the links below for those interested.
http://www.glennsacks.com/why_males_dont_lg.htm
http://www.glennsacks.com/the_price_of.htm
http://glennsacks.com/blog/?page_id=1008
January 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Kevin: "The chances of Glenn, or his son, falling victim to this hysteria is very real and I think he needs to be proactive in dealing with this ominous threat."
I think Bernie and my point Kevin is that we (at least I) don't get your point. If you are honestly trying to add something meaningful to a "pathetic discourse" then how about you do so in a manner that actually adds something. What should Glenn be doing differently? Should he have flown to Boston and just popped the author in the head?
Or is your point that construction workers are under appreciated. Ok..I get it...but how is this relevant (other then the fact that they make better targets since they are already looked down upon)?
January 14th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Stephen Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I wrote angry letters to Gina, Jennifer and the editor at the Baltimore Sun.
= = =
Anger by men typically becomes tuned out by women, besides you are just providing them with exactly what their claims are WE need to be controlled.
A man angry with a man and here is OK because we understand that the is the way we communicate about things to which we are passionate and are not intentionally threatening just the way we try to get points across.
b
January 14th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Kevin Merck: "There are people masquerading as former judges, and whatnot, who are trying to dominate the discourse here and it’s really pathetic."
What the hell is wrong with you? Did I say one word to insult you on this post?
January 14th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
...We are inadvertantly teaching this 11 yr. old girl that she is helping 'protect the school" if her, and her friends make false accussations!!
I would not want my son going to that school district in 5 years from now, when these girls start dating boys!!
January 14th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
There is a larger problem her I'm surprised none of you saw.
Women who go into journalism are usually by nature feminists, because they have been through the college mill. The reporter is perhaps so blinded by ideology she could not see how this story was nonsensical.
This is one of the dangers of dealing with professional women -- they seem by nature suspicious of men because of all the false crap they get in college.
January 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Kevin Merck Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
In response to:
Bernie Misiura Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Thanks Bernie for at least paying attention to my post. There are people masquerading as former judges, and whatnot, who are trying to dominate the discourse here and it’s really pathetic.
The thing people should understand here is that every time you go to the refrigerator, take a nice hot shower, drive to the mall to go shopping, or do just about anything imaginable that people do in this world, you owe to some “lowlife construction worker”.
They are the most underpaid and underappreciated members of our society, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to have something “meaningful” to say here.
The chances of Glenn, or his son, falling victim to this hysteria is very real and I think he needs to be proactive in dealing with this ominous threat.
Okay, now go back to the “chat room” everyone, and enjoy your lopsided debate.
= = =
I make an attempt to pay attention to everyone but sometimes the furry and prolific posting that goes on here is overwhelming and so at times I just resign myself to just making a comment on what Glenn originally posted.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question and I agree with you on construction workers but I still believe that you have to allow Glenn some time to mount a proper campaign.
b
January 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Bernie Misiura, I gladly remain under the impression that any dissent by men is seen as angry and that men will never get a fair shake. I believe that all forms of protest are good. I believe that in this instance quantity is more important than quality. Those editors need to know that some people are not buying their feminist garbage anymore and the more dissenting letters they get the better for us. I refuse to put myself under the impression that I have to make nice with these tyrants.
January 14th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Here is my interaction with Gina...
******************
Hi Gina,
Let me recap.
1)No attack occurs.
2) An 11 year makes one up and potentially destroys a construction workers life.
3) After investigation, it is proved to be a false allegation.
4) Rather than an apology to the construction worker – all involved believe it’s a wake up call concerning the “possibility” of an attack
And the construction is halted temporarily…
5) No one asks why an 11 year old is making up sexual assault stories. There is no official punishment for the false allegation.
Where is the outrage at a false allegation and concern for the real victim – an innocent construction worker.
I hope to see a more rational and fair follow-up to this story in which the innocent workers are not presumed to be
rapists.
Miles
*********************
Hi Miles,
Thanks for you note. I'll try to reply to a few of your statements --- those that my reporting might be able to address, that is.
Construction was not halted. My stories have consistently reported that renovation work was "curtailed" while the separate door was created. A reduced number of construction workers were there the day after the girl made the accusations. By late Thursday, the new door had been erected, and all construction workers were back on site Friday, according to school spokeswoman.
My most recent article, which ran on Saturday, reported accurately what many parents were saying, re: the wake-up call that this situation possibly presents for all involved.
Thanks, again, for writing and reading.
*********************
Gina
Does it matter to you that a mans life was almost ruined? I can’t tell from the story nor your reply to my email.
***************
Miles,
With all due respect, the fact that you "can't tell" what matters to me from reading the articles means I am doing my job effectively. It is not my job to take a position, but to report the circumstances as they are.
**************
Gina
You reported as if the school was the victim rather than the construction worker.
Its an inaccurate point of view.
***************
Miles,
I reported the latest development --- that police had determined she had made up the story. And then, I reported the reactions of some of the same people to whom I had spoken before it was revealed to have been a lie.
There's no "point of view" to the article, only the latest development and reaction from people who were around the school in the days that followed the initial accusations.
Interestingly (at least in my judgment) is that school officials have said all along that they work toward keeping construction workers as separate as possible from students and staff. No one has written to complain that school officials have been over-reacting all these years with that practice.
Gina
****************
Gina,
You reported comments from parents at the school.
That seems like a choice regarding point of view.
What did the construction crew and crew manager think?
Did you try to get their reaction?
Might the construction company take action to protect their INNOCENT employees from false allegations?
What does the construction workers family think about the situation.
Are their thoughts and concerns as valid as a random student’s mother and her opinion?
Is the construction crew considering a strike against the school project in protest?
See, there IS a different perspective, you just don’t care about it.
Miles
January 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Bernie M.,
So ummm... are you actually getting paid to sit at the firehouse and post to Glenn's blog while you wait for the alarm to go off?
That's awesome dude!
Are there any "firewomen" that are into Glenn and the underground men's movement?
January 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I sent the following letter, wherein I took a slightly more indignant approach:
Dear Gina,
I am yet another father incensed by your grossly sexist story: "Police say girl lied about school attack."
I say it is grossly sexist because you spend that vast majority of the article trying to support that people really do need to be afraid of construction workers rather than on the reality that people need to be very aware of false rape allegations. That construction worker got LUCKY that there were cameras rolling. So many men are not that lucky.
Why do you not ask why false accusers are not dealt with harshly? Why do you protect the name of the sexual predator here, the young evil girl? Why do you claim the girl's family behaved extremely appropriately? They raised a girl to try to socially assassinate a man for profit.
I think that some of your quotes were quite prophetic, but your own sexism blinded you to the real meaning:
"Everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is something they want to look into."
This is just one more example of false rape allegations. There are millions. People like you should be helping to inform the public rather that promulgating the fear fueled injustice.
"Instead of waiting for something to really happen, they should make some changes..."
Are you going to wait until your son or grandson is prisoned for life based solely on the claims of some girl before you report the truth?
"County schools spokeswoman Kara Calder said yesterday that she did not know whether the girl would be disciplined by school officials, and would be prohibited in any event from discussing the issue because of student privacy concerns."
Why are the rights of the criminal girl more important than the rights of the victim(s)? What is wrong with you people? Why are you so hateful?
Please do your duty and write a new story with a helpful message instead of the sexist message.
Thank You for your time,
Stephen M Weiss
January 14th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Callum
"No, what we need is intellectual honesty, not mindless sexism on your part."
MCA..... I'm all about it!!
Callum, Weve butted heads a few times, but I realise you are also on the side of reasonable debate, and reasonable diplomatism, ..of which I am also!!
But unfortunatelly as of late,I don't really see a line women standing in line to see you....to reason this "anti male inequity of protection under the law"...out??
January 14th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Lance Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I think Bernie and my point Kevin is that we (at least I) don't get your point.
= = =
No worries you read me right
b
January 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Gina-the-Journalist replied to Miles -- "There's no "point of view" to the article, only the latest development and reaction from people who were around the school in the days that followed the initial accusations."
This woman should never have graduated from whatever inferior journalism school she attended with this kind of doctrinaire, uncritical fluff-head mentality.
There is always a point-of-view but Gina apparently skipped class the semester they covered it.
Usually, the point-of-view is revealed by what is edited OUT of the story.
I'm going to spend the time to discover what school Gina graduated from, and then I'm going to write the Dean of Journalism at her alma mater and suggest that s/he ask Gina to return her diploma.
Or, enroll in graduate school to learn some basic journalistic logic.
January 14th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Ginas last reply (to be fair)...
*******************
Miles
I am very much interested in all sides of the story.
The general contractor was adamant about not commenting, and the school system's project manager was told not to talk to us either --- these are the only folks who could address the questions you raised, and the questions we wanted to pose. They absolutely had the same opportunity to weigh in on the situation.
Also, as you might imagine, no one is identifying the construction worker, so there is no hope of talking to him or his family.
January 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Dear Nazi,
You are a femiprop pig and your editors are the femipolitboro. Stalin, Hitler, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot, and Madam Bathorey would all stand up and applaud your sexist fasci-communist femiprop propoganda - ing. When society collapses -- and oohhhhh it will IT WIIILLLLLL collapse -- you will be running in the streets from me and my brothers riding our huge bikes and dune buggies, wearing our mascara and tight, ass-less chaps. Or maybe we'll just let the muslims take over! Ha! HAHAHAHA!
Sincerely,
Deranged MRA guy
(Just a parody, but you KNOW somebody around here will send something along these lines. I just want to thank that guy right now for helping us to be taken seriously.)
January 14th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Tony..s
There is a larger problem her I'm surprised none of you saw.
Women who go into journalism are usually by nature feminists, because they have been through the college mill. The reporter is perhaps so blinded by ideology she could not see how this story was nonsensical.
This is one of the dangers of dealing with professional women -- they seem by nature suspicious of men because of all the false crap they get in college.
MCA.
Thats a very good point, how many women are graduating journalism school who are not fully indoctrinated "neo gender feminist"
January 14th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
LOL Barsin!
That is TOO good!
January 14th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Tony S Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
There is a larger problem her I'm surprised none of you saw.
= = =
Point well stated and taken, thanks.
b
January 14th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Stephen Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Bernie Misiura, I gladly remain under the impression that any dissent by men is seen as angry and that men will never get a fair shake. I believe that all forms of protest are good. I believe that in this instance quantity is more important than quality. Those editors need to know that some people are not buying their feminist garbage anymore and the more dissenting letters they get the better for us. I refuse to put myself under the impression that I have to make nice with these tyrants.
= = =
I agree with you in princple but I do not wish to see your message lost.
b
January 14th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I agree: the message we want to present here is that we are numerous and pretty ticked off. This is reality.
I think it is less important to present that we are more PC and polite than the tenured Women's Studies Dean.
However, the presence of several extremely polite letters serves that purpose anyway, and I thank the authors sincerely!
January 14th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
roy Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Bernie M.,
So ummm... are you actually getting paid to sit at the firehouse and post to Glenn's blog while you wait for the alarm to go off?
That's awesome dude!
Are there any "firewomen" that are into Glenn and the underground men's movement?
= = =
Ahhh, civil service . . . no I do not abuse it but it does have some perks and right now I am at dispatch with the coushie part of the job . . .
No none at the company that I am with now but those that I have been with elsewhere do not typically see things the way we informed people do . . . sad
b
January 14th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
barsin Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Dear Nazi,
You are a femiprop pig and your editors are the femipolitboro. Stalin, Hitler, Chairman Mao, Pol Pot, and Madam Bathorey would all stand up and applaud your sexist fasci-communist femiprop propoganda - ing. When society collapses -- and oohhhhh it will IT WIIILLLLLL collapse -- you will be running in the streets from me and my brothers riding our huge bikes and dune buggies, wearing our mascara and tight, ass-less chaps. Or maybe we'll just let the muslims take over! Ha! HAHAHAHA!
Sincerely,
Deranged MRA guy
(Just a parody, but you KNOW somebody around here will send something along these lines. I just want to thank that guy right now for helping us to be taken seriously.)
= = =
That was AWESOME dude! LOL
b
January 14th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Wow that is impressive.. an article about a girl falsely accusing a construction worker of rape and then it turns into an article about how they should watch construction workers?
Is there something I missed?
January 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
ju1ce Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Is there something I missed?
= = =
If you did, so did I, and I think most others here also, we are such dummies, de, de, de!
b
January 14th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
..how about an article about how construction workers should make sure they have no eye contact, no verbal communication, no nothing with anyone but their coworkers at this construction site? Obviously, these poor men are at serious risk here and should do whatever they can to protect themselves...
January 14th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Bernie,
Are you are fireman because you like to start fires?
Or because you like to put them out?
This issue has always bothered me.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Ah what is that about roy? Sort of impolite no?
That is like implying that because I am a Professional Engineer sworn to protect the people and structures of Calfornia that I do it because I love to watch people die in earthquakes.
It is the man's profession. Be respectful.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Well, suffice to say that dealing with my ex, I'm used to being able to document my activities pretty well. (And she I think the more men who run into this face to face, and sooner rather than later, the better it's going to be. Just a guess, but I think more men who aren't active MRAs will get the idea that there's too much of this false allegation crap. I would not stand to be alone with a student of any gender at this point.
I have a friend who's a teacher, and he's got to cover his butt constantly. He'd welcome a hidden camera in the class room to account for what these darling little princesses do in class. There's usually a clique of girls that are a problem, plus one or two loner wackos. They are absolutely evil to their classmates, but he's been directly propositioned and threatened a few times. The saving grace is that they're not too original. Same crap every single year - each new batch of students think's they have an original idea about misbehaving.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I sent her the following letter:
Dear Ms. Davis / Ms. McMenamin,
I was very saddened to read your article “Girl lied about school attack”.
Whether or not it was your intention, your article came across as bizarrely sexist. It expressed no concern for the victim and how this incident could have impacted his life. In fact upon reading the piece I had to wonder if the title had been a misprint. Were you actually reporting a false allegation of sexual assault or tighter school ground security measures? From your piece it wasn’t made entirely clear that it was the former. Why was that? Could it be because the victim in this case was a man? Would you have reported the incident in the same manner had the victim been female?
As a parent, I’m always interested in tighter security measures being taken on school grounds; however, the entire tone of the article suggested that an assault had taken place. Had the surveillance cameras not been in place a man’s life would have been horrendously touched by the false allegation, yet a total disregard for the victim is reflected in your work.
False allegations of rape and other abuses against men are becoming alarmingly prevalent. More and more women and young girls are abusing a system that was put in place to protect them. The innocent lives of men and those who care for them are being destroyed and ruined by this callous and disturbing development in our society.
I have two boys of my own, and must say the media’s continued bias against men who are victimized by dishonest females is very worrying. The burden lies on those who report the news to do so in a responsible manner. In this endeavor, I’m afraid you’ve failed miserably.
Sincerely,
Davina Lastname
January 14th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Great letter Davina. If I ever calm down I will use your letter as an example of level-headed protest. I'm glad to see so many people speaking up for justice.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
(Just a parody, but you KNOW somebody around here will send something along these lines. I just want to thank that guy right now for helping us to be taken seriously.)
Barsin, you are multi-talented. :-)
Perhaps someday you will write a post like that without advising the reader that it is parody!
January 14th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Oh My God!!!! I again have to bring up the story of the Serial False Accuser's: Tamara Moonier and her Mother Wendy Moonier. Here is the link: http://www.dontmakehermad.com/forum/index.php?topic=38.0 The girl listed in this story in Baltimore will end up just like the Moonier Women, and the reason is because our justice system let's them get away with it!! Now they will not prosecute the little girl, and this bitch writing the story is now Molesting (yes, I used this word) the minds of the public by writing this dribble!!! I am so mad right now, I don't even know what to say!!!! Sick Bitches!!!!!! I guess I'll say that!
January 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
...I'm sure protests against this article will just be dismissed as drivel by a bunch of whiners. Any calls for justice for men always are. It's women-innocent victim, men-evil oppressor. That's the template that's always followed and the media will not dare upset the feminists by going against it...
January 14th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
barsin, that is inspired! Are you sure you didn't piece it together from actual blog comments here?
January 14th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
In Seattle, a woman making a false domestic violence claim must be granted immunity from prosecution for her false allegation when she pursues her false allegation in Superior (criminal) court, even when she admits it’s false, says a King County District Court judge. Marlaina Kiner-McIver, wife of Seattle Councilmember Richard McIver also had him thrown out of the house with only what he was wearing. She was "angry" with him, she says. He says she's a drunk that's always pulling stunts like this.
The trial starts in a few days.
Under those rules, the 11 year-old girl should be granted immunity from prosecution for her false statements and be freely allowed to make her false statements to the school and police.
DanH
January 14th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Kudos to the letter writers (yes, parody included), for their action and excellent letters. In light of the increased video surveillance at Perry Hall Middle School, I should like to announce that I will no longer use the phrase "big brother"; henceforth, I shall use "big sister" which I think more accurately reflects the power construction (lame pun intended) in the public school system and in much of the print media as tellingly played out by scriber Gina Davis.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
My letter
Dear Ms. Davis,
Re. Police say girl lied about school attack... .
I am left confounded by your treatment of this story. In your efforts to appear like an objective journalist you actually came across as one who skirted the actual issue of the story, its potential implications, and why those implications make it newsworthy. At issue was a false allegation that, particularly in the current social climate, could have resulted in deleterious outcomes. Your treatment of the story however, invested in a dramatic scope shift that offered opinions and measures to be taken to avoid the alleged potential problem that never actually occurred . I am left wondering if that scope shift was a result of the school duping you from following through on your story about a lie and false allegation, or your decision to imply that even though the alleged crime did not occur, it is better to approach this as if it had. Either way, on the heels of a year that included the Duke story, and more recently a man exonerated after 26 years in prison as the result of a lie and false allegation, I think you failed your responsibility. As a reader of a story about a lie and false allegation for sexual assault, I would prefer to learn the following: How is the falsely accused doing, and what is the school and family doing for him as a result? - if the various parties do not wish to comment on that- you should state that. Will the school examine their own procedures to prevent this from happening again? What will the school do to educate its students about lies and the damage they can do? Frankly the choices you ultimately chose to report on, fuel this problem, and ensure that it will happen again. Now is that journalistic integrity?
Regards,
January 14th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I just sent Davis an email.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
@pjk
We will be perceived as "just a bunch of those cranky 'men's rights' guys..ha ha!"
January 14th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Kevin Merck writes:
If this isn’t a good enough reason for one of your precious campaigns, Glenn, then what is?
Uh, Glenn blogged this, and I read it here, and I'm blogging it tomorrow, thanks to Glenn. It's not like the guy sits around drinking beer and hoping men will have rights.
Where's Kevin Merck's "precious campaign"?
January 14th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Thanks guys, for liking the parody. I have to say all of the real letters I've read here were terrific. This is the way to effect change.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Gina Davis needs to research the result of rape trials where the man has little evidence to prove he is innocent.
Even when he is home with the family, "they are all lying to protect him." is the result. No matter where he is and what he was doing with who, it's the same "they are all lying to protect him." Men have been hundreds of miles away in a different state and still convicted.
Her word trumps, for practical purposes in most courtrooms, anything he and his attorney want to present. Of course judges freely disallow his evidence and witnesses.
But for the grace of God and those cameras, that man would have spent the next 40 years in prison and the girl would become a hero to her friends.
Gina will find that the less evidence presented, the greater the odds the man will be imprisoned. Maybe then it will begin to sink in what we are talking about.
DanH
January 15th, 2008 at 12:06 am
stephen
"Great letter Davina. If I ever calm down I will use your letter as an example of level-headed protest. I'm glad to see so many people speaking up for justice."
MCA. I've noticed that after a while of spitting up the poisin men have swallowed by purging on mensactivist sites, they then get down to the business of facts, studies, and more productive refined actions!!
I'ts a process!!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Yes, they dodged the bullet this time.
Since it was possible for a girl to concoct a story it must mean not all has been done to keep them safe, but what will they do to protect girls from all the horrible things that can happen in their minds? Lock them all away?
The US ranks in the bottom for math and science among the industrialized nations and the lunatics running the asylums suspend six year old children from school for wearing charm bracelet with a gun, and accuse four year olds of sexual harrassment for rubbing their boggery nose on a teachers aids chest.
Is there anyone in the education system that still has a brain in their head?
JT
January 15th, 2008 at 2:31 am
What's wrong with sitting around drinking beer and hoping men will have rights? I enjoy deluding myself. Besides, that's the best time to pick your feet..and anyway, you have to be drunk to believe that men will ever have rights!
January 15th, 2008 at 8:34 am
An 11 year old girl lies about a sexual attack on herself? One has to wonder why she lied in the first place. Is she sexually active (is she being molested)....is this a cry for help within a protective venue?
Yes, she was very wrong in lying...but she has only been on this earth 11 years... it seems a failed duty all the way around... against the innocent man and against the 11 year old by leaving it up to her parents to deal with her....there must be more than a careless lie going on in this child.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:15 am
ccanning, why are you automatically assuming she is being molested? Perhaps she is simply a girl who wants attention and was being ignored by her friends. There are many documented cases of children lying for no other reason than to be the center of attention. Why does it have to be a "cry for help" and not just some kid making something up as kids are prone to do? What's the difference between this and the grown women who make false accusations of rape? Nothing.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Yikes! I actually agree with Metalman.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Well, I'm certainly not as good a writer as many here, and I'm home sick today as well, so here is my mediocre contribution:
Dear Ms. McMenamin:
My husband was falsely accused of rape. It was a horrifying, traumatic and life-changing event. Unless you've experienced it, you have no understanding of how this devastating charge effects a man and his family.
In the instance of false accusation cited in the article by Gina Davis and to which you contributed, the concern was not for the damaged reputation of the construction worker, nor the agony he felt at being accused of such a heinous crime, nor how his family felt about the hell through which he'd just been, nor how much at risk men are of being falsely accused.
Instead, the focus was on the potential dangers from construction workers who are all, apparently, a risk to little girls.
Given the fact that false accusations are becoming epidemic in this country, I would think the focus SHOULD have been "how to protect yourself from false accusations". I agree with Amy Vahle (quoted in the article), "Changes should be made". However, I disagree with her about the nature of those changes. What needs to change is the lack of public awareness of how very prevalent false accusations of rape are - and how tragic the consequences.
Sincerely,
Rosemarie XXXXX
January 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Barsin- that was so clever. Sad but true.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Ccanning, I have to agree with your comment, there is something very wrong with this 11 year old girl. I really think the DA should have taken up the case against the girl. I doubt the parents marched her down to a judge for her to confess her crime and accept punishment, which by the way is what I would have done and the DA be damned. Then I would have marched my whole family down to a good therapist since it would be clear to me we all had a problem.
I was gang raped by teenaged "boys" who knew they would get away with it for two reasons. 1. I was black (actually bi-racial) and they were white and 2. I knew one of the "boys". The pain of the rape and the consequences of it had a lasting impact upon my life. The biggest being that the police refused to take my statement based upon my admitting that I knew one of my attackers. The police then said I asked for "it". Now I am more careful about what type of situations I enter into and I hope to see justice for everyone. I have also gotten the best revenge; I have a wonderful life and I am a stronger and better person than I could have ever thought to be.
So to answer a question raised by another poster...I would take the rape over jail/prison. My attackers held me for a relatively short time and I was able, with a great deal of help, to not allow them or their actions control my life. I have refused to allow them to take away who I am nor to restrict my freedom and sense of self and well being. Prison is designed to take away your sense of self along with your freedom. I fear over several years it might become impossible to regain your sense of self and to deal with freedom.
I hope we will soon see equal justice for all and that this justice is colour and gender blind as it should be.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Amy Alkon Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Thanks Amy, I deserve that 100%.
I childishly reacted in anger to the subject matter of this topic because I am one of these “lowlife construction workers” that those children are supposedly in such desperate need of protection from.
To be honest, I had no idea that it cost so much money to mount one of these campaigns. I guess I thought that it was just a matter of Glenn asking everyone on his list write email, but am now aware that there is much more involved than that.
I have emailed Glenn with my apology and he has gracefully accepted it with no hard feelings, I hope.
I laughed at the statement about the beer though.(In good humor) I haven’t had a drink in over twelve years, which is about how long I’ve been dealing with this injustice foisted upon me by the “Family Courts”.
I may not be as effective in my campaign as Glenn is in his, but then who is?
Good luck with your campaign Amy.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:27 am
sierra, you seem reasoneable, thanks for posting..
I was also raped by a big fat pig women at a party, i was to drunk to protect myself!! i would have cosen to be raped ten times, then goto jail for 15 years on my false rape allegation!!
sierra
"I hope we will soon see equal justice for all and that this justice is colour and gender blind as it should be."
Thats the bottom line right there!!..But I would add Equal protection under the law, also!!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
So the solution is to let the girl's parents, who has raised this problem girl in the first place, correct the problem? I do not have a good feeleing about this.
If I had a male child at this school, or future schools attended by this young girl, I would be afraid, very afraid.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Here is my respones:
Thanks for the e-mail. Just so you know, I contributed only three
paragraphs -- those from the county prosecutors -- and did not see the
rest of the story until it was in the paper.
Thanks,
Jennifer
January 15th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
My ex has made a number of false allegations. Even when blatant, they will not go after her. The detective in our case refused to even look at our CPS file (now over 4" thick), covered her ears and said "I don't want to hear this". So, if you're in Austin TX, the FEMALE child abuse detectives don't concern themselves with false allegations. Soon enough, something will stick. Have to protect the accusers, ya know. There's that Federal grant money to consider, and it's just not cost effective to go after false allegation cases. Waste of time and money better spent on red light cameras and license plate recognition systems.
So, I have cameras everywhere, tape recorders in the car, etc. They've already paid off twice, in avoiding being falsely charged with harassment and violating a restraining order.
Some dumbass house burglar manged to blunder into the wrong house, not realizing he's in the middle of a war zone. He made the mistake of kicking in my front door yesterday, thinking he was going into an average house. He's on video commiting a felony, now. Woo Hoo!, I guess I can thank my ex for something.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
"Thanks for the e-mail. Just so you know, I contributed only three paragraphs -- those from the county prosecutors -- and did not see the rest of the story until it was in the paper."
I wonder how it feels for writers to have their material so blatantly changed by their editor.
I wonder if the editor received training in an anti-male women's studies program.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
To the editor:
Please help me understand why you would allow one of your reporters to turn a false sexual assault accusation into man hating sensationalism.
It’s bad enough that this incident occurred in the first place. I can only imagine the shear horror, and disgrace, felt by the wrongly accused. Please try to put yourself in the shoes of the real victim here, and that is the falsely accused.
I have been at a loss for words to describe my horror at the actions of this reporter. I can only sum it up by saying that I’m shocked to the point of the complete inability comprehend such evil.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kevin Merck
January 15th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
The article doesn't clarify whether the girl violated a criminal statute. She appears to have been questioned by the police. If she filed a false police report I believe that would be a crime. If she (falsely) reported to school aithorities, but did not file a (false) police report that may be a civil matter.
If the former, it should indeed raise some legitimate scrutiny of why the DA's office is not protecting the public by prosecuting criminal behavior. Consider that if she did commit a crime, that her age is a factor in a decision not to prosecute. On the other hand, the girl's age would probably be considered as an additional factor when sentencing the falsely convicted, perhaps increasing the penalty. Another eample of how the justice system treats victimized men. If indeed this girl committed a crime, perhaps the contact list should include the Office of the DA.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
By the time glenn's boy and my boy are 13 they will probably have to have a video feed implanted above their right eye. This will record continuously to a hard drive at home. It will provide video and sound for everything they do so they can call up by day their entire lives. When they make love to a female they can review for legal purposes against rape charges, domestic violence, child abuse claims and other false accusations. That is the only way males will be able to continue to have any freedom at all.
Oh my letter that I sent to both reporters and editor...
Subject: Men Bashing, they say
I can't believe a poor man gets falsely accused by a girl and the school punishes the construction workers? I find it interesting that you didn't talk about the increase in false accusations against men but yet how it increases the awareness that men can't be trusted so the school must go to extra efforts to make sure that the bad men can't get at the kids. As a member of the gender and an elementary ed major, I find this article offensive to think that her parents will really show her and she doesn't need to spend time in juvie cause well look how she has increased awareness of the bad men. I also think your hook is offensive too but what do I know I am just a man, right?
Only 1 reply:
Thanks for the e-mail. Just so you know, I contributed only three paragraphs -- those from the county prosecutors -- and did not see the rest of the story until it was in the paper.
Thanks,
Jennifer
P.S. Just think some guy will marry the girl and have children. He will then decide life is not worth living staying with her and divorce her. He will face false charges from DV to child abuse. Doesn't it warm your heart?
January 15th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Maybe the reporters are not the ones to be contacting. Did you watch the video on the papers website?
4300 Ebenezer Road, Baltimore, MD 21236-2142
Phone: 410-887-5100
Allen Zink, Principal
January 15th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Here is the TV's Station take on this.
http://wjz.com/local/assault.alleged.perry.2.627789.html
January 16th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I liked the "it wasn't my doing" theme of the short email I received. "I only wrote three paragraphs."
Yeah, which three?
January 17th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
All things said and done, the bottom line is this. False accusations without consequences is the wrong message to send to our children. Punishing an 11 year old is NOT out of line. This is what's wrong with our society today. Lessons cannot be learned if you do not punish the guilty. Correct them when they are young, 10 years from now she will do it again when it suits her, accept this time she will know how to get away with it. Lastly, where do you think she got the idea in the first place? I am sure her father did not teach her that.
Crying wolf and getting busted doing it should result in court ordered therapy and some form of restition for the wrongfully accused.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
roy Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Bernie,
Are you are fireman because you like to start fires?
Or because you like to put them out?
This issue has always bothered me.
= = =
My Boy Scout leader always said because of my propensity to be first up tent or cabin and start the fire that I would either end up behind bars for arson or become a fireman.
Does that help? Yes, I believe that we are all pyromaniacs that are constructively and vicariously living out our dreams and actions.
b
January 17th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Stephen M Weiss Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Ah what is that about roy? Sort of impolite no?
That is like implying that because I am a Professional Engineer sworn to protect the people and structures of Calfornia that I do it because I love to watch people die in earthquakes.
It is the man's profession. Be respectful.
= = =
Stephen M Weiss Says:
January 14th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Ah what is that about roy? Sort of impolite no?
That is like implying that because I am a Professional Engineer sworn to protect the people and structures of Calfornia that I do it because I love to watch people die in earthquakes.
It is the man's profession. Be respectful.
= = =
It is ok because I have often asked myself the same question. Although you are right, some may not like it I am and always have been bluntly honest with others and myself. What are you going to do? Fire has developed into a demon for me though after seeing what it can do to buildings and people and after being sent to the hospital a few times.
Just for information I took the civil service test several times for Buffalo, NY always tied for 1st but affirmative action was my enemy so one can imagine that I am not to happy with it. I decided to volunteer my time running almost a call a day with my company so I could after 5 years get a dispatch job. I also remained fighting fires 27 years.
There are about 1,100,000 firefighters in this country about 900,000 volunteer their time and lives to keep you taxes down. In 2007, 115 firefighters lost their lives.
b
January 17th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
What we can't speak, we do.
Most 11yo do not have abstract reasoning skills. The motive behind her behavior and the secondary gain is unconscious - not conscious - driven. Even if a child is vindictive and able to identify an outcome to strive toward, one has to ask why she (in this case) chose an allegation of sexual assualt.
While it doesn't mean she is being sexually abused, and while it is possible she is a budding sociopath, her behavior provides observable evidence of some level of pathology.
I think the most logical response would have been to connect an age-appropriate consequence to her behavior.
It's sad, but a lot of men I have contact with do not recognize the need to protect themselves even in the face of evidence to do so.
I'm glad this gentleman's name was not slandered in the media.
January 19th, 2008 at 7:44 am
"Now children, here is the lesson for today. Pay very careful attention, because this is one of the most important things you will ever learn in your life.
"You all know that our school is having some building work done. Unfortunately this means that there are a lot of very nasty people wandering around. They are called "workmen". They are pretending to be working, but in fact they are watching you. They are watching you all the time. And if they catch you alone, you just know that they are going to do some very bad and horrible things to you. They nearly did so to a girl at this school just the other day. Luckily she got help and the bad man was stopped just in time. But the whole point is that some bad things very nearly did happen. So all the while these nasty men are around, you are all in danger.
"Especially you girls. These nasty men want to hurt girls, and they can do some very bad things to you in places in your bodies none of us want to talk about. But you are all old enough to know what I mean. Keep away from them, don't let them come near you, and above all never let them get you alone. Also watch out for any of them looking at you. If they do so in a way that you just know means they want to hurt you, then you must tell the teaching staff straight away, and we will deal with it. You won't see that man again, I can promise you.
"As for you boys, you have different problems. Often these nasty men want to hurt boys too, although it is always girls who get hurt the most, as you will have learned from the other lessons we have been teaching you. And you boys will one day grow up to be men just like those nasty brutes out there: watching, watching, watching all the time; just waiting for their chance to pick on children...
"What was that Richard? Your dad is a workman, and you think he is great? Oh dear, Richard, I am afraid you have some real issues here. But never mind, we will deal with them for you. Stay behind after class because the principal will need to talk to you. She is very understanding, as you know, and will help you with your problem.
"No children, don't stare at Richard like that. He can't help it. We will get him the assistance he needs, because we take care of you. All of you. You do believe that, don't you?"
January 19th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Master T. Beck's ruling on the matter.
Females are always right. The construction worker had someone imply something bad about him. He should not work in that environment anymore and have his testicles removed in the event someone else implies the same. Just tell the girl not to do that again. Case closed.
Signed Master Beck, Baltimore County Circuit Court.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
I have read some great comments on here, such as: "Thank God they caught the guy before he actually committed a crime!" and "It is the construction workers who need to travel in pairs. Really." Some of the letters written were also well done. I will write one myself. As a victim of a false allegation I appreciate these sentiments and only wish they were more prevalent in the mainstream. The only thing that saved me was the accuser bragging about lying on myspace. The only thing that saved this man was a videotape. I can't begin to explain the many ways false allegations hurt, but it is far worse for those who are not so lucky as I was.
The writers of this article would have done a greater civic service by interviewing those who have had family members falsely accused and families of the construction workers. They might have focused on ways to protect oursleves from false accusations. Instead, they worsened the problem by pandering to fear-mongerers.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:59 pm
It just occured to me, "double jeopardy" could really come back and bite som false accusers in the a$$ one of these days. Though, does the wrongly accused have to actually serve a sentence for a crime before he can't be tried again for it, or merely accused?
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 am
thank you for writing this article. i was falsely accused 18 years ago. it screwed my career life up. I wrote a book about it and started a non-profit org to raise money for real rape lies research... hard to find a grant or a major doner...any suggestions? take care