Glen Ridge rape

Last updated
Glen Ridge rape
Essex County New Jersey incorporated and unincorporated areas Glen Ridge highlighted.svg
DateMarch 1, 1989 (1989-03-01)
Location Glen Ridge, New Jersey
First reporterWNBC-TV
Participants7
Charges Gang rape
VerdictGuilty

In 1989, an intellectually disabled 17-year-old girl was raped with a broomstick and a baseball bat by members of the Glen Ridge High School football team in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. This event attracted nationwide attention, mainly due to the perception that the assailants had been given special treatment by the school and local authorities due to their status as local football stars. The events were later documented in a book and TV movie.

Contents

Assault

The assault occurred on March 1, 1989. The victim, who had an intellectual disability and was later determined to have an IQ of 64, left her house the afternoon of the incident to go play basketball in Carteret Park. On the way, she found a stick which she decided to keep. When she arrived at the park, many of the school's athletes were there, either watching or participating in an informal baseball practice. One of the boys came over to her and asked her to come down to a basement of a nearby house for a party. The house was adjacent to the park and the owners were in Florida, with only the grandmother being home at that time.

After initially refusing, she agreed when she was told that the boy's brother, whom she had a crush on, would go on a date with her. He put his arm around the victim and escorted her to the basement. When they reached the basement, 12 boys from the park were there. After some conversation, one of the boys removed his pants and underpants and the victim removed her shirt. At this point, a sophomore and another underclassman left. A total of six boys left while the victim undressed.

Seven boys stayed, all football players and all seniors but one. The victim was then orally raped. She was forced to bend over and the boys took turns vaginally penetrating her. The victim was then penetrated with a broom by two of those present and she was penetrated with a baseball bat. The broom and bat were covered with plastic bags coated with Vaseline. At one point during the rape, one of the athletes passively suggested that they stop. After it was over, she promised not to tell, then waited outside the house for a long time, waiting for the promised date, which never happened.

A number of boys later attempted to get the victim to come down to the basement a second time to repeat the incident. The first staff member to report the incident was a teacher who overheard a student discussing the rumors with a classmate. The student had been asked earlier to videotape a planned second incident (which never took place). The vice principal then called the police on March 22, three weeks after the assault occurred. Police interviewed the vice principal and the victim's swim coach, the latter of whom had heard about the incident from the victim herself three days after the incident. Detective Lieutenant Richard Corcoran put Detective Sheila Byron in charge of investigating the case. Byron's main focus was to establish if the victim had given consent, or whether she was incapable of giving consent.

During her interviews with the victim, it became clear to Byron that the victim did not completely understand what had happened to her, so she would not have known she could say no. During the investigation, it became clear that the victim still wanted the athletes to like her and that she did not want to get them in trouble.

Byron realized she would need independent corroboration, because the victim might not make a convincing witness in a trial. The prosecutor's office officially became involved with the investigation on April 7 and officially took control on April 12. [1]

First public reports

The first public report of the incident was on May 23, 1989, by the local NBC station WNBC-TV. Over the next few days the story was picked up in newspapers across the United States and Canada. The New York Times and Washington Post ran their first articles regarding the incident on May 25, 1989, [2] [3] the same day the story was picked up by newspapers in Lewiston, Maine [4] and Spokane, Washington. [5] The Los Angeles Times first carried the story in its paper on May 26, 1989, and the Toronto Star became the first foreign newspaper to carry the story, also on May 26, 1989, [6] the same day the story hit newspapers in northern Alabama [7] and Tampa, Florida. [8]

Trial, verdict and appeals

The trial took place over the course of 23 weeks from 1992 to 1993, and was presided over by Judge R. Benjamin Cohen. A pretrial ruling lifted New Jersey's rape shield law to allow testimony about the victim's past sexual history. Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino referred to the defendants as threats to their community and asked the judge to revoke their bail. He pointed to Christopher Archer as the "mastermind" behind the rape, referencing a sexual assault committed against a female college student following his arrest for the Glen Ridge rape. The defense lawyers—Thomas Ford, Alan Zegas, and Michael Querques—used what the New Jersey Law Journal called the "Lolita Defense". They suggested during cross-examinations that the victim was not a victim but a promiscuous "seductress" who aggressively started and willingly participated in the sexual acts, and the defendants needed protection from her. This strategy was received poorly throughout the trial due to its implications of victim blaming and the defense lawyers' nonchalant attitudes during courtroom breaks. The jury deliberated for eight days. While they agreed early on that the woman was incapable of saying no due to her disability, it took three more days for the jurors to determine whether or not the defendants were or should have been aware of this.

Christopher Archer and Kevin Scherzer were convicted in 1993 of a second-degree count of conspiracy and two first-degree counts of aggravated sexual assault with the bat and broom. Kyle Scherzer was found guilty of second-degree conspiracy, first-degree aggravated sexual assault by use of force or coercion and second-degree attempted aggravated sexual assault. Bryant Grober was convicted of a single third-degree conspiracy charge. [9]

Archer, Scherzer and Scherzer were all sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in a "young adult offenders" prison. Grober was sentenced to three years of probation and two hundred hours of community service. All three defendants were granted bail pending appeal. [10]

On appeal, the convictions for the minor offenses were reversed, but the convictions for the major offense of first-degree aggravated sexual assault were upheld, with Kyle Scherzer's sentence being reduced to seven years. All three began serving their sentences in 1997. [11]

In 2004, after all three had served their prison sentences, they again appealed their convictions to try to clear their names and to stay off New Jersey's sexual offender registry. The convictions were upheld. [11]

Our Guys

Book

Bernard Lefkowitz wrote a book about the Glen Ridge rape called Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb. The book attributes many of the problems with the football players to their society's (as well as the town's and the parents') heavy emphasis on winning and success rather than on personal character. The book was later adapted into a TV movie.

Television film

The events of the Glen Ridge rape were adapted into a television movie (and subsequent DVD) called ''Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge'', [12] which premiered on ABC in 1999 and is, occasionally, featured on Lifetime. [13] [14] [15] The film, directed by Guy Ferland, stars Ally Sheedy, Eric Stoltz and Heather Matarazzo and is an adaptation of Bernard Lefkowitz's book. The rape scene of the film was, notably, toned-down due to the film being on broadcast television. Some of the things events and details described in Lefkowitz's book were omitted from the film, out of respect. The film renamed several characters and invented several new ones. The film also altered the timeline of events, such as the rape being reported in the fall (in the film, it is football season; opening scenes are of a Homecoming event), when, in reality, the rape was reported in the springtime.

Characters

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Some victims of rape or other sexual violence incidents are male. It is estimated that approximately one in six men experienced sexual abuse during childhood. Historically, rape was thought to be, and defined as, a crime committed solely against females. This belief is still held in some parts of the world, but rape of males is now commonly criminalized and has been subject to more discussion than in the past.

Bernard Lefkowitz was an American author, sociologist, journalist and investigative reporter.

The Spur Posse was a group of high school boys from Lakewood, California, who used a point system to keep track of and compare their sexual attacks and statutory rapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Carter</span> American singer (born 1980)

Nickolas Gene Carter is an American singer and a member of the vocal group Backstreet Boys. As of 2015, Carter has released three solo albums, Now or Never, I'm Taking Off and All American, during breaks between Backstreet Boys schedules, and a collaboration with Jordan Knight titled Nick & Knight. He has made occasional television appearances and starred in his own reality shows, House of Carters and I (Heart) Nick Carter.

Glen Ridge High School (GRHS) is a comprehensive six-year public middle school / high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades from Glen Ridge, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Glen Ridge Public Schools. GRHS is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.

The precise definitions of and punishments for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated rape vary by country and by legislature within a country.

<i>Cop</i> (film) 1988 film by James B. Harris

Cop is a 1988 American neo-noir crime suspense film written and directed by James B. Harris, starring James Woods, Lesley Ann Warren and Charles Durning. It is based on the 1984 book Blood on the Moon, by James Ellroy. Harris and Woods co-produced the film, a first for their careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Leigh Leigh</span> 1989 murder in New South Wales, Australia

The murder of Leigh Leigh, born Leigh Rennea Mears, occurred on 3 November 1989 while she was attending a 16-year-old boy's birthday party at Stockton Beach, New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. The 14-year-old girl from Fern Bay was assaulted by a group of boys after she returned distressed from a sexual encounter on the beach that a reviewing judge later called non-consensual. After being kicked and spat on by the group, Leigh left the party. Her naked body was found in the sand dunes nearby the following morning, with severe genital damage and a crushed skull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circle jerk</span> Group male masturbation

A circle jerk, also sometimes spelled circlejerk, is a sexual practice in which a group of men or boys form a circle and masturbate or touch each other's genitals. In the metaphorical sense, the term is used to refer to self-congratulatory behavior or discussion among a group of people, usually in reference to a "boring or time-wasting meeting or other event".

The Miryang gang rape, known in South Korea as the Miryang middle school girls rape incident, was a criminal incident that occurred in Miryang, South Korea in 2004. At least 44 to up to 120+ male high school students gang raped several middle school and high school girls over the course of 11 months. The case provoked controversy due to police mistreatment of the victims and lenient handling of the offenders.

The Steubenville High School rape occurred in Steubenville, Ohio on the night of August 11, 2012, when a high school girl, incapacitated by alcohol, was publicly and repeatedly sexually assaulted by her peers, several of whom documented the acts on social media. The victim was transported, undressed, photographed, and sexually assaulted. She was also penetrated vaginally by other students' fingers, an act defined as rape under Ohio law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons</span> Suicide of a student in Canada

Rehtaeh Anne Parsons, was a 17-year-old Cole Harbour District High School student who attempted suicide by hanging at her home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, on April 4, 2013, leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off on April 7, 2013. Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide, in November 2011. On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter, Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her, the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment", and the failure of the Canadian justice system, for her daughter's decision to die by suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide of Audrie Pott</span> Suicide of an American teenager

Audrie Taylor Pott was a 15-year-old student at Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California, who died by suicide. She had been sexually assaulted at a party eight days earlier by three 16-year-old boys she knew, and nude pictures of her were posted online with accompanying bullying.

Miles Feinstein was an American criminal law defense attorney, and legal commentator, who tried many high profile criminal cases. Miles Feinstein was called the "top Passaic County criminal defense lawyer" by the local news media. He has been practicing law in high-profile criminal cases in both New Jersey state and federal courts since 1966. He was admitted to practice in the U.S. District of New Jersey, 1967, the U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1968 and the U.S Court of Appeals 2nd circuit, 1981.

Rape in Egypt is a criminal offense with penalties ranging from 15 to 25 years and a lifetime sentence if the rape included abduction. Marital rape is legal. By 2008, the U.N. quoted Egypt's Interior Ministry's figure that 20,000 rapes take place every year, although according to the activist Engy Ghozlan (ECWR), rapes are 10 times higher than the stats given by Interior Ministry, making it 200,000 per year. Mona Eltahawy has also noted the same figure (200,000), and added that this was before the revolution.

Alan L. Zegas is an American criminal defense attorney. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, received a Bachelor of Science degree from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1974, an MBA from The Harvard Business School in 1978, and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 1981. He said that he became a lawyer to defend the “little, powerless person against the powerful forces of government.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in Finland</span> Overview of sexual violence in Finland

Sexual violence is defined as the use of force or manipulation to get someone to engage in unwanted sexual activity without his or her consent. Such violence takes place in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, as well as outside intimate relationships. All sexual offenses violate the basic right of sexual self-determination. In Finland, sexual violence and taking advantage of a person is always a crime, even if the assaulter was the victim's spouse, relative or their friend. Sexual offences include but are not limited to rape, forcing someone into a sexual act and taking sexual advantage of a person. The victims of sexual violence are predominantly women, but 26 percent of Finnish men have experienced sexual harassment since their 15th birthday.

Mass sexual assault is the collective sexual assault of women, men and sometimes children, in public by groups. Typically acting under the protective cover of large gatherings, victims have reported being groped, stripped, beaten, bitten, penetrated and raped.

The Roxbury murders also known as “The Stride Rite Murders” occurred between January and May 1979 when eleven Black women and one White woman were murdered within several miles of one another in the Roxbury neighborhood on the south side of Boston, Massachusetts. This was not suspected to be the work of one serial killer, as at least four different men were charged on account of these murders. The Boston Globe was one of the only media outlets to cover the killings. Those most vocal about these incidents, however, were Black feminist groups, such as the Combahee River Collective, who drew connections between the violent deaths and the multiple systematically marginalized identities of the Black, female victims.

The Vanderbilt rape case is a criminal case of sexual assault that occurred on June 23, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee, in which four Vanderbilt University football players carried an unconscious 21-year-old female student into a dorm room, gang-raped and sodomized her, photographed and videotaped her, and one urinated on her face.

References

  1. Bernard Lefkowitz (1997). Our guys: the Glen Ridge rape and the secret life of the perfect suburb . University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-20596-3. glen ridge.
  2. Special to The New York Times (1989-05-25). "5 Youths Held in Sex Assault On Mentally Impaired Girl, 17". The New York Times . Glen Ridge (Nj). Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  3. Yen, Marianne (May 25, 1989). "New Jersey Students Charged in Sex Assault Of Retarded Girl". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  4. Students arrested, The Lewiston Journal - May 25, 1989
  5. Additional arrests possible after assault on mentally retarded girl, Spokane Chronicle - May 25, 1989
  6. "5 teenagers charged in sex attack on girl". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. May 26, 1989. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  7. Sexual assault case leaves town divided, Gadsden Times - May 26, 1989
  8. "5 high school students are charged in assault of retarded teen-ager". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1989-05-26. Retrieved 2010-07-31.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. Hanl, Robert (March 17, 1993). "4 Are Convicted in Sexual Abuse Of Retarded New Jersey Woman". The New York Times .
  10. Lefkowitz, page 417
  11. 1 2 "'Our Guys' Lose Appeal". Baristanet.com. 2004-08-23. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  12. Brian J. Dillard (2012). "Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2012-11-05.
  13. "Outrage in Glen Ridge". myLifetime.com. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  14. "Our Guys". Amazon UK. 2012-05-21.
  15. "Our Guys". Amazon.

40°47′17″N74°12′43″W / 40.788°N 74.212°W / 40.788; -74.212