Justice for Rehtaeh Parsons

Who failed Rehtaeh Parsons?


Rehtaeh Parsons had a goofy sense of humour and loved playing with her little sisters. She wore glasses, had long, dark hair and was a straight-A student whose favourite subject was science.

On Sunday night, the 17-year-old’s family took her off life-support.

Three days earlier, on Thursday night, she hanged herself in the bathroom.

She went with a friend to another’s home. In that home, she was raped by four young boys,” wrote Leah Parsons.

“One of those boys took a photo of her being raped and decided it would be fun to distribute the photo to everyone in Rehtaeh’s school and community, where it quickly went viral.”


http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1122345-who-failed-rehtaeh-parsons

My daughter wasn’t bullied to death, she was disappointed to death. Disappointed in people she thought she could trust, her school, and the police.

Why is it they didn’t just think they would get away with it; they knew they would get away with it. They took photos of it. They posted it on their Facebook walls. They emailed it to God knows who. They shared it with the world as if it was a funny animation.

How is it possible for someone to leave a digital trail like that yet the RCMP don’t have evidence of a crime? What were they looking for if photos and bragging weren’t enough?

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1122650-rehtaeh-parsons-was-my-daughter#.UWaaDJUKsds.facebook

This got shades of Steubenville, South Hadley, and Penn State.

I have been waiting to hear another side to this story before commenting. Before now everyone was relying on comments solely by the family. Everyone immediately assumed that the police hadn't done their job. Everyone assumed that the now-publically named boys were guilty.

There's a different take on it coming out now. It's an interesting read.

With information from sources close to the investigation, Postmedia has learned that much of the accepted gospel about the case - teenager is gang-raped, humiliated by the circulation of a cruel picture of the assault, then abandoned by the justice system and driven to suicide - is incomplete

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http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Rehtaeh+Parsons+case+will+likely+prosecuted/8298287/story.html

I'm not going to take this as gospel either, however it shows how important it is to give people a chance to tell their side, whether it is the alleged perpetrators or LE.

The difference between this case and the Amanda Todd case was that it wasn't just the family speaking out. Police indicated that there was clear evidence of bullying. And now, in the Parsons case, these teen boys have been villified. (As have their families for simply saying that there are two sides to a story.)

This case also differs from Steubenville in that there was public information of egregious behaviour for all to see in that case. Again, perhaps not all of the facts, but there was clear evidence that many in the community were standing behind young people who were clearly bullying the alleged victim. You had a coach who said it was good enough that his players told him they weren't guilty and who threatened a reporter. People did not want the justice system to work.

Where was the evidence that Rehteah was being bullied? She may have indeed been bullied, but we don't know.

I believe it's fair to ask for proof that justice has been done, but it's not fair to presume it hasn't been and become vigilantes.

No matter what, a young girl is dead and her family is shattered. My heart breaks for them. I can't stand the thought that other families are being shattered at our hands (i.e. the public) before we even know the facts.

I am sorry, but if you are drunk, you CANNOT consent. End of story.

seattlechiquita said:

I am sorry, but if you are drunk, you CANNOT consent. End of story.

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And if you're leaning out the window being sick, and someone comes up behind you and penetrates you - that's assault. She couldn't possibly consent to that whilst puking.

:banghead:

MOO

Mel

Melanie said:

And if you're leaning out the window being sick, and someone comes up behind you and penetrates you - that's assault. She couldn't possibly consent to that whilst puking.

:banghead:

MOO

Mel

Click to expand...

I agree. My point isn't that assault didn't happen. My point is that we don't know. Everything so far is hearsay.

seattlechiquita said:

I am sorry, but if you are drunk, you CANNOT consent. End of story.

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Just out of curiosity and a bit of a rabbit trail - do you also think that you can't give legal consent to anything while drunk - i.e., a tattoo, piercing, or purchase, or wedding vows?

And that someone who knowingly sells something to a drunk person is guilty of theft, and a tattoo artist is guilty of assault?

And so is it your opinion that it is actually illegal to have sex while drunk, and men and women who do that should be charged with rape?

BTW, legally, it's not true that you can't consent to sex while drunk. You may feel different from a philosophical standpoint, or believe it's caddish or boorish. Which is true.

Melanie said:

And if you're leaning out the window being sick, and someone comes up behind you and penetrates you - that's assault. She couldn't possibly consent to that whilst puking.

:banghead:

MOO

Mel

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It seems very unlikely that the sex act began while she was puking.

And then ... there's the other side of the story:

"The photo is of a male naked from the waist down, giving a thumbs-up sign, pressing into the bare behind of another person who is leaning out a window.

What the picture doesn't reveal, however, is a recognizable face, if there even was a sexual assault going on, or if the second person was a female.

...
It was only a week later, after the picture surfaced and made the rounds at her high school, that police were first called by Parsons.

...
The friend said she was in and out of the bedroom where Rehtaeh had disappeared, and that at one point saw Rehtaeh on the bed with the two boys, naked and laughing.

The friend tried to get her to leave with her, but Rehtaeh wouldn't.

The friend was furious - she had a crush on one of the two boys and had asked Rehtaeh to stay away from him.

But she was still a good girlfriend: She later returned to the house with her mother, and again tried to persuade Rehtaeh to leave, to no avail.

Only in a second statement to police about two weeks later did Rehtaeh say for the first time that she had told the two boys "No" and tried to get them off her.

...
But the names of four boys are online anyway - one a boy who wasn't even at the party and who went public to defend himself last week."

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Rehtaeh+Parsons+case+will+likely+prosecuted/8299727/story.html

O/T but this thread caught my eye and the girl's name in particular -- did this mother seriously name her child Heather spelled backwards?! Wth

Karmady said:

O/T but this thread caught my eye and the girl's name in particular -- did this mother seriously name her child Heather spelled backwards?! Wth

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Yes. Heaven spelled backwards, Neveah, has somehow, also inexplicably caught on with some. I guess it's not really relevant except every single time I have to spell Rehteah's name, I have to spell it backwards to forwards. I think everyone (all teachers, relatives, friends, etc.) had to consciously spell that name backwards because otherwise it's just a confusing nonsense mix of letters. I can't even imagine the number of times that name has been misspelled by those who don't know you can check the spelling by going backwards. I guess this really isn't relevant at all except as a warning for parents to please not choose a gimmick backwards name for their child, but rather, choose an actual name.

Hi Everyone,

There is already a thread for Rehtaeh
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204795&highlight=Parsons