Teen's Rape Charges Dropped Because Victim Kills Self

[Brandon]

Originally Posted by dr2005

To be fair the only evidence which could conclusively demonstrate that sexual intercourse took place would be medical evidence, which would only be raised at trial and not distributed to the media. It seems fair to say that such evidence or similar did exist, as I would be very surprised if the DA took the decision to prosecute based solely on the victim's testimony.

That's a fair assumption, but since we don't know the full details...the public can't assume that the 18 year old had sex with the 14 year old. If it clearly said that, yes, the 18 year old had sexual encounters with the 14 year old, then that would be considered statutory rape. However, the articles don't mention it. Therefore there is still a possibility that she wasn't raped.

Originally Posted by dr2005

Leaving that aside, several reports have claimed that the defendant did admit they had sex, but that it was consensual.

Sources?

Originally Posted by dr2005

As a further aside to this story, it appears further allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against the young man in question, and that he has now left the high school: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...vestigate.html

Isn't that oddly suspicious that another girl comes out and says something after the trial? Something doesn't seem right to me...

[dr2005]

Originally Posted by Brandon

That's a fair assumption, but since we don't know the full details...the public can't assume that the 18 year old had sex with the 14 year old. If it clearly said that, yes, the 18 year old had sexual encounters with the 14 year old, then that would be considered statutory rape. However, the articles don't mention it. Therefore there is still a possibility that she wasn't raped.

Sources?

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11...ase.dismissed/

Originally Posted by CNN

Tarnopolski, who faced the specific charge of criminal sexual conduct of the third degree, acknowledged having sex with Kelly but disputed claims that it was not consensual. "It was a mutual thing and I have text messages proving that," Tarnopolski told WDIV. "It's her parents that pushed it as hard they did," he said. "They said I threw her down and all that stuff. It never happened."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...198ca524cabb55

Originally Posted by The Associated Press

Tarnopolski told WJBK that he had sex with Samantha, but it was a "mutual thing."

http://www.detnews.com/article/20101...-Township-teen

Originally Posted by The Detroit News

Police say evidence in Samantha's case, including text messages and statements from both the girl and Tarnopolski, pointed to a consensual sexual encounter.

Believe me, I am not one to make such statements unless I've got bloody good grounds for doing so - especially in an area like this. My final year dissertation was on criminal justice in relation to sexual offences so I'm more than aware of both the sensitivity of the matter and the potential damage caused by unverified claims.

Re. the second complaint, my understanding is that it was filed four days after the initial complain, not after the trial as has been suggested. The news story broke the same day according to the articles I have found. The detail on the matter is quite vague however so I cannot cite that as gospel.

[Brandon]

Originally Posted by dr2005

Believe me, I am not one to make such statements unless I've got bloody good grounds for doing so - especially in an area like this. My final year dissertation was on criminal justice in relation to sexual offences so I'm more than aware of both the sensitivity of the matter and the potential damage caused by unverified claims.

Fair enough. In that case, if the guy admitted to having consensual sex with the 14 year old, then I would agree that it's still statutory rape according to the law. Maybe this is just on Law and Order, but don't people admit guilt even when they're not?