Florida cop acquitted of rape, tells victim to 'move on'

[Hugabear]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/lake/os-leesburg-police-officer-rape-trial-verdict-20140822,0,1385385.story

A former Leesburg police officer acquitted Friday of sexually assaulting a woman in his custody had a terse message for the 24-year-old and her family after the verdict: "Move on."
People in the courtroom broke into tears when the jury of four women and two men found Henri Bart Larue, 27, not guilty of armed sexual battery by a law-enforcement officer — a crime that could have landed him in prison for life.
The single mother and her supporters stormed out of the courtroom, appalled that Larue was going free.
"I am flabbergasted," said the woman's mother, who testified this week. "All that evidence. All that effort. And they came up with not guilty? My poor daughter. It's all being relived all over again."

Simply disgusting, is it any wonder why so many people are terrified by cops?

[Iggo]

1. Yay, Cops!

They're the best!

[gaspee]

2. Or why women don't report

sexual assault? It's not like they're going to be found guilty if they're not caught in the act or a minority or poor.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. This sort of verdict is also why so many women don't prosecute their rapists. Goddamn it. n/t

[theHandpuppet]

5. Exactly!

[Xipe Totec]

4. Justice wears a blue-stained dress. nt

[alp227]

13. "blue stained dress" exactly what do you mean by that? nt

[PFunk]

6. Or more importantly why cops are no longer respected.

with many not thinking of them as a occupying force for the 1 percent. Something has to change. Any chance the victim will go the civil suit route?

[BillZBubb]

7. And there were four women on the jury?

Sadly, the benefit of the doubt always goes to the cops.

[Lars39]

12. Benefit of the doubt, or fear of revenge from the other cops?

[tblue37]

27. I have long thought this to be part of the reason why juries don't convict cops. nt

[ecstatic]

41. Good point. Uggh! nt

[BillZBubb]

42. Maybe that is a factor too. I don't know.

I've never served on a jury where a cop was the defendant, so I never considered that angle.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

8. excerpt from another recent thread...

Men have no idea what it takes to be a woman. To grin and bear it and persevere. The constant state of war, navigating the relentless obstacle course of testosterone and misogyny, where they think we are property to be owned and plowed.

It's reprehensible that a cop gets away with this shit, but it's not just cops....only a very tiny percentage of those accused of sexual violence against women get charged guilty. (Of the already tiny percentage that even makes it to court.)

The deck is stacked against you if you're not a white male. And sex against your will is to be expected if you're female.

[freshwest]

11. Well said, Blanche. But the community is the real problem, NOT the cop. He's just a symptom

of the pathology of the voters in the area. People are too quick to go after the open and obvious target, a creepy man in a suit who would have been convicted easily in another venue.

Because that definitely does happen, but it's not trendy. All the nameless ones on the jury and in the voting pool are the REAL problem there.

Only voters are on the juries. It's scary to think about what else they will approve when voting.

[littlemissmartypants]

22. Indeed. eom

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. you are SOOO right, fresh.

The jury is a group of your peers....kind of. I have heard that during jury selection, attorneys prefer to eliminate people prone to critical thinking.

They want people who have fully absorbed the zeitgeist, no questions asked. When that zeitgeist is the attitude of red-'Murika, you've got a dysfunctional threat on your hands, if you're the one looking for justice.

[littlemissmartypants]

23. Agreed. nt

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. Maybe when his daughter gets sexually assaulted he'll "get it"

But more than likely he won't ever understand. Once a rapist always a rapist, they never learn.

[KitSileya]

46. Let's rather hope that if the only way he could "get it"

were by experiencing rape in his own family, he would be the victim himself. Daughters (and any other female relatives) of rapists are persons, not props to be used to teach a perpetrator a lesson.


As the quote goes, 'Every woman is somebody_{'s daughter, mother, sister, wife}' Because only the first 4 words are necessary.

[Dont call me Shirley]

50. Agreed, my statement was impulsive and unnecessary

As a victim of repeated sexual assault I over-react a bit when it comes to pro-rape comments by hateful males. He probably himself was a victim of sexual violence. I would not hope such assault on any being. I should not have hung that on her. Thanks for the heads up.

[blackspade]

10. Move on? Fuck you cop.

Another ganger in blue walks.

[JJChambers]

14. Apparently no one here has even considered the possibility that he was actually, well, NOT guilty.

[Hugabear]

15. Considering that his DNA was found on her, that's highly unlikely

I'm sure it just magically appeared there

[JJChambers]

20. Where does it say that?

Where was the DNA found? What was the source of the DNA? Sperm? Skin cells? Blood?

[LisaL]

18. Well, if she falsely accused him (which was his defense), why is he telling her to "move on?"

Don't you think it would be a bizarre statement to make for someone falsely accused.
If I were falsely accused of something, I certainly wouldn't be telling my accuser to "move on."

[etherealtruth]

25. From reports his actions were enough to make him lose his job

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/more-details-released-case-leesburg-officer-accuse/nWWhy/

[niyad]

30. did you bother to read the article:

The woman said Larue, who had worked at the Leesburg Police Department since March 2012, made an unexpected U-turn while taking her to the Lake County Jail. She said he drove to a secluded alley behind a strip shopping center on U.S. Highway 441 and forced her to perform a sex act. He was arrested in January 2013 after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation and was fired in March 2013.

[JJChambers]

32. Yes, I read it. She said he did. He said he didn't.

He was found NOT guilty by a jury. Yet no one considers that a possibility?

[niyad]

33. considering he was FIRED after an investigation? NO.

considering how many rapists lie, no, I don't.

[JJChambers]

35. But found not guilty by a jury who has been presented all the evidence.

[niyad]

36. righhhht, because juries ALWAYS do the correct thing!

keep trying. someone might actually think you are correct.

[JJChambers]

37. I'm not saying he's not guilty nor am I saying he is guilty.

I'm questioning the folks who don't even entertain the possibility that he COULD be not guilty. I certainly think he COULD be guilty, but I'm reasonable.

[Hugabear]

45. Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman were acquitted as well - n/t

n/t

[niyad]

31. a cop who was FIRED because of his actions, and who tells the victim to "move on". .

oh yeah, my first thought was that he was clearly a saint, not guilty.

wow. . .just. . . wow.

[mythology]

39. Usually I would give people that possibility

But as the article said, he was fired, which isn't overly easy to do and he told her to get over it. If either of those weren't true, I'd be more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he didn't say get over it as a method of dismissing her as his victim, he did tell her that to dismiss her as a victim in general. I am perfectly happy to not have a person like that being a cop.

Granted the article doesn't give a lot of detail on the actual defense and prosecution, so I have no idea what the 16 minute time stamp error is about for example.

[DFW]

16. I know what I think a just outcome would have been

But then someone might do what I was thinking, and then I'd be in hot water for saying it.

Suffice it to say that when a perp tells his victim to "move on" after beating the rap, it's pretty obvious what he meant.

[AverageJoe90]

17. Corruption does seem to be widespread, sadly.

I'm not exactly a believer in "rape culture&quot well, not in a literal sense, anyway), TBH, but this should have any decent person up in arms. Enough is enough. It's long past time to hold police departments accountable for their problems.

[99Forever]

19. Members of the best armed gang of them all...

... are above the law. A badge absolves all wrongs.

Yay cops, you're da bestest.

[littlemissmartypants]

21. Power and Control.

http://www.lfcc.on.ca/HCT_SWASM_5.html

They use it on us and it's being used on society at large.

Educate yourself and your loved ones. Sociopaths won't change. Be informed and involved.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
Lmsp 🙌

[iandhr]

24. six people on a jury?

[davidn3600]

28. Florida has 6 person juries except for death penalty cases

It's been challenged....I think in the 1970s it went to the Supreme Court and they said 6 or more jurors is OK. That's where the line was drawn.

Connecticut and Florida are the only 2 states that have less than 12 jurors for criminal trials. Civil trials tend to vary though from state to state. It's not uncommon to have less jurors in those kind of cases.

Florida does have 12-person juries if it is a death penalty case.

[iandhr]

34. You learn something every day.

[Louisiana1976]

26. Someone ought to castrate that asshole.

[smirkymonkey]

44. +1000

[ReRe]

29. It's like being raped all over again!

Question: Can't she sue him in civil court, even though he was acquitted?

Don't tell me this isn't a Police State!

[riqster]

38. Rape culture.

[kcks]

43. Perhaps

they was not enough evidence, just because there is a trial does not make every accused guilty.

[Skittles]

47. go ahead and tell us why he was fired

go on

[davidn3600]

48. Then why did we bother have a trial?

Apparently getting fired is all the proof you need to convict someone. But it wasn't enough proof for this jury to convict (which was made up of 4 women and 2 men, btw).

You have to prove guilt in court. Being fired is not evidence of guilt.

[Skittles]

49. you really don't get it, do you?

he was fired because they found it was a pattern in his behavior