Bullying near my hometown last weekend. Harmless prank or criminal assault?

[JohnnyRingo]

It's assault, and I can hear Mitt Romney chuckling in the background as I read it:

Can you imagine one of these boys running for president in 40 years? Maybe they can if they're Republicans:

Boy, 11, claims sex attack at birthday party

VERNON - An 11-year-old boy told sheriff's deputies he was held down by a group of boys at a slumber party and sodomized, and his parents have called for the boy's former friends and classmates to be criminally charged.

Detectives spent most of the day Monday interviewing the eight children accused of being involved in the incident that happened at a birthday celebration sleepover Friday night and into Saturday.

Stewart said investigators are still piecing together what happened, including trying to figure out what object was used in the attack. Trumbull County Children Services also is investigating.

<snip>

The mother said she noticed permanent marker on the boy's face and arms. Her son told her that during the night, the other boys at the party held him down and sodomized him, the report states. He said he was in pain and was taken to Trumbull Memorial Hospital's emergency room. He was then sent to Akron Children's Hospital at Boardman, reports state.

The boy told deputies he was awakened at about 3 a.m. Saturday to seven boys holding him down and the eighth boy sodomized him. He told deputies he wanted to tell the parents at the home but couldn't find their bedroom. He said he decided to stay away from the other boys until his mother came to pick him up.

He also told deputies he was unaware he had permanent marker drawn on him.

The markings, made on the boy's arms, leg and back, include one that points an arrow to the boys buttocks.

Continued here:
http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/571485/Boy--11--claims-sex-attack-at-birthday-party.html?nav=5021

hopefully, these "friends" will not be able to "forget" what they did.

Here's the follow-up from today's paper:
http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/571515/Deputies-question-boys-in-sex-attack.html?nav=5021

[riderinthestorm]

1. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Sickening. No words really... just sickening. nt

[JohnnyRingo]

3. These are his friends at a birthday party.

I'd hate to meet the kids who don't like him.

This is the kind of behavior Mitt Romney encourages when he refers to bullying as "hijinks".
Romney should have a police record for what he did, like these boys hopefully will.

[uppityperson]

2. The poor kid.

[freshwest]

4. Shades of Abu Graib come home. Rush says it's just good fun.

[xfundy]

5. Watch how quickly the True Christian™ crowd claims this is a "homosexual attack."

They will, of course.

But boys doing things like this to gang up on the different guy and attack and bully each other are not that uncommon-- the idea of "stick something up his ass!" or, "stick a firecracker up a frog's butt" is funny to little bullies, the vast majority of whom turn out to be straight little psychopaths, like GW Bush and Willard, but when they actually DO IT, there's something very, very wrong, and it seems to create a need in some people to continue bullying, rather than growing out of it and expressing regret, as I have to believe most do, unlike Willard.

The reality is that boys have a funny thing sticking out and they show it and compare it to other guys, etc., and criminalizing that would criminalize natural curiosity, but make the child abusers in churches and elsewhere very happy. Myself, I compared mine with my cousin, got caught and was beaten for it.

But when kids gang up on each other, for whatever reason, they can be incredibly cruel to anyone they can agree is "different" in any way, it's gone into another realm that can really hurt someone for the rest of his life. I was "different" and got picked on, till I grew taller and got really fat.

Butven when I was bigger, physical and sexual abuse was off my radar. I think it takes a real socio/psychopath to inflict that on other children, and that trait, I believe, goes into adulthood with the abusers.

[appleannie1]

7. The 'true Christian' is not Christian at all. Today's 'True Christian' uses God to attain power and

money. Neither of which are Christian.

[xfundy]

8. "Religious leaders" are identical to witch doctors.

[gratuitous]

10. No they're not

[LanternWaste]

11. As are philosophers and artists...

As are philosophers and artists.

[appleannie1]

6. Bullying. Pure and simple. How disgusting. That poor boy.

[Cave_Johnson]

16. It is a separate category...

It is a sexual assault. Criminal charges all around.

[MineralMan]

9. Lock the little shits up...

assuming that the story is true.

[JohnnyRingo]

12. Personally, I don't get this sort of bullying

I'm reminded of "This is Spinal Tap" when a rock reporter was interviewing the band. The band was describing their debauchery by relating a story of how they participate in orgies where they enjoy backstage anal sex with other men. The reporter then asked if they were a gay rock band and they got very insulted at the accusation, puzzled at why the reporter would think that.

Teabagging and sodomy are not "boyish pranks". They are blatant homosexual acts that clearly constitute rape when the person is unwilling, as in this case. I wouldn't even know where to begin if any of these boys were my sons, but it would probably start along the lines of the Spinal Tap interview.

[MineralMan]

13. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

It's just bullying, pure and simple. We have a high school case going on here in Minnesota, where similar crap went on in a sports team. Heads are about to roll, since it had apparently been going on for years. Sexual domination is as old as the hills, and it has nothing to do with sexual orientation. It's violence and humiliation, not sex.

"This is Spinal Tap" was a parody, by the way.

[JohnnyRingo]

14. Spinal Tap is a parody?

I really thought all Marshall amps went to 11, so I'm glad you cleared that up.

I chose the Spinal Tap interview purposely because they made observational light of the blurred line between sexual excess and homosexuality. I wasn't trying to make a homophobic statement, I've never used sexual preference as a dis-qualifier for friendship, and I happily voted no on Ohio's gay marriage ban several years ago. I stand firmly for equal rights.

However...

Maybe it's because I'm older, but I see little difference between tea-bagging a frat brother during an initiation and participating in gay sex. As a straight man I also never had much interest in inserting objects into other men's assholes. I know that for some reason that sounds quaintly old fashioned now, but as I said in my post, I just don't get it. When I was in junior high way back in the '60s, we said things like "blow me" and "suck my dick" all the time to our buddies, but we really didn't want our friends anywhere near our genitals. We were just being immature punks.

I know experts wiser than myself say intimidation and rape are acts of violence and not sex, but I always figured if a man has an erection, then it's about sex. Even if he intends to shame and violate someone, it's still sex (albeit deviate sex) if he becomes physically aroused by it. Some people get off on toe sucking, but it leaves me puzzled.

I've often defended gay people from those who claim homosexuality is a choice by asking the bigots if they become aroused by the sight of another man's asshole when he bends over, or if they themselves could enjoy oral sex from another man if there wasn't a woman around. That usually stalemates the discussion and cements my point that they're born that way.

Now I'm told hanging one's nuts over another man's eyeballs with one's dick draped over his mouth is not a sex act, and has nothing to do with sexual orientation. If a straight man can enjoy using a dildo on another man, and it's not about being gay, perhaps I owe the homophobic bigots an apology. Maybe it is a choice, but that would mean there are no gay people, only sinners, bullies, and perverts.

Once again, I just don't understand sexual humiliation to a member of the same gender, and why that's not a homoerotic experience.

[Baitball Blogger]

18. I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong.

Not all sodomy is a "blatant homosexual act." Heterosexuals can also partake in this activity.

However, what needs definition is rape. Rape is associated more with the desire to overpower another person. It is more an act of dominance than a desire for sexual fulfillment.

In sum, I'm not convinced that all men/boys who sodomize other men/boys are homosexual.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. My heart is breaking. He thought they were his friends...

I don't have words.

[JohnnyRingo]

17. That is an especially sad fact

His parents should sue to cover future therapy costs.