‘Boys will be boys’ Montana prosecutor tells 5-year-old rape victim’s mom

[sufrommich]

A Montana prosecutor reportedly had a heartless explanation for the mother a 5-year-old rape victim — “boys will be boys.”

The surprising anecdote is just one of the horror stories sex assault victims in Missoula told federal investigators, according to a new report.

The U.S. Department of Justice found Missoula County Attorney’s prosecutors routinely discriminated against female victims, refusing legitimate cases, pushing sex crimes to the lowest of priorities and belittling women who came to them for help.

“We uncovered evidence of a disturbing pattern of deficiencies in the handling of these cases by the County Attorney’s Office, a pattern that not only denies victims meaningful access to justice, but places the safety of all women in Missoula at risk,” said Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boys-boys-mont-prosecutor-tells-5-year-old-rape-victim-mom-report-article-1.1616670#ixzz2tXs3xKCP





Repeat after me "there is no rape culture in the U.S."

[840high]

1. Disgusted kick.

[ismnotwasm]

2. That is way over the top wrong

I hope jobs are lost and the little girl gets the support she needs

[CSStrowbridge]

3. And there are people...

And there are people who think Rape Culture doesn't exist.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. MT GOP: Those sluts had it comin'!

[JI7]

7. is this a republican ?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

5. MT GOP: If those trollops didn't want to get raped, those tramps would have been born men!

[sheshe2]

6. Yeah Fred

Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg denies claims his prosecutors routinely discriminated against women in sexual assault cases.

“First and foremost, I think that this is one of the most unfair, unethical things that I have witnessed in 35 years of public life,” Van Valkenburg told the Missoulian newspaper.

snip

He claims the report released Friday is retribution and said the feds have provided no evidence of the allegations.

“It’s impossible to believe these things are true,” Van Valkenburg told the Missoulian. “This is not how the Missoula County Attorney’s Office Conducts itself. These are half-truths, mistruths and maybe even outright lies.”


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/boys-boys-mont-prosecutor-tells-5-year-old-rape-victim-mom-report-article-1.1616670#ixzz2tYAGvFxG

Keep talking about unfair and unethical. Yeah, I can see how sad you are that your office is being targeted

You F**k! Where is fair and ethical when you dealt with the victims of rape and abuse.

In a statement that accompanied the Justice Department’s report, Jocelyn Samuels, acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said practices by the Missoula County Attorney’s Office “strongly suggest gender discrimination.”

To wit, she said:

-- Sexual assaults of adult women in Missoula are given low priority by the county attorney’s office.

-- Van Valkenburg doesn’t provide adequate knowledge or training to deputy county attorneys to effectively and impartially investigate and prosecute sexual assault cases.

-- The county attorney’s office, on its own or in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, “generally does not develop evidence in support of sexual assault prosecutions.”

-- Adult women victims are often treated with disrespect, kept uninformed of case status and are “revictimized by the process.”

-- And Van Valkenburg’s office fails on a routine basis “to engage in the most basic communication about its cases of sexual assault with law enforcement and advocacy partners.”

http://helenair.com/news/local/state-and-regional/doj-takes-missoula-cty-attorney-to-task-over-sexual-assault/article_1224aa6c-960f-11e3-a78f-0019bb2963f4.html

[alp227]

8. Isn't this the same county where that teacher got 30 days for raping a 14-year-old student?

And misogynists will be misogynists.

[LTG]

12. A totally different area of the state

That happened in the more central part of the state, approximately 350 miles away. This is taking place in Missoula, the western end of the state. The other case, with the idiot judge, was in Billings, the south central area of Montana.

[SheilaT]

9. The "boys will be boys" bullshit excuse

has been used for hundreds of years to excuse all sorts of despicable behavior.

Unfortunately.

Maybe we need to start a new "girls will be girls" standard where the females go out and perpetrate some sort of horror on the males, and then just shrug and say, "girls will be girls". Turn about is fair play, right?

[mindwalker_i]

11. Maybe we need to arm girls with hedge-clippers

And let them go crazy. Hey, boys will be boys, so we need a little pre-emptive de-boy-ing!

[BlueMTexpat]

10. Van Valkenburg is apparently

a so-called Democrat. Jesus wept!

Of course, Missoula County generally votes blue, so it was probably a good political move to be registered as a D. But this is downright damning for a politician of any party and I thoroughly condemn his behavior.

Here is one reaction from a MT political blog: https://4and20blackbirds.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/an-invitation-to-montana-attorney-general-tim-fox/

Here is a post from another MT blog from last year about VV's anti-marijuana crusade: http://www.leftinthewest.com/diary/4812/fred-van-valkenburg-vs-justice

The former chief of police, also involved in this at least neck-deep, has - get this! - applied to law school! http://newstalkkgvo.com/outgoing-missoula-police-chief-says-official-goodbyes-audio/

What a crying shame! I lived in Missoula for 10 of the happiest years in my life and still have many friends there who are horrified by this situation. Missoula deserves much better than these. And so do all of the women (or men) who reported rapes and were so horribly treated. Of course, Missoula is also home to the University of MT and everyone "knows" about co-ed behavior.

Missoula may hold the unfortunate distinction of "rape capital." But it is, unfortunately, not the only place where such behavior on the part of authorities is intolerable. Perhaps getting these individuals exposed and - hopefully - punished thoroughly for the scumbags they are will help in other cities/areas where problems exist.

[JI7]

14. Montana seems to be a state that often votes dem in state but in national/pres election goes

republican.

probably because the dems are made up of libertarian types . similar to how southern dems were made up of social religious conservative types in the old days . don't really reflect the national party.

either way it's disgusting.

[BlueMTexpat]

19. Actually, Missoula County has voted

Dem at the national level in the last couple Presidential elections even while the state has gone red. http://www.politico.com/2012-election/results/president/montana/

The thing to keep in mind about MT as with most western "red" states is that true independent thinking is valued for the most part although most people also believe in taking care of one another and that government should have a role in that. The other thing is that we do not have the slavery-civil war legacy that still echoes in a lot of the Deep South's relationship with the rest of the "Union." That is not to say that there are not other disconnects - there certainly are.

In fact, however, Missoula County has historically been a liberal area. Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to the US Congress was from Missoula, although she was a Republican. Of course, that was back in the long ago days when the Republican Party was a tad more socially liberal than the Dems. Interestingly enough, many with whom I attended school in 50s-early 60s MT were Young Republicans although my family has always been a staunch Dem family. Those erstwhile Young Repubs with brains all switched to the Democratic party and are liberal Dems today.

In the 2008 election, if you check the link, President Obama's loss margin in the state was less than in 2012. I attribute most of that difference to the efforts of Howard Dean and his 50-state strategy, which were not in effect in 2012. Unfortunately, we have a dearth of Dems at the national level with the vision and understanding of Howard Dean and that is a crying shame.

Insofar as this current situation is concerned, the DA - whatever political party he belongs to - is a total disgrace.

[seabeyond]

35. what ...

are you doing up at 3 in the morning, woman.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. I really hope that in reply . . .

. . . she belted the sonovabitch in the chops.

[Squinch]

15. And isn't "boys will be boys" really the same argument as "bonobos do it so we can't help but do it

too"?

Why, yes. I believe it is.

[sufrommich]

16. Yes,it certainly is.

[seabeyond]

23. Exactly. I was thinking the same reading down the thread.

I was going to post it.

[Gman]

17. While this is a vile and likely criminal dereliction of duty

There is hardly a culture of rape in this country. Maybe India or Egypt or some other such place, but not here. And anecdotes do not indict the whole culture.

[Squinch]

18. Well, since you have said it doesn't exist, it must not! My experiences and observations

must have all been a dream!

Thanks for clearing that up for all of us who see the evidence of rape culture around us every day!

[Gman]

20. That's not a very good rebuttal.

"Because that's what I think" is not very informative.

[Squinch]

21. "Because that's what I think" is the essentially the argument YOU made.

But I'm guessing you didn't realize that.

And will fight tooth and nail to say that it isn't.

[LanternWaste]

22. What is the precise and relevant number of like cases...

What is the precise and relevant number of like cases would it take for for this to be considered part and parcel of the rape culture, and on what objective number is that based on?

[Gman]

25. I'm not the one asserting that anything exists.

But indictments of society like the OP need to be based more on some kind of verifiable info other than "that's what I think".

[LanternWaste]

37. You asserted the number was too low for it to be considered indicative

You asserted the number was too low for it to be considered indicative, that then begs the question implied in your assertion: what then is that number?





"But indictments of society like the OP need to be based more on some kind of verifiable info other than "that's what I think"."

One would think the reverse is true...? Defense of a society should also be based on more than "that's what I think" which ios precisely what you did. Either the reverse is not true, or you're holding yourself to a different standard.

[seabeyond]

24. 1 in 3/4 in military or college not enough for you? Really? How many girls need to be raped before

It is an issue for YOU

[Gman]

26. What do you mean by 1 in 3/4?

I'm missing something in your notation.

[seabeyond]

27. ya... trying to make short using iphone. one in every 3 or 4 girls raped in military and college.

how many rapes, make a rape culture, not that the number of rapes is a definition of rape culture.

[Gman]

31. No question it's a problem and is the culture on many campuses.

I don't know if that number has increased in recent years. And I don't know how accurate it is because on non-reports but also false accusations. Non-reports by far being the bigger number. But I don't think it's indicative of the country as a whole any more than letting children go hungry is and that happens a lot now. It's an unfortunate culture created by the right wing where they have appointed leaders. Usually as political paybacks.

[seabeyond]

33. 4-6 country as a whole. false rape 2-3% in u,s. and united kingdom and please do not use that in

your reasoning cause that is the reason so many people.... girls, boys and women do not report. too many people think false rape is the norm when it is anything but. who would believe. they will be trashed.

it is a problem

[larkrake]

30. you are very wrong, in the south, rape and incest is a daily occurrance

In the north, any athletic big shot can rape and kill as he wishes, and politicians, and clergy. Increasingly rape and spousal abuse is blamed on the woman, in court. We do have a rape culture in this country- a very big one and it is getting worse every day

[Thinkingabout]

28. I often wonder, if these victims of rape were the daughters, sisters, mothers, or

Any other female family member, would the comment be the same. This is not a crime of passion but a crime of violence.

[sufrommich]

32. Unfortunately,there are still many people who

believe there is reason to find guilt with the victim.The article goes on to report on rape victims who were read bible passages as if religion is the "cure" for their rape,I'm sure the bible passeges were laden with images of female piety and wholesomeness.

[Thinkingabout]

34. If they also read bible scriptures to the crooks I doubt the results would be much different.

The Toughest Sheriff has a backlog of sexual assaults in his county but he's after the "illegals".

[TDale313]

29. Disgusting.

And seriously? Anyone who denies that there is a rape culture is a major part of the problem.

[seabeyond]

36. thank you for this article. remembering back to the other case of 30 days. i came thru the state

this summer and loved it. alter learned about this stuff, and missoula being the highest in rape. we were looking at places to move. and really liked the area. i hope they come down hard on these people, with exposure. and i would love to see any updates that people find.