Rabid Dog Prosecutors

[issac the dragon]

In McMinnville, Or. two 13 year old boys were arrested in February. For slapping girls on the butt. They now face the prospect of 10 years in juvenile detention and a life time on the sex offender registry in a case that poses a fundamental question: When is horseplay a crime? It's a long story and you may be able to read it on the newspaper web page. www.oregonlive.com It was in the Sunday paper on the front page.

I want to pose another question. Have some prosecutors in this country become like rabid dogs. A teenage boy sent to prison for oral sex with a teenage girl. A sports team prosecuted for gang rape on little evidence and a lot of evidence of their innocence. We only hear about the most outrageous ones, but I am concerned that in our insistance to put criminals in jail, some of our prosecutors have stepped right off the deep end.

[issac the dragon]

The two 13 year old boys were running down the hall of their middle school after lunch, swatting girls on the butt as they ran. They were reported and the vice-principle gave them a five day suspension. That should have been it. But someone reported it to the police.

Included in the police report is that other kids were doing the same thing, and some girls were swatting boys. Two of the girls identified as victims have recanted, saying they felt pressured to give false statements to interrogators.

The documents also show that the boys face 10 misdemeanor charges - five sex abuse counts, five harassment counts - reduced from charges of felony sex abuse. The boys are scheluled to go on trial August 20.