There must be some finality.'' New York Today, Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company, 5 Youths Held in Sex Assault on Mentally Impaired Girl, 17, 4 Are Convicted in Sexual Abuse of Retarded New Jersey Woman, Three Men Are Jailed in New Jersey Sexual-Assault Case. Yet this ideal town is also a place where close to 30 percent of the graduating senior boys were involved in a grisly sexual Thus, theoretically, the sentence could The current superintendent of Glen Ridge schools, Judith Conk, was recently quoted as saying, They promised that if she did, she would get to go on a date with the football player she had a crush on. It's hard work. Paul Archer Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. The Victim Known as Leslie Faber in the book and movie, her real name was never made public. He locates it, first, in the material and sexual competitiveness . Capt. It's an easy crime to get away with, but prosecutors are trying to Bernard Lefkowitz, 66; Wrote of Glen Ridge Case The Glen Ridge rape case became a national lesson in how people with intellectual disabilities back then, the term was "mental retardation" are victims of sexual abuse. ", "This individual is extremely dangerous and he should be separated from society," Mr. Laurino said. documents sealed. A seasoned police detective returns to her local hometown to investigate the shocking case of the rape of a mentally disabled girl. the lawyer said to the young woman. Lt. Frank Bennett say, if they are becoming incapable of empathy for others, especially their female counterparts, then what will their children be like? She had graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981. his house. So much for finality, justice and reckoning. Mr. Zegas said the prosecution's presentation was "fraught with error.". of justice obtainable by people like the parents of the three convicted boys, whose lawyers managed to keep the kids out of jail until they were in their mid-20's and then got them light sentences (light even for young adult offenders) By Bernard Lefkowitz. But if you invest in them, they are winnable and it's a great feeling when you can help somebody who really can't help themselves.". Donald W. Merkelbach Defense Attorney for the Scherzer twins. His mother sat ashen-faced, as He urged her to join him and several friends at the Scherzers'. Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge (1999) All her life, she'd been the victim of cruel pranks by classmates trying to see what they could get her to do. And all four defendants were found not guilty of two charges involving an act of fellatio on Mr. Grober, two charges Police and prosecutors, who handle these cases, are based here, too. "She smiled a lot and. It houses a team of health care professionals, including therapists, who can respond in a crisis and then offer ongoing support. Some courts but not in New Jersey allow victims with intellectual disabilities to keep a service animal, one trained just for court testimony, that will hide from the view of jurors so dog lovers won't be biased. There's a camera, discreetly in a corner of the room. One wonders what sort of potential one would see in a young man who has the presence of mind to cover a baseball bat with a plastic baggie and Vaseline before using it to penetrate an intellectually impaired girl, other than the potential to commit more violent sexual crimes. Steve Roberts (left) talks through a case with Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Lyons-Boswick and Laurino inside the Special Victims Unit of Wynona's House. "If someone didn't like you, they're not going to have respect for your home." Charles Figueroa, a wrestler and football player, wasn't her close friend, but he liked Mary. I care about them. ", The lawyer called the defense the "bad side" in the trial and said, "we don't count, do we?". Retarded Woman's Rape Put Character, Morality on Trial : Crime: The Leslie left her house in the afternoon to go play . And he continues to make prosecution of sex crimes against people with intellectual disabilities a priority. His older brother has an intellectual disability. The trial had been closely watched by a broader audience: advocates for the mentally retarded, women's-rights leaders and experts in rape law. aggravated sexual assault. Although the population is only about 7,000, Glen Ridge has a long list of notable people, including Buzz Aldrin, Tom Cruise, Edward Mitchell, Cindy Sherman, Kerry Bish, Alison Stewart, In Pennsylvania, 34 percent of allegations were confirmed. She got pregnant. By the time she was a teen, boys were trying to talk her into sex acts. The rape of someone with an intellectual disability remains one of the hardest crimes for police to investigate and one of the hardest for prosecutors to win in court. Stubblefield said she and the man had fallen in love and had a consensual relationship. Lyons-Boswick goes to Veterans Courthouse in Newark to have a judge sign off on a warrant she needs to prosecute a sexual assault case. when they and 10 other teen-age boys, all popular high school athletes, persuaded a 17-year old mentally retarded girl (I.Q. "It's hard to choose between one side and the other. The Sexual Assault Epidemic No One Talks About, For Some With Intellectual Disabilities, Ending Abuse Starts With Sex Ed, In The Wake Of #MeToo, More Victims Seek Help For Repressed Trauma, New Lawsuit Alleges Baylor Players Gang-Raped Women As 'Bonding Experience'. Because of being African American, he was not considered part of the inner circle of football players. Since the taping violated no recording laws, Ferraez was charged only with witness tampering, but the charges were later dropped. Then, in 2016, police reopened the case and later ran a new DNA test, and that linked the suspect. members of the Glen Ridge, New Jersey football team, Judge James Troiano denied prosecutors motion, Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer. New Jersey Daily Briefing Verdicts Appealed in Assault Defense lawyers ask State Supreme Court to overturn guilty verdicts against Christopher Archer and Kevin and Kyle Scherzer, former Glen. But, as Lefkowitz writes: ''These Glen Ridge kids, they were pure gold, every mother's Diversions | There is a team of health care professionals, including therapists, who can respond in a crisis and then offer ongoing support. They contended, primarily during their cross-examinations, that she was a promiscuous temptress throughout her teen-age years and, in the 1989 episode, was an oversexed Aggravated sexual assault (penetration with bat, broom and stick with use of force or coercion. "Sometimes they don't even understand that they've been abused.". "We don't want guns and badges in front of them," explains Kathleen Lyons-Boswick, an assistant prosecutor in the county's Special Victims Unit. They heard her speak in a thin, childlike voice, using vulgar terms for masturbation notion that the defendants themselves needed "protection," as one defense lawyer, Michael Querques, argued. by the victim(the author has given her a protective pseudonym, Leslie Faber) has been relayed to school authorities and the local police, and the boys involved are under serious investigation. our much-heralded multiculturalism and our supposed delight in difference, we are subjected to the same set of infomercials in our day-to-day lives, the same pop values and icons, the same predigested versions of public events, and And not one reported it. Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Bryant Grober Assailant, 17 at the time of the rape, orally raped the victim. Lyons-Boswick goes to Veterans Courthouse in Newark to have a judge sign off on a warrant she needs to prosecute a sexual assault case. Twin brother of Kevin Scherzer. Adults with disabilities are not children. 1917). "So they're familiar with people [with intellectual disabilities] and how they think and how they talk.". that organizes and measures achievement, especially among males. That matters in court. The jocks ruled Glen Ridge High and harassed people like Leslie, who were different or vulnerable, Lefkowitz writes. "No," she said. Movies. The center assists children and adults with intellectual disabilities who are victims of abuse. She had been sexually assaulted before in 1983, in an unrelated incident. 4 Are Convicted in Sexual Abuse Of Retarded New Jersey Woman Despite Aggravated sexual assault (touching breasts through use of force or coercion). In 1989, members of the Glen Ridge, New Jersey football team raped a 17-year-old girl in the basement of one of the boys houses. "The jury would have observed the mood," said Stephen P. Scaring, the lawyer who won an acquittal in the St. John's University case involving several lacrosse players charged with a gang rape. Top: The waiting room inside Wynona's House Child Advocacy Center in Newark. The victim had a crush on Paul, and Bernard Lefkowitzs book alleges that he was occasionally nice to her, unlike others in the town. "Because here's one side and here's the other side," she said. After Laurino won milestone convictions in the Glen Ridge case, he traveled around the country to conferences, where he would tell other prosecutors how to pursue these cases. "Uh-huh," she answered. Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge PDF return to updates The Glen Ridge Rape - big-lies.org But if theres any real lesson to be gleaned from the Glen Ridge rape case, its that we havent come very far at all. Summary Of Our Guys The Glen Ridge Rape | ipl.org A settlement of a legal claim between parties is a contract like any other contract, Nolan v. Lee Ho, 120 N.J. 465, 472 (1990), which "may be freely entered into and which a court, absent a demonstration of 'fraud or other compelling circumstances,' should honor and enforce as it does other contracts." Pascarella v. of 64, was mentally defective as defined by the law, unable to understand or exercise her right to refuse to engage in sex acts. The "Lolita Defense," as it was dubbed by The New Jersey Law Journal after opening arguments depicted the young woman as an aggressive seductress, generated ire throughout the trial. And, for evidence, there's DNA testing. Glen Ridge Rape - Timeline of Events - Our Guys The TV Movie - Cast Job Market | The young woman spent many of her school years in classes for the learning impaired. ''It signified a man who made money and wielded power in his town and of touching the young woman's breasts and two charges of forcing her to masturbate the defendants. Maybe some would compare that photo to the mugshots of the now-middle-aged Glen Ridge rapists and see a tale of woe, a tale of lost potential. He helped to establish Wynona's House, New Jersey's largest child advocacy center in Newark, and to create Essex County's sexual assault response team.
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