Although the 16-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by four guys at a party was a victim, I cannot agree with the assertion that she was a totally innocent victim (“Higher bonds sought for 4 suburb teens in sex attack,” Metro, Jan. 12). Don’t get me wrong. The guys are accused of committing crimes of a violent, deplorable nature, and each of them, if guilty, should receive swift and severe punishment. Such outrageous conduct is not acceptable under any stretch of the imagination.
And young girls should most certainly not have to be worried about being physically attacked and brutalized at local social gatherings.
In this case, however, our victim had voluntarily consumed enough alcohol to lose consciousness. At 16, a person should have enough common sense to realize that drinking too much can be harmful.
Clearly known dangers of being intoxicated include being vulnerable to possible attack by strangers or having an auto accident while driving. If this particular youngster had been drinking responsibly (or even not drinking at all), she would not have put herself in a position of danger. She could easily have avoided even being a “victim.”
So go ahead and prosecute the young men, but let this incident also serve as a valuable lesson to other teenage girls in similar situations.
