Minimum 12 Years for Raping his Child Bride

The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel is reporting the story of the Hmong man sentenced to 8 years in prison for raping his wife over many years.  The story is a tragic story with elements of family law, cultural differences, pedophilia, and sexual violence.  This is from Bruce Vielmetti's account: 

"Thaying Lor (pic) was sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison Monday after being found guilty of sexually assaulting his wife over the course of their marriage, beginning when he essentially kidnapped and raped her at age 12.  Under sentencing [guidelines], Lor could serve as much as about 12 years in prison.

Lor was charged in March after his wife's testimony in their divorce hearing about the forced beginnings of her marriage led a bailiff to contact law enforcement about the case.  Lor claimed his actions during their relationship were proper and his right as a husband in an arranged Hmong marriage. Prosecutors said it was in fact criminal behavior.  The woman, now 31 and who has a different last name than Lor, is not being identified because she is the victim of a sexual assault. A judge in March granted her a divorce, even though the couple had never been legally married in Wisconsin. She has custody of the couple's six children, some of whom testified against their father.

The week long trial before Circuit Judge Kevin Martens featured extensive testimony about Hmong cultural beliefs and practices, much of it through interpreters. The victim's mother testified that she and her husband accepted a $3,000 dowry from Lor to pay for a celebration and to not tell police about the union. She said they only hoped Lor would love and care for their daughter."
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I was recently at an AA meeting featuring a speaker from our culture with a similar story as the one here.  These grave crimes of child sex abuse and exploitation can not be explained away as being taken out of cultural context.  Sex crimes against women and children are crimes against humanity.

The Horny Law Enforcement Officers of Clackamas County, Oregon

Rick Bella at the Oregonian has a comprehensive and jaw-dropping report on the many law enforcement officers, mostly corrections officers from Clackamas County, Oregon who have been caught in sexual misconduct allegations and scandals dating back over several years. 

Clackamas County, Oregon is where Oregon City is located.  Clackamas is part of the greater-Portland area.  It is named after the indigenous Clackamas Indian tribe. 

This is from Bella's report:

Over the past decade, county corrections deputies have been convicted of sexual and official misconduct, drug abuse and assault, resulting in jail sentences, firings and civil lawsuits against the sheriff's office.  The most recent investigation began in July 2009, when allegations surfaced that Deputy Alan Dean Randol had sexual contact with female inmates on home detention. Randol pleaded guilty in October to sexual misconduct and was sentenced to eight days in jail.

A woman who says Randol fondled her during a home visit subsequently filed a $400,000 lawsuit against Clackamas County. The lawsuit remains pending in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

During the investigation into Randol, Detective Debbie Calhoun discovered similar allegations against Deputy Darin L. Fox, involving female inmates both housed in the jail and under electronic monitoring in their homes. After a grand jury indicted Fox on charges of sexual and official misconduct, Fox voluntarily surrendered at the jail last week. He is scheduled to be arraigned June 10.
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According to a sidebar at the link, 11 corrections and patrol officers have been involved in prohibited if not illegal sexual misconduct, including sexual exploitation of teenagers in the law enforcement cadet program.

The question is why?  Is this an unusual problem in Clackamas County, Oregon only?  Doubtful.  Perhaps what is happening in Clackamas County is structural in onset and astonishing because the current leadership is willing to confront the problem headlong, to their credit.  The real question is, what's happening elsewhere--including in your community, that is not being addressed by law enforcement leadership? 

Law School Question Fact Patterns

This LA Times story sent to me, yesterday, by my friend Okiedoke presents the cliche` law school question "fact pattern."  It's also a frightening tale of violence against a woman by her ex-boyfriend. 

The maniac in the picture raped a woman in what he claims was an invitation for sex role play on Craigslist.   In fact the victim's ex-boyfriend was able to induce this idiot to rape his ex- by placing an ad on Craigslist.   The question my friend Okiedoke asks, who if anyone committed a crime?  My answer is, both the ex-boyfriend and the perpetraor of the "role-playing rapist" are guilty of rape. 

As a first step let's let DeeDee Correll summarize the facts for us: 

The advertisement appeared on Craigslist in early December.

"'Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women,' read the posting on the Internet classified advertising forum. Its purported author was a Casper, Wyo., woman, whose photo also was posted.  One week later, a man accepted the offer, forcing his way into the woman's home, tying her up and raping her at knifepoint. 'I'll show you aggressive,'  he allegedly said, according to court testimony.

In fact, authorities say, the woman had nothing to do with the ad. Instead, they say, a former boyfriend had posted it, soliciting her assault.  Such an incident would have been impossible -- or at least much less likely -- 20 years ago, Natrona County Dist. Atty. Mike Blonigen said. 'It's probably only possible in our modern age,' he said. . . The Wyoming case began to unfold Dec. 5. Jebidiah James Stipe, 27, a Carbon, Wyo., native and Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif., allegedly posed as his ex-girlfriend and placed the ad seeking an aggressive man.  Two days later, she spotted it and contacted the Natrona County Sheriff's Office, as well as Craigslist, which took down the ad.  But Ty Oliver McDowell, 26, from Bar Nunn, Wyo., had allegedly already seen it.  McDowell, an employee of the Wyoming Medical Center's radiology department, e-mailed the address listed in the ad, according to an affidavit in the case.  McDowell later told authorities that he and the woman exchanged instant messages, and she described what she wanted -- 'humiliation, physical abuse, sexual abuse,' according to investigators -- and gave him her home address.  In fact, authorities say, McDowell was communicating with Stipe.  On Dec. 11, McDowell allegedly went to the woman's home and forced his way inside. He bound, blindfolded and gagged the 25-year-old woman, then raped her as he pressed a knife to her throat, the affidavit said.   Detectives said he told them he thought he was fulfilling her rape fantasy.  McDowell was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary. Stipe was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault."
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Let's assume that the facts as set out in the LAT are proved, both Stipe and McDowell are rapists.

The elements of a crime are both and act and requisite mental intent or mens rea, which is Latin for something.  The act in this case is the sexual assault on Stipe'sl ex-girlfriend.   The fact that Stipe himself did not perpetrate the physical act is not relevant in the same way a contract murder is still murder committed by the criminal soliciting the commission of the crime.

McDowell's defense will be that he lacked the requisite intent to commit rape, I say bullshit.  Let's bear in mind, your "consent" to the commission of a violent crime against yourself does not relieve the perpetrator of criminal liability.  The criminal law is for the protection of not just individuals but of the community as a whole.  Thus, a victim's consent is not relevant--McDowell's mistake of fact may be interesting but it's a distraction from the fact that he committed a thoroughly violent and criminal act--and his actions in binding, gagging, and holding a knife to her throat are damning on the issue of his requisite criminal intent. 

I say, weird case, weird fact pattern--it's a damn good thing these two sick bastards are off the street.