Think Before You Act

Accusations of rape are not something that should be taken lighlty.  The heart breaking statistics show that about 68% of sexual assults are not reported to the police, and that every 107 seconds another American gets sexually assulted.   People deserve to have their tragedies reported and not have to live with the burden of such a horrible secret.

However, claiming you have been raped when in reality you haven't, is also a heinous crime.  9 years ago to the day, four Duke Lacrosse players were accused of raping a stripper at a party.  The problem is, once these accusations were made, they followed these four innocent young men wherever they went.  Last night there was a special 60 Minutes story that ran on this subject and Mike Pressler, the head coach of the Duke Lacrosse team at that time said,: Google up one of the boys' names, my name, and then, you know, on the computer you saw the word "rape," "sexual assault" next to your name. That, to me, that just was-- even today, I get emotional about it. Because it just-- everything you built, everything-- all-- everything you stood for. And to have two of those type of phrases or words associated with your name just-- even right now, as I speak to you, Armen, I'm getting angry over that.

Not only did it effect these young men, but it also had a huge impact on Pressler's life.  He was told he either had to resign or risk losing his job.  Being stuck in a spot, he resigned.  However people turned on him as well.  People would come to his house and put signs all over his yard that said "Rapist Lover" and "Do your duty. Turn 'em in" and his daughters and wife's personal lives were completely exposed.  He had a ton of trouble finding a new job because no one wanted to hire someone involved in this scandal.

In the way it played out, the four players were proven innocent and Pressler was able to land a new coaching job and completely change the culture of the school.  He continues to be a very successful coach.  

To me, it is absolutely unnaccaptable to be accusing four people of such a horrible crime.  Rape and sexual assult should never be taken as a way to get attention or money or whatever else might be the case.  You have to think about the consequences that could come from your actions.  The stripper could have seriously ruined a lot of people's lives and it is very lucky that things worked out in the end the way they did.