WASHINGTON 鈥� The question of how victims鈥� actions are analyzed in sexual assault and rape cases is the topic of legislation in Annapolis, and part of a legal argument being made in a Montgomery County case that鈥檚 gotten national attention.
The attorneys for the two teenagers accused of raping a 14-year-old fellow Rockville High school student argue that what happened in a boy鈥檚 bathroom at the school was not a crime but a consensual act.
Andrew Jezic, the attorney for 18-year-old defendant Henry Sanchez Milian, told WTOP that the police affidavit contains no evidence of physical resistance by the victim: 鈥淭here are no scratches; there鈥檚 no bruises.鈥�
He adds that there鈥檚 no evidence the girl cried out for help: 鈥淭here鈥檚 absolutely no indication of any screaming or any cries for help whatsoever,鈥� Jezic said. Prosecutors say the girl cried out in pain during the assault.
Lisae Jordan, executive director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, called those comments 鈥渁ppalling.鈥�
Jordan has testified at the State House in support of a bill that says 鈥減hysical resistance by a victim is not required to prove that a sexual crime was committed.鈥� have already cleared the House and Senate; each house is considering the other鈥檚 version.
Jordan said the idea that a victim should have to prove that he or she fought off a sexual assault or rape is the product of 鈥渁rchaic thinking.鈥�
In the Rockville High case, Jordan also objected to the argument that, because the girl reportedly sent texts and images to one of the defendants, she agreed to what happened.
鈥淎 flirtatious message, a suggestive message; it鈥檚 not an enforceable contract, and it doesn鈥檛 mean that you have to have sex,鈥� Jordan said. 鈥淵ou get to withdraw your consent, and if someone has sex with you without your consent 鈥� that鈥檚 rape.鈥�
