A Judge Gave An Alleged Rapist Leniency Because He Was From 'A Good Family'

A 16-year-old boy allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl at a party in December 2017, filmed that alleged attack, and afterward shared the video with companions. (His text: any time your first time having sex was a rape.") The victim was reportedly drunk, and unable to consent to any sexual activity; she also had no knowledge of the revenge porn being shared about her up until she learned about it weeks later.


On July 30, 2018, New Jersey Judge James Troiano decided that the alleged incident in question wouldn't have qualified as rape and that the alleged assailant was from a "good family member — and, because of this, he ruled that the case ultimately should not be tried in adult court. In New Jersey, minors who are 15 or older can be tried as adults if prosecutors receive a waiver by a judge to move the case from family member court to adult court; juvenile justice activists largely advocate against trying minors as adults, not least of all because there really is no statistics to recommend that such legal actions are more rehabilitative or safer for the public than option routes.


In his decision, Troiano called the alleged rapist a "young man ... From a good family member who put him into a fantastic school where he was doing exceedingly well," none of which negates the claim of rape. He also asserted that the alleged rapist's texts were indicative of "a 16-year-old kid saying ridiculous crap to his companions and that the defendant was "clearly a candidate for not just college although probably for a good college." In that same decision, he attempted to "distinguish between sexual assault as well as a rape," and continued to detail a specific instance of premeditated sexual assault in which "two or more usually men force a victim into a secluded area and assault them, usually with a weapon. As the alleged rape he was presiding over happened at a crowded party, he reasoned it wasn't a long-established case" of rape.


According to RAINN, rape a kind of sexual assault and is legally defined as sexual penetration without consent; New Jersey law differentiates between different degrees of sexual assault, nevertheless does not use the term "rape" in any of its definitions. New Jersey's consent laws cover whether a victim was mentally or physically incapacitated; consuming alcohol could impact both. Moreover, the Cut points out that only 11 percent of sexual assaults involve weapons, and 80 percent of rapes are committed by perpetrators who knew their victim prior to the assault.


Two New Jersey appellate court judges, Carmen Alvarez and Hany Mawla, eventually overturned Troiano's decision in June 2019, NJ101.5 reports, on the grounds that Troiano's decision on the waiver was grounded in his advice on the case in general. (The appeal only applies to the case being waived up to adult court, nevertheless not a specific decision on the case.) They also admonished him for ostensibly showing a favorite towards a privileged defendant. It is currently up to Monmouth County prosecutor, Christopher Gramiccioni to display showcase the case to a grand jury; if they determine to indict the alleged rapist, he is going to be tried in adult court.


Among other reasons, several victims pick not to report if they were sexually assaulted because they often don't believe doing so will actually get anywhere. They also might not think reporting is worth the scrutiny that is often placed upon them for deciding to drink, or what they were wearing, or any other factors that don't excuse or let for sexual assault because there really is no excuse for it.


In 2016, a California judge had ruled that a 20-year-old named Brock Turner should only receive six months in prison for sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman when he was 19, in part because "a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him," which is to mention nothing of the impact he had on the woman he assaulted. Other outlets also announced on the fact that he was a student at Stanford and included times from his swim meets in coverage, specifics that were largely sympathetic to him and had no bearing on the fact that he determined to assault someone. He ultimately served three months in prison.