Thursday, August 28, 2003

Rape charge dismissed against one youth
Remember the shocking story of the rape charges at the ELCA youth retreat? We now learn that one of the accusers recanted her story. On that basis--at least, I can think of no other--prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the particular boy that she accused. The judge granted the dismissal with prejudice, which means that prosecutors could not re-file charges even if they wanted to.

It's hard to tell what's sadder--that a boy would commit rape against a girl at a youth camp, or that a girl would accuse a boy of such a thing when it wasn't true. I still come back to the central issue: why were boys and girls at a youth retreat put in such a compromising position, or allowed to place themselves in that position? With proper supervision, separate housing (in separate buildings, not merely separate wings), and proper counseling on boundary-setting, none of these disgraceful events need have happened at all.::Submitted for your adultery in your heart [Matthew 5:28] files.

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