Post by KC on Jan 6, 2007 20:17:38 GMT -5
MILWAUKEE - The mother of a boy convicted Friday in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl on Labor Day told a judge the girl was also to blame and that her son was the victim of "little flipper girls" who think it's cool to have sex with multiple partners.
That prompted Milwaukee County Children's Court Judge Mary Triggiano to abruptly interrupt her.
"What he did was rape that girl," Triggiano said, calling the deflection of responsibility to the girl appalling.
"He got caught. He didn't take responsibility until something pegged him for being there."
Court records show that eight members of the boy's family, including his mother, had agreed to testify that he was at a family reunion until 10 p.m. the night of the assaults - until the boy's DNA was shown to be among the evidence found on the girl.
Earlier in the hearing, the boy's mother had quietly called the girl "a whore" within earshot of Seymour Gimbel, the attorney representing the 11-year-old, who was not present.
Gimbel was seated near the boy's mother in the back of the courtroom.
"The neighborhood itself is having a problem with this (case)," Gimbel said. "A few minutes ago she called the 11-year old girl 'a whore.' This is an 11-year-old child who has been raped . . . I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
The boy, who was 14 at the time, told Triggiano he left home without his mother's knowledge after 10 p.m. on Sept. 4 to purchase a T-shirt at a nearby gas station.
He said he met some friends who told him a girl was "flipping," which he said meant "doing sexual favors" with multiple people.
"To be honest, in the neighborhood that's not that uncommon," he said.
When he arrived at the house in the 3700 block of N. 6th St., he said, there were about 10 men or boys in the basement and the girl was performing oral sex on one of them.
A 16-year-old girl accused of directing some of the assaults was present, he said, and told the younger girl that she needed to "do a few more."
The boy said he then had oral sex with the younger girl and described it as consensual.
"I was wrong, I understand that," the boy said. "She didn't seem that young. I never made her do anything. She was doing it willingly. I would never rape anyone, period."
The boy pleaded guilty to one count of party to the crime of first-degree sexual assault. He was sentenced to up to three years in a secure juvenile facility and another two years on community supervision.
"When I hear him say that flipping is not uncommon in the community, it turns my stomach," Triggiano said. "I have to believe that there are kids that would say this is wrong and go for help. He didn't do it."
After the hearing, the case took another twist. Outside the courtroom, the boy's mother told a reporter during an interview that she had a copy of a closely held videotape of the girl's initial statement to police, had shown it to others and had downloaded it to her home computer.
She offered to show it to a reporter.
"I really want people to see this because a lot of lives are being affected," the woman said. The woman is not being named because her son, who recently turned 15, is being prosecuted as a juvenile.
Fourteen people, half of them juveniles, have been charged with sexually assaulting the girl. As of Friday, eight have been found guilty in the case.
Prosecutors said they had launched an immediate investigation into how the victim's videotaped statement was obtained.
Triggiano said she was "deeply concerned" about the new development and about the potential of "the victim being re-victimized" if the girl's taped statement about the assaults was widely disseminated.
Restraining order issued
Late Friday, Children's Court Judge David Borowski issued a temporary restraining order, at the request of the district attorney's office, barring the mother from releasing the content of the videotape to anyone except police.
"This is akin to opening a feather pillow and then attempting to gather all the feathers; it is impossible," Lori Kornblum, an assistant district attorney, told Borowski.
In an interview Friday night, Kornblum expressed concern that if the woman has a copy of the videotape, it could go on the Internet and be uploaded and distributed worldwide. Police went to the woman's house Friday in an attempt to get more information. Details of that contact were not available.
Borowski scheduled a hearing on the matter for Jan. 16.
The boy's mother told a reporter she had obtained the tape from Thomas Kurzynski, her son's attorney.
Kurzynski said Friday that he did not provide her with a copy, only that he had watched it with her in his office.
Assistant District Attorney Matt Torbenson said his office must turn over evidence in the case to the defense counsel.
The statute allows that attorney to share the information only with his client, Torbenson said.
"It is inappropriate for anyone else to view this videotape," he said. "The potential is there for private information to become public that could seriously damage the victim."
www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=549822
That prompted Milwaukee County Children's Court Judge Mary Triggiano to abruptly interrupt her.
"What he did was rape that girl," Triggiano said, calling the deflection of responsibility to the girl appalling.
"He got caught. He didn't take responsibility until something pegged him for being there."
Court records show that eight members of the boy's family, including his mother, had agreed to testify that he was at a family reunion until 10 p.m. the night of the assaults - until the boy's DNA was shown to be among the evidence found on the girl.
Earlier in the hearing, the boy's mother had quietly called the girl "a whore" within earshot of Seymour Gimbel, the attorney representing the 11-year-old, who was not present.
Gimbel was seated near the boy's mother in the back of the courtroom.
"The neighborhood itself is having a problem with this (case)," Gimbel said. "A few minutes ago she called the 11-year old girl 'a whore.' This is an 11-year-old child who has been raped . . . I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
The boy, who was 14 at the time, told Triggiano he left home without his mother's knowledge after 10 p.m. on Sept. 4 to purchase a T-shirt at a nearby gas station.
He said he met some friends who told him a girl was "flipping," which he said meant "doing sexual favors" with multiple people.
"To be honest, in the neighborhood that's not that uncommon," he said.
When he arrived at the house in the 3700 block of N. 6th St., he said, there were about 10 men or boys in the basement and the girl was performing oral sex on one of them.
A 16-year-old girl accused of directing some of the assaults was present, he said, and told the younger girl that she needed to "do a few more."
The boy said he then had oral sex with the younger girl and described it as consensual.
"I was wrong, I understand that," the boy said. "She didn't seem that young. I never made her do anything. She was doing it willingly. I would never rape anyone, period."
The boy pleaded guilty to one count of party to the crime of first-degree sexual assault. He was sentenced to up to three years in a secure juvenile facility and another two years on community supervision.
"When I hear him say that flipping is not uncommon in the community, it turns my stomach," Triggiano said. "I have to believe that there are kids that would say this is wrong and go for help. He didn't do it."
After the hearing, the case took another twist. Outside the courtroom, the boy's mother told a reporter during an interview that she had a copy of a closely held videotape of the girl's initial statement to police, had shown it to others and had downloaded it to her home computer.
She offered to show it to a reporter.
"I really want people to see this because a lot of lives are being affected," the woman said. The woman is not being named because her son, who recently turned 15, is being prosecuted as a juvenile.
Fourteen people, half of them juveniles, have been charged with sexually assaulting the girl. As of Friday, eight have been found guilty in the case.
Prosecutors said they had launched an immediate investigation into how the victim's videotaped statement was obtained.
Triggiano said she was "deeply concerned" about the new development and about the potential of "the victim being re-victimized" if the girl's taped statement about the assaults was widely disseminated.
Restraining order issued
Late Friday, Children's Court Judge David Borowski issued a temporary restraining order, at the request of the district attorney's office, barring the mother from releasing the content of the videotape to anyone except police.
"This is akin to opening a feather pillow and then attempting to gather all the feathers; it is impossible," Lori Kornblum, an assistant district attorney, told Borowski.
In an interview Friday night, Kornblum expressed concern that if the woman has a copy of the videotape, it could go on the Internet and be uploaded and distributed worldwide. Police went to the woman's house Friday in an attempt to get more information. Details of that contact were not available.
Borowski scheduled a hearing on the matter for Jan. 16.
The boy's mother told a reporter she had obtained the tape from Thomas Kurzynski, her son's attorney.
Kurzynski said Friday that he did not provide her with a copy, only that he had watched it with her in his office.
Assistant District Attorney Matt Torbenson said his office must turn over evidence in the case to the defense counsel.
The statute allows that attorney to share the information only with his client, Torbenson said.
"It is inappropriate for anyone else to view this videotape," he said. "The potential is there for private information to become public that could seriously damage the victim."
www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=549822