Sexual Assault and Racism

What is the name of your state? South Carolina



Here's the story...

My step-father is a contractor in South Carolina, and this is regarding his Honduran hired hand, Walter. Walter is a 19-year-old (legal) immigrant from Honduras. He says with our family during the week, and on the weekends, he stays in an apartment full of other young Hispanic men.

Walter is one of the sweetest, most well-mannered, hard-working men I have ever met. He is nothing but polite and calm-natured when he is at our home. Walter is very relgious and is like another member of our family, and the only reason he goes to the apartment on the weekends is because he is on a Honduran soccer team that holds matches on Saturadays and Sundays.

Last weekend, Walter was dropped off at his apartment with his paycheck as usual, and later that night, some boys in his apartment got drunk and had sexual relations with two under-age females. The females were caught by their own parents, and the two 17-year-old girls swore they were raped by every tenant in the apartment. The police showed up and took everyone to jail, including Walter, who was so fast asleep upstairs that they had to drag him out of bed. They tested everyone's blood alcohol content, and Walter was the only sober person in the apartment. The girls still swore that EVERYONE in the apartment had their turn with the girls, and they took Walter to jail.

I KNOW Walter would NEVER do anything like that. He absolutely DETESTS alcohol, and even though I have seen it offered to him many times, he refuses to drink so much as one beer. He is a good man-- a virgin, in fact, and there is no WAY he would rape anyone! Anyone who knows him is heartbroken for him. He has only been here for five months, and he doesn't know much English. He doesn't know what's going on, and he calls us crying and asking for help.

My stepfather went to the jail to talk to the detective to see if there was ANYTHING we could do to get Walter out of jail. This is when we found out that Walter had no alcohol in his system, and that he was fast asleep upstairs, while the rest of the boys were on the first floor... drunk. The detective said that if he believed ANY of the boys, Walter would be the one he thought was telling the truth-- but, in any case, the girls say that EVERYONE in the house raped them, and they had to go by what the girls said. They set the bail at $100,000, and want to keep them for 2 years.

Here's what I think... The 2 girls were DRUNK, and one of them already has TWO children. What was she DOING going to an apartment full of boys at 3:00 in the morning?? I'm PRETTY sure they were aware they weren't headed for a tea party. Most Hispanic men are brown-skinned with black hair and brown eyes, and I know for a fact that most of the boys in that home are close in height. I know very well that SOME of the Hispanic men in the apartments are up to no good, and I can imagine that they took advantage of the girls. I don't condone rape, but I have a feeling the girls knew what they were up to. All I know for sure is that Walter had no part in it.

Walter calls us every day, crying. He doesn't know what's happening to him, and of course, ALL of the boys are saying "I didn't do it!"... so no one is there to say that Walter wasn't involved. Don't the police have to have evidence?? Why weren't rape kits utilized on the victims?? Why didn't they get foreign particles, hairs, and semen samples from the girls? They have NO PROOF that Walter was involved!

My boyfriend used to live in that apartment for the same reason Walter lived there. They played on the Honduran soccer team together. Luckily, my boyfriend was on a date with me on the night of the incident, or he'd be in jail too. He moved away as quickly as he possibly could, because he knows that the police often appear to make random arrests on the grounds of "He said, She said..."

Anyone know what we can do to help Walter???

jewell_diva said:

Don't the police have to have evidence?
Why weren't rape kits utilized on the victims?? Why didn't they get foreign particles, hairs, and semen samples from the girls? They have NO PROOF that Walter was involved!

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What makes you think they don't have evidence, or that rape kits weren't obtained?

Anyone know what we can do to help Walter?

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Yes. You could hire a private attorney, preferably one who speaks Spanish, to represent him. That would be far better than relying on an overworked public defender who's first instinct would be to plead guilty to a reduced charge.

I just spoke with my mother about the rape kits, and she said they aren't a common procedure in the county where the crime was commited. The detective told my stepfather that the only evidence the police had and needed was that he was in the house, and that he therefore was part of the sexual assault, according to what the victims said.

It has only been three days, and we have hired a lawyer for him, and have had Spanish speaking priests talk to him to let him know we are desperately trying to save him. There is a large crowd attending his bond hearing today to show support, but no one is allowed to speak with him.

I'm just so upset... he is like a brother to me, and my heart is broken. I can guarantee you that if the apartment was full of white boys, this never would have happened, but that's just South Carolina for ya...

I beg to differ about preferential treatment towards whites in South Carolina....please don't cry racism as this is not a matter of race being the problem but 2 girls claiming a group of men raped them.

To say that no type of racism exists in South Carolina is quite a farse... The issue IS that the girls were claiming to be raped, I'm not denying that. However, (being white myself) I have noticed that police who arrest white boys in this paticular county know someone who knows someone whose grandaddy grew up with someone's grandaddy, and the boy is released on the grounds of "I know this boy's folks, and he's a fine young man-- he couldn't have done it." I have SEEN it happen... Heck! I've got guy friends who BRAG about it. Even my own little sister was caught driving without a license once, and was not reported because she is a white, straight-A student, and the officer who pulled her over only told her not to do it again. He even turned around and let her drive home. Another sister dated a black boy once, and miraculously, bricks were thown through our windows, dead animals were nailed to our doors, and we came home one evening to a burned cross in our yard. We called the police, but what did they do? Nothing... "I'm sorry ma'am, but it sounds like your daughter has chosen to hang out with the wrong crowd. Maybe she should find a new group of friends-- I hate to see these things happen to such a smart young lady."

My family is originally from Missouri. Of course, you find racism everywhere, but it is QUITE different in South Carolina. It's the only state where segregation still exists. (Try walking into a church or a bar.) White people stay away from black people, and black people stay away from white people. Racism goes both ways, and I HAVE seen blacks and hispanics discriminate against whites as well.

Maybe I misunderstood you, but if you're saying that racism is non-existant in South Carolina... the statement, I'm afraid, is just plain ignornant. I think we should agree to disagree.

The cops are under no obligation to tell you or your father what evidence they do or don't have.

...and trust me, they haven't told us.

Update

Well, we hired a lawyer for Walter, who went to the prosecuting attorney to see what the deal was. The prosecuting attorney stated that the two female victims involved in the incident had been in trouble and under arrest themselves on multiple occasions in the past. Apparently, the girls are changing their stories now: One girl says that she did have sex with two men voluntarily, and that a third man raped her in the bathroom (which would make Walter an accesory to the rape, since she said she screamed and no one helped her-- but remember, Walter was upstairs asleep), and the other girl claims that she was touched inappropriately through her clothing by all the men in the apartment.

The prosecution will take the boys to court today for the bond hearing, and at that point, the lawyer is very confident the bond will be reduced from what was originally quoted. After this, we'll get Walter out of jail, and take him to our home, where he'll be away from any trouble instigators. Black, White, or Hispanic-- that neighborhood is nothing but bad news. I'm not really worried about any further hearings, since Walter has more going for him than any of the other boys. 1.) The detective stated that he observed Walter was in a significantly deep state of sleep when the police arrived. 2.) Walter is the only male who had no trace of alcohol in his blood.

We'll see how the rest of the proceedings unfold...

jewell_diva said:

To say that no type of racism exists in South Carolina is quite a farse... The issue IS that the girls were claiming to be raped, I'm not denying that. However, (being white myself) I have noticed that police who arrest white boys in this paticular county know someone who knows someone whose grandaddy grew up with someone's grandaddy, and the boy is released on the grounds of "I know this boy's folks, and he's a fine young man-- he couldn't have done it." I have SEEN it happen... Heck! I've got guy friends who BRAG about it. Even my own little sister was caught driving without a license once, and was not reported because she is a white, straight-A student, and the officer who pulled her over only told her not to do it again. He even turned around and let her drive home. Another sister dated a black boy once, and miraculously, bricks were thown through our windows, dead animals were nailed to our doors, and we came home one evening to a burned cross in our yard. We called the police, but what did they do? Nothing... "I'm sorry ma'am, but it sounds like your daughter has chosen to hang out with the wrong crowd. Maybe she should find a new group of friends-- I hate to see these things happen to such a smart young lady."

My family is originally from Missouri. Of course, you find racism everywhere, but it is QUITE different in South Carolina. It's the only state where segregation still exists. (Try walking into a church or a bar.) White people stay away from black people, and black people stay away from white people. Racism goes both ways, and I HAVE seen blacks and hispanics discriminate against whites as well.

Maybe I misunderstood you, but if you're saying that racism is non-existant in South Carolina... the statement, I'm afraid, is just plain ignornant. I think we should agree to disagree.

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Yea...you definately misunderstood me LoL!! Racism exists everywhere in this country, including South Carolina. Your post just sounded like you were blaming his arrest on him being hispanic and not the fact that a couple of females said a group of men in that house he was sleeping in raped them. I'm surprised they didn't do a rape kit. That alone could be construed as racism as like you said, the girls were white and the guys are hispanic. Good luck with it either way.

Hey thanks! I didn't mean to sound like such a jerk... The good news is that Walter is out of jail, and is safe at my parents' home. I think it's good that he's not in that neighborhood anymore... That place is just trouble waiting to happen.