Just when you think you've heard it all . . .

"It has been months and the accuser has yet to publicly come forward to face our son. Instead she chose only to read a victim impact statement in the courtroom like a coward. Embarrassing our son before his friends and family. She refuses to put a name and a face to her story for the world to see. Why? She is terrified that the world will See her for who she truly is. A liar. She is terrified what may be unearthed if someone were to dig deep enough into her relationship history. She is terrified that the world will find out she is a co-conspirator in labeling our son a criminal. A co-conspirator in keeping him from achieving his dreams."

                                           -Brock's family




It's astonishing that Brock's family would post this on Facebook. (A part of me asks if it's even real.) A victim writes a brilliant impact statement and reads it in court, and the rapist's family has the audacity to call her a "coward"? She wants the dignity of maintaining some small measure of privacy after being so violated (during the assault, in the hours afterwards, and in the trial itself), and they accuse her of hiding? Even more unbelievable, they accuse her of the crime of embarrassing Brock in front of his friends and family?

Let's say, hypothetically, that the victim had consensual sex with 1,000 men prior to the rape (which I'm certain she did not, though it's irrelevant). Would she really be eager (as this illustration suggests) to be penetrated by a stranger while unconscious behind a dumpster? Does a woman's sexual history strip her of her right to choose who her next sexual partner will be, or to turn someone away? At what point does a woman become fair game? (10 partners or more? 20? 25?)

It's astonishing that a family could have so little empathy, so little understanding of trauma, so little respect for any human being who would dare become a victim of their dear son's sexual appetite. Poor Brock.

And yet, in a pathetic way, Brock is to be pitied. What chance did he really have to become a decent human being given his family of origin?