Originally Posted by
thevagabond
Every single one of us, Lnl and Rhino included, would expect and demand that a conviction, forever changing our lives for the worse, be based upon more than just the claims of our accuser. Obviously, I wasn't at the trial. But there isn't a whole lot in the news about this aside from her accusations. Isn't it reasonable to assume that a young girl woke up with stranger's hand in her lap and blew it out of proportion? That seems much more reasonable than some sober guy molesting a young girl in plain sight in the back of a crowded airplane. That's the story I'm not buying, Rhino.
Correct. There isn’t a whole lot in this article aside from the victim’s accusations and the some words spoken by the defense attorney and the person found guilty.
Trying to base a decision off of a news report is guessing at best. No one knows the facts behind this case other than the defense and prosecuting attorneys, judge, and the person found guilty. All the facts were not presented in this news article as they never are. I base my opinion on my experiences within the criminal justice/court systems.
To file charges against a person, a case has to clear the hurdle of the investigating law enforcement officer(s), then, the assigned detective(s), their boss, the assigned prosecuting district attorney and his/her boss also. It takes so much to work a case through this process that many cases never progress to even make it before a judge, let alone a trial. Folks in this process are always looking to see if there is any merit to the case going forward or stopped in each step of the process. Thus, I am quite sure there is far more evidence in this conviction than we will ever know. Victims statements alone do not determine if a case is filed let alone goes to trial.
As a side note: If you have dealt with molestation cases, this one truly does not fit a “first time” incident with a person in this age group. Since the person was found guilty, this has the strong possibility of not being a first time incident of this nature (charged or discovered at least). Something to think about.