SBB Update

KOMO is reporting that the Auburn, Washington police officer who groped a handcuffed pregnant woman has pled guilty to fourth degree assault and resigned: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Auburn-officer-pleads-guilty-to-assaulting-pregnant-woman-resigns-212847101.html.

My original article on this crime is here: https://wildninja.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/start-by-believing/.

What spurred me to write about this case to begin with was the number of people on the web who instantly ripped into the victim as if this was her fault. That was a good point at which to mention the Start by Believing website, http://www.startbybelieving.org/.

Start by Believing encourages fellow human beings to take sexual assault seriously. As the website says, too often we blame sexual assault victims for “bringing it on themselves.” We should take their allegations seriously, call for a proper investigation, and put the blame where it really lies, on the perpetrator.

Predators with badges are particularly dangerous because they have great power and can hide behind their profession and union. Some dark souls are attracted to the profession because they can indulge their sins under the guise of appearing as one of the good guys.

Q13 says the former officer blames his actions on PTSD and other officers showed up in court to give him support: http://q13fox.com/2013/06/24/former-auburn-police-officers-pleads-guilty-to-assaulting-woman-during-traffic-stop/#axzz2XBwyXROY.

While that is the officers’ right, it can be very intimidating to a victim to face not only her accuser in court but his supporters. She says in the video at the above link that she finds it difficult to feel safe in her hometown given those officers’ public support of the suspect. She is a brave woman to not only stand up to a corrupt cop, but to make a statement in the same courtroom as him.

I hope that the victim in this case feels at least some sense of justice, especially given that she is said to have miscarried a week after the incident. Kudos to the King County Prosecutor’s Office for standing with the victim and seeing this through.

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©2013 H. Hiatt/wildninja.wordpress.com. All articles/posts on this blog are copyrighted original material that may not be reproduced in part or whole in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from H. Hiatt/wildninja.wordpress.com.