Victims??? These Guys!?!?

By now, I'm sure everyone has heard about the alleged gang rape that took place this past weekend at Hofstra University. According to an initial report, an 18-year old female was lured out of an on-campus hot spot by a young man who stole her cell phone. The gentleman who stole the cell phone, along with 3 other friends (only one was a Hofstra student), brought the coed back to a dormitory where she was tied up in a bathroom stall and brutally raped. Days after accusing these men, the student's story changed completely claiming the acts were consensual.

The once accused men, all in their late teens/early 20's, are now being praised in many circles as victims worthy of our sympathy. Now, had they been convicted and sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit it would have an absolute atrocity. Just as if the three Duke lacrosse players suffered the same fate. The law is the law and in both situations, no person committed a crime worthy of sentencing. And far be it for me to blame the men and their families for being happy about their exoneration, I can't even imagine the apprehension, stress and now relief they must be feeling. What is very troubling to me, however, is the photos of smiles, laughter and "thumbs up" by the gentlemen when they were released from jail.

Has our society fallen so far that morals no longer play any role whatsoever? Have we forgotten that these men, though innocent of the crime they were alleged to have commit, did in fact engage in what amounts to an outright orgy? Do we just ignore that one of the gentlemen used his phone to record the incident? Do we overlook that from a purely humane standpoint, what occurred at Hofstra University is grotesque regardless of how it stands up in the face of the law?

Hofstra University should certainly not go without blame here either. The campus, one I've been on many times, offers little security and numerous options for access from the outside community. The bars its students frequent are dangerously close to nearby Hempstead. In truth, this incident should be stunning to no one.

At the end of the day, both at Hofstra and at Duke, no one should be smiling. Lives, names and reputations, both the individuals involved and the institutions, are damaged. In both cases, a group of men took advantage of a female, consensual or not.

Hofstra and Duke should be embarrassed, the females should be scorned for their lack of true testimony, the men should be admonished for their disgusting behavior and WE should think for second about what is right and what is wrong from a HUMAN and not just a LAW prospective.