I make no claim to be perfect, and I can usually point out my flaws.  Today's most prevalent?  I question the reasoning behind the teen recanting her rape allegations.  I'm the type of person who will believe someone reporting a rape no matter what, until the police prove that it was not rape.

According to the article, "major aspects of the story has [sic] changed," which is why they're saying she recanted.  Okay, which major aspects?  Here's the original version.

The alleged victims initially told police that they had recently met Witham, a newly hired ticket collector for the carnival’s rides, and that they had spoken to him on their cell phones before he went to one of their homes on Sunday, according to court records.

They said he arrived at the home when they were alone, entered their living room, and began to touch them inappropriately. “The suspect then grabbed victim #1 and took her into her bedroom down the hall and climbed on top of her on her bed,” according to a police report of the incident.

The report added: “She told him to stop and kept saying no but he proceeded to have intercourse with her and wouldn’t get off of her. She then said he eventually got off of her and went back into the living room, where he then assaulted victim #2 again,” who was sitting on a couch in front of a computer.

After the alleged rapes, Witham began to get upset because he couldn’t find his clothes, according to the report. “Both victims were in fear of him and tried to locate his clothes, so that he would leave as soon as possible,” according to the report. “Jeff kept getting more angry while looking for his clothes.”

The girls then took the opportunity to flee the house, but he caught one of them outside. “The suspect grabbed hold of her and bit her on the neck,” according to the report. “He then started dragging her into the woods as she attempted to fight him off. Victim # 2 said she was scared she was going to get raped again.”

The report said that Witham “grabbed her by the throat, chocking her as he was dragging her into the woods across the street against her will. Victim # 2 stated that she was telling him to stop and to let her go repeatedly with no success.”

The girls then called one of their parents, who called Marshfield Police.

That's a pretty hefty lie to make up.  And yet, now that the newspaper is saying the teen "recanted" (which we don't know if she did or not, only that parts of the story changed), chances are that people won't believe her, even if she was raped, but not in as violent a manner.  For all we know, the teen in question did want to have sex with him, and then changed her mind, but he kept going.  Or he pushed her into having sex, saying he couldn't resist her beauty and it was her fault, and she didn't know what to do or if such an idea could be true.  That's also rape.  

So yes, I will sit here and believe that the two girls were raped until I get the whole story, and even then, I'll question whether or not they're changing their story because of intimidation or fear, or because they're young and they don't have the best judgment of the situation.  So sue me.

[cross-posted ]

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