MovieChat Forums > Country Justice (1997) Discussion > Why wasn't Ray put in jail

Why wasn't Ray put in jail

posted 18 years ago by brossman
6 replies | jump to latest

He did have sex with a underage girl. Willing or not its against the law.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] katepig 17 years ago

Obviously we don't know how much of this story is actually true, and how much was created for dramatic license, but once Ray started coming around after the rape, I would have thought they would have had him arrested. If not then, at the point he was challenging for custody, I would have had him arrested for statutory rape. The biological evidence of the rape would be the baby. At least make a deal with him that you won't pursue charges if he signs away his parental rights.

[–] duesouth1420 16 years ago

Excellent points kate. He ABSOLUTELY should have been arrested!!! Good luck trying to custody from a jail cell.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] pypsqweek 11 years ago

If I remeber correctly. She told her mom and she didn't believe her. Actually she didn't mention it to any legal authority until the custody hearing. She also pressed charges. In the end the guy never came around her bc she was with the grandfather who protected her unlike her mother. I don't know why he wasn't arrested afterwards but I think it was a case of he said/she said. There was no proof of rape and the laws may have been different at that time.

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

A lot of it depends on the law. Some states have a low age of consent. She is 15 and if the state the rape was in has the age limit set to 15 this might be why. There was no real physical proof of her being drunk or maybe drugged.

I'm a survivor of rape and heard many stories like this in support groups. Reporting early is the key to get the guy in jail but many don't because they feel since they were drunk it wasn't rape. Plus many feel since they couldn't fight back it wasn't rape.

It took me over 10yrs to repost what happened to me and by then it was too late.

I don't know what year this took place in but even back in the late 90s police were likely to still blame the female for accepting the drink and willing drinking or getting drunk. It wasn't until recently it was accept if you can't consent to sex due to being drunk it's rape. Sadly though many still disagree. This is common in many college campuses.

it's important to talk openly about sex and rape with teens. Even boys need to know what is acceptable and what isn't.