Kentucky teen faces charge for naming attackers
AP Graphics
(AP) LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A 17-year-old Kentucky girl who was upset by the plea deal reached by a pair of teenagers who sexually assaulted her is now facing a contempt charge for tweeting their names in violation of a court order.
Savannah Dietrich of Louisville told The Courier-Journal she is frustrated by what she feels is a lenient deal for her attackers. After posting the names on Twitter, Dietrich wrote, "I'm not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell."
The Associated Press does not normally report the names of sexual assault victims, but Dietrich and her parents say they do not want to shield her identity and want her case to be public.
The boys' attorneys have asked a judge to hold Dietrich in contempt for violating the confidentiality of a juvenile hearing and the judge's order not to speak about it.
Dietrich told the paper she was assaulted in August 2011 by two boys she knew when she passed out after drinking at a gathering. She learned months later that pictures of the assault were taken and shared with others.
"For months, I cried myself to sleep. I couldn't go out in public places," she told the newspaper, as her father and attorneys sat nearby. "You just sit there and wonder, who saw (the pictures), who knows?"
Dietrich's attorneys want her contempt hearing open to the media, arguing she has a First Amendment right to speak about her case and to a public hearing.
The boys' attorneys, however, have asked to keep the hearing closed.
The contempt charge carries a possible sentence of 180 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The boys pleaded guilty on June 26 to first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism. Dietrich says she was unaware of a plea agreement until just before it was announced in court.
She could not say what the proposed punishment was because of the court order, but said she feels like it was a slap on the wrist.
The teens are to be sentenced next month, and the judge could reject or modify the terms of the proposed agreement.
When Judge Dee McDonald admonished everyone at the hearing not to speak about what happened in court or about the crime, Dietrich said she cried.
"They got off very easy ... and they tell me to be quiet, just silencing me at the end," she said.
Afterwards Dietrich tweeted, "They said I can't talk about it or I'll be locked up. ....Protect rapist is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville."
David Marburger, an Ohio media law specialist, said Dietrich should have tried to get the courts to vacate the gag order rather than simply violating it.
But Gregg Leslie, interim executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said Dietrich should "not be legally barred from talking about what happened to her. That's a wide-ranging restraint on speech."
Leslie said this sort of issue is becoming more common.
"In the past, people would complain to anyone who would listen, but they didn't have a way to publish their comments where there would be a permanent record, like on Facebook and Twitter, for people to see worldwide," he said.
Dietrich said she just needed to stand up for herself. "I'm at the point that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it."
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reported July 26, 2012.
She passed out topless after a throwing up violently from alcohol poisoning ....they only took pictures. The boys plead guilty to sexual assault because it has fewer repercussions than child pornography charges. Thus why the DA accepted the plea, in cases of "rape" plea bargains are very rare because evidence so incriminating can support the crime.
It was only when she heard about the pictures MONTHS later and decided to take legal actions. The Courier Journal, who originally published the story, is facing a lawsuit for publishing false allegations because Dietrich used the words "rapists" and such when interviewed. She was not raped and the media now is painting the boys charged as rapists.
WAKE UP..
THE ONLY VICTIMS HERE ARE THESE BOYS!!!
Sexual Assault is NO joke.
Looks like you're the one who needs to wake up.
You wouldn't feel the same if this was your daughter, or wife.
Judge Deana "Dee" McDonald Tel: 502-595-4690
Defense Attorneys ( Lawyers for the rapists)
Chris Klein 502-589-6190
David Mejia 502-584-8991....please repost this
reported July 26, 2012.
She passed out topless after a throwing up violently from alcohol poisoning ....they only took pictures. The boys plead guilty to sexual assault because it has fewer repercussions than child pornography charges. Thus why the DA accepted the plea, in cases of "rape" plea bargains are very rare because evidence so incriminating can support the crime.
It was only when she heard about the pictures MONTHS later and decided to take legal actions. The Courier Journal, who originally published the story, is facing a lawsuit for publishing false allegations because Dietrich used the words "rapists" and such when interviewed. She was not raped and the media now is painting the boys charged as rapists.
WAKE UP..
THE ONLY VICTIMS HERE ARE THESE BOYS!!!
Personally, I would have gone to the public news media, loudly complaining about the gag order, while not actually naming names. I seriously question whether imposing a gag order AFTER trial is constitutional.
The news media are very quick to jump on something like this.
Women are taught "how not to get raped" instead of men being taught "don't rape!"
Pedophiles, rapists, and those who commit murder should receive the maximum sentences allowed by law.
In the state where I live; a police officer who was working a second job at a jewelry store so his wife could stay home with their five children; was gunned down, shot in the back by a coward; who eventually agreed to a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.
"If you can't do the time; don't do the crime" sounds trite, but in some instances this is just the way things be done.
Everybody from doctors to police to judges know that sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated.
Yet the courts continue to sentence them to relatively short jail time; and then turn them lose; only to have them re-offend sometimes within days of their release.
Our justice system is just as broken as our government.
This sytem is not called "the criminal justice system" for nothing.
More often than not, the criminal gets more "justice" than the victim.
Where the heck are this girl's parents???!!! Do they just let her do what she wants, with no thought to the consequences? You know, like underage partying & drinking??? The parents of all involved should be held accountable!
The judge should be disbarred.
I'll also post again: Parents should be proactive and not allow their kids to go partying & drinking! Parents should be responsible parents.
What part of, underage partying & drinking can lead to rape and jail time, don't you posters understand?
The boys plead out. They wil do serious jail time. They're being held responsible for their underage partying/drinking/extremely reprehensible & illegal behavior while drunk.
However, it would behoove this young girl to do some serious thinking & refection upon her own behavior as well. Had she not been partying/drinking as well, this would not have happened.
She can't be blamed for rape. But she, and especially her parents, should be held accountable for her illegal, un-wise (to say the least), behavior prior to the rape.
Yet, no one seems to want to discuss that responsibility on here.