Sex pest cycling figure…

[The Guy in Pink]

I gotta agree with you Grumps, proving statutory rape 17 years after the event is a non starter.

It's not like I happens in full view of a bunch of witnesses, and if anyone suspected what was going on they would also be in line for failure to report.

Assuming that he was not doff enough to write her letters telling her what a good lay she was, It's going to be he said - she said : great for the Sunday papers but not very profitable for anyone else other than a whole bunch of lawyers.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

GoG, I was wondering why this is being pursued as civil rather than criminal case. The burden of proof will be as hard in both cases, no?

 

Indeed, the burden of proof will be very difficult, Hense they will try the civil route where you can try and get some money. Or that's how I see it anyway.

 

I must respectfully disagree. As one that was sexually abused as a child, I can testify to how one can repress memories, emotions, which process changes your behaviour without an understanding of why you are a certain way.

 

Okay, fair enough, I am sorry to hear that and I see it as a very sad inditement on our society that the weakest of us are persecuted in that manner.

 

......... but here, to be fair, apart from the rape issue, I dont see the rest as been illegal.

[Agteros]

GoG, I was wondering why this is being pursued as civil rather than criminal case. The burden of proof will be as hard in both cases, no?

Is it not (in layman's terms) a case of balance of probabilities vs beyond reasonable doubt?

[Mailman7412]

Is it not (in layman's terms) a case of balance of probabilities vs beyond reasonable doubt?

 

yup

[Mackie]

Where were her parents during this? If my daughter has to befriend a man twice her age, I would have put a stop to it, whether 14 or 17, the relationship should not have begun.

[TiBones]

Thats funny.

 

Mine are kept in two of my wife's handbags...she keeps them seperately so they cant play ith each other.

 

Mine ARE my wife's handbags - its amazing what you can fit into them on a warm day

[Wayne Potgieter]

 

 

So, when Zuma was accused of rape, we shouldn't have referred to his as the deputy president?

I see your point.

 

But a publicly elected figure is different.

[The Drongo]

I am pleased to read she says "Its not about the money" because she is unlikely to get much, if any.!

 

Were she in the USA she would likely get $30 million never mind R3 million, even if she lost the case, but here in good old South Africa our courts place very little value on pain and suffering. I doubt she will get much, if anything.

 

Anyway, she makes really only one serious allegation, sex at 14 even if it was consensual is still Statutory Rape in SA, although I dont know how she intends proving this. The other allegations are irrelevant in my mind, isolating her from her friends etc, although its probable it had a detrimental effect on her, unless he forceably kept her away, its not illegal, its great "fluff" for the media and to "plump" her case, but I cant see the courts reading much into it.

 

Sometimes, I also wonder, all this went on what 15 odd years ago, her life is a mess because of decisions she freely made so lets sue someone and lay all the blame on them for my issues.

 

Dont get me wrong, Statutory rape is a serious offence and if he is guilty, then he must face the music, but I cant help feeling the rest is just a way to hopefully increase her bank balance, it seldom takes so long to realize you have issues.

 

 

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

....he was also innocent? No?

 

 

"it seldom takes so long to realize you have issues."

 

You state this from what level of expertise?

Edited February 6, 2012 by The Drongo

[onetrackmind]

I see your point.

 

But a publicly elected figure is different.

If this guy was just a 'cyclist' then they wouldn't have bothered to bring the sport into it. What if (by the name that is being bandied about up here, and by the long-term reputation of this 'gent') we are be dealing with somebody who was an elected official within the sport over at least some of this period. Then, is his involvement in cycling relevant to the story?

[Tumbleweed]

Thanks, onetrackmind, that is the case here.

[jmaccelari]

So all this talk about saddled causing E.D. is k@k.

My g/f reckons it's the opposite...

[Lucky Luke.]

Where were her parents during this? If my daughter has to befriend a man twice her age, I would have put a stop to it, whether 14 or 17, the relationship should not have begun.

 

Sometimes you don't have to 'befriend' your abuser if they are in a position of authority, such as say for arguments sake, your coach or team manager.

[Harryn]

GoG, I was wondering why this is being pursued as civil rather than criminal case. The burden of proof will be as hard in both cases, no?

No. In a criminal case the state has to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. In a civil case, the onus of proof is on a balance of probabilities.

[quinton]

He should have thought with the head that he uses for his helmet instead!!

[TNT1]

Sometimes you don't have to 'befriend' your abuser if they are in a position of authority, such as say for arguments sake, your coach or team manager.

 

You should try it when it's one of your parents. That's a day at the beach, let me tell you.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Where were her parents during this? If my daughter has to befriend a man twice her age, I would have put a stop to it, whether 14 or 17, the relationship should not have begun.

 

Yeah, agreed, at 14, .......that would be (almost) every parents nightmare.!