"Darren Sharper's rape spree shows why athletes get away with crimes"

[KitSileya]

https://sports.vice.com/article/darren-sharpers-rape-spree-shows-why-athletes-get-away-with-crimes

"Sharper's rampage of druggings and rapes could have been prevented," argue four reporters from ProPublica, Sports Illustrated, and the New Orleans Advocate in a new, powerful piece about retired NFL safety Darren Sharper, who was charged with the rape, attempted rape, and drugging of nine women in four different states (Arizona, Nevada, California, and Louisiana) between February 2013 and January 2014. Last month, Sharper reached a global plea deal in all of the cases, meaning he admitted his guilt in exchange for being able to serve all of his sentences concurrently instead of one after the other. Also, he avoided a trial.
...
Victims who come forward to report sexual assaults often run up against a law enforcement system that writes off their accounts, and defers to the accused. Darren Sharper had an added element: he was a famous athlete who helped propel a team to the Super Bowl and who had a reputation for being a Nice Guy™. This had an impact on how his cases were handled. Sharper raped a woman in September 2013 in New Orleans and despite the officer in charge of the case gathering evidence, compelling Sharper to give a sample of his DNA, that DNA matching the rape kit, video evidence, and witness corroboration, "it wasn't enough for the district attorney." The reason, the report argues, is because "prosecutors were hesitant to move too quickly on a local football hero with deep pockets and savvy lawyers" and so they held off an arrest warrant. They wanted a "bulletproof case before they would sign off on Sharper's arrest."

He then raped another woman in Los Angeles the next month, two in Arizona the month after that, and then in a 24-hour period in January, two more in Los Angeles and another two in Las Vegas the following night. The piece also details a case in Miami in 2011 that never went anywhere, despite the fact that two women had rape kits done after their night with Sharper (the kits were never tested and since destroyed).The officer in that case never tried to contact Sharper. That would happen again with the case of the first woman Sharper raped in Los Angeles. A woman has also come forward in Miami saying Sharper raped her in 2012 but "the Miami Dade State Attorney's office decided not to file charges."

(my bold)

And people keep blaming rape victims for not reporting their rapes.

[Heidi]

1. Kick!

[postulater]

2. They wanted a "bulletproof case before they would sign off on Sharper's arrest."

Sounds like the Justice Department dealing with the bankers who crashed the economy.

Not enough evidence....... bulletproof case........

[elehhhhna]

4. it's just easier to convict people who have no $ for attorneys

Too much work, hassle, and if the prosecutor loses it wrecks his conviction stats. This is why the rich are rarely indicted and when they are they get off See robert durst galveston...Etc.

[BainsBane]

3. You can be sure there are many more who haven't come forward.

[KitSileya]

5. Oh, definitely. He's probably been doing it since high school.

Because it wasn't the sex he wanted, it was the rape. I am sure that a guy like that would have managed to lure many a girl into a relationship, at least at first - unfortunately young women are deliberately taught to not listen to their intuition about who's a creeper, so too many ignore their gut feeling and get involved with creeps like Sharper. But rapists like Sharper aren't interested in one-night stands or sex in committed relationships. They get off on raping women.

And unfortunately too many men will disregard that they get off on raping women, because it's not like these guys are a threat to them, and so these men, from buddies, colleagues, police officers, managers, etc, privilege their relationship with these guys over the safety of women, in fact, in many cases the women in their own family/friend circle. I mean, read the Captain Awkward letters 322-323 "My friend group has a case of the Creepy Dude. How do we clear that up?" and 324 "My friend, the rapist."