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Author Topic: Sexual Assault of Minor OK if you're an Ex-soldier
Berlynn
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posted 23 June 2006 01:47 PM      Profile for Berlynn   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I've blogged my initial reaction to it, excerpting part of the story from CBC

quote:
A former soldier who admitted to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Manitoba has been found not guilty, because he convinced the judge that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

From: Regina | Registered: May 2002  |  IP: Logged
morningstar
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posted 23 June 2006 01:55 PM      Profile for morningstar     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
the first 3 things that struck me-yep, the judge was a man, where was the child's trauma in all this, and good for that guy that it wasn't my daughter-i'm not bad with a horsewhip.
From: stratford, on | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged
500_Apples
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posted 23 June 2006 01:59 PM      Profile for 500_Apples   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't agree with your blog reaction:

quote:
This is what we do to our young men: expose them to violence against women, on TV, in movies, in video games, in bad porn, on military missions.

Then they sexually assault young girls and other females.

The courts say, There-there, poor boy.

And the Harper wants to give another $15 billion dollars to the military industrial complex.

This is a sick world, indeed.

And one that will get sicker with the Harper at the helm.


I'm sorry, but violence in the media does not excuse bad behavior, nor explain it nor justify it. Media have grown more violent in the past fifty years and people less. I was playing violent video games for age 7-18 about among other video game types, loved action movies and I would never strike a woman. There's a category difference. By the way, over 40% of video game sales are to women.

Were there issues such as this with world war 2 veterans?

What this comes down to is that the court is letting the man off the hook.


From: Montreal, Quebec | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
JaneyCanuck
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posted 23 June 2006 02:20 PM      Profile for JaneyCanuck     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This verdict outrages me!! Has anyone here read Susan Brownmillar's sentinal work, Against Our Will that chronicles the history of rape - as it was known even in legal circles then. She points that sexual assualt by troops, especially those who are the victors (and think the spoils belong to them), was rampant in all wars. (and to reply to the Q re WW2, yes, there was much sexual assualt then too - by the Allies and the "other side". In Vietnam, it was a tradition almost by some.

The same is true today and there are countless people with PTSD and it should not absolve them of their responsibility of a henious crime. Sure, the guy needs help - and we should not be in any conflict to start with - but that does not absolve his actions.

I am wondering if we are glorifying the military too much - and this is one result. I have a poster in my office that I have had for what seems like forever. It is one of those infamous posters sold by Another Mother for Peace and the venerable Voice of Women in Canada - and reads "It'll be a great day when daycare centers get all the money they need and the army has to hold a bake sale".

I hope this case is appealed!!

[ 23 June 2006: Message edited by: JaneyCanuck ]

[ 23 June 2006: Message edited by: JaneyCanuck ]


From: Halifax, NS | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 23 June 2006 02:36 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Over the next few weeks we should hear if the decision will be appealed. Queen's Bench decisions that are appealed go to the Provincial Court of Appeal and then, possibly, to the Supreme Court of Canada. What will happen to the soldier is not yet clear.

But let's suppose that the decision stands. Maybe soldiers who bring home serious mental health problems will get more help. That would be a good thing. Maybe those who oppose Canadian troops participating in imperial adventures overseas will have another argument against such adventures; participating in U.S.-led wars can lead to assaults in Canada down the road and therefore should be scrutinized even more closely. That would be a good thing too.

None of this, of course, helps the 13 year old victim of sexual assault.


From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
BleedingHeart
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posted 23 June 2006 02:44 PM      Profile for BleedingHeart   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Lest this be taken as a sign of the liberal judiciary, it must be emphasized over and over that most of these judges were appointed by the Liberals or conservatives.
From: Kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer | Registered: Nov 2002  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 23 June 2006 02:56 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Queens Bench Justice Nurgitz has, I think, past connections to the Conservatives. Despite the fact that many judges in Canada are past "bag men" for the two governing parties there are still spirited claims of the "independence" of the judiciary and strong objections to mimicking the US approach.
From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 23 June 2006 03:14 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The thing that struck me about this case was the fact that this ex-soldier who was whacked out of his mind with post-traumatic stress disorder was holding down a job as a jail guard in The Pas at the time the offence was committed.

I guess the prisons will hire anybody, no questions asked.

But I won't climb on the knee-jerk bandwagon that starts up every time somebody is found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

If the guy was really insane (and I wasn't at the trial so I have to assume the evidence was persuasive) then he should not be held criminally responsible. He should be committed for psychiatric treatment.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 23 June 2006 03:29 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The story seems to have been removed from the CBC Manitoba web site. I think there was something about a compulsory mental evaluation.
From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Berlynn
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posted 26 June 2006 09:44 PM      Profile for Berlynn   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by N.Beltov:
The story seems to have been removed from the CBC Manitoba web site. I think there was something about a compulsory mental evaluation.

From the article:

quote:
Borsch to undergo psych review

Borsch is to remain in custody until a psychiatric review board examines the case.

It will decide whether he should be hospitalized or released into the community, and if released, what kind of supervision should be ordered.

Jason Miller, the defence lawyer, said the board had 45 days to make a decision on the matter.


If he is released, I certainly hope the family and friends of the girl are prepared to make noise. I'm certain there are many, across the country, who would rise up in support.


From: Regina | Registered: May 2002  |  IP: Logged
kropotkin1951
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posted 28 June 2006 04:51 PM      Profile for kropotkin1951   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
So do the people with the problem just not believe he was suffering from a mental illness or don't believe it matters?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is as old as war but was renamed after the Vietnam war ended and they had all kinds of horrifc problems with the returning vets. I know people who suffer from PTSD that is unrelated to war but has arisen from traumatic events in their lives. (they are women by the way) If one of them committs a crime will you have the same opinion.

Bring on the guillotine and lets send those "liberal" judges to their just rewards. (sarcasm alert)

I for one think that if he was indeed suffering from a mental illness then he shouldn't be in a jail he should be getting medical help because it is a disorder that can be overcome. If he isn't suffering from a disorder then punish him to the full extent of the law.


From: North of Manifest Destiny | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Sineed
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posted 28 June 2006 05:02 PM      Profile for Sineed     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
People who served with this guy are disputing his story:
quote:
Wlasichuk, who led 850 Canadian peacekeepers into war-torn Bosnia, said he was shocked by Borsch's claims.

"I'm not aware of a single killing done by Roger," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Ontario.
"To have a soldier make a claim about killing people, but not having anyone else know about it, I find very suspect."

He said the alleged Serbian rape story, which a psychologist testified may have been the trigger for Borsch's attack on the teen in The Pas, is full of holes.

"No soldier works alone. There had to be witnesses. There had to be reporting. If I didn't hear about it through the military people I brought there, I would have heard about it through the translators I hired," said Wlasichuk.

Borsch testified during his trial he stayed quiet about the incident, along with the other killings he allegedly committed, because reports simply weren't being filed.

But Wlasichuk said he received dozens of reports every day about violent incidents and firefights.

However, he said that not once was Borsch directly involved in a deadly incident.

"There were between 60 and 120 incidents each day of use of force. I had a report on every major incident," he said.



From: # 668 - neighbour of the beast | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 28 June 2006 05:18 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
After the trial it's a bit late to be coming forward with new evidence. The court made its decision based on the evidence presented.

One can't say the court made a mistake on the basis of evidence that it never heard.

Maybe an appeal court would order a new trial if there is significant new evidence that could not have been presented at trial.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 28 June 2006 05:45 PM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Wheels within wheels. There are some reports in the MSM that the Canadian military is, quietly, carrying out (compulsory?) mental and psychological testing the purpose of which is in dispute; some say it is to expose bogus claims of PTSD, others dispute that claim.
From: Vancouver Island | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Sineed
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posted 28 June 2006 07:31 PM      Profile for Sineed     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I heard on the CBC today that claims of PTSD are skyrocketing. It wouldn't be surprising if the military is working covertly to try and discredit this condition and people with it, especially considering the expense of many new cases they're going to have to deal with post Afghanistan.
From: # 668 - neighbour of the beast | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged

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