by Attorney Bob Vogel
rlvogel@robertvogellaw.comWhat do you do when you are 14 and raped by an older boy? What do you do when you are drugged, beaten, molested and dumped in the snow to live or die on your own after you are used by teen age boys you thought were your friends? You go to the hospital. You go to the police. You ask for help.
You get a rape kit done and it comes back positive. The boy gets arrested. He goes to jail. He confesses. Justice. Right?
Not so fast. If you are a teenage girl in Maryville, you may end up with a different result. You may find that the charges are dropped. You may find that he turns the tables on you. You may find yourself labeled a "skank" or worse. You may find that his family is influential and can get the prosecutor to drop the charges. You may find out that you are the butt of jokes. You may find out that you are now going to be bullied, and your family is going to be bullied. Because, you were asking for it, right?
Wrong. You were drugged. You were raped. It was videoed. Your 13 year old friend was raped, too. And, now, the people you trusted have turned on you. The police aren't helping. The prosecutors have caved into political pressure. After all, he has to get re-elected, doesn't he? Most likely, the judge does, too, as well as the county sheriff.
So, in the back rooms, in hushed discussions, in passing conversations in the hallways of the buildings where you should find justice, you are betrayed: your reputation is sold, your life is sold, your pain and anguish and despair and depression are sold for votes, for a career, for a political favor. You become a dirty joke. You have now been raped, again.
Is this justice? Is this what you hope to find when you lay your life down on the courthouse steeps? Do you expect to be victimized, again?
Daisy Coleman and her family need us to speak out. We need to be outraged at this miscarriage of justice. We need to stand up and say that we will not let this happen to Daisy or any other girl. It is not okay. We demand that the police and the prosecutor do the right thing. If they do not, then we will hold them accountable.
Remember, we always have the right to go after them legally. We can take them to court, sue them and put them in front of twelve honest citizens who will hear all the facts and decide justice. All of us have that right. Certainly, Daisy does. She deserves it, just like you or I do.
I know that, given the opportunity, I would fight for Daisy and her family in court. I would willingly take on this power structure that has denied her justice. I would love to stand against these bullies and to confront her rapist and his family, and the family of all of the boys who were there and either participated, helped or just let it happen and laughed. At the boys and their families who thought it was alright to use her for their pleasure and then discard her like garbage in the snow.
These are sad, pathetic, despicable human beings, and they must be held accountable. Let us all help Daisy find justice.
I look forward to your comments.
Bob Vogel
The Vogel Law Firm
Knoxville, TN
rlvogel@robertvogellaw.com
865-357-1949
Read this excellent and well researched article about the case:
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/12/4549775/nightmare-in-maryville-teens-sexual.html
The “Justice For Daisy” Movement Has Begun
Between Anonymous hackers and local activists, Maryville is poised to follow Steubenville as the next small-town home of a major teenage rape case. posted on
The "Justice For Daisy" Movement Has Begun
Jessica Testa
Daisy Coleman with her brothers. facebook.com
It didn’t take long for the internet to declare war against the city of Maryville, Missouri. On Saturday, the Kansas City Star published a long, revealing look at one mother’s claim that her 14-year-old daughter, Daisy Coleman, was raped, and that backlash over their pursuit of charges against a 17-year-old football player drove their family from the small Missouri city.
