I supported Genarlow Wilson’s release from jail, but I don’t think Mr. Wilson deserves any awards.
Former (Douglas County, Georgia) prosecutor William Atkins wrote to the Daily Report about the inapt comparisons some commentators are making between the prosecutors in the Wilson case to the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case:
I served as an assistant district attorney in Douglas County for three-and-a-half years; I’ve known McDade and Barker for more than a decade. I learned about justice, decency and a prosecutor’s duty to fight for the victims of crime from McDade, Barker and the other outstanding senior prosecutors in that office. I learned from the best in the business. It has been many years, but since no one else seems inclined to speak out against your portrayal (and so many others) of McDade and Barker, I will.
The videotape, portions of which I have seen, was”Exhibit A”because it depicts a horrific crime: a gang rape of a semi-conscious, 17-year-old girl, followed by a bizarre display of sexual precociousness by a 15-year-old girl. That’s the truth recorded by Genarlow and his friends that fateful night. I suspect that is also why Ms. Bernstein hated it whenever McDade used it to rebut her version of Genarlow’s crime.
No matter how much (two glasses of Cognac) the 17-year-old may have had to drink, no matter how much she may have flirted with those boys, she did not consent to having sex with all of them, one right after the other. Yet it never occurred to the”smart”and”spiritual”Genarlow to say,”Stop it. We should not be doing this.”No. Genarlow watched, waited and gladly took his turn. When they were through raping her, Genarlow helped his friends drag the comatose victim to the bathroom. They opened the door, pushed her in, watched as she fell to the floor and closed the door. I guess she wasn’t much fun anymore.
The second victim, just 15 and apparently a bit shy about going all the way, lined the boys up for back-to-back oral sex sessions. It never occurred to the”smart”and”spiritual”Genarlow to say,”Fellas, this is wrong. She’s pretty young, we’re videotaping, this needs to stop right now.”Nope. Genarlow watched, waited and gladly took his turn. Is it possible that she offered oral sex to those boys because she was afraid of suffering the same fate as her 17-year-old friend?
Mr. Atkins’ full editorial is here. What About Our Daughters offers a sharp critique of what she calls the “Genarlow Wilson Redemption Story Arc” here.
-Bridget Crawford
