Judge vs Law : Sex attack victim takes law into her own hands

Sex attack victim takes law into her own hands

Savannah almost got jail time for standing up for her rights.

A teenage American girl in Louisville, Kentucky, who was sexually assaulted by two boys, stood up to lawyers, judges and her attackers by breaking the law and taking back her rights after a court ruling basically slapped the boys on the wrists and made her an even bigger victim.

Savannah Dietrich, 17, said the two boys sexually assaulted her after she passed out at a party. They then shared photos of their vicious attack with their friends. But to add insult to her injury, the perpetrators somehow managed to squirm their way into a plea bargain with the prosecutor.

When that happened, an angry and hurt Dietrich decided to take matters into her own hands—she exposed the names of the two juveniles in a Twitter message, which violated a court order to keep their identities confidential as they were considered minors.

"There you go, lock me up," Dietrich tweeted. "I'm not protecting anyone that made my life a living hell." Her Twitter account has since been closed.

However, she then faced the possibility of a contempt of court charge, which carries a punishment of 180 days in jail and a US$500 (RM1,500) fine if convicted. The boys have yet to be sentenced for the August 2011 crime.

"They got off very easy," Dietrich told Louisville's Courier-Journal. "So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys."

"I'm at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don't understand justice," she added.

"For months, I cried myself to sleep," Dietrich told the local paper. "I couldn't go out in public places. [Protecting rapists] is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville."

After her story appeared in the paper, however, the judge dismissed her contempt of court charge.

Source: The Lookout

Image: Twitter

Published: 26th July 2012