In October of 2015, in Dietrich, Idaho, a young, intellectually disabled black man was in his high school locker room with other friends, all white, on the football team. He thought his friend was going to give him a hug. Instead, the “friend” grabbed him and held him, according to a civil suit. A second boy, an 18-year-old, allegedly inserted a plastic coat hanger into the young man’s rectum. Then the third attacker started to kick the hanger, driving it into the victim’s body, the family says.
The boys were arrested, and the two who inserted then kicked the hanger were charged with felony sexual assault, which carries a 10- to 20-year prison sentence. But then the charges started being reduced. First, an adult charge was dropped and replaced with only a juvenile one. Then the other boy, whose kicking did terrible damage to the victim, was permitted to make an Alford plea, where he asserts innocence despite evidence to the contrary. Unless he violates probation, he won’t serve a minute in jail, and his record might even be expunged.
[For more of this story, written by David M. Perry, go to https://psmag.com/how-a-prosec...b84a258a5#.n2bstdonp]
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