He had some feelings for her, which got mangled by the rape culture that the conglomerate has blatantly and pervasively promoted since 2010, and which had its precursors in a male-dominated power structure. The administration of St. Paul's School knew about Senior Salute for years and did not take the steps that it should have taken to eradicate it.
He did not abduct the young lady or lure her to a roomful of men who were there to rape her in front of each other. She was initially interested in him, also. She was underage but not a child who had no understanding that they were alone to have physical contact of some sort. He was a teenager, she was a teenager.
I AM NOT EXCUSING STATUTORY RAPE, NOR AM I SAYING THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO CONSEQUENCES FOR WHAT HE DID. What I'm saying is that showing off to your misguided, male friends by saying gross and stupid things to them about a girl is something that many adolescent males do, and, while it's deplorable behavior, it's not a gang rape where you and your friends hold or tie a screaming girl down and take turns raping her, laughing and high-fiving each other while she cries and bleeds or passes out from pain.
Copyright L. Kochman, March 18, 2016 @ 12:02 p.m.