Warning: this story contains details of rape and sexual assault.
A judge has said that a teenager accused of rape deserves leniency because he comes from a “good family.”
New Jersey family court judge, James Troiano, said that the 16-year-old should not be tried as an adult because he could probably get into a “good college” after high school.
The New York Times reports that the boy allegedly filmed himself penetrating an intoxicated girl from behind after a party.
Prosecutors said he later sent a text to his friends alongside the video reading: “When your first time having sex was rape.”
A teen accused of rape texted his friends, “When your first time having sex was rape," prosecutors said.
But a family court judge said it wasn’t rape.https://t.co/84KYbmLaaU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 3, 2019
“This young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well,” said the judge. “His scores for college entry were very high.”
Judge Troiano of Superior Court argued for a “distinction” between sexual assault and rape, saying that “traditional” cases of rape involve up to two men using a gun or weapon “… and just simply taking advantage of the person as well as beating the person, threatening the person.”
He also questioned whether “… this young lady was intoxicated to the point that she didn’t understand what was going on.”
Prosecutors said that after the alleged attack the girl, known as ‘Mary,’ was found by her friends vomiting on the basement floor.
The next day she told her mother that she feared “sexual things had happened” without her consent.
She later discovered that the video had been shared among the boy’s friends, prompting her mother to contact the authorities.
Judge Troiano has since been warned by an appeals court about showing bias towards privileged teenagers.
