Blame the victim

Here is another article in which the attorney blames the victim. Regardless of the genders involved this kind of thing really irks me when I see it done:


TX - A 39-year-old former Orangefield Junior High teacher and coach is behind bars for ten years.

Jennifer Burton finalized her plea deal with prosecutors this afternoon when she pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault and one charge of improper relationship with a student.

While the now convicted sex offender, 39-year-old Jennifer Burton, had no comment for KFDM just after she entered her guilty plea in an orange county courtroom, her defense attorney had just the opposite.

Attorney Larry Hunter said, "She had a very stellar lifestyle, she was an asset to the community, very good person, but unfortunately, fell into this situation with a victim who was not only a participant, an active participant, but was actually an instigator for the sexual contact."

That last paragraph sounds just like so many offenders. Ooops she just fell into this situation and being almost 40 did not know any better or how to set proper boundaries with a 14 year old girl. This also sounds like the excuses made in many of the clergy sexual abuse cases.


Hunter said, "She's not 100% responsible for what happened, she's serving a 100% of the sentence and that's where I think we as a society have somewhat failed."

She is 100% responsible for what happened. At least the prosecutor gets it.

"She is a 100% criminally responsible, it is inappropriate and improper to imply a child victim should be prosecuted or even help responsible for this act," said Orange County Assistant District Attorney Cory Kneeland.

Kneeland says Burton is a child molester, plain and simple, and she's hurt more than the victim.

He said, "She violated the trust, not only of a family relationship, she was a mother figure to this child, she violated the trust of all mothers everywhere in taking care of a child and she violated the trust of all teachers everywhere." - Read the entire article here