Gilroy, Let's Not Be The Next Steubenville

On Thursday evening, when Gilroy Patch first posted the story of the Christopher High School student arrested for a sexual assault that led to the suicide of a Saratoga teen, it took 84 minutes for the following comment to be posted:

Maybe she should have done a better job managing who she hangs with. Just saying, some women are dumb as rocks.

At this moment, Gilroy, it's essential to be on the right side of this issue, so we never look back on this tragedy and have to be ashamed as a community about our reaction to it.

Most people are familiar with the Steubenville case, an eerily similar incident that took place in Ohio last year and ended with the conviction of two teenagers, sent to jail until they are 21-years-old. 

The boys in that case sexually assaulted a teenage girl who was passed out drunk, took photos of the act and passed the photos around to friends. The case we've got on our hands in Gilroy and Saratoga is the same, except it involves three boys who posted the photos on Facebook, shaming the girl so mercilessly that she took her own life. 

Steubenville is a town known for nothing but high school football. Because the suspects in that case were on the varsity team, fleeting local celebrities, much of the town took their side. How could their local heroes be criminals? And so what if they are? They score touchdowns. The Steubenville victim had to have armed guards at her house day and night to protect against the death threats she was receiving. 

Audrie Pott, the Saratoga teen allegedly sexually assaulted by a Gilroy boy and two others, will not have armed guards at her house. There's no protecting her from death threats. 

We live in a rape culture. The Patch comment above is a perfect example of the boilerplate response to rape in America. What was she wearing? Who was she hanging out with? What did she do to ask for it?

There is a never a circumstance, regardless of behavior, clothing or associates that warrants rape. Yes, we have a huge teen binge drinking problem. But the decision to binge drink is not a free pass to everyone with a penis in the room to insert at will.

Kudos to the Gilroy Patch readers who jumped in the comments after the one blaming the victim, pointing out the massive error in judgment.

Gilroy, we cannot screw this up. Some of your kids go to Christopher High School. Some of you know the boy that was arrested. Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty. But a girl is dead and it's because of the permissive attitude we as a country have taken toward sexual assault. So the last thing we should do, with any shred of a moral compass, is make excuses for those responsible. 

When the dust has settled in this case, and that will not be for a long time, don't let Gilroy be the next Steubenville. Let Gilroy be the example for how to properly respond to such a tragedy.