A toddler was raped, but as horrific as the thought is, those who raped her shouldn't be punished. You see, her attackers were just boys -- 7- and 9-year-old boys who shouldn't even know what rape is. Someone is to blame, but it's not them.
It happened in Memphis this past summer. The 2-year-old victim's brother, 5, saw it occurring and told his mom. Thank goodness he did. While the boys first blamed each other, they later admitted to the crime.
The boys are due in court today where prosecutors are recommending they be removed from their families' homes and placed in state custody for treatment, not punishment. They want to determine what these boys have been exposed to that would make them do this to another child. James Sanders, the attorney defending the 9-year-old boy, told the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
What happened to this victim is horrible, nobody is minimizing that. But my client has a lot of problems and needs some immediate help. Somebody's got to rescue this kid.
Someone has to rescue them all.
This is one of those stories that I recount through tears, because it's so awful and so unimaginable that such vile, evil things can happen to innocent children. And really, at this point, all three should still be innocent. Something has to be very, very wrong in one's life for a mind that young to be infected like this.
But as much as I don't want to blame these boys because of their age, where do we draw a line? Is there really an age at which one suddenly should be able to account for his tragic background, overcome what he's been exposed to, and now be able to stand up and do the right thing? Yes, we have to expect that, but we also have to expect that some won't be able to. It doesn't in any way make what the victim suffered any less horrifying or their actions justifiable in the least, it just make the whole situation more tragic.
Do you think these boys should be punished?
Image via davedehetre/Flickr
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Comments 1040
I always love how people jump right in to blame the parents. If you are going to try to tell me that you all know where you child is and what they are hearing every single second of the day I will call you a liar to your face.
We can all teach our children what is right and wrong, but it doesn't always mean they are going to do the right thing.
The poor little girl! Everyone involved needs help. The nine year old definitely is old enough to understand what he did and have consequences. Frightening to think of what he will be like as he gets older!
First off, why were the children left alone with a toddler? Where were the parents when this happened? Secondly, what were these boys exposed to that would lead them to rape a little girl??? There is no way a 7 and a 9 year-old should be watching movies or playing video games with violence or sexual content. Where did this come from? And lastly, yes, they should be punished. The fact that they were blaming each other says they knew enough that it was wrong. I also agree that they should receive treatment and psychological help. This poor little girl...
I hate to judge, but I don't doubt for a second that this is a result of an effed up home life. Memphis is a scary place (I grew up there) and a lot of these kids fall victim to a vicious cycle. When your home life is devoid of love or caring and you're constantly witness to violence and things children should never see, well it's really hard not to follow in your parents' footsteps, isn't it? I've seen some pretty careless, hateful, awful parents growing up in Memphis. Imagine growing up like that. They just aren't taught to feel love or remorse at all. It's sick.
The boys should be punished (although not as severely as an adult or even older child would be. At the same time they need help to understand why they are being punished. The boys could have been blaming each other because they saw they were getting in trouble, not that they understood why they were getting in trouble. I would assume it is something they have been exposed to (or at least one of them). These aren't kids who have been taught that it is wrong. As far as we know it could have been happening to them up to that day and no one ever told them it was wrong before this happened. They may have thought it was simply normal. Not to say that it is horrible and that poor baby girl was violated (not to mention her brother having to witness it happening). The best way to get through to these boys isn't through punishment. They need to understand what they did and why it was wrong.
Millions of kids are exposed to violent images and don't rape a small child. I don't know the answer to this one, but I will say that kids that act on it may not be treatable. If a person (regardless of age) has sociopathic tendencies no amount of treatment is going to change that. The fact that both boys knew to lie about it points in that direction. An "innocent" child would not realize that what he was doing was wrong, and therefore would not lie about it. Althought psychologists don't like to "label" children so young, the reality is that 7 (or 9) year old kids DO display early signs. And sadly, sociopaths can only be condition to "act right" - they are rarely able to FEEL empathy no matter how hard anyone tries.
I really want to know what the home life of those boys is like. I'm guessing they learned this behaviour by being abused or witnessing abuse. As for the argument, no one knows where their kids are 100% of the time. How can any responsible parent not know where children ages 2,5,7and9 are? There is no excuse for that by any means. I am glad those boys are being removed from their homes. Maybe, just maybe, in the proper facility, they can receive not only punishment(there are facilities that are 24/7-365)but also the help they so obviously deserve. Children that age don't just go off and commit a sex crime for no reason, or because they thought it up on their own. Something is seriously wrong at home. There are unfortunately no easy answers for this one. And all 4 children involved are going to need some intense therapy. And the parental units need their butt's kicked. Just my thoughts.