A New Jersey judge is now facing backlash after he granted leniency to a teenager accused of rape because he comes from a “good family” and was an Eagle Scout.
The 16-year-old, identified only as G.M.C. in court documents is accused of not only raping the victim but also filming it and sharing the video with friends. According to local outlet New Jersey 101.5, the teens were at a house party when the 16-year-old “led a staggering-drunk teenage girl into a hidden corner of the basement and sexually assaulted her while recording it on his phone.”
Afterward, investigators said, the boy sent at least seven of his friends a copy of the clip with the caption: “When your first time having sex is rape.”
He allegedly included it in a text with the words: “When your first time having sex was rape.”
Still, Superior Court Judge James Troiano asked whether the rape victim and her family understood “the devastating effect” that pressing charges would have “on G.M.C.’s life.”
“He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college,” Troiano said in court documents the Huffington Post obtained.
Many social media users following the case condemned the judge for his comments.
Suzanne Rudge, a Canadian blogger, posted her comment on Twitter in response to a post from Sergio Bichao, a deputy digital editor for a New Jersey radio station.
“That poor girl will be haunted for the rest of her life,” Rudge said. “Her attacker deserves at least that, but so much more.”
Another Twitter user called for the judge’s arrest, and freelance writer Tonya Delano posted:
“And people wonder why women don’t speak out.”
A higher court ultimately reversed Troiano’s decision not to try the accused teen as an adult.
In the state appellate court’s reversal, judges had this to say in their decision: “In denying waiver, the trial court minutely considered the circumstances of the offense, made an independent assessment of the juvenile’s culpability, and considered G.M.C’s prior good character … His consideration of these elements, however, sounded as if he had conducted a bench trial on the charges rather than neutrally reviewed the state’s application.”
