A Highland Park Student is Accused of Rape, and Culture Map Kicks Off the Victim Blaming

this is really poor journalism.  There is obviously sketchy evidence in this case.  I find it incredibly, almost impossibly, hard to believe that the girl leave a concert with a guy, get in his car, get in the back seat, take her clothes off, get raped, then get a ride home from the rapist.  All with no bruises and no witnesses.

  Why have you released this kids name?  Now, even if this gets cleared up, it will follow him for life.

Dallas Observer- I hope you get sued for slander and libel.

I'm a scientist, not a speller.  I agree, just "hang 'em high"!

Grandpappy told my pappy, now in my day son, a man had to answer for the deeds that he done.

Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree, round up them bad boys and hang them high in the street - Willie

i agree, but I wouldn't call this statutory rape if I was making the laws.  She is a sophomore and he is a senior.  In my opinion, that's not THAT crazy.  The non-consensual allegation is much more serious.  They should either separate high schools such that 9th/10th graders attend a different school than 11th/12th graders, or refine the statutory rape laws such that if both parties in high school, it doesn't apply.   

Just face it, if teenagers attend the same school, there will be relationships of all sorts.

When is it ever okay to have sex with a 15 yr old? ----- Never under any circumstances ----- Why is there even a discussion? ---- I have no fucking idea how people believe some of the things they believe ------ Add the belief that intercourse with a 15 yr old is okay when "consensual "----- -- . . . how old was mary when the heavenly father wronged joe and opened that shit out? ..Explains why homeboy took her Africa directly

I wish they would create some sort of intermediate punishment for this sort of offense.  Obviously this guy is a douche bag, and probably pressured this girl into the situation since he is obviously well known around campus.  Is it really fair to classify this as the same sort of rape that you would if the female was completely not consenting?  I bet what happened was that she said no at some point while they were hooking up, but not very assertively and continued hooking up with him.  She remembers saying 'no' at some point, but doesn't remember giving body language that says otherwise.  Depending on your definition, this could be rape, but not the same kind of rape as if it was truly forceful.  Either way, he shouldn't be treating women like this and deserves to learn a lesson, but probably not to ruin his entire life.

I dunno, maybe I'm biased.  In college I hooked up with a girl 3-4 times.  When she saw me at a party with another female, she became enraged, and began spreading rumors that I raped her.  When I confronted her about the situation, she told me that she said 'no' the first time we hooked up.  Indeed, she had said 'no' at some point, and I stopped immediately.  After we kissed for a while longer, she obviously changed her mind, even got on top of me at some point, and came back a few other nights.  Yet somehow, once she was angry at me, all she remembered was that at some point she didn't want to do this.   This girl also through eggs all over my car and told me that if I told the police about the eggs, she would tell them I raped her.    Long story short, I just try to keep my pants on now....  This guy should do the same.

It has always seemed to me that high school athletes (football/baseball/soccer players-especially those in high income families) tend to feel that they are entitled to do what ever they want.  The rules do not apply to THEM.   I question first why we even have high school sports (with the latest concern with head injuries for football) as the primary focus-- it is not Johnny passing that pig skin, hitting home runs or kicking goals; but, should be education.  Getting them graduated and into the work force successfully.   Why are education dollars (tax dollars) supporting this (60 Million for example in Allen’s football stadium) when only a very few actually can end up making a living (not too successful at that considering professional sports figures who can not manage their finances) at it?

 Having said that it seems again to me that this too could be an insight into the self privilege of those who support Romney.   Romney/Ryan (also Todd  Akins & Rick Perry  et. al) the rape ticket.

I have never replied to a story on line before but this discussion has me at the point of tears. I am the mother of a son who was in a simular situation years ago. My son was falsly accused of rape by a 16 year old girl. He was 17 at the time and a baseball player. The justice system is very flawed in these cases. My son was arrested and like the responce to this case assumed guily by some. Those who knew him tried to suppport him but the events that transpired have left a life of pain for my son. He lost his entire year of baseball while being forced to attend an alternative school  waiting to go before the Grand Jury. (punished before proven guilty) The Grand Jury did not believe the girls story and No Billed the case. Although he was never tried or proven guilty he has continued to be punished by the fact that he was arrested. He was turned down when he applied to be a Park Ranger because of the arrest record. He has been denied apparatments and other things because the arrest showes when his name is looked up. We live in a society where you are Guily even if proven inocent. For those of you who think he was guilty - the girl did admit a year later to her friends that she had lied. She lied because she got home late and did not want to have her parents mad at her. She said she regreated what she had done but that will never give back what he lost.

I do not know if this young man is guilty or innocent and neither does anyone who was not there. I caution all of you who are so quick to judge. You may find yourself in a situation some day where you are the one who is falsy accused. Remember anyone can be arrested for something that does not make you guilty.

How far is she gonna take this...? Being in the loop of this close knit community, I know her parents are obviously the driving force behind it. The "set up" phone calls with questions leading him to say the right things for police evidence are just sketchy. Everyone I have heard from say the were on ECSTASY (something very common with these concerts and kids since they cant "legally" drink alcohol) which changes the whole situation. I had a buddy in high school whose life was pretty close to ruined because a girl was lying until a week before the court date. She finally told the truth that it was consensual and she didn't want her parents or BOYFRIEND to think she was a slut or cheated. Do not get me wrong, It could 100% be a rape and he should go to Jail. I just think we all need to take a step back before scolding him (and especially his father) for an accusation. Wait for the gavel to drop before you throw stones and slang mud. 

Good on calling them out. CultureMap has a really haughty air to their writing and have rubbed me the wrong way since even before they officially debuted. They body-snarked Lady Gaga awhile back and when I called them out on it, no rebuttal. Seems they like to play devil's advocate, which I can appreciate, but it looks really bad when a woman journalist slut-shames a child.

Is there any way I can opt out of seeing Anna Merlan's lame-ass stories on this site? Maybe it's a product of writing crime stories, or an editorial thing, but my process of reading the articles winds up the same. I'll start out like this: "Oh, what a terrible thing, how awful! I should read this."By the end of the article: "UGH WHO THE FUCK CARES." 

My question is:  Why did the parents let either of them go to this concert?  Well, he's old enough to be in college.  A "red-shirted" first-grader held back for sports, no doubt.  And a 15-year old at the Palladium?  Come on!

Physical evidence speaks louder than words.

Y'all must have forgotten about being innocent until proven guilty. Considering he hasn't even talked, don't speak too soon. He's known as a very popular guy who can get with any girl at HPHS. Before you make up your minds about him, wait until he speaks.

There's many things I want to say about this, but i'll sum it up accordingly: The press needs to report the facts, the courts needs to handle the judgement. What bothers me in this case is an outlet (not the DO) played the "boys will be boys" angle, which is disturbing in its own right..

I recently started following Culture Map, but the way they handled this one is disgusting and I just "unliked" their page. I won't be supporting them in the future. They may have liberated women authors, but when liberated equates to throwing alleged rape victims under the bus, I'm out. It looks like they might be pandering to a different sort of base than I thought originally.

Being a recent HP grad... and being raised in the park cities... I can say that this happens more often that we'd like to admit. I'm very proud of that brave girl and her family for reporting him. Don't be fooled by the "Park Cities" name and think bad things don't happen, they just get brushed under the rug quickly.

An unplumbed angle here is that the girl is apparently sufficiently young to warrant a "sexual assault of a child" charge. So even if the encounter was not forcible, as her gynecologist believes it was, he will still be found guilty. 

Anyone have a link to the official affidavit?

I can't say I "like" this story, but I appreciate you reporting it. I didn't even click the link when I saw it in the Culture Map email this morning. But now that I know what they reported, I'm pretty disgusted. Culture Map has decent coverage of Dallas events, restaurants, etc. They should stick to what they know.