sexual assault

Why we should talk about 'rape culture' on college campuses

Stateside Staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:14:02 +0000

When parents send their daughters off to college, they do so with their fingers tightly crossed that they will remain safe and sound.

As young women living on their own, a myriad of situations present themselves that could put women in dangerous situations, like walking home late at night and college parties.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) support parents' worries.

One in five women report having been raped at some point in their life - the figure is one in 71 for men.

So, what can be done to stop this?

Sex traffickers lured to big events like the Super Bowl

Rick Pluta — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:33:56 +0000

The Super Bowl this weekend in Indianapolis will attract thousands of football fans and people who like a big party.

It will also lure human traffickers who set up in hotels so paying clients can have sex - sometimes with children.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates 100,000 kids in this country between the ages of 12 and 14 are drawn into a life of prostitution every year.

There is an outreach effort trying to connect with teens trapped in that life.

Project SOAP is in Indianapolis this weekend.

It conducted a similar operation before the North American International Auto Show last month in Detroit.

Michigan Supreme Court to hear challenge to sex offender's plea deal

Rick Pluta — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:29:50 +0000

The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a convicted child molester should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because he did not know it would subject him to a lifetime of electronic monitoring.

The state Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether David M. Cole entered a “knowing, intelligent, and understanding” plea.

Cole plead “no contest,” which is essentially a guilty plea, to two counts of having sexual contact with a child younger than 13 when he was in his late 20s. His plea deal included an agreement that he would eligible for release from prison within five years.

But Cole says that he was never told his conviction on second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges requires that he wear an electronic monitoring device for the rest of his life.

Cole was denied permission to withdraw his plea to try and make a new deal.

Prosecutors say their deal was only on prison time, everything else was not part of the negotiation.

Michigan Supreme Court rules on sexual assault case

Rick Pluta — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:57:45 +0000

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that a woman who was raped by a jail guard while she was being detained is not entitled to file a civil rights and sexual harassment lawsuit against the county. The court said the local government is not responsible for the behavior of a public worker who acted outside the scope of his employment. The court's Republican majority split with Democratic justices, who say the decision undermines previous rulings that protect victims of discrimination.

Police Chief: There is a sexual predator, or predators, preying on women in Ann Arbor

Steve Carmody — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:58:09 +0000

Ann Arbor’s police chief says there is one, possibly more sexual predators attacking women in his city. Police are investigating a string of 6 sexual assaults that occurred in the past nine days near the University of Michigan campus.

Police Chief Barnett Jones says young women in Ann Arbor should take precautions and should avoid walking alone at night.