Samantha Kelly
Wayne County prosecutor, Kym Worthy said, “Due to the tragic and untimely death of our 14- year old victim we did not have sufficient evidence of a crime that we could present to the court today. As a result we had to move to dismiss the case. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family.”
These are hollow words when you find out the whole story of young Samantha Kelly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrIG08hVX1c
This is the law in Michigan as it pertains to Third Degree Sexual Conduct which Joseph Tarnopolski, 18, was accused of committing.
Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct – Section 750.520d (a) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if the person engages in sexual penetration with another person and if any of the following circumstances exists:
That other person is at least 13 years of age and under 16 years of age
Force or coercion is used to accomplish the sexual penetration. Force or coercion includes but is not limited to any of the circumstances listed in section 520b(1)(f)(i) to (v)
The actor knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally incapable, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree is a felony punishable b imprisonment for not more than 15 years.
Here is a good article about it.
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/se_mich/girl-who-reported-being-raped-hangs-herself
It was quite fortunate and lucky for Joe that his teen victim was tormented by his friends and sister to the extent that she saw no other alternative than to commit suicide. Something is really wrong with this picture. It’s unfortunate that this girl wasn’t given the counseling and help that she obviously needed but it is more unfortunate that the bullying was allowed that eventually caused her suicide. What I find interesting about this case is it seems to have gone unnoticed by most of the big media. This girl seems to be unimportant. She didn’t attend Princeton. She wasn’t from a wealthy family. She’s pretty much a “nobody” and nobody seems to really care. Her poor mom wants justice for her child but she isn’t going to get it as her daughter didn’t live long enough to testify in court. There has to be something wrong with an 18 year old having sex with a fourteen year old
This young man seems to get around as he has another allegation of rape against him.
http://wwj.cbslocal.com/tag/joseph-tarnopolski/
The video at this sight is really interesting and well worth watching.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/11/joseph_tarnopolski_investigate.html
This is the ninth student in Michigan that committed suicide after being bullied in school.
http://michiganmessenger.com/43294/another-bullying-related-suicide-in-michigan
Obviously, something more has to be done to stop students from taunting each other.
From my point of view I find it alarming how many bully cases seem to be happening in recent times. Many that we hear about are escalated cases that lead to a suicide. Children today are growing up fast, faster than I remember as a kid. I think the issue of bullying is far more pronounced in these modern times as there are so many new outlets for students to utilize for bullying. When I was in high school back in the seventies we all knew about girls that were “easy” and guys that you didn’t want to date. Today it really is different. With all of the social connections students can make online and with text messaging, it isn’t really surprising that these same tech tools are being used to cause much pain. Schools have to be diligent in addressing the problems that bullying creates in our modern society. Most people wouldn’t think this type of harassment could lead to a suicide but teens are at a fragile time in their lives. This is a time when their peers mean so much more to them than the adults in their life. When those same peers turn on them, I’m sure students must feel hopeless. We as teachers and adults must do everything we can to educate students about what it means to be bullied. Most kids don’t see themselves as bullies so it is easy for them to fall into a “pack” mentality when picking on other students. Students need to be called out on their behavior no matter who they are trying to bully.
I’ve had students try to bully classmates but I have also had student try to bully me. I will not tolerate any of this in my classroom. Students have to be told when they are being offensive to another person. Young teens don’t always know how their behavior is offensive. Since their prefrontal cortex is not fully developed they lack some of that obvious decision making process that most adults have acquired.
Bullying has been around a long time. I remember my first term at Michigan State University. I was bullied because I was forced to be the third person in a room with two students that chose to be roommates. There was over crowding that year so I had to wait for a room to become available the second trimester. The girls came from Birmingham, Michigan and later I learned that most people considered them “Birmingham Bitches”. They were horrible to me and I generally don’t ever think about them. The one girl was the leader and the other one was just her patsy. The whole floor couldn’t stand them and their treatment of me. I was a very shy girl that came from a small town and I didn’t stand up for myself like I would today. In my case the RA met with these girls about their treatment of me. I hadn’t complained but other people couldn’t stand the way these girls were treating me. I was use to abuse as I grew up with ten brothers. I didn’t fight back. However, after that meeting, the two girls were worse! I finally got some peace when I was able to move to another room. That was then and this is now. That floor filled with other students stepped up and tried to get something done. Today it seems like most students would join the bullies. We have to do everything we can to make young people understand that their behavior has consequences.
It’s tough being a teen today. They are bombarded with all kinds of images that show them what is expected of them. However, most of those images seem to lack any kind of moral center. If we want our young teen to grow up to be adults that we can be proud of we must do everything we can to fight for justice. We cannot let teens think they can get by with bullying without any form of consequences. This young teen rape victim didn’t see a clear alternative for herself. We must make sure that our young people are brought up with a sure identity of who they are so they don’t feel like all is hopeless when confronted with a difficult situation.
As far as the young man, Joe, is concerned he may end up in court for another case. I don’t know why they cannot prosecute him. I don’t even know if he understands that having sex with a fourteen year old is dead wrong. Some day he will have to realize that he contributed to this young girl’s death. That can be a lot to live with. Some may think he doesn’t care and maybe he doesn’t but surely her face has to stay in his memory for years to come!