[JingleJangle]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/1...-on-rape-charge

So, when asked to respond to RAPE charges against one of their 16 year old students, they say some people make mistakes when faced with adapting to different cultures?!

I think he has forgotten who the (alleged) victim is, here.

[BlondieUK]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/1...-on-rape-charge

So, when asked to respond to RAPE charges against one of their 16 year old students, they say some people make mistakes when faced with adapting to different cultures?!

I think he has forgotten who the (alleged) victim is, here.

I personally don't think there is enough substantive reporting in that article to come to any conclusions about anything.

[Sinister Bonnet]

Surely if he were charged with rape, there's no way he would be sent back to Australia?

Weird article.

[JingleJangle]

Perhaps I responded to the article too emotionally, without considering other points of view.

However, I believe that the response of the school, to one of their students being charged with rape, is unacceptable.

[lynnemine]

I don't think we can comment on that without a few more facts.

Perhaps he was a 16yr old and had a consensual sexual experience with a 15yr old girl or a boy under 18. Either of those circumstances could result in a rape charge AFAIK.

Not excusing his behaviour, just saying - maybe that is why he was sent home, instead of staying to face trial.

His school on the other hand, sound like they have an ingrained problem, and perhaps need to choose their international ambassadors a little more carefully.

As for the schools comment - "Part of the challenge of living and operating in a different culture is that they [the students] have to learn to adapt. Some do it better than others. Some will make mistakes. End of story."
I hope they were not talking about an alleged rape! Since it is illegal to rape in both Australia and the UK, that was not a "failure to adapt".

[BetteBoop]

Using cultural ignorance as an excuse for rape isn't new. It's a pathetic defence, but luckily good excuses aren't necessary because most people think women just make up rape claims.

Perhaps he was a 16yr old and had a consensual sexual experience with a 15yr old girl or a boy under 18. Either of those circumstances could result in a rape charge AFAIK.

Not in Australia. Statutory rape is a charge that is seldom brought about againt anyone. Plus, there are provisions for consenting relationships between underage partners. They're called Romeo and Juliette laws.

How predictable that without knowing anything about this story, someone trots out that myth with the suggestion it could have been a consentual relationship.

When we read about murder charges why don't we automatically think "oh it could have been suicide".

I'm not familiar with the Scottish legal system but I doubt they prosecute consenting sex partners there either.

[Sunnycat]

There was a case in the last couple of years, possibly in Victoria, where an overseas student had been here for about a week and raped and sexually molested a whole heap of girls one as yang as 12.

He only ended up getting about 7 years as the judge considered "cultural shock" to be a mitigating factor in the sense that he wasn't used to interacting with women nor was he used to how they dressed.

It was pretty pathetic as far as sentencing remarks go.

[caitiri]

.

Using cultural ignorance as an excuse for rape isn't new. It's a pathetic defence, but luckily good excuses aren't necessary because most people think women just make up rape claims.



Not in Australia. Statutory rape is a charge that is seldom brought about againt anyone. Plus, there are provisions for consenting relationships between underage partners. They're called Romeo and Juliette laws.

How predictable that without knowing anything about this story, someone trots out that myth with the suggestion it could have been a consentual relationship.

When we read about murder charges why don't we automatically think "oh it could have been suicide".

I'm not familiar with the Scottish legal system but I doubt they prosecute consenting sex partners there either.

I believe that a 16yo having sex with anyone under 16 is a prosecutable offense in Scotland.

[Cath42]

He has been charged, but has been allowed to come back to Australia prior to the next stage of the process, when he will have to face Court. This is not unusual, given his age and given that his parents will have paid a substantial surety which will not be refunded if he doesn't present himself in Scotland when he's required to. The allegation is that he had sex with a local schoolgirl without her consent.

I think that in this instance, the school's hands are tied. This boy will have to progress through the Scottish legal system and he is innocent until proven guilty. However, the school cannot get away from the fact that to have so many boys sent home from international sojourns in disgrace is endemic of an ingrained culture of entitlement and disrespect of rules. The headmaster can gloss over things if he wants to, but I think people will draw their own conclusions.

[lynnemine]

Using cultural ignorance as an excuse for rape isn't new. It's a pathetic defence, but luckily good excuses aren't necessary because most people think women just make up rape claims.

Not in Australia. Statutory rape is a charge that is seldom brought about againt anyone. Plus, there are provisions for consenting relationships between underage partners. They're called Romeo and Juliette laws.

How predictable that without knowing anything about this story, someone trots out that myth with the suggestion it could have been a consentual relationship.

When we read about murder charges why don't we automatically think "oh it could have been suicide".

I'm not familiar with the Scottish legal system but I doubt they prosecute consenting sex partners there either.

That was me - and I didn't "trot out a myth", merely pointed out that we didn't have any facts at all, and that it COULD have been a reason why he was sent home. Also pointing out that it could have been a homosexual consentual encounter too. However Cath42 has provided a few more facts, and it was not either of these circumstances.
How sad that a young man of 16 is already a predator.

Having lived the majority of my adult life in the UK, I am aware that people can and have been charged for statutory rape. I am more unfamiliar with Australian case history on this.