Most people don't.
A 16 year old girl made allegations of molestation, sexual assault, forcible confinement and assault and battery against 16 schoolmates at the west-end high school in late November 2005. This incident caused a stir for a few reasons, most being quick to play the race card and raise a hue and cry about supposed police brutality. Here's what I posted on my Xanga site (http://www.xanga.com/rocklax) in November when it happened:
James Cardinal McGuigan School students arrested for alleged molestation. Parents cry racism and class-ism. A few years ago a 16 year old Eastern European girl had immigrated to Canada with her family to avoid issues like bullying and molestation in schools. She finally came forward last week with allegations of sexual molestation, forcible confinement, physical abuse and threats at the hands of students at her high school. She told a teacher at the school of what had been happening to her both on school grounds and on properties off the grounds of the school, and as a result of her coming forward to a teacher, the teacher, as is their responsibility under Canadian law, told the police. In response to these allegations of molestation, confinement, abuse and threats, the police acted on her story and proceeded to arrest 14 male students and 2 female students. As per standard police procedure, these students were taken from where they were arrested in handcuffs and marched out of the school to confinement. The students were marched past teachers and other students in cuffs to waiting paddy wagons and their parents were contacted. In some cases, however, the parents weren't contacted directly (for whatever reason...school records are only so accurate. Heck, even my office gets bad contact information on pensioners and pension plan members, through no fault of our own) but found out through friends. One family was contacted, not by the school, but by a friend of the family, who, coincidentally enough had the same last name as them. However, that is not the issue here. The parents are inflamed at these arrests, claiming that it is racially motivated and based on class as well. Here's the 4-1-1: The student who has made these allegations is white. The students who were arrested were black. The parents are crying that the Metropolitan Toronto Police Department is racist because the only students that are being arrested are black. The parents are crying that the principal of James Cardinal McGuigan is racist. The individuals in question were arrested based on the fact that this student gave their NAMES to police, suggesting that all the suspects are known to her. Based on her identifications the students are arrested on various charges and this is where the fun starts. At their arraignment hearing today, all the students who were arrested and charged were released on $1500 bail. They are being placed under house arrest, being permitted to go to school and to work only. No extra-curricular activities, no internet, no cell-phones. The students are forbidden to contact one another, and forbidden to contact their accuser. As a matter of fact, all of the students are required to remain at least 500m away from their accuser. The City of Toronto has made the students and their families aware of other schools in the area where they live (the notoriously crime-ridden Jane and Finch area of Toronto) where there students can attend classes.
It's a no-win situation, any way you slice it... I'm not sure about anyone else, but there is no way that the City of Toronto or the Toronto Police can come out of this without a scratch. Had it been a black girl and white boys and girls that were arrested, there would have been accusations that in the 18 months the girl did NOT come forward, the city and police did nothing to protect their interests. As it is, with a white accuser and black accused, the allegations of racism won't stop. Had it been black on black, the parents would have been crying that not enough is being done to enforce laws. Had it had been white on white, we would have heard nothing.
Here's my take, and I'm sure it will raise eyebrows and start a whole bunch of post dredging, but here it is nonetheless: I don't care if you are black, white, Puerto-Rican, Oriental or Haitian, if there have been allegations that you broke the law and the police have no way of knowing if you are armed or not, then it is necessary for them to take you from your location to central booking in cuffs for their safety, the safety of the people around them and your safety. If they have your name and description, it's better to go along. If you have been falsely accused (as almost all of the parents are claiming and as I am almost certain is not the case) better to avoid complicating matters and go along than resist and fuss. I am reasonably certain that there have been innocent individuals scooped up along with the guilty in this case, but as is the way with the Canadian justice system (HA!) you are innocent until proven guilty. If any of these allegations are true, heads will roll, as well they should, Youth Justice Act or not. If these are false allegations, then things will NOT go well for the girl who brought these allegations forward.
As it stands now, there is not enough evidence in the public domain for anyone to make a judgment at this point, but the majority of the fuel being throw on this fire is allegations of racism. The parents are not making claims that their sons and daughters were falsely arrested (at least not that I have read or heard to date) but that the arrests were race based.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you break the law, I don't care what your skin color is; you should be leaving in cuffs.
To be perfectly honest, it seems kind of hinky. 16 people are accused in this case, with the abuses happening over an 18 month period from April/May of 2004, and some of the accused were in the girl's homeroom. Recent shot fired in this case from one of the mothers of the accused: Explain to me how this makes sense. I got caught blowing someone at school (let's say) so instead of 'fessing up and taking the blame for an act that may or may not have been voluntary (I don't have all the facts, I can't judge) I turn around and accuse 15 other people of abusing me and thus bringing more attention down on my head? Yeah, right. That makes sense. A lot of the mother's are saying that their children don't know this girl at all. Now I don't know about you, but as a general rule I have found kids to be pretty good liars. My brother managed to hide his drug abuse from them for five years before it got him kicked out of University. Heck, I've been smoking for the past 14 years and my parents don't know. They also think that I still go to the gym and that Anubis and I are still together, but that's another story. Long story short, we won't be able to make final judgment on the case in the court of public opinion until all the fact are known. And if there were some acts caught on videotape, as has been suggested by the accuser, this may go faster than we think. Lasting mental image: One of the accused in this case smiled when he was told he'd be going home on $1500 bail, apparently looking like the cat that got the cream...at least that's what the papers say. Some more dirt: At a closed door meeting with parents of the accused last night a woman circulated a petition to have the principal of James Cardinal McGuigan fired because of "racial profiling, prejudice and discrimination: uttering racial slurs against the black students." When asked if she knew who James Matthews was, the principal, she replied "Who's Mr. Matthews? He said nothing to me." and when asked why he should be fired, she repeated her allegations. The parents of the accused are calling for someone's head and they don't even know who that person is. Additionally, what really shocks me is the lack of concern for the accuser. All we are hearing from are the accused's parents, and nothing from the accuser...When did alleged perpetrators right supersede those of the alleged victim?
LAST BUT NOT LEAST Here's an update on the situation: This was taken from CityTV.com's website. It's an article that was posted this morning that I caught on Breakfast Television: Offer Tabled: Charges against a dozen students accused of harassing one of their classmates at a Toronto high school may be dropped if they agree to a deal. The 12 teens – all of whom face lesser charges in the case, which stemmed from a female student’s allegations of abuse at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School – would apparently have to admit responsibility for their actions, although they’d be pleading not guilty, and agree to a court-ordered program. The program, likely consisting of counseling or volunteer work, would have to be completed before the charges were dropped. The Youth Criminal Justice Act allows such an alternative, which is directed at teens who are accused in a criminal case but have no previous record. At least one girl, charged with one count of threatening death, has reportedly accepted the deal. Others may follow, but it’s been suggested their lawyers are waiting for more evidence to be brought forward before agreeing to it. No such offers were made to four others accused in the case – they’re facing more serious charges of sexual assault. The 16-year-old complainant came forward last November, telling a teacher she had endured 14 months of sexual abuse and threats from students. The teacher then contacted police, who arrested two teens a day later. The following Monday, 14 more students were arrested at the school – a move that shocked and infuriated parents. Four boys were charged with sexual offences in the case, while the remaining 12 – ten boys and two girls – faced counts of criminal harassment or threatening death. All were released on bail, but with conditions. Parents of the accused complained that the allegations and arrests were racially motivated – all of the accused are black, while the accuser is white. The youths are due back in court Feb. 21. January 11, 2006 I would encourage comments, because escalating youth violence, what with the Boxing Day death of Jane Creba and the wounding of another 9 people on Yonge St outside the Eaton Centre in my hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an ongoing concern that cannot be blamed on the media or music or video games or television or movies. There has to be a solution, and hopefully we can find it.
