Not in the military – mostly

The state of Maryland is no longer pursuing sexual assault charges against two teenagers who were accused of dragging a 14-year-old girl into the bathroom of Rockville High School and raping her.

The accused students, 18-year-old Henry Sanchez Milian and 17-year-old Jose Montano, are reportedly immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. That made them people of great interest for foes of illegal immigration: Right-leaning pundits cited the pair as evidence that our schools were threatened by armies of illegal immigrant rapists.

Now the case against the two teens has collapsed. According to The Washington Post:

. . .McCarthy, who was joined by the county’s top leaders, said the decision to dismiss the charges followed an extensive investigation that included additional interviews and a review of medical records, school security videos, and phone and computer records. . . .

This is a fairly stunning outcome, given the tone of previous reporting on the subject, which suggested the evidence was overwhelming.

It appears they did a full investigation and took the trouble to review medical records, school security videos, and phone and computer records. Don’t expect that to happen too frequently in a military case where prosecutor resistance is often full force.

The Rockville rape case—which should now be known as the Rockville rape retraction, I suppose—is a reminder of why due process and the presumption of innocence are such important things. They are checks against presuming the worst about people who confirm our biases, whether those biases work against immigrants or just men accused of rape in general.

https://reason.com/blog/2017/05/05/the-rockville-rape-case-is-a-cautionary