Ben Roethlisberger Rape: Pittsburgh Perspective

He has brought this Iron City two Superbowl championships. He is a hero with his own moniker “Big Ben”. Ben has an image in Pittsburgh, he is known as a single bachelor and womanizer – but with affection. The forgivable sin for a man who encapsulates the hopes and desires of a city.

What does the evidence say about Ben? The first and most glaring is a prior accusation. But Ben is wealthy beyond imagination; it could just be a gold digger. It also turns out she was a bit crazy. With that in mind, lets turn to the night in question. Most recently,

Ben Roethlisberger has admitted to having “sexual contact” with the woman who accuses him of sexual assault, according to KDKA in Pittsburgh. The Steelers quarterback denies having sexual intercourse with the accuser.

Rape occurs the moment the consent disappears, even during intercourse. Consent may vanish instantly and without warning or reason.

Reportedly:

(1) Ben had bar hopping with his entourage, five bars, lots of drinking.

(2) Ben had been aggressively hitting on women and alleged called one a derogatory name because she had a boyfriend.

(3) The incident happened in the backroom of a club.

(4) Cameras caught the accuser and Ben touching each other.

(5) The girl had a head injury after her encounter with Ben and went immediately to the hospital. Ben claims she fell.

(6) The girl was described as hysterical for many hours.

Conclusion:

Ben is in some serious trouble because of statements he made to the police. He stated that he never had sexual intercourse with this girl. Why would the police request Ben’s DNA? It’s likely there is a rape kit. If the DNA comes back as a match then statements to police are going to come back to impeach the credibility of Ben. If it is shown he is a liar, then given the circumstances the likelihood of conviction escalates dramatically.

Here is the closer, vaginal tearing consistent with rape. Ben will likely claim it was entirely consensual. Two options: (1) She may have been afraid and “let it happen” (2) Ben forced himself on her. The prior means that evidence will not point to rape. The latter means the jail doors will shut pretty quickly. Science has come pretty far in determining the characteristics consistent with rape, it will not be likely that she just “liked it rough”.

Rape is not a crime of pleasure – women threw themselves at him. I think the psychology can be broken down into two major streams:

1) It creates a paralyzing psychosis where the attacker no longer sees the victim as equal. A lord and his serf , master to slave. The sense of entitlement blinds an attacker. For that moment it is not two equal people. There is Ben, king, Roethlisberger and some slut. It is a strange domination fantasy, but not totally unexplainable. Cave man take woman.

2) She wants it. It is a little more complicated than that, but the general idea is that Ben would think so highly of himself that he is literally giving her a gift – for her own good. Could you truly blame him? Women throw themselves at him constantly; it literally changes how your mind thinks.

In either case, the crazy thing is that he subjectively thought what he was doing was not wrong. A reasonable person generally doesn’t commit this act unless influenced by a psychosis possibly spurred on by alcohol.

Here is the cut. What is justice in this situation? I tread carefully here, because a serious crime has occurred. The equation balances

Deterrence

Retribution

Incapacitation

Rehabilitation

Restitution

Wiki Read More on Objectives of Justice…

My quick point is that each crime is never the same. Different offenders, psychologies, threats, preventions, situations etc. I previously wrote “Inchoate Justice: Should We Reconsider Sarah Kruzan?” where the totality of circumstances may offend a sense of justice. Sarah could use the exposure and it may change a perspective on theories of criminal justice.