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Demovictory9

(37,113 posts)
Fri Oct 22, 2021, 10:00 AM Oct 2021

SEPTA train rape narrative is NOT TRUE... [View all]

The story of a horrific rape last week aboard a SEPTA train on the outskirts of Philly seemed to get even worse when cops revealed that bystanders sat by and did nothing to help, instead holding up their phones to record the incident. Now, Delaware County's chief prosecutor says that narrative is a false one, and that there's surveillance video to prove it. "That is simply not true. It did not happen," District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Thursday of the story floating that fellow passengers "watched this transpire and took videos of it for their own gratification," per NBC Philadelphia.


Stollsteimer says SEPTA security footage shows a "handful" of travelers hopping on and off the elevated commuter train on Oct. 13, but he adds they may not have realized exactly what was happening, especially during the times when the train was moving. As for everyone sitting around recording the rape, Stollsteimer says there may have been two people who did so, but at least one of them "probably" flagged down SEPTA staff. "People in this region are not, in my experience, so inhuman and callous" that they would do such a thing "for their own private enjoyment," Stollsteimer notes.

The original passengers-did-nothing narrative emerged from SEPTA officials and Upper Darby Police Department Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt, with Bernhardt calling it "disturbing." On Thursday, Stollsteimer didn't appear to point the finger at anyone in particular, but he slammed what he said was "misinformation" and compared the case to that of Kitty Genovese, who was stabbed to death in Queens in 1964. The story at the time was that dozens of witnesses similarly ignored her pleas for help, but it's a tale that's since been debunked, Stollsteimer noted, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

https://www.newser.com/story/312469/da-not-true-others-filmed-rape-for-own-gratification.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_world_login

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Uh...it still seems like a sexual assault with an unwilling victim Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #1
"Isn't there a button or cord or something that can be pulled to set off an alarm to stop the train? brooklynite Oct 2021 #8
Pull the alarm at a stop then. Can't that be done? This is what Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #15
The point is that it did not seem like an assault with an unwilling victime Hortensis Oct 2021 #17
It's pretty fucking depraved to watch even truly consensual intercourse on a train Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #18
Depraved to record it to show friends, maybe, but people Hortensis Oct 2021 #19
I have never seen people openly having sex in public. Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #20
Yes, the real story is a shocking and more than disgusting event. Hortensis Oct 2021 #24
The article goes on to state that perhaps two people recorded the crime as it took place. Irish_Dem Oct 2021 #2
Yeah, it's weird. Maybe the prosecutor is trying to defend the city by saying, "It's not that bad!" Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #3
Yep, that is my read of it as well. He is trying to do damage control. Irish_Dem Oct 2021 #5
Even if they thought it was consensual, you still can't be doing that on a train. Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #4
Exactly. Anyway you slice it, looks very bad. Irish_Dem Oct 2021 #6
I find this story so disturbing, especially as a woman--that someone can Wingus Dingus Oct 2021 #7
Yes, as women we think a public place is safe. Irish_Dem Oct 2021 #12
Rape doesn't always look like rape. WhiskeyGrinder Oct 2021 #13
As someone else pointed out, consensual sex on a train should be reported. Irish_Dem Oct 2021 #14
So it didn't happen... sarisataka Oct 2021 #9
Oh, well that's a relief... AkFemDem Oct 2021 #10
Right? The article itself states that "only" two people sat around recording it. yardwork Oct 2021 #22
Kitty Genovese story was also untrue greenjar_01 Oct 2021 #11
Wow that's some pretty BS spin pinkstarburst Oct 2021 #16
The text of the article doesn't match the headline assertion. yardwork Oct 2021 #21
The DA's statement is full of weasel words. former9thward Oct 2021 #23
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