Amish Sex Scandal

[matcom]

<snip>

VIROQUA, WIS. -- As Mary Byler sat in the courtroom on Wednesday, awaiting the sentencing of her brother for sexual assault, she had to wonder who'd really been on trial.

"I was molested by my father when I was 3 and gang-raped day after day by my cousins and brothers, starting when I was 6 or 7," she told the Star Tribune before Wednesday's sentencing. Byler, 20, alleges that she was raped more than 200 times by members of the Amish family in which she grew up. "And when I'd tell my mother about it, she'd tell me that if I had prayed harder, fought harder, these things wouldn't happen.

"I was sent to school ... and my mother told me, 'If you truly don't want this to happen, it won't.' I've been judged by the Amish all my life. I've been on trial all my life."

Mary Byler gets words of encouragement.Richard Tsong-TaatariiStar TribuneEli Byler, 24, who told the Star Tribune in April that he first raped his sister when Mary was 8 and he was 12, was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to one count of the sexual assault of a child.

"Eli, I hope you still hear my screaming in your nightmares," Mary Byler said in court, reading from a prepared statement as family members and nearly two dozen other Amish listened.

"You were my brother. "You should have protected me . . . and you raped me."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/362/4935629.html

[redqueen]

1. That is so tragic

More tragic still are the cases that go unreported, and the damaged lives that follow for generations afterward.

:cry:

[GingerSnaps]

3. They keep it quiet in Amish communities

What's sad is the Amish needs new blood because practically all of them are related to each other.

I hope that more rape and abuse victims come forward from Amish communities. It's about time!

:cry: :hug:

[redqueen]

5. It's not just the Amish

:(

[WinterStorm]

9. Sorry redqueen

I hear ya! :hug: :grouphug: :loveya: :cry:

[calico1]

2. Geez...

Makes you wonder how much stuff like this goes on in this closed society. Poor woman.

[WinterStorm]

4. It's Eli's turn now

Eli will experience what rape feels like :evilgrin:

[redqueen]

6. That won't help anything

I feel sorry for Eli's kids when he gets out and tries to start a normal life.

Incest - the gift that keeps on giving.

[WinterStorm]

7. So do I

At least the kids will be old enough to protect them selfs once he is released.

Eli must have been a victim himself and this might stop the abuse starting with his kids. The father or grandfather should have been going to prison.

[redqueen]

8. Oh he already has kids...

I couldn't bring myself to read the whole article... *sigh*

I hope you're right, and that his kids will be OK and break the cycle.

[nosmokes]

10. shrub's welcome to that voting bloc, as far as i'm concerned.

how many poor girls and boys are suffering through shit just like this because of faith based initiatives? that headstart program that's now run by the bible thumpers at billybob's bible foundation church down the road, they might be practicing a whole helluva lot of *forgiveness* there, too.

[Beware the Beast Man]

11. I don't think they vote.

They go to great lengths to distance themselves from the outside world. They also get tax-exempt status since they do not use public utilities, education or assistance.

[nosmokes]

12. some of them do vote, but it is a small %.

and while the amish themselves won't drive, they aren't above accepting a ride. where the *line* is drawn is very subjective. buttons are bad, but apparently gangbanging your female relatives is godly.

[radwriter0555]

13. The amish are clearly a cult...

cults are just freaky.

[Padraig18]

14. The Amish are VERY sexually repressed and uninformed about sex.

Without going into details, let me say that I know this to be true among the young men, and have no reason to assume it's different for the young women, based on what some of the guys have told me.