Strangers on train who filmed with their phones a woman being raped might be charged

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
126

Man rapes woman on train.
Police do not believe a single witness on the train dialed 911.

“I can tell you that people were holding their phone up in the direction of this woman being attacked,” he said.

The New York Times reported that Superintendent Bernhardt said that people who recorded the attack and failed to intervene could possibly be charged.


Charged with what?
 

eelw

Diamond Member
Dec 4, 1999
8,937
4,263
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Like I'll admit, not necessarily a safe neighbourhood, I'd be reluctant to intervene. Who knows if he'll pull out a gun or knife. But not to call 911 for over 40 minutes?
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,204
28,223
136

Man rapes woman on train.
Police do not believe a single witness on the train dialed 911.

“I can tell you that people were holding their phone up in the direction of this woman being attacked,” he said.

The New York Times reported that Superintendent Bernhardt said that people who recorded the attack and failed to intervene could possibly be charged.


Charged with what?
criminal indifference
seinfeld-last-episode.jpg
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
33,382
7,446
136
We live in a society where there is a potential for a tremendous amount of backlash for a variety of reasons if you intervene.

Safely and efficiently protecting that victim, without placing yourself in undue harm, is illegal. Because you would have to strike first before they knew what hit them. That is a risk of a murder charge. Or manslaughter. Or other various charges for violence and injury. Especially if you mistake the situation and the couple were just role playing. You never know. Do you have a job, a home, a family? Protecting what you have against the risk that society condemns you for acting weighs heavily on us all.

Take the controversy of a police officer saving a girl from a knife in the heart. He had ZERO time to react. Did a heck of a job stopping a murder as the fatal blow was being delivered. He is vilified and at least a small contingent want him crucified. Do you want to be in that position, where doing the right thing puts a target on your back? On your family's back? As an employee we are trained to look the other way. To not intervene. Call and wait for others. That is our society at large. Even those who are supposed to protect others are instead attacked for doing so.

Passivity is beaten into us all, and to an extent it certainly works.
 

Sunburn74

Diamond Member
Oct 5, 2009
5,025
2,593
136
criminal indifference
seinfeld-last-episode.jpg

I figure there's probably some sort of porn law they can use as well, something that plays on videotaping people without consent.

I think you could also probably find most of these people civilly liable for infliction of emotional distress. What a mess.
 

weblooker2021

Senior member
Jan 18, 2021
749
254
96
Good luck to them charging them with anything. As free Americans we are free to mind our own business and not to call 911.
 

VW MAN

Senior member
Jun 27, 2020
677
861
96
Good luck to them charging them with anything. As free Americans we are free to mind our own business and not to call 911.
If this was 100% true then things like 18 U.S.C. § 4 wouldn't exist. Nor would laws in the big red "law and order" states of Texas where you can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for failing to report an offense that resulted in serious bodily injury or death or Ohio where it's illegal to knowingly fail to report a felony exist. So umm yeah...freedom has actual consequences, use accordingly.
 

weblooker2021

Senior member
Jan 18, 2021
749
254
96
If this was 100% true then things like 18 U.S.C. § 4 wouldn't exist. Nor would laws in the big red "law and order" states of Texas where you can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor for failing to report an offense that resulted in serious bodily injury or death or Ohio where it's illegal to knowingly fail to report a felony exist. So umm yeah...freedom has actual consequences, use accordingly.
Any law can be passed, until it's challenged it's the law.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,415
14,303
136
Any law can be passed, until it's challenged it's the law.
There shouldn't have to be any laws requiring people to behave ethically or morally, as one would think that people would do that of their own accord. But unfortunately, people like those who witnessed this horrible crime and their sympathizers like you exist, and that's how the passage of laws is justified.
 
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VW MAN

Senior member
Jun 27, 2020
677
861
96
Any law can be passed, until it's challenged it's the law.
Did you know that the 18 U.S.C. § 4 I sited has been around since like the 1860's...why hasn't it been changed? Fucking idiots like you pretend you have all the freedoms in the world and anyone and everyone can just fuck right off, when the reality of the situation is freedom isn't free, it comes with a high price, with actual morality being top of the list in order to be a valuable member to society within a functioning society. But keep right on playing the dumb ass 'merica game, your tiny brain can do no better.
 
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Artorias

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
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I don't see how anyone couldn't have stepped into the next car and called 911

Was their no alarm switch on the train?

Over here you press the switch which alerts the train operator to stop at the next station, and then transit authorities investigate the emergency. Seen it used several times for when there was a medical emergency.
 

Artorias

Platinum Member
Feb 8, 2014
2,106
1,380
136
Jesus, just read more of the article. 40 minutes. Let that sink in for a moment. Imagine being raped for 40 minutes and no one coming to help.
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
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Jesus, just read more of the article. 40 minutes. Let that sink in for a moment. Imagine being raped for 40 minutes and no one coming to help.
Umm, no. she wasnt raped for 40 minutes. she was harassed for 40 minutes and it ended with a rape.
NOW, why nobody did anything during the 40 minutes of harassment is a very interesting question. Its not like the olden days when there was no way to call for help.
 
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Jul 9, 2009
10,719
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So what you would have done the right thing. Then the court can decide.
$20,000 - $100,000 in lawyers fees and 2 years later i guess i'd be happy i did the right thing. If the government had done the right thing in the first place this illegal immigrant would have been sent home.
 

SmCaudata

Senior member
Oct 8, 2006
969
1,532
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$20,000 - $100,000 in lawyers fees and 2 years later i guess i'd be happy i did the right thing. If the government had done the right thing in the first place this illegal immigrant would have been sent home.
The overwhelming majority of rapes are comitte by citizens of the USA.

If our lawmakers and police actually took rape seriously this would be less prevalent.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,404
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woolfe9998

Lifer
Apr 8, 2013
16,188
14,090
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In some locations failure to report certain crimes is a violation of law. Example if you see a 6 year old girl being raped and you walk away and fail to call police
Is Failing to Report a Crime Itself Illegal? - Manshoory Law Group, APC

In very few states, almost always involving children, and is a misdemeanor anyway.

Crime reporting obligations do kick in for certain professionals like doctors and schools who must report evidence of child abuse.

There is also a special relationship between parent and child where the parent may have to report a crime against the child or it is criminal child neglect.

The general rule, however, is that there is no such obligation.
 

woolfe9998

Lifer
Apr 8, 2013
16,188
14,090
136
We live in a society where there is a potential for a tremendous amount of backlash for a variety of reasons if you intervene.

Safely and efficiently protecting that victim, without placing yourself in undue harm, is illegal. Because you would have to strike first before they knew what hit them. That is a risk of a murder charge. Or manslaughter. Or other various charges for violence and injury. Especially if you mistake the situation and the couple were just role playing. You never know. Do you have a job, a home, a family? Protecting what you have against the risk that society condemns you for acting weighs heavily on us all.

Take the controversy of a police officer saving a girl from a knife in the heart. He had ZERO time to react. Did a heck of a job stopping a murder as the fatal blow was being delivered. He is vilified and at least a small contingent want him crucified. Do you want to be in that position, where doing the right thing puts a target on your back? On your family's back? As an employee we are trained to look the other way. To not intervene. Call and wait for others. That is our society at large. Even those who are supposed to protect others are instead attacked for doing so.

Passivity is beaten into us all, and to an extent it certainly works.

This goes back to the controversy over the Kitty Genovese case in New York back in the 60's. Psychologists actually discovered that the more people who are perceived to be witnessing the crime, the less likely an individual is to report it because they assume someone else will. They call it "the bystander effect."
 
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