“An Ann Arbor man is facing rape charges after police said he convinced a victim of a previous sexual assault that he wanted to help police by re-enacting the crime early Saturday morning… The woman said Stephens, whom she had known for several years, saw her and approached her in a grocery store about a week ago. During their conversation she said she was sexually assaulted in early May and that police were investigating but had not made an arrest, reports said. At the end of that conversation he agreed to fix her air conditioner in the near future, she said. As the victim prepared for bed after midnight, Stephens came over holding a brown paper bag with a bottle of tequila, reports said. She told police that he said he had a friend in the police department who was interested in the case and suggested they re-enact the incident for ‘vital’ information. She agreed and they began drinking, as on the night of the previous assault. At one point they even rearranged furniture and placed stuffed animals in chairs to represent other people who were there that night, police reports said. The victim told police she drank five shots of tequila and didn’t remember how they ended up in her bedroom, where Stephens began ripping off her clothes. She said she fought him off and ran into an attached bathroom, but he ran through the doorway before she could close the door. He then forced her onto the bed and beat and choked her during the assault, reports said.” — Ann Arbor News (US)

(Thanks to Furpo for the link.)

A rape is a rape is a rape is a rape, as Gertrude Stein might have said. If the woman was assaulted, the man deserves to be punished. Period.

That being said, it is difficult not to think that the woman deserves some punishment too. Nobody but the perp likes to blame the victim, and yet her behavior screams that she was “asking for it.” Granted, it may have been inconceivable to her that the same fellow who listened sympathetically to her tale of assault would turn around and assault her too. But when a guy comes over at midnight to “fix your air conditioner,” and when he encourages you to quaff half a bottle of tequila, and when he moves you into the bedroom with an outrageous story about reenacting a sex crime, isn’t that when the alarm bells should go off? How gullible, dumb, desperate, or drunk do you need to be to fall for this con?

There was a similar story a few years ago where a guy posed as a professional sex crime reenactor who would “audition” women for their ability to give realistic simulations of violent sexual assaults. Since this guy was handsome and promised lucrative “acting” careers to convincing victims, you can kind of understand how people fell for it. But this woman who got mauled by the air-conditioning man? It is hard to understand how she let this guy into her apartment, let alone her bedroom. It leaves you thinking that she may have been a willing partner until the guy started to beat and choke her.

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