Monday, February 8, 2010

Wyoming Woman Assaulted

A woman in Wyoming was raped in her own home and left bound in her living room. One of the men who is being charged with the crime claims to have been fulfilling a "rape fantasy" that the woman had. Ty Oliver McDowell admitted to going to her house and having sex with her, but says he thought that was what she wanted because of his email correspondence with her. Authorities say that McDowell was actually communicating with the woman's ex boyfriend who set up the assault. Days before the crime occurred, the victim had contacted authorities saying someone had posted an online ad with false information about her. Jebidiah James Stipe is the victims ex who is being charged with first-degree sexual assault for his role in this terrible crime. What about McDowell? He is being charged with with three counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary. Now, sick as it may sound, what if McDowell is telling the truth? What if he did think he was talking directly to the woman via email and that they had discussed some kinky sexual fantasies? As wrong and uncomfortable as that may seem to some of us, there are a lot of fetishes and sexual encounters that we don't all agree with. If Stipe did pose as his ex girlfriend to put in her harms way, his intentions were nothing short of evil. McDowell could have gone into the situation truly feeling like he was a part of some twisted sex fantasy and nothing more. How do you proceed in a case like this? The evidence should allow us to see what really happened, and who is ultimately responsible. It may be proven that McDowell is a victim too. If he only thought it was a fantasy, when in fact it was a brutal attack, he may have issues to address with himself and what damage he caused the victim. The entire crime seems cruel and complicated. Were the two men working together on this? And what does the victim think? How can we prevent others from impersonating us on the Internet? In 2008, Craigslist agreed to tighten its adult services advertisements as part of an agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They now have different requirements and are working with numerous states to try and prevent some of these things from happening, or at least being able to track people who post the ads. This case shows us just how bad it can get and how horrible people can be to one another.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35272248/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

1 comment:

  1. As horrifying as it is, you might be right about McDowell not knowing that he was committing a crime.
    He just changed his plea from not guilty to guilty out of realizing what actually happened.
    It's a strange twist, but his admission of guilt and wanting to try to do the right thing makes him less guilty in a way.
    I just feel horrible for the woman and for him.
    Maybe their lawyers should team up on Stipe.

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