Never read the news comments section

[Shangri-laschild]

A police officer from the town I live in was arrested this week for rape. It was two ex girlfriends that came forward and accused him of rape and of choking at least one of them. I don't know all the details because after the first glance, I'm trying to stay away from looking at it too much for now. I'm willing to PM links to it but I'm not going to post one here because the issue on my mind isn't the cop part or whether or not he's guilty or even this case specifically.

The rapes were reported 2 years after they happened or at least after one of them happened. There is a third woman who they want to testify about him doing this before but they can't charge him for crimes against her because it's been too long. I made the mistake of reading the comments section on the article. The majority of the commenters were saying that anyone who reports rape that long after it happens (or even just not right after it happens) is most likely a lying crazy ex girlfriend. One person even said that it should be dropped because it took 2 years for it to be reported. Another said that it doesn't matter that the person was scared because he was a cop and that if something happens, you report it right away. It's really sad how much of a bad reaction happens whenever people report rape.

[Aragarthiel]

I learned to stay away from the comments on our local major news station's Facebook page LOOOONG ago, and it's even worse now that every third post is something about the Confederate flag. It's just not worth my sanity to try to argue with thick-skulled rednecks who get so defensive over something that's supposed to be purely "historical."

As for your news story, 2 years is not too long, in my opinion. With something so traumatic, it's understandable that someone may not want to talk about it for a while, or may be in therapy for that long so they can learn to talk about it with the people who need to know (like the police). I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is for rape but that should be the only way to determine if it's too late to charge someone.

[Rageaholic]

I only read the comments when I want to lose faith in humanity. As of now, it's racists who think all black people are wild animals. It's scary how many likes these racists get (they're often the top rated comment). The ones on youtube are the worst.

[s_stabeler]

To be honest, it's partially down to the fact that people who aren't flaming assholes generally cant' be bothered to comment- and liking a post is relatively anonymous, so people are more likely to like it than comment themselves.

[BlaqueKatt]

The majority of the commenters were saying that anyone who reports rape that long after it happens (or even just not right after it happens) is most likely a lying crazy ex girlfriend. One person even said that it should be dropped because it took 2 years for it to be reported. Another said that it doesn't matter that the person was scared because he was a cop and that if something happens, you report it right away. It's really sad how much of a bad reaction happens whenever people report rape.

Way too many people watch Law and order SVU and confuse it with real life.