Message to would-be rapists in Beaufort County: You’ll probably get away with it

Rape cases are difficult.

I’m presenting those four words to you now so we can establish this as our baseline fact.

Rape cases are difficult.

I know it. You know it. We’re on the same page.

Now I’m going to tell you why those four words are nothing more than a pathetic cop-out from the 14th circuit solicitor’s office and why it’s time for us to demand more.

In Beaufort County, one man out of the 56 charged with adult sexual assault in the past seven years has been convicted of that crime.

One.

Solicitor Duffie Stone’s reaction to that statistic?

A pointed finger and a reference to a fat, syphilitic crime boss.

The local sex assault conviction rate is about the same as the state’s, Stone said in Sunday’s Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

In other words, he employed the “it’s not just me” defense of mediocrity.

But he’s right.

We are on par with the rest of South Carolina, a state that routinely ranks among the lowest in its treatment of women, which is apparently OK with Stone’s office.

Or at least enough OK for him to offer that comparison as an explanation for his own team’s sickening numbers.

Here is what the number 56 means, by the way: It means that local law enforcement agencies found enough evidence to support their belief that those 56 men did, in fact, sexually assault their victims.

I will say it again, rape cases are difficult.

Stone’s office has an unenviable task that I certainly don’t want to underestimate.

They must use that evidence and the victim’s testimony to skillfully convince a motley crew of people — who are the product of a culture that views rape as buyer’s remorse or the inevitable conclusion to your mini-skirt and third cocktail — that this crime happened, that this woman isn’t lying and that this man did it.

It is an unenviable task indeed.

That is, when they actually go to trial.

Because here’s the thing. The solicitor’s office doesn’t really do that with rape cases.

Instead they dismiss the cases or offer plea deals to lesser charges that aren’t related to a sex crime.

Now, again, it’s not so simple.

Sometimes victims don’t want to testify. Sometimes they don’t want to go through with the case.

This happens.

And sometimes it makes the most sense to get guilty pleas from suspects on charges they will readily admit to because it means not having to go to prison for too long, if at all, and not having to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.

Stone considers these plea deals to be a risk assessment in sexual assault cases.

Kind of like with that case ... you know, the one with the fat, syphilitic crime boss?

“How’d you get Al Capone?” Stone said in Sunday’s paper. “Any way you could. Do you think they were cracking down on tax evasion? No, this is what we can get them on.”

Why is your rapist out raping again 90 days after going to jail?

Because in the 1920s the feds had a neato idea.

Like I said, though, there are lots of reasons to use a lesser-crime tactic.

But I’m not going to ignore this and neither should you: One of those reasons is that it keeps the solicitor’s losses to a minimum.

Stone would deny that numbers have anything to do with this.

But, come on.

Good solicitor’s offices go for the wins.

It’s common sense.

What incentive is there to try and fail?

Juries want hard evidence that the woman did not give the man consent.

They want a magical unicorn to float down from the courtroom ceiling with a crystal ball that re-creates the scene leading up to the assault so they can see whether there was a handshake deal.

But there are no handshakes deals.

And there are no magical unicorns in Beaufort County.

We just have Duffie Stone and his people.

And that is their job.

To put the jury right there in the moments leading up to the crime. To make them see the truth that is in front of them.

To fight and fight and fight for that win.

To give women like Daryan Payne — to give the fathers and mothers and friends and siblings of rape victims — a restored faith in a justice system that has flat-out failed them.

Like Shauw Chin Capps of Hopeful Horizons said in Sunday’s editions, the solicitor’s office needs more practice at prosecuting rape cases.

They need to try.

If a victim is brave enough to come forward in the name of justice, of righting a wrong, of protecting the women who will inevitably come after them otherwise, then Duffie Stone and his team need to be that brave too.

Braver even.

Because “one in 56 men” doesn’t just send a message.

It practically grants permission.

Good solicitor’s offices go for the wins.

Great ones seek justice.

It’s time for Duffie Stone’s office to decide which one they are.

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Message to would-be rapists in Beaufort County: You’ll probably get away with it."