TheOtherView
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The Kobe Bryant rape case is so big that it made its way from Eagle County, Colo., to Iowa City. And that’s exactly why it was irresponsible — even immoral — for a few unsympathetic creeps to post the alleged victim’s name and phone number all over the Internet.

In a message left on her answering machine July 27, fifth-year University of Iowa senior John William Roche allegedly threatened to kill the woman, saying that he would violate her with a coat hanger.

This incident illustrates why the names of alleged rape victims should not be released by the media. Roche apparently got the name and phone number of the accuser from a Web site.

Irresponsible individuals took advantage of open records and put the name and number of Bryant’s accuser on Web sites, making her vulnerable to reckless people and potentially to more dangerous individuals who intend to do more than simply leave a phone message.

In our culture, rape victims continue to deal with an unwarranted stigma. It takes a great deal of courage for victims to file charges. The embarrassment of having their name associated with such an act, let alone the fear of becoming a target of animosity, is often enough to keep a victim from coming forward.

Until this society matures to a point where rape cases are not viewed with such controversy and emotion, the media and government should be extremely careful to protect alleged victims. If not, those individuals will always be susceptible to lunatic phone calls and threats, and they will be less willing to come forward with charges.

One of Roche’s friends said they had been drinking since 11 a.m. on the day of the alleged call and that Roche did not remember it the next day. Given the nature of Roche’s alleged behavior, it comes as no surprise that he was apparently extremely drunk. However, his drunkenness should be treated only as a mitigating factor, not as an excuse. This is not an every-weekend sort of drunken prank.

The woman listening to the message likely couldn’t care less whether the voice she heard came from a drunk or sober man. A threat was made on her life; joke or not, drunk or sober, it frightened her, and it was illegal.

However, Roche’s intoxication seems to indicate there was no malicious intent on his part. The threat likely had no chance of being carried out, and if Roche was indeed drunk, the court cannot ignore it.

With this in mind, the punishment should be more than a slap on the wrist but less than the maximum.

Roche’s case should be dealt with seriously, but five years in prison and a $250,000 fine would be an injustice.

This is a staff editorial from The Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa. This editorial was distributed by U-wire.