Alleged Rapist's Confession Wasn't Enough For Senate Candidate
LatestMore details have emerged from that rape case Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck declined to prosecute. Namely, that the alleged perpetrator acknowledged that it was rape in a taped phone call.
The The Colorado Independent posted a transcript of the call, which was in the police file. The most relevant part is this one:
Victim: “You do realize that … it’s rape.”
Suspect: “Yeah, I do.”
Victim: “Like in a number of different ways, because I didn’t want to do it and because I was intoxicated and because I was afraid.”
Suspect: “Yes I do. I know.”
There’s more that is a chilling glimpse into the real-life thinking of how one man explained or justified his behavior — though the conversation shows he had previously discussed consent with the woman, who was actually an advocate for sexual assault survivors.
The Independent says that because the recording of the call was made without the man’s knowledge, it couldn’t be used in court. As we noted yesterday, the transcript of Buck’s conversation with the victim expressed skepticism from the start, said she had invited him in, and brought up her past abortion (a procedure she denies) after being impregnated by the suspect.
It included the victim pointing out, “His statement says, ‘When he finished, … (reading police report) … tried to get the victim to wake the victim up so he could apologize.’ How is that not ‘physically helpless, meaning unconscious, asleep or unable to act?'”
The Buck campaign has pointed out that “as a prosecutor, he started a multiagency sexual assault review team and sexual assault nurse examiner program to provide care to victims and collect evidence in criminal cases.”
Buck’s opponent, Michael Bennet, isn’t missing an opportunity to portray Buck as hostile to women. He even cut an ad criticizing Buck’s opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest (but stopped short of actually making a pro-choice statement, as far as we can tell.) The head of the Republican party in Colorado responded by saying, “it shows how intellectually bankrupt Democrats are in the race that they’re running ads on abortion when the public is so concerned about the economy and taxes and spending.”
Suspect In Troubling 05 Buck Case Said He Knew It Was Rape [Colorado Independent]