Troubling incident in San Pedro

[george_austin]

It wouldn't be a compelling story to me when I learned that she just finished her class with the accused after the alleged assault and left. If there's no more evidence than her story, the accused may walk away and that's probably why he was able to bail out of the jail.

I would never be with a female student alone for just this reason.

 

[boulderjohn]

Leaving and/or sending a student into the water with a dm in training without himself (the instructor) present is likely a violation of PADI standards too.

It is definitely a violation of standards.

I know nothing about this case other than what is in this thread, so I have no idea on the particulars. I do know that when a violation is reported to PADI, it first investigates and then decides upon an appropriate action if the investigation confirms a violation. A number of options are available, ranging from a simple warning to expulsion. You are not going to get expelled over something minor. It has to be big.

Wouldn't that in and of itself, be big enough?

I have no idea where the lines are drawn. I have never been investigated for a transgression, and the only person I know who was investigated was because a student misremembered a detail from his instruction on a followup survey. PADI investigated and was satisfied that the student was wrong (and he certainly was), and it was a minor detail that would probably have led to nothing more than a reminder of standards. There was a case in Virginia a year or two ago in which a member was expelled, but it was a very serious case that included the death of a student while the instructor was breaking standards. There were rumors that more was involved than was made public, but none of those rumors were confirmed to anyone I know.

I caution people not to jump to conclusions. PADI will not reveal why it took the action it did, which is understandable. When I was a school administrator, I had to deal with some serious personnel issues. I was, of course, forbidden to talk about the details. The people involved, on the other hand, were free to give their versions of the stories to everyone they knew. As you might guess, they left out the really juicy tidbits and made it look like I was overreacting. I was not, but I could not tell anyone why. Similarly, it would be a mistake to assume that anyone not directly involved knows all there is to know about this case.

 

[Downing]

Like I said earlier, these cases are tough to prosecute as well as tough to defend. With a lack of physical evidence, these often break down into "he said, she said" type trials. Even if the complainant seems totally believable the accused is often acquitted because a compelling story alone often isn't enough to obtain a conviction.

The aftermath is usually pretty ugly, too, for both parties. If there's a conviction, the victim will often feel a lack of closure anyway and wonder if the trial was worth the stress and humiliation. The convicted usually continues to protest his or her innocence anyway, undermining confidence in the verdict. If there's an acquittal, the accuser often feels like he/she wasn't believed and the accused has to deal with a reputation still in tatters.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Especially in an environment that thrives on gossip and with little concern for the truth of a matter. They even have
a word for their passtime: yerriso. And an expression: If dah nuh soh, da nearly soh

 

[cbright]

It wouldn't be a compelling story to me when I learned that she just finished her class with the accused after the alleged assault and left.

Wow! In the spirit of education, please take a minute to put yourself in the girl's shoes . . . Think about a time when you have been shocked and upset in the extreme . . . when something you were not expecting happened, and upset you A LOT. How did you react? Did you respond in a composed and rational way? Or do you now look at the situation and say 'I should have done it differently'? Why didn't you handle it better in the moment?

The truth is that a LARGE proportion of victims of sexual assault do not fight back or 'freeze' in the face of sexual violence. There are numerous reasons given for this some of which, include fear that the situation will escalate if they respond, the fight/flight/freeze instinct taking over, and years and years of socialization that teaches women not to be be aggressive or assertive. In this case, I strongly suspect that the girl was too shocked and upset to know what to do, she was quite literally 'lost for words' (and actions). Have you ever been lost for words?

Studies show that most women PLAN to defend themselves in the face of sexual harassment, and believe that they SHOULD defend themselves, but when the event actually happens they don't. (Much like the way many divers forget the 'safety rules' when under stress). Consider for example the following extract from this article (http://theconversation.com/sexual-harassment-victims-less-assertive-than-they-planned-10634):

Associate Professor Paula McDonald, an researcher of sexual harassment from the Queensland University of Technology’s Business School, said the study was consistent with her own research.
“Our findings show that targets often want to and intend to respond assertively to the harasser, realise that an assertive response is important in making the harassment stop, and even rehearse – to themselves or with the assistance of their supporters and/or family members – a clear and direct message that the harassment is unwanted and offensive,” she said.
“They consistently report however, that when the situation arises, they often fail to do so.”
. . .
Another sexual harassment researcher, Adjunct Professor Jeanne Madison from the University of New England’s School of Health said the findings should not surprise anyone who has been on the receiving end of sexual harassment.
“Harassers often count on surprising the harassed, or catching the harassed ‘off guard’. We all think of great rejoinders well after the fact, no matter the kind of incident in question,” she said.
“The harasser can be, and usually is, physically, economically, organisationally, socially more powerful which also reduces the chances of an assertive, or heaven forbid, aggressive, instant response.”
​

If you still can't relate to the way the girl reacted, try watching this video between 2:50 and 4:50 where an advocate against sexual harassment describes how she froze in the face of an assault: Men Just Won't Stop With the Public Sexual Harassment of Women

I'd also like to draw your attention to the fact that only a small percentage of sexual assualts are reported, and one of the main reasons given for not reporting is the fear of not being believed. This is from the UK rape crisis website (Common misconceptions about rape):

Myth Women often make up stories or lie about being raped.
Fact For anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted, whether or not to report to the police can be a difficult decision. At present, it's estimated that only 15% of the 85,000 women who are raped and over 400,000 who are sexually assaulted in England and Wales every year report. One significant reason many women and girls tell us they don't go to the police is because of their fear of not being believed.
Unfortunately, a disproportionate media focus on the very small number of cases each year that involve a so-called false allegation of sexual violence perpetuates the public perception that malicious false reporting is common. In fact, it is this perception that is entirely false. For many years, studies have suggested that false reporting rates for rape are no different from false reporting rates for any other crime, that is, around 4%. In March 2013, the Crown Prosecution Service published a survey confirming that false rape reports are 'very rare' and suggesting they could make up less than 1% of all reports. Read more here.
​

Another reason that women don't usually report, is that there is a high probability she won't get justice, as this chart shows: https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates

 

[AWMIII]

Case continued until October. Defense has new evidence that they need to prepare. October is the next available slot in the court's schedule

 

[AWMIII]

Found guilty. Sentencing next week.

 

[boulderjohn]

Found guilty. Sentencing next week.

Any more details available?

 

[AWMIII]

Sentenced to 5 years. It is the last item on this blotter:
Police Report - The San Pedro Sun News

 

[boulderjohn]

Given the little bit of information we got on what actually happened, it would appear to me that 5 years is a pretty strong sentence. This suggests to me that there must have been more to it than the few details in those vague descriptions.

There was an awful lot of discussion about the case and its relationship to Amigos Del Mar, PADI, etc. Since then I have read a piece written by Amigos Del Mar giving their version of things and saying that they had nothing to do with the incident in any way. I don't know what to believe. It would be interesting to have details related to that as well.