I am fucking furious tonight.  Especially in light of that royal rapist getting away with his crime.  I hope the “settlement” doesn’t include a gag order on Ms. Giuffre, that she can tell every detail and testify to help others.

I was watching youtube videos, collections of reddit stories, and a few of them were about high school reunions (e.g. worst, most surprising things to happen, etc.).  I have never attended a reunion, and have no inclination to go back to Canada for my school’s fortieth anniversary, if there were one.

For a lark, I looked up links for any previous reunions of the 1985 class.

A ten year old news article popped up in the search: “Teacher charged with sexual assault”.  I read the bastard’s name, a gym teacher and basketball coach at my high school.  And I knew exactly which one of my classmates he was raping for five years.

I searched for other articles hoping for a proper resolution.  Instead, he got “a year of house arrest” instead of a minimum five years in prison after pleading guilty.  This from the same BC courts that allowed a catholic archbishop to walk after raping two First Nations women.  (*)  Once again, the white male run “legal system” protects its own.

I don’t care that the case was tried 36 years after the fact.  That doesn’t make his actions any less appalling.  She was the same age as me, 13 to 18 years old when he groomed, abused, and raped her. He forced her to get an abortion at one point.  Being put on the sex offender registry is not enough.

I was surprised to see – and admired her – for choosing to waive her right to privacy. She spoke in the papers for the sake of others, to give them the courage to come forward. I wish I could say something to her, but I doubt it would help to try and contact her out of the blue after 37 years.

For the first time in my life, I’m glad I was bullied and a social outcast at school.  I wasn’t a “cool kid”, wasn’t part of the rumour mills and gossip, so I heard very little, and I wasn’t part of spreading rumours around the school. I may have been a kid like she was, but that doesn’t make me feel less guilty, wishing I could have done something. She was one of the kinder people at school, friends with everyone, which is probably why he targeted her.

Again, the story was in the newspapers, but for the sake of her privacy, I’m not linking to them.

(* In the catholic cultist’s case, the decision was overturned by the surpreme court and the case retried.  He was convicted and died in prison.)