Baseball Players Accused of Gang Rape Face Lawsuit

Remember the 17 year old girl who witnesses say was gang-raped by De Anza College baseball players? She has filed a civil suit against the ballplayers.

The lawsuit claims the men planned the attack--wherein the victim was given drinks, taken to a back room, gang raped and thrown up upon until three women soccer players busted in the door, carried her to their car and took her to the hospital--then they sent friends photos and videos of the attack, and finally lied and said she had agreed to have group sex with them. The Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr refused to press charges, citing insufficient evidence (despite eye witnesses! and the sheriff who said she believed a crime had been committed!). We held a protest in front of her office and the next day, in an unusual move, the DA submitted the case to the state Attorney General for review. Nine months later, the AG's office is still working on it, but the young woman wants justice served sooner than later.

Her suit names nine of the men and accuses them of rape, false imprisonment, and violating her privacy by sending images of the alleged assault to friends.

In April, Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies said another woman came forward and said that she was sexually assaulted months before in the same home, after being given shots of alcohol by members of the baseball team. No charges were filed in that case.

What is it about some male athletics that condones/fuels this violence against women? According to the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, one in three college sexual assaults are committed by athletes! And where the conviction rate among the general public is 80%, among athletes it is 38%! So they do it more, and get prosecuted less. This is a terrible state of affairs. We've got to get onto campuses and change the culture around sex, and consent and, more generally, we've got to change the underlying sexism and misogyny in our society that allows violence against women to continue.

The suit will be heard in July. Read the full story.