A judge from New Jersey has been rebuked for giving leniency to a 16-year-old boy accused of rape at a pajama party because he ‘gets good grades’ and came from a ‘good family.
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69-year-old James Troiano didn’t let the teen to be tried in adult court, saying the boy had not shown ‘calculation or cruelty’ and the claims were not a ‘traditional case of rape.’
The judge also complained that the alleged victim hadn’t been told about the ‘devastating effect’ that a full adult trial would have on the accused.
However, Troiano’s decision has been overturned by a higher court warning the retired judge, who was asked to fill vacancies, of any bias towards privileged alleged perpetrators.
This means the case would be moved from family court to a grand jury where the 16-year-old would be treated as an adult.
Prosecutors said that the boy had assaulted a 16-year-old girl at the party in 2017. After drinking, he allegedly recorded himself raping her in a dark room and shared the video with his friends. He wrote: “When your first time having sex was rape.”
According to court documents: “While on the sofa, a group of boys sprayed Febreze on Mary’s bottom and slapped it with such force that the following day she had hand marks on her buttocks.”
Prosecutors said the alleged victim called ‘Mary’ was ‘visibly intoxicated, physically helpless and unable to provide consent,’ and applied for the 16-year-old boy to be tried as an adult.
“At the time he led Mary into the basement gym, she was visibly intoxicated and unable to walk without stumbling,” the prosecutor wrote.
“For the duration of the assault, the lights in the gym remained off and the door was barred by a foosball table. Filming a cellphone video while committing the assault was a deliberate act of debasement.
“This was neither a childish misinterpretation of the situation, nor was it a misunderstanding,” they added.
“His behavior was calculated and cruel. This level of criminal sophistication warrants the elevation of this case via involuntary waiver to the adult criminal court.”
But Judge Troiano disagreed and said prosecutors should’ve explained to the girl how pressing charges would destroy the attacker’s life.
He said: “Do I believe that it shows in any way a calculation or cruelty on his part or sophistication or a predatory nature? No, I do not.
“This young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well.”
The judge added: “He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college. His scores for college entry were very high.”
He also ignored the boy’s text message because “a 16-year-old kid saying stupid crap to his friends.”
The judge ordered the teen to be tried as a juvenile but a New Jersey appeals court reversed his decision.
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