And what if the accused minor is innocent? Not saying that is the case here, I know nothing about it, but in general errors do occur sometimes and we can’t burden an innocent person with the massive stigma of being accused of sexually abusing children.
There needs to be balance, obviously. If police are certain enough that there are more victims, age shouldn’t matter.
Whatever code of conduct applies to other cases where the name of the accused has been released should be exercised here.
Being a minor doesn’t excuse the seriousness of the crime, and when the potential for other victims to come forward exists, the justice system needs to accommodate them, not the accused.
…and what if he is innocent? Seriously consider that possibility. The police doesn’t know at this point, and neither do we. The mere association of his name with that crime can ruin his life even if he was completely innocent. And btw I agree the age of the accused should not matter.
Then I would say to have enough of an investigation to warrant publishing his name. Enough reason to believe that the victim is telling the truth and that more would come forward.
My concern is that once a lengthy trial process starts, it’s harder to find justice for other victims. It’s far better to have one trial for all cases, than separate trials just strung along (if that would even happen).
You make very valid points and I think we agree that there needs to be a balance or compromise that is never going to maximize the ability of the victims to obtain justice and at the same time also maximize the protection of innocent defendants. There will always have this tension between these two goals.
And what if the accused minor is innocent? Not saying that is the case here, I know nothing about it, but in general errors do occur sometimes and we can’t burden an innocent person with the massive stigma of being accused of sexually abusing children.
There needs to be balance, obviously. If police are certain enough that there are more victims, age shouldn’t matter.
Whatever code of conduct applies to other cases where the name of the accused has been released should be exercised here.
Being a minor doesn’t excuse the seriousness of the crime, and when the potential for other victims to come forward exists, the justice system needs to accommodate them, not the accused.
…and what if he is innocent? Seriously consider that possibility. The police doesn’t know at this point, and neither do we. The mere association of his name with that crime can ruin his life even if he was completely innocent. And btw I agree the age of the accused should not matter.
Then I would say to have enough of an investigation to warrant publishing his name. Enough reason to believe that the victim is telling the truth and that more would come forward.
My concern is that once a lengthy trial process starts, it’s harder to find justice for other victims. It’s far better to have one trial for all cases, than separate trials just strung along (if that would even happen).
You make very valid points and I think we agree that there needs to be a balance or compromise that is never going to maximize the ability of the victims to obtain justice and at the same time also maximize the protection of innocent defendants. There will always have this tension between these two goals.