Organize the South

It’s starting to be pretty common in Georgia. Imprisoning young Black men for sex, I mean. There was the Marcus Dixon case. Just recently there’s Willie Williams, but his case is really more than 20 years old. Now I’ve learned about Genarlow Wilson.

Wilson was 17 years old when he attended a party that would make Hugh Heffner blush. I’m talking the 1970’s Heffner too. Wilson was videotaped having sex with a 17-year old girl as well as receiving oral sex from a 15-year old girl. The 17 year old was apparently drunk and may have been high as well during the act. Media sites consistently point out she never says stop during the video, but they don’t mention she may have not been in a state of mind to consent. We can absolutely say that Wilson is not guilty of raping her because there was a trial and Wilson was found not guilty. Personally, I think the standards of what constitutes rape in the US is far too lax. Even so, Wilson is not in prison for rape. He’s in prison for child molestation.

Yeah, you read that right. The jury that acquitted him of rape came back with a guilty verdict for child molestation because Wilson is clearly seen receiving oral sex from a 15 year old. They didn’t want to do it, but felt they had no choice. He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years with no parole. He’ll be classified as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Wilson wasn’t the only one charged that night, but he was the only one to go to trial. The others took plea agreements, and if Wilson had he wouldn’t be facing as much time. Last year the Georgia legislature passed HB 1059, a bill it called the Child Sexual Predator legislation. I call it the “Rep. Jerry Keen wants to be on Fox news” legislation. The bill was just stupid, you can see for yourself at the Fairness for Prisoners’ Families site on it. One part of the bill, however, did reclassify what Wilson was convicted of from a felony to a misdemeanor. It’s not retroactive though.

Crazy, isn’t it?

Wilson and others are stuck with Georgia’s horrific legislation and a 300-year history of white supremacy. The result is that a 17-year old is now considered a child molester. Of course, 85% of child molestation is done by someone close to the child (i.e. not a stranger). Something all of the laws mentioned seem to try real hard to not consider. One would think that laws allegedly aimed at ending child molestation would consider these facts.

Crazy, isn’t it?

For more info about the Wilson case check out these sites:

Wilson Appeal
ESPN feature
Recent ABC news article
Atlanta Magazine article
New York Times article
Wikipedia entry