A big congratulations to MrB’s nonprofit investigative reporting organization, ProPublica, on its third Pulitzer Prize! The article was a collaboration with another nonprofit, The Marshall Project, which specializes in covering criminal justice.
T. Christian Miller, a senior reporter for ProPublica, and Ken Armstrong, a writer for The Marshall Project, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” This is a must-read story, especially if you’ve ever said (or even thought), “Why didn’t she go to the police right away?” about a rape victim.
Eighteen-year-old Marie suffered what some people think of as the only kind of “real” rape, meaning it wasn’t perpetrated by an acquaintance; she hadn’t been drinking; and she hadn’t accepted pills from a famous comedian. She was sleeping alone in her own bed in her own apartment when she was awakened by a stranger with a knife, who tied her up, blindfolded her, gagged her and then raped her. No way you could blame the victim, right? Wrong.
The problem was that Marie — who’d already endured an abusive childhood and multiple moves within the foster-care system — was detached, rather than hysterical, in the wake of the attack. The people closest to her doubted her story based solely on her affect, then passed those doubts to the police. That was enough for the police to start picking through her statements for inconsistencies and treating her as a suspect. Under pressure, she said she’d made up the story. When she tried to recant her recantation, she wasn’t allowed to. She was charged with making a false report and threatened with a year in jail.
Meanwhile, a serial rapist really was on the loose — one who continued to rape after Marie’s attack. To learn about the extent of his crime spree and how he was finally caught, read the whole story yourself. You’ll also find out what kind of behaviors to expect from rape victims. (Hint: Victims don’t have to live up to whatever expectations you’ve developed from watching crime shows on television.)
CLICK HERE TO READ “AN UNBELIEVABLE STORY OF RAPE.”
There are related, eye-opening stories to read that dispel other myths about rape and criminal justice:
- The FBI Built a Database That Can Catch Rapists — Almost Nobody Uses It
- Rape Is Rape, Isn’t It?
- A Brutal Crime, Often Terribly Investigated
- Transcript: How Not to Handle a Rape Investigation
- How We Reported It
Finally, much respect to Marie for sharing her story. I hope it changes some minds and lives.
Congratulations! No surprise that Paul would be heading a prize-winning operation!
He’s not the day-to-day editor anymore, but he still gets credit as far as I’m concerned. LOL!
The ProPublica story was phenomenal. I could not stop reading (I read it twice to make sure that I didn’t miss anything). NPR did a story, very likely based on the ProPublica investigation, and it was not as engaging (likely because of time constraints BUT they could have done a serial). It’s a good thing for journalism and for the world at large that ProPublica exists. Congratulations to them and The Marshall Project.
That NPR story might have been a collaboration with ProPublica, because they’ve worked together. I have to check!
UPDATED: This might not have been a formal collaboration, but they do have a great relationship. I have to find out more.
Congratulations to MrB! This story was powerful and disturbing. Poor Marie — what a horrifying experience and the fact that she was treated so badly afterward is infuriating. $150K doesn’t make up for it. I love the two women who teamed up to finally put O’Leary behind bars. And I love that this piece was written by two men!
Seriously, right? $150K to make your life living hell, while allowing other women to fall victim to this predator. “Oops, our bad.”