Where is Gloria Allred!? Savannah Dietrich needs her media savvy, not to mention her media reach.
Dietrich is a great lesson for all young girls and her story is all too familiar. According to the Courier-Journal, last August, she went to a party and was drinking with friends. She’s just 17. She either drank too much or was drugged, because by the end of the evening, Dietrich would be unconscious. Months passed and photos surfaced that showed her being assaulted. They were shared with others by two teens that were also at the party. When she found out, she was devastated. She and her parents reached out to law enforcement.
It’s difficult to tell who took the photos and if the boys who were sharing them were the ones pictured, but eventually, two boys were arrested. The boys PLEAD GUILTY to sexual assault and photographing the incident and are awaiting sentencing.
This case happened in Kentucky and was heard in Juvenile Court, which is closed to protect the confidentiality of defendants.” And, no doubt their conviction would be expunged.
In June, Dietrich and her family were in court when the boys that assaulted her plead guilty, only to hear that they had reach a plea bargain that appeared lenient. “I felt like they were given a very, very light deal,” she old the courier-sentinel. “I wasn’t happy with it, at all.”
Apparently, in Kentucky, if a teen sexually assaults another teen, it is considered a youthful indiscretion and is relegated to juvenile court. But what about Savannah? She finally found justice only to be told by the judge that revealing the name(s) of her CONVICTED defendants was forbidden.
When she left the courtroom, she tweeted:
“They said I can’t talk about it or I’ll be locked up,” Dietrich tweeted. “So I’m waiting for them to read this and lock me up. ____ justice.“Protect rapist is more important than getting justice for the victim in Louisville.”
Fair? They took photos and shared them, right? They were convicted and plead guilty. Why then is she limited in her free speech of simply speaking the truth?
The paper interviewed Jo Ann Phillips, head of Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims, who says, “This (assault) could affect her for the rest of her life and the fact that she said, ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,’ you have to applaud her,” Phillips said. “But you also have to respect authority. … She should have gone to a victims’ group or her local legislator and fought for the right to speak out.”
Did she say, fight “for the right to speak out?” When did the right to speak out against our abusers get taken away? If anything, that is necessary to the healing process. What group does she head up? Voices for Victims? Victims should not need to ask permission to use their voices.
Well, Ms. Dietrich, You are not alone. You have thousands of women standing beside you. ME AND MY 1000 GIRLFRIENDS will be watching. We’ll be rooting for you. And, don’t let this define you. You are much bigger and stronger than what happened to you.
