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A Lake County woman filing under the name Jane Doe, is suing Waukegan radio station WXLC, claiming that a date the station set her up on went horribly wrong. In January 2007, the station held a "Win a Date with Travis" contest -- Travis being Travis Harvey of Gurnee, a hapless guy who had trouble meeting women. The suit says that Harvey was touted by the station as "a 'great guy' and 'kind'" -- the woman even met Harvey face to face at a radio event where they held the finals.
Doe, then 23, won, and that weekend Harvey promised her a date at Chicago's House of Blues—only to later say he was too tired, and invited her to his home for pizza instead, [Doe's attorney Bob] Baizer said. The woman went, and after a single drink, felt extremely drowsy. Harvey then raped her, the suit alleges. Attorneys say she was drugged. The woman went to police several days later, but at that time, there was no physical evidence of a sexual assault or of the drugs, Baizer said.
The suit also claims that Harvey has a criminal record, having twice violated a domestic violence protection order taken out against him. Doe feels that the station should have done more due diligence as to who they were trying to hook women up with, and that the station was negligent.
While perhaps a formal criminal background check may be impractical for a rinky dink radio station running what they thought was going to be a fun contest, simply sending along a chaperon -- which we thought was protocol for "dating game" type stuff -- could have prevented this whole thing. [Trib]
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Yeah, a chaperon, or, quick thought, not going alone to a stranger's house for a "first date".
As for no evidence of sexual assault at the guy's place, wouldn't they or couldn't they have checked somewhere a little more, um, personal? After all, what are rape kits for?
And no, I'm not blaming the victim. if this indeed happened and there was indeed a rape, tie his nuts to the nearest Amtrak rail.
It's not blaming the victim to ask why she went into the house of a stranger, alone. Guys who change plans and invite you back to "their place" because they're "tired"? That should raise a great many flags.
If she was assaulted I don't see how the station is to blame. She's an adult and made the choice to be alone with this man. Suing him or filing criminal charges makes a great deal more sense.
The dinky little station will now be known as "the station where that one woman got raped by a dj or something" That's why you do due diligence.
Hot 102.3 XLC is pretty much the best radio station ever. When I was a kid, they had call-in contests where you would win a can of Coke. Seriously. A can of Coke. And you had to go to the station to pick it up, so I'm sure it wasn't worth the price of gas to get to the station and back.
The rapist in question pleaded guilty to criminal sexual abuse. In all of the articles I've read about this case the comments are filled with questioning the victim's actions. Women should be free to go anywhere in this country without being forced to have sex. This is why most rape victims don't report what happened to them, because society at large figures "she asked for it". So if your sister decides to go hang out at a male acquaintance's house she shouldn't be surprised if she is drugged and forced to have sex. Because she "should have known better".
The rapist in question? I don't think his guilt has been proven just yet, regardless of his prior record. The statement of one person saying she was raped does not necessarily mean that is what happened.
Going around believing every person accused of rape is guilty is quite foolish, and does nothing to help the thousands of women who truly are victims and need to see their attackers placed behind bars.
You have to wonder why this dipshit was having "trouble meeting women." if he needs a radio station to get him a date, then that's pretty bad news to start with.
Stop blaming the woman because she went to his house. That's what people do. Should women assume that every guy is a potential rapist? The guy drugged her, which is a crime, and then raped her, another heinous crime. The blame should be on him because he is a criminal.
And the trouble he had meeting women? Yeah, that's gonna increase.
@Stepho:
You're absolutely right, but personal accountability is not something you can rule out when here. Not because she was assaulted, but because she wants the radio station to assume responsibility for her actions.
Should women feel safe anywhere? Without question. Is it "their fault" or are they "asking for it" by going home with a man? Of course not. But to blame the radio station that set you up rather than focus on the actions of the rapist does bring her actions into question.
Even the most ardent and progressive victims rights advocate will say that putting yourself in a strangers home is risky behavior better avoided.
Re: Sears Tower
The rapist had to admit what he did in court in order to plead guilty to criminal sexual abuse.
Re: Albanyparkour
Civil lawsuits are about deciding what percentage of culpability to assign to each of the parties involved. That's for a jury to decide how much responsibility the radio station assumes in setting up this date.
My point is that no matter what a women does, or wears, or where she is, or how long she's known the guy... it is not her fault that she was drugged and raped.
Agreed, and I'd be loathesome to argue otherwise. The point I'm making is about the suit and the station, not the "she had it coming" twaddle.
If she was assaulted at a station function or on their property I could see the argument. But just because they introduced her to this man doesn't mean the station should be held accountable for the choices they make, whether to be alone with him or, in his case, to assault her.
The responsible person here is the guy accused of assault.