'Someone else is going to get victimized a second time'
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SEATTLE -- Sitting in shadow, a young woman in her 20s says she wants to warn others of the crimes that can rob people of dignity and hope.
"Nobody was just there for me. It was just me against the world," she said.
The story she shared with KOMO 4 is the same one laid out in court records. She tells of a party in July of 2009, when she says a University of Washington fraternity president named Kevin DeBoer took her into a room to talk after both had been drinking.
"He closes the door and I see him locking the doors and then he's turning the music up really loud," she said.
She and the court records say DeBoer came at her, demanding sex.
"He kind of pinned me and I couldn't get up and I said,'You can't do this.' I clearly said no, 'No,'" she said.
She says DeBoer violated her sexually.
"After he finished, he laid there just smiling. That smile, it's something sticking with me," she said.
She went to the hospital, and pressed charges, but along the way, the third degree rape charge turned into misdemeanor harassment.
The King County Prosecutor's Office said there were "evidentiary problems" with the 2009 case and DeBoer took a plea deal.
He served no jail time, had 15 days of community service with a $5,000 fine.
But now DeBoer is charged with rape again, accused of drugging and then sexually assaulting his next door neighbor in November of 2012.
Nearly four years after her incident, this victim hopes justice is served -- and hopes sharing her
story from the shadows will keep others safe.
"Someone else is going to get victimized a second time," she said.
In the 2009 case, DeBoer took an "Alford plea," meaning defendants don't admit guilt, but acknowledge they could be found guilty. In this current case, DeBoer's attorney did not return calls.
DeBoer pleaded not guilty this time and will be in court again at the end of the month. His fraternity also had no comment tonight. He is now attending UW-Tacoma's business graduate school, who told us they do not do criminal background checks on students.
"Nobody was just there for me. It was just me against the world," she said.
The story she shared with KOMO 4 is the same one laid out in court records. She tells of a party in July of 2009, when she says a University of Washington fraternity president named Kevin DeBoer took her into a room to talk after both had been drinking.
"He closes the door and I see him locking the doors and then he's turning the music up really loud," she said.
She and the court records say DeBoer came at her, demanding sex.
"He kind of pinned me and I couldn't get up and I said,'You can't do this.' I clearly said no, 'No,'" she said.
She says DeBoer violated her sexually.
"After he finished, he laid there just smiling. That smile, it's something sticking with me," she said.
She went to the hospital, and pressed charges, but along the way, the third degree rape charge turned into misdemeanor harassment.
The King County Prosecutor's Office said there were "evidentiary problems" with the 2009 case and DeBoer took a plea deal.
He served no jail time, had 15 days of community service with a $5,000 fine.
But now DeBoer is charged with rape again, accused of drugging and then sexually assaulting his next door neighbor in November of 2012.
Nearly four years after her incident, this victim hopes justice is served -- and hopes sharing her
story from the shadows will keep others safe.
"Someone else is going to get victimized a second time," she said.
In the 2009 case, DeBoer took an "Alford plea," meaning defendants don't admit guilt, but acknowledge they could be found guilty. In this current case, DeBoer's attorney did not return calls.
DeBoer pleaded not guilty this time and will be in court again at the end of the month. His fraternity also had no comment tonight. He is now attending UW-Tacoma's business graduate school, who told us they do not do criminal background checks on students.
For a little more detail:
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Ex-UW-frat-president-charged-with-rape-again-4237245.php
and:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271312/Edwin-Kevin-De-Boer-Former-Washington-fraternity-president-charged-rape-second-time.html
Sexual assault on Frat row is more common that anyone knows. My advice to young women? Be comfortable with yourself, and don't feel like you have to drink at, or attend, parties. Don't compromise your safety by drinking to excess. There are a large number of predators, both in frat houses, and on the street. If you are intoxicated, it makes it that much easier for them to victimize you. Don't put yourself in a position to be alone with someone you don't implicitly trust. Use the buddy system with one or more of your friends. Sadly, too many of the abusers get away with these crimes. Be careful and be aware.
Too many plea deals. That's all I seem to read about here in King Co. If it isn't this creep, it's the guy "in and out of jail" 7 times since 2011 that just raped a woman 10 days out of jail. Â
This revolving door for criminals needs to end. We need to demand that people be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, not handed out plea deals to make things easier on the DA's office.Â
@lakeview without plea deals fewer people would be even brought to trial. Of course, without plea deals prosecutors wouldn't be able to overcharge and then offer a lesser charge that people might take regardless of guilt or innocence to avoid the financial ruin of a major court case.
The courts don't care if someone else is a victim. It's just another day, another case to them.
I hope she has found a good attorney to sue this jerk for all his future earnings.
Time for a different prosecutor, it seems. This "he's a fraternity president - one of 'us' - he could do not wrong" stuff has simply got to END. Prosecutors tend to protect police and people "like them" by ignoring or minimizing evidence of wrongdoing. The prosecurot then becomes complicit when the perp goes out and repeats the crime.
Hey girls, get together and create your own justice! If he did this to you and yours, then catch him alone and remove the offending parts.
@Thyroid vigilante justice? Not such a good idea.
@Thyroid Vigilante justice and promoting assault.....sounds like a good way to start our society down the path to absolute anarchy.....courts make mistakes sometimes and that really sucks. But promoting vigilantism instead of pushing for legal reform to make sure the courts are more accurate in their judgments doesn't help anybody. Many more innocent people will suffer if that mentality takes hold.
@dg54321 @Thyroid Corrupt government on hand hand, vigilante justice on the other.  How confident are you that legal reform will actually happen? Â
A girl gets raped and the county collects $5000? wow thats a good one.
It sounds like this guy is needing of a long jail sentence. But I would hope that the court of public opinion does not prevail once again, but the court of justice, immune to such public sentiment, but only focused on the facts of the case. It is far too easy for one to be falsely accused of rape or DV....such crimes break down to "he said, she said" and unfortunately in our desire to keep everyone "safe", we violate the rights of good men who may be innocent. We need to make sure that if we convict someone of a crime, they are absolutely certain to be guilty.
This woman should have been armed, then she could have gotten two birds with one stone: protected herself and taken out a serial rapist before he could do it to someone else.Â
@NW-Economist yeah, a drunk college girl with a weapon. Brilliant.Â
@DTÂ @NW-EconomistYou prefer the outcome that occurred instead?
alcohol is a weapon with a massive societal penalty and should be banned.                          Oh wait........
@Rick4001CS gee, that joke just  gets old. really, I mean, it's not like it's overdone or anything.Â
Rape is rape. He needs to be in prison. She said no. A person can find willing partners in any bar. Rape is about power and control, not sex. Â He won't stop.
@mac14Â The prosecutors weren't confident of a conviction so they offered a lesser charge. Not everyone who is accused of a crime is guilty.Â
@mac14Â Then "Stealing is Stealing." By your logic, even if someone who's gone without food for days steals a loaf of bread, there can be NO questions asked and that person must be bared. "They won't stop."Â
@mac14Â It never ceases to amaze me how people will take a news story told by one person as fact. Â
I am not saying this did not happen, and if it did then you are correct, he should be in prison. Â However, we have seen countless times a woman claims rape only to admit later that it did not happen. Â She says she said no, but you dont know that. Â
FYI, News stories are not facts, they are stories, often told from one point of view.  I think rapists are some of the lowest scum of the earth, but only slightly below people who claim rape falsely.  That is the worst crime you can commit in my opinion, but also the worst crime you can be falsely accused of. Â
So you think a girl who went through this three years ago and now speaks out for another victim is lying? Perhaps this guy has fun overpowering cute young girls because he has a mental problem. Oh, by the way, you suck
@The206Â THANK YOU! That's what some of us are trying to say. But there is a large crowd that can't accept this. So instead when people say what you just did (which is common sense and logical) they just spew out that you're "Victim Blaming" and that "Rape is Rape."Â
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You have a lot of nerve to say such a terrible thing. Is this what you tell yourself after your "dates"?
@Seattle What a horrible thing to say.
@mac14 @Seattle Ignore Seattle, mac14. If you look at his past comments, you will see how schizophrenic he is.
Maybe we need transparent glass walls everywhere. I wouldnt mind people watchin me.
I see a few people blaming the victim. That, is not cool.. the victim didn't do anything wrong. It is the perpetrator who is at fault. This guy needs to be hanged...by whatever means necessary.
@Mr. HÂ And you know those are the facts how? Â I am not saying it is her fault, but you are certainly making your conclusion based only on what she said happened. Â How many cases have we seen where women claim rape only to admit later that it did not happen. Â
I am not saying that is the case here, but it is very irresponsible of you to pretend you know exactly what happened based on an article you read on a website being told by one side of the story. Â Enough so that you want them hanged. Â What if it were you who were being blamed for this and you knew you did not do it, but everyone said you should be hanged. Â
Again, I am not saying he did not do it, but your comment is very, shall we say, Â premature.Â
@The206 @Mr. H So two women who don't know each other and have never met both accise this 1 guy of rape and you think he didn't do it? What happens if the number jumps to 5 women, will he still be innocent? What if one of the women was your sister, friend, daughter, would he still be innocent? One of the reason so many women don't come forward when they have been sexual abused is becasue they don't want to deal with people who will say "Oh she is lying" I know I am one of them, and was a victim for over 10 years.Â
@The206Â @Mr. HÂ Sorry. I knew a detective who worked exclusively with cases like this. The fox news watching myth that thousands of women are crying "rape" is just that, a myth. It's what you tell yourselves to discredit women, and is a typical Rush Limbaugh line. Of course Rush was arrested as Jeff Christie for picking up a male hooker in the 70s, so I'm not sure I'd take what he says as gospel on these things, as he seems to have some issues of his own relating to women. Â Â Â
Oh, and if you want to talk false claims, they are rampant in custody cases, that is actually a real problem with one side (usually a woman) claiming suddenly that the father is abusing the kids. Â Usually gets thrown out after investigating, but makes it into the record in a custody battle.Â
Considering the fact that he's got a 2nd charge against him...I think the odds are pretty darn good that she's telling the truth
@The206 @Mr. H Read the story again. This article refers to a case from 2009 in which DeBoer was charged with rape, the victim went through the proper steps to get a conviction, but Deboer did the Alford plea (look it up), took a plea bargain deal and only got convicted with misdemeaneor harassment due to 'evidentiary problems' a vague term at best.
@The206 @DeathByPolitics @Mr. H How would a person know someone had been accused of rape before? Thats not usually something someone would say :Oh yeah just so you know back in 2009 I was accused of rape, but hey I didn't do it and I only had to spend a few days in jail and pay a fine"... Â
@mac14 @The206 @DeathByPolitics @Mr. H If you were looking to make a false claim like that, perhaps yes.  That is some serious business to make a claim of that nature.  Also it happened at the same school, so it is possible that it was "a known issue".Â
Again, based on the information given in the article, if we are to take that as truth, it is most likely that he is guilty and if I had to form an opinion, (which I would not do without all the evidence) I would guess he is guilty.  I just find it quite amazing that people are willing to take one news article that is completely bias to one side as 100% fact and truth. Â
People are always looking to vilify someone and take them down. Â I remember an article a while back where a high school referee flew a flag on a player for celebrating a touchdown by pointing to the sky. Â It was clearly stated in the rules that it was against the rules to celebrate in any way and people thought this man should be fired and never work a football game again. Â We are always so fast to judge and vilify someone based on 4 paragraphs on a bias news article (all news is bias in one way or another)Â
@mac14Â Hmm ... kinda like when a girl lies about her age or has a fake ID but the guy gets busted for statutory rape.Â
@The206 @DeathByPolitics @Mr. H How do you/would you know a person had been accused before? Do you do a background check before a date or entering a room with someone alone?Â
@DeathByPolitics @The206 @Mr. H While I agree with you that he is most likely guilty, but let me just play devils advocate for a moment.  If I were a woman looking to make a rape claim that was false, what better person to make it on that someone who has been accused before.Â
Again I am not saying he is innocent, and she is making it up, but all things must be taken into consideration rather than jumping to conclusions.Â
@The206Â @Mr. HÂ Yes there needs to be a trial. And I hope all victims come forward. I bet there are more than these two. Â It takes a lot of guts for a woman to press charges. Look how everyone here blames her. The stigma is staggering. Â
@mac14Â All of the sudden we now need a trial. My goodness. We went from "Rape is Rape" "Rape is about control and power, not sex." to ... "Well, you're right ... there should be due process."Â
@mac14Â @The206Â @Mr. HÂ Who the hell is blaming her? People are just raising real questions about the system and how some women lie. If you want to look at the root of the problem, go after the women who have made false claims rather than blaming everyone else as "enabling rape."Â
Maybe his " Brothers" need to stand up and be men and have "talk" with him! Or maybe one of his " Sisters" in Med school can "practice medicine" on him. This guy has got to be stopped and it's obvious the law can do little. I'll bet there are more victims out there! Be brave come forward and put this mutt to sleep!
Well, the public knows his name, face, and where he hangs out (T-Town at the UW campus in the MBA program), so maybe someone could toss him a "friendly reminder" (hint, hint, wink, wink) not to be a rapist?Â
If it hasn't already spread, his college cohort probably knows of his rapey ways. Â Who the heck would want to do project work with that dude? Â Not me, I'd tell my profs that I don't particularly like to work with rapey dirtbags.
@KennyGambler Hey Kenny. Why don't you stop and think for a minute. Imagine you're in a position where you've been accused of a crime you didn't commit. Your name and mug is all over the media. And since people now know where you are, you'll get a "friendly reminder" (hint, hint, wink, wink).Â
Need an example: DUKE. The Campus was all over those guys who were innocent. Professors were endeavoring to have them expelled and they had their names dragged through the media all thanks to an -- false --accusation by a femaleÂ
Anytime folks want due process to occur or ask questions, there's a large crowd like you that comes forward and labels it "victim blaming." What's interesting is when the victim is the one being accused. That's simply too much for you to bare, though. So go back and take your feminist courses, march in the SLUTwalk and be a hypocrite and tell any male who's been falsely accused that "they deserved it."Â
@Lisa @KennyGambler You seem to be hung up on "feminists' as evidenced by your posts. Tell me, what exactly is a feminist and why do you seem to hate them.
@Lisa Just the mob. It is always there and there are always fools inciting it.
@Lisa @KennyGambler OOOHHH, I get it. You're either the perpetrator's wannabe gf or DeBoer himself
@Lisa @DeathByPolitics Sorry, I'll pass on goggling that. I'm not into the same fantasies you appear to be. Thanks for saying I have the "classic feminist argument". I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds better than the stuff you are saying.
@DeathByPolitics You're saying I have no logic based on me posting a FACT which even you can find on the WWW. That's the classic feminist argument. When someone states a fact which deviates from their warped perspective, they tell the other person they lack logic. Here's another one for you, Google "Rape Fantasy." Much to your surprise, up will come 1000's of pages pertaining to this subject. So I lack logic because of facts.Â
@Lisa @DeathByPolitics Your logic escapes me. Oh wait, you HAVE no logic.
@DeathByPolitics: So now you're openly admitting women are drawn to men like this. Didn't Ted Bundy get around 200 plus letters a day from women saying they were madly in love with him.Â