Laws failed to protect NC teen with autism who was sexually abused by coach

From The Star-News in Wilmington, N.C.:

At the start of school last year, the teen’s stepfather was emptying her backpack when an envelope slipped out. Marked with the letters “SWAK” (sealed with a kiss), he thought it strange. He didn’t think his 16-year-old autistic stepdaughter had a boyfriend. He opened the envelope, unfolded the letter inside and started to read. The message was so vulgar he stopped. His hands shaking, he absently walked upstairs to show his wife.

When she scanned it, she couldn’t speak.

The letter was signed by the teen’s 61-year-old basketball coach, Freddie Lamont Wilson, describing what her mother says were pornographic acts. The teen’s parents couldn’t believe it. She had been acting differently before they discovered the letter, but they never imagined anything like this.

“We were hoping against hope maybe it was a joke,” the teen’s mother said. “It was horrific.”

Wilson was arrested nearly a year ago this month, and, on Jan. 15, he admitted he broke the law by having sex with the developmentally disabled teen the previous summer when her parents had entrusted him to temporarily parent her.

He’d met the teen when he recruited her for his youth program, the Southeastern North Carolina Youth Basketball Association, or SNCYBA for short. The StarNews doesn’t name victims of sexual abuse.

The underlying issue in this case is that the law didn’t sufficiently protect the autistic teen, whose disorder is characterized by poor social and communication skills. Additionally, because of her disability, the teen’s sexual maturity and comprehension is not the same as a normal teenager her age. So even though she was 16, the age of consent in North Carolina, the victim’s social skills and understanding are that of a much younger girl and are at odds with her chronological age.

The case highlights what some view as weaknesses in the law. North Carolina rape and sex abuse laws do not take into account someone with autism. Basically under state law, if you’re 16, you can legally have sex with anyone regardless of age unless it is forced. Second, she’s too old to be considered a child under state rape or sex abuse laws. Third, while the teen is developmentally disabled, she is not considered mentally disabled, mentally incapacitated nor physically helpless. That’s because she is intelligent – not mentally retarded – she could speak and she wasn’t rendered unconscious. She wasn’t physically restrained either, nor was she physically incapable of resisting.

In essence, the law doesn’t take into account a person using a position of authority to mentally manipulate or coerce someone to have sex.

State Sen. Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover, tried to remedy this loophole in the law, and she had introduced a proposal in March to expand the definition of second-degree rape and sex offense to include someone in a position of authority. The proposal languished in the judiciary committee because of concerns over who would be considered an authoritative figure.

In Wilson’s case, prosecutor Lance Oehrlein said he didn’t have any evidence to charge Wilson with more, adding it would have been a difficult case to prove at trial with little more than circumstantial evidence to go on.

“There was nothing else we could charge him with,” said Oehrlein, an assistant district attorney in New Hanover County. “There was no indication it was forcible. There was no evidence we could present to the court that fit the elements of first- or second-degree rape.”

That means despite the victim’s disability and inability to perceive social situations, she wasn’t incapacitated enough to say no – even if he did exploit her disability.

“It was unsettling because this guy got away with pretty reprehensible conduct that was otherwise legal,” Oehrlein said. “It was morally bankrupt.”

The victim herself said she does not consider herself to be handicapped. “I can think as much as I want to, but I was being taken advantage of,” she said, her straight brown hair falling to her shoulders.

While North Carolina laws did not adequately protect the victim in this case, rape and sex abuse laws in every state differ dramatically, offering varying degrees of protection to children depending on their age. The legal age of consent varies across the country from 14 to 18, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 16 states consider 17 or 18 the age of consent.

Also, some states define rape and sex assault in broader terms that may have better protected the teen.

For example, Wyoming rape statutes are more broad, defining a person in a position of authority as someone who is a parent, guardian, relative, household member, teacher, employer, custodian or any other person who, through his position, is able to exercise significant influence over a person. Additionally, if a perpetrator in a position of authority is 20 years old or older and has sex with a 16- or 17-year-old victim, he can be convicted of sex abuse in Wyoming.

Under Illinois sex offense laws, a child is anyone under 17 years old. In Idaho, sex with a female under the age of 18 is considered rape punishable by a year or more in prison to life.

Here in North Carolina, “it doesn’t seem like any laws protect her at all,” her mother said. “Our laws don’t protect kids from this. Why would you do that to somebody like her?”

The North Carolina law under which Wilson pleaded guilty states that even if the victim had consented to the sex, it could not be considered a defense to the crime.

Wilson was sentenced to serve from one year and five months to two and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity by a substitute parent. Until then, Wilson’s only criminal offenses had been failing to pay sales taxes and passing worthless checks, court documents show. Wilson’s projected release date from prison is Feb. 22, 2010.

Teresa Mebane, a Wilmington-based child-parent advocate with the Autism Society of North Carolina, said parents with disabled children need to be aware that “just because your child has a disability, it doesn’t mean they’re protected by the law.”

The victim, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the abuse and experiences recurring flashbacks, wonders why the man 45 years older than her and old enough to be her grandfather got so little time.

The victim, whose sense of justice is augmented by her autism, said someone like Wilson doesn’t deserve a second chance. For her, Wilson’s punishment doesn’t begin to make up for the ongoing trauma she’s suffering.

“He deserved life in prison,” the victim said recently, her blue-gray eyes focused on the distance. “I don’t care if he’s high-profile or not. You don’t get a slap on the wrist ‘cause of your status.”