Prosecutors could have "reasonably" proceeded with sexual assault charges in the Rehtaeh Parsons case or declined to pursue them, according to a report released Thursday by the Canadian investigators charged with reviewing the case.
Parsons was sexually assaulted and raped by multiple young men during a party in 2011 when she was just 15 years old. During the assault, one of the perpetrators took photographs, which he then sent to the other perpetrators and their friends. The photographs were passed around school and Parsons suffered extreme bullying as a result, both at school and online. Even after she changed schools (TWICE), the cyber-bullying continued. Parsons was taken off life support and died in 2013 after a suicide attempt.
The Parsons case gained international media attention after Anonymous threatened to release the names of Parsons' rapists if the Canadian authorities didn't open an investigation into the case. Although an investigation was eventually launched, Anonymous released the names three months later, citing lack of action by the authorities.
Two of the young men involved were eventually convicted on child pornography charges after Parsons' death, but no sexual assault or rape charges were ever brought against them. Because the child pornography crimes were committed while they were also juveniles, they have been tried in juvenile court and their names have not been formally released (except by Anonymous, of course). The review of the sexual assault case was put on hold, pending the outcome of those criminal cases.
Today's report offers little insight into the case, other than to reiterate that prosecutors could have reasonably made either decision in the case. However, reviewers emphasized that they believed that the decision not to prosecute was "understandable" due to what they perceived as a difficult case to win at trial. Rather than debating the veracity of Parsons' allegations, investigators seemed far more concerned by whether the case was "winnable."
While this is hardly rare, it is shocking that a panel convened more than TWO YEARS AGO to investigate a brutal case of gang rape and torment of a young girl that eventually cost her her life had nothing more to offer today than a metaphorical shrug. Rape cases can and must be prosecuted, regardless of how easy the prosecutor thinks they will be to win, in order for societal misconceptions about rape to end.
It is these types of reports and the rigid adherence to systemic impediments to justice that lead to low rates of rape reporting and perpetuated rape culture. If reporting rape brings nothing but torment and invalidation, there is no reason to report rape and rape becomes trivialized while survivors become marginalized. That is rape culture, and in this case it led to the death of a young girl who did absolutely nothing wrong.