Should men accused of a sexual offense be viewed as innocent until proved guilty?

Question

Also, what is your impression of organizations that are always partial to a certain 'class' (race, gender, etc...) of people? Do they seem just, or revengefull?

Bob Mukonka, evidence of semen only proves sex. It doesn't prove rape.

Answer 1

Most definitely!!! Society is coming to see all men as guilty if they have been accused of a sexual crime/offense.
Unfortunately, me working as a paralegal I am seeing this first class. Someone says one little thing about a guy who would never harm a child in the first place, let alone any woman, and immediately he's placed on trial, in this case, his wife looses her day care license and they both are forced into bankruptcy due to the actions of some low-life's who think that money will come their way if they accuse a totally innocent man!

Innocent til PROVEN guilty, its a constitutional right and it should remain as one in everyone's mind!

Answer 2

This is what would happen if people were presumed guilty until they could prove themselves innocent:

Police arrest you and charge you with an offence, and you go to court. The state doesn't need to present any evidence to prove you committed the crime, because you're presumed guilty.

The defendant would then have the almost impossible task of proving that they didn't do something. Even if they were with somebody at the time of the offence, that person could be cross examined and discredited. Being alone at the time the offence occurred would mean you go to jail.

DNA or fingerprint evidence could acquit the accused, but to do this, they would have to hire experts to perform the procedures which would cost thousands of dollars. Also, the accused would have to access the crime scene before it got contaminated, in other words, perform a vaginal swab on a rape victim before she took a shower. An innocent person who didn't know they were accused of an offence until hours or days later could not possibly do this.

I could go on but I think I've made my point. The presumption of innocence sometimes results in actual offenders being found not guilty, and that sucks. But I guarantee that if a presumption of guilt applied, thousands of innocent people would be found guilty, and many more actual perpetrators would walk free.

Answer 3

Any offence must be proved before the accused is considered guilty; would you not want that standard to apply if you were accused? And anyone making or supporting an accusation that is later proved to be false is themselves guilty of a serious offence. Partiality towards a race or gender is generally illegal in civilised nations.

Answer 4

Should WOMEN accused of a sexual offense be viewed as "innocent" until proven guilty? Jeez!! Also, what "organizations" are you referring to ? You must mean the public in general, because , believe it or not, people make judgements every day about you,me and Joe Blow down the block in reference to our race ,gender, financial status,etc. The lie is that we live in a classless society. Innocent until proven guilty?--please , gimme a break..

Answer 5

The sad part is the media portrays them as guilty otherwise it wouldn't make the headline news. It should not show up on the news till someone is convicted, not accused. Organizations regarding race and gender serve their place but often lose there focus. I guess they tend to go where the money is. Take the ACLU, what a waste of money and lives.

Answer 6

Let me tell you a story i studying contract law........but look at this scenario below and WHAT WOULD BE YOUR JUDGMENT?..and other users too look at it:


One guy has a girlfriend the are very much in love and you know they have always done everything that lovers do like having sex ,going to the movies and all that stuff.
One day the guy call her at noon tell her to check him tonight at 7 pm but she doesn`t come or call him to give him some explanations why she desn`t come.The next day he call s again check me out baby i miss you!
She come and she is in a bad mood you he is not used to her like that but anyway with no struggle or any misunderstanding they have sex and immediately after that she tells him i`m leaving and because he sees she not in a bad mood he say yes i`ll take you home like always because you are not in a good mood so rest will do you good.
She says no i`ll go by myself but in the way she gets into a police station and reports that she had been RAPED.

What would you say about this....what does the law say..women ad men rights in a relationship.we may not know why she was in a bad mood but just think about it not in terms of a clearly rape or sexual assault case.

Answer 7

Everyone should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Especially when it comes to a crime where the only initial evidence is the word of someone. I've read many stories of people who have been wrongly accused of crimes, especially sexual crimes, who have been ruined by the allegation even though they are innocent.

Answer 8

Two very divergent questions...

Our laws presume anyone (with few exceptions) charged with a crime is innocent until proven otherwise... hence the responsibility of a jury to find a defendant guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Not sure how to answer your second question...

Answer 9

Yes absolutely. And if found guilty then punished to the full extent of the law.

Organisations that represent and/or provide additional supports to specific classes are fantastic in that they deal with minority groups who may not be dealt with fairly in other circumstances...of course not all of them adhere to such an altruistic endeavour and seem to push their own agenda's....

Answer 10

Sexual offenses are different,since there is usually evidence of semen on the victim.