My response to the alleged sexual assault on November 12th, 2011

Submitted by coryvclark on

coryvclark's picture

Occupy Philadelphia takes seriously the accusation leveled against an occupant here at Occupy Philly. We are serious about the protection of all people here at the Dilworth Plaza and around the world. We deplore all violence whether of a sexual, physical or mental/emotional nature.
However, as we do not have all the facts of the case, we must not be quick to jump the gun and make statements either way. We must protect the assumed innocence of all people.
There is too little to go on for us to say either way what happened. We can say the alleged perpetrator was released late last night due to insufficient evidence, and that there is an ongoing investigation in which we have been and will continue to cooperate with the Special Victims Unit.
As information becomes available, we will be there to report it. We have not swept this under the rug. This has been a big news day and this is one of many stories of importance. However; because of its nature we must handle it with measured care, which is something the major news stations do not do in cases such as these. I personally will not contribute my reputation to a story unless I have all sides, especially one of such importance. Please be patient with us as we investigate the story throughly and fairly, as is our responsibility to the reader, the victim, and the alleged offender.

4 Comments

mattack's picture

spoken like a true dude

Submitted by mattack on

<p>Sounds like you need some resources on how to support survivors of sexual assault.</p> <ul> <li> <a href="http://phillysurvivorsupportcollective.wordpress.com/">Philly Support Survivor Collective</a></li> <li> <a href="http://phillystandsup.wordpress.com/">Philly Stands Up</a></li> <li> <a href="http://phillyspissed.net/taxonomy/term/3">Philly&#39;s Pissed</a></li> </ul> <p>If someone says they&#39;ve been sexually assaulted, I believe them. No questions asked. I don&#39;t need &quot;both sides of the story.&quot; Your responsibility and acountability should be to the <strong><em>survivor</em></strong>.&nbsp;</p>
coryvclark's picture

Reply to sppoken like a true dude

Submitted by coryvclark on

<p>Well Mattack; my responsibility is not to either side, but to the side of the truth, and to get at the truth you need to hear and weigh both sides of any issue whether it be sexual assault; which I deplore, or a political issue.<br /> It&#39;s is reactionary thinking such as that in which you have expressed here that leads to the non-credibility of people reporting what is purported to be &ldquo;truth.&rdquo; You maybe allowed to have such an opinion but as a journalist who is obligated to be objective I can not.<br /> I must be skeptical of everyone and everything until I have evidence in hand, and as there are discrepancy involved in this situation I will report no less than the whole truth as it comes to me verified with multiple sources.<br /> So that when some one reads what I have said, not just on this subject but all others that I pursue as a journalist it can be seen as immutable fact. Which is my responsibility.<br /> I thank you for your comments and I will be sure to check out the sites you have given me, I hope that you will not hold my commitment to honest, truth in reporting as too much of a negative attribute in your thinking of me, and that you will continue not only to follow my reporting, blogs, live-streams, or radio productions, but will actively engage me as you have here. I actively seek such engagement and will respond anytime I&#39;m given such an opportunity.</p>
mattack's picture

If, as a journalist, your

Submitted by mattack on

<p>If, as a journalist, your responsibility is to the truth, why say it in such a way that makes the survivor seem like a liar? Why not tell <em>just the facts</em>?</p> <p>&quot;Allegedly, there was a sexual assault. But we&#39;re not sure what happened, we need to hear both sides of the story,&quot; sounds like you don&#39;t believe the survivor, which just makes it worse. Survivors of sexual assault are constantly told they&#39;re lying (My friend would do a thing like that / you&#39;re just trying to get attention...), or they&#39;re blamed for the assault when <em>it isn&#39;t their fault</em> (You shouldn&#39;t have been wearing that dress / walking alone at night / drinking with a bunch of guys / etc...).</p> <p>&quot;Someone reported they had been sexauly assaulted. There&#39;s an ongoing investigation. We&#39;re working with SVU,&quot; is a more accurate way to put it, and casts no judgement on the survivor.</p>
coryvclark's picture

Because sadly at the time

Submitted by coryvclark on

<p>Because sadly at the time those were not the fact. The facts were exactly what I said they were. no more no less. now I know a diferant set of facts, but they aren&#39;t provable yet. when I can prove them with documentation I will do that and blow this guy out of the water.</p> <p>But until then I have to stick with what I can prove and like it or not this is it, and believe me I don&#39;t like it one bit!</p>