In today’s Buffalo News, we learn that former Buffalo Police Officer, Gregg O’Shei, was spared a jail sentence for using his position to gain sexual favors.
A former Buffalo police officer who forced at least two women to have sex with him or face being arrested was spared a jail term Thursday.
Gregg O’Shei, 43, told City Judge Craig D. Hannah he wanted to apologize to everyone he has embarrassed by his actions, including his victims. He declined to comment as he left court.
I am troubled by the contradiction in the account of this crime. The two women had a choice of having sex with O’Shei or being arrested. How can someone having a choice claim to have been forced to have sex? They could have chosen to be arrested and not had sex with the Police Officer. Since they chose to have sex, I don’t think they should be able to claim they were forced.
1Jim Milles on Dec 9, 2006 at 4:40 am:
You’re joking, right? So if a rapist tells his victim to quit fighting or he will kill her, she’s made a free choice?
2Michael Rebmann on Dec 9, 2006 at 2:47 pm:
I was just speculating on the facts as portrayed in the news article. I am not in any way defending the actions of the police officer. He was definitely wrong. My question basically is, did the women actually break the law resulting in their arrest? If so, if they had an actual choice to be arrested or have sex with the officer, it really isn’t force. It was a bargain for their freedom in exchange for sex. If they committed a crime, they deserved to be arrested but exercised a choice that resulted in no arrest.
3Jim Milles on Dec 10, 2006 at 6:02 am:
It still seems like a false choice to me. If a police officer is threatening a woman with a “choice” of forced sex or arrest, it would seem naive for that woman to trust that the officer would not still sex on her even after raping her. The cop has already shown himself to be corrupt by making the threat. And it is a threat, not a choice. Cops carry guns. This is hardly an arms-length bargaining situation.
This is a classic blaming-the-victim move. Even if one or both of the victims were suspected of a crime, that does not constitute consent to rape.