How horrible. The full article also details several other charges against customs officials, and goes on to say that when this woman's husband found out about it, he left her.

I also love the qualifier "authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime." As though there could be any doubt! What planet am I on?

leah, that's exactly what I thought. This woman sounds terrified, and on top of it all, was also afraid to share it with her husband who ended up walking out. There is no indication that he permanently left her, but...ugh. Just when she needs support and encouragement, too. What a shame. But she should be incredibly proud of herself for taking a huge chance with recording that creep and meeting with authorities. Sadly, I am not shocked at all. These things happen all the time with cops - of course they will happen with customs officials. What pissed me off was the guilty guy who served weekends in jail for 6 months. What kind of fucked up punishment is that?

I, personally, am a really big fan of the fact that they call it "low-level corruption."
Apparently rape is a minor offence.

Was the "low-level corruption" the rape, though? I don't always read carefully, but my impression was that they get away with other stuff that isn't as serious and then become brazen enough to try to do something like this.

Wasn't there a similar case in Britain recently? Absolutely disgusting.

Ewwwwwwwwww. I wish she'd bitten it.

And it sounds like her husband is no gem, either. Poor thing. They ought to give her a green card just for having to put up with the creepy immigration asshole.

I took "low-level corruption" to mean corruption of low-level officials? Like, this guy is super-unimportant and yet has power over immigrants such that he can be corrupted? I could've misread.

::grabs a crowbar::

::waits for the rape apologists to show up again::

::grabs a crowbar::

::waits for "im against rape and all, but she shouldn't have been an illegal alien. gotta pay the price for being a criminal"::

oh wait, this isn't digg....whew!

this is so disgusting. I can only imagine how often things like this must take place. I also find her previous "brush" with the law interesting. It sounds like she was taken advantage of then too because she was illegal.

I honestly don't think there should be any immigration limits. So long as the person does not have an extensive criminal record. That's a whole other post though....

Ermmm wait a minute - the dear abby writer was a complete jerk/scumbad/etc for not telling his wife right away, but this woman is ok for not telling her husband right away?

What a bunch of fucking hypocrites...

"Ermmm wait a minute - the dear abby writer was a complete jerk/scumbad/etc for not telling his wife right away, but this woman is ok for not telling her husband right away?

What a bunch of fucking hypocrites..."

Are you serious? The Dear Abby writer didn't tell his wife about something that happened TO HER. This is a completely different scenario -- the person who was raped and the person who knows about it are the same person.

um Scilian, wtf?

I'm so amazed by her courage and persistence in making that tape and then taking it to two district attorney's offices. Without that tape nobody would ever have taken her the least bit seriously. Even with it the writers of the article seem to have trouble accepting what actually happened.

The burden of proof on rape victims is extraordinary, but this woman has it. She's a hero for putting a stop to this guy.

It's a shame that rape and sexual coercion are taken so lightly that she had to do it alone.

As disgusted as I am, I'm also incredibly impressed and proud that she thought to record the encounter. I don't know if I'd have thought of that.

I just reeeeeeeeeally hope that among immigration workers, this asshat is the exception.

As disgusted as I am, I'm also incredibly impressed and proud that she thought to record the encounter. I don't know if I'd have thought of that.

I just reeeeeeeeeally hope that among immigration workers, this asshat is the exception.

Sorry for the double. My internet is being a massive pain in the ass.

What a thoroughly nasty case. I can't quite believe the tone of the article though... it seems to lump all "corruption" (seemingly the focus of the piece, not - say - rape) together when so many different things are going on; monetary bribes, sexual bribes, and more. I'm not sure someone who harbored an illegal immigrant is on the same level as those who committed sexual assaults.

(Also "suspended with pay": wtf?)

"suspended with pay": wtf?

Depending on the situation, this can be a legal or a contractual issue.

But chances are that the policy is merely there so that the employer can make what it determines to be a reasonable investigation before firing someone.

I know, I know: in this case it seems that an investigation is unlikely to turn up anything to prevent the asshole from being fired. But the policy has to be universally applied for it to have any meaning; if you could fire someone (or jail someone) because it was "obvious" they were guilty, there'd be no need for an investigation(or trial) at all.

And while it seems damn unlikely here, an employer who fires someone based on an accusation can sometimes be held liable if a reasonable review would have shown the accusation to be false or incorrect.

And in case I am being at all unclear, given this scenario I think that the guy is guilty. i'm just explaining the "with pay" part.

I'm totally on her side, but I'm curious how she can use the recording against him when it was done without his consent. I know very little about legal issues like this, but I thought that kind of recording was inadmissable as evidence?

"I'm totally on her side, but I'm curious how she can use the recording against him when it was done without his consent. I know very little about legal issues like this, but I thought that kind of recording was inadmissable as evidence?"

Laws about recordings vary from country to country and state to state. For example, in Virginia, a conversation can be recorded as long as one of the people talking knows it's being taped. So I could tape a person talking to me without their consent, but a silent third party couldn't record the two of us or tap the phone.

Why are people here referring to her as an illegal immigrant? She is a legal immigrant trying to move onto permanent resident status. There is an illegal immigration problem in US, but it has got nothing at all to do with this case.

Thanks Katyxz!

I don't demonize the husbands actions. ideally he should have stuck around but honestly he is also a victim in this case although not as serious as the woman. Who knows maybe it isn't permanent.

Toss out the fact of her being a legal/illegal immigrant. Most people in the US know nothing about immigration law.. this deprives people of knowing their rights.. Without full knowledge one can easily fall into the snare of fear.

In the case of her being a green card holder(which can be revoked) She was obviously afraid that someone could turn the screws on her paperwork (and believe it can happen) If that bastard just messed with her application she would have suffered big time (although she is currently as well).
Think about how the US government treats discrepancies in paperwork. He or another ICE worker could intentionally or unintentionally fuck up the paperwork and easily steal 5-10 years from her. I mean how big do you think the average person's legal fund is? I'd guess nearly no one have set aside money to iron out this kinda of crap.

Ok, Im getting off topic... but once upon a time I was a victim of stupid immigration issues.. Well actually I guess I am still.

I wouldn't *demonize* the husband, and normally I wouldn't even look at people's personal relationships, I mean, we don't know what was going on between them and everything. But. This isn't the only time we've ever heard of a man leaving a woman for being raped. Why is it grounds for breaking up with someone? Either because we have a problem with not believing rape victims or because we have a problem with thinking that relationships are about ownership, and so a woman being touched or whatever by another man means the ownership has been violated, even though she never wanted it to happen, even though her feelings for her husband are the same (I want to say even though she never cheated in her heart but I feel like I sound like Jesus). I'm sure it's really hard to be in his position, but it's harder to be in her position, and to leave her when she needs support the most (even if he decides to come back later) SUCKS. But I won't dwell on this guy, because like I said, who knows in this particular situation what was going on. But in general, that kind of behavior is really terrible.

I contacted the author of the article to point out that forced oral sex IS rape. This was her response to me:

"We stayed as close as possible to the language of the criminal complaint, which did not characterize this as rape -- not because it was oral
sex, I think, but because of the degree of coercion.

When the information -- through a recording -- is this strong and damning, it weakens an article, rather than strengthening it, if the reporter goes beyond the language used by the prosecutors in the record. We pointed out that these were felony and misdemeanor charges that carried up to 7 years in prison if he were found guilty. Hopefully that helps convey the seriousness of what he is accused of."

I wouldn't *demonize* the husband, and normally I wouldn't even look at people's personal relationships, I mean, we don't know what was going on between them and everything. But. This isn't the only time we've ever heard of a man leaving a woman for being raped.

This may surprise you, but even I would call that rape. I have to wonder, though, if she included her husband in any of this before it happened, or if she just acted on her own?

Understand, I am NOT blaming her for what happened. But you have to admit, not asking for help was a poor choice on her part.

If she didn't tell him beforehand, it becomes a trust issue. It's quite possible that his pain comes from the fact that she didn't ask for or accept his help. She was caught in a situation where it would be very difficult to think through it clearly. Someone around her must have some knowledge of immigration issues. At the very least, her husband could have gone with her to the meeting. I think part of the problem could be that he wasn't given the opportunity to protect her. Before you jump to the conclusion that I think women can't take care of themselves, my only point is that married people are supposed to be there for each other. It's part of the vows, and it's something people do for the people they love.

Also, it's true that none of us know all of the circumstances of this situation. If they as a couple were already having trust problems, this could have been the last straw. It's absolutely horrible that this is the incident that did it, if that is the case. I hope that he just left temporarily and came back to support her. I don't know these people, but if they're going to break up, I hope it's not over this.

It seems that with this type of case both of them are at fault. The victim needs to seek help from experts if she really needs things to be done and don't need to be intimidated by such guys. On the other hand, guys like this should be ashamed of themselves trying to take advantage of somebody else's weakness.

New York Immigration Lawyer Marina Shepelsky, located in Brooklyn, assists clients from the New York metro area and across the United States in all immigration and naturalization matters http://www.e-us-visa.com