Alcohol-induced Sex Abuse?

By on October 13, 2011

I guess I just never got drunk enough to molest a kid.

Man gets jail for alcohol-induced sex abuse

PROVO — According to his lawyer, Jason Ririe Smith’s legal troubles all came from a bottle.

“What I have here is a man who is destroying his life with alcohol,” attorney Robert Miner said during a sentencing hearing Thursday.

Miner described the Springville man’s troubles with booze while pleading with the court for a light jail sentence. Smith, 42, was arrested in April for sexually abusing a teenage girl who was visiting his home. According to a police affidavit, Smith initially denied the abuse but acknowledged that he had been drinking. The affidavit states that he eventually admitted to touching the girl.

[snip]

Miner acknowledged during Thursday’s hearing that the deal was an unusually lenient one, but said that he believed there were reasons it had been offered to Smith. Miner said that the victim was not suffering extreme emotional distress as a result of the abuse. Smith also was working very hard to curb his alcohol problems.

“I don’t know that there’s a day he doesn’t go to AA,” Miner said, referring to the Alcoholics Anonymous program.

Related:

AA’s “Too Young?” pamphlet.

 

This entry is filed under Keep Coming Back.
  • Sally

    I wonder if a representative of the D.A. was even present to speak for the victim. There wasn’t one reference to a prosecutor in this article. Why not just go for a complete dismissal?

    Miner said “What I have here is a man who is destroying his life with alcohol” No rebuttal. Miner also said “the victim was not suffering extreme emotional distress as a result of the abuse”, without rebuttal.

    Sigh. It would have been nice to hear that someone in the room showed concern for her and the rest of society. For the record, Scott Hampton, Psy.D. says that “Sexual assault occurs despite alcohol use, not because of it.” …….and……… “In effect, people who sexually assault when drunk, do so, not because they are intoxicated, but despite their intoxication”.
    http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1109127234.html

    Too bad Judge Mortensen didn’t get any enlightenment. All he had to say was: “Alcohol will destroy your life if you keep drinking”.

    I think she was 13 years old.

  • Sally

    Man gets jail for alcohol-induced sex abuse

    lol. I didn’t catch this at first……..The title of this article makes it sound like he gave the victim alcohol, and then abused her.

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/blamethenile?blend=3&ob=5 mikeblamedenial

    Loyal dedication to AA is certainly seen as a sign of repentance and atonement to many. Kind of like finding Jesus in prison. The sicker the crime, the more penance demonstrated.

  • Lucy

    Utah AA is very weird, because LDS culture equates drinking with sin. It’s also weird because it is paternalistic and considers marriage the highest acheivement for a woman.

  • disclosure

    Methamphetamine induced sex abuse is widely accepted in the remote parts of California where they make it. My neighbor in the desert was afraid to hang her underwear out on the clothes line, she was in her 80’s. My theory on this case is that the perpetrator has other substance problems that he is hiding behind alcoholism. However, if you look at the incidence of abuse that exists in AA it is hard to deny that alcohol may also have a warping effect on sex drive and lead to sexual abuse in some chronic users. JD, any clinical info on this one?

  • disclosure

    I meant JR…

  • Sally

    A guess on my part. Sexual abusers probably feel a lot of shame. They may not express it but they know it’s wrong and they have an illness society thinks is “sick” and are disgusted with themselves. Drinking to cope with urges, thoughts and deal with a foul impression of themselves seems to be a reasonable assumption. The 12 step approach that they are diseased in the alcoholic sense may make them more comfortable with their diseased perversion. Sick and can’t help it type of deal.

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