One more comparison for the Joel Koskan rape/incest file: another Supreme Court appeal filed November 16 notes that one Theodore Guzman of Rapid City raped two of his underage children and one of his children’s underage friends. Guzman was sentenced to life in prison. He had to register as a sex offender. After the children’s friend accused Guzman of rape, the Department of Social Services removed Guzman’s children from his care.
Republican politician Joel Koskan raped his daughter for years. His daughter disclosed the ongoing rape to law enforcement last May. DSS has not removed Koskan’s other children from his care. The state is offering Koskan a plea deal to escape jail time and the sex offender registry.
But, Guzman sounds like an undesirable from south of the border and life imprisonment means never having to say you’re sorry and keep deporting him. koskan sounds like a repub in good standing with the Party.
Mexican rapist gets life in prison.
Republican rapist trying to get zero jail time.
With a system like this, ugh!
Writing letters to republican legislators will not change anything.
What can be done to protect women and girls so this doesn’t happen?
Let’s shatter the Republican rapist justice system 100% Let’s replace it with a Scandanavian system.
Republucan party is the Zero Party. Zero jail time for Republicans who rape and steal and lie and use state planes for personal business
I’m not sure why this guy seems to be getting off without jail time. I suppose he gets credit for not dragging his daughter through the added trauma of having to testify against her father on such matters. In my mind, that would only get him a few years off what should be a long sentence. Such a nothing outcome to this crime seems to point to Republican coddling of certain crimes if they are committed by white men.
An acquaintance of mine got life for similar actions and never went to trial (Beadle County.)
@#$%^&*!
Mellete County. Its 1900 there. What are Indian girls for, if not to rape.
This 2006 quote on an abortion ballot issue from Bill Napoli, former Rapid City legislator, provides insights to how the Republican Ruling Class in South Dakota views the issues of rape, violence, pregnancies and fundamental human rights which include reproductive rights:
“A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.”
It’s not only so dumb, it’s so cavalier and cartoonish. Napoli seems to have as much regard for livestock (perhaps more?) as for women and girls. It’s proof that breathing the rarified air in the State Capitol leads to a monumental detachment from reality.
The comparison between Koskan grooming his child to become his secret sex toy and the rapes committed by hoy polloi South Dakotans is grotesque and damning. The Republican Ruling Class knows that hiring the best lawyers and maintaining productive relations with the SDGOP will get their perps off the hook 100 percent of the time. To the hoy polloi, a perp’s life is over at the point of arrest. In South Dystopia, equal protection is a myth.
The most telling aspect of the Koskan tragedy is Joel Koskan ran a bee line straight to his attorney when he realized his daughter mustered the courage to stop the rapes and the brainwashing. Koskan’s lawyer went straight to the state and cut a deal to eliminate the possibilities of prison time for the rapist and being listed on the sex offender registry. In other words, Koskan was quick to admit he’s guilty of the offenses, but only if he can escape punishment. The alleged concern for dragging his child through the court is crocodile tears to make his escape from justice a little more publicly palatable. And the transaction between the state and his attorney was “just doin’ bid’ness.”
Psychologists will tell you that rape has little to do with sexual gratification. It is all about holding power and controlling victims through fear and violence. Rape is violence. Rapists typically are not satisfied with one violent act. In the investigation report, the victim talks about being groomed. Her testimony displays her relationship with her dad as a noose that gets tighter and tighter while her mom watches and shields her husband’s growing thirst for more power and more violence.
Again, rape is violence. The judge isn’t thinking straight if she thinks the incest and rapes over several years is somehow in a different category.
Cory’s examples of what happens to the hoy polloi in similar cases actually is what should happen 100 percent of the time when someone gets hauled in for rape and incest cases. Letting the political elite off the hook is a dirty shame and a systemic sickness in our state’s governance.
The SD GOP is lapping up the examples of their hero; trump-in his constantly excited wiggling attempts to get “off the hook of Justice” on a national scale. This state GOP party is so enamored of his orange-haired ‘tough-guyness’ they’ll follow him like lemmings following the Pied Piper of Hamlin!
96 tears, can you elaborate on the statement:
Are you saying you have seen or read convincing evidence that this girl is willing to testify and any claims otherwise by the prosecutor are simply a subterfuge to save face?
Or are you saying your sources have presented convincing evidence that this girl will suffer no harm if she somehow can be forced to testify in open court against her will in the process of trying Koskan?
Or are you saying that in your view the benefits from an attempt to protect the public by the full prosecution and punishment of Koskan outweighs the costs off any and all potential harm to this young vicitm if she somehow can be forced to testify against her will?
Guilty
Sentence
Castration
Just because they say she wishes not to testify doesn’t mean anything. They more than likely used their usual go-to tactics to scare her and sway her. They are not on her side. I don’t know if you realize how manipulative the “good guys” are and how demeaning they are towards a victim who has come forward. Just by coming forward, the girl shows she has enough moxie to take the stand. She can dang sure buttress the pain and trauma of a trial. Compared to what her dad put her through, followed by the nudging to let it be by the law, she deserves someone to treat her with respect and empower her like she should have been from the get. She is not the weak one. Treating her like she can’t handle a trial is wrong and asinine. Our state needs advocates to have the victim’s back because so far, she’s been on her own. She needs someone with a stinkin backbone. Who fights for the victim? What about the future victims? If Koskan is free, there will be victims.
Any rape must demand jail time. No pleading out of this type of thing imo. That doesn’t even make sense.
All mammal, in South Dakota a “Victim’s Assistance Program” office is funded and tasked with standing up and helping for victims of sexual abuse, domestic assault, and other violent crimes.
https://dps.sd.gov/victims-services/victims-assistance-program#:~:text=If%20you%20or%20someone%20you,for%20more%20information%20or%20assistance.
Have you seen some evidence that any advocates employed in the Victim’s Assistance Program assigned to this girl’s case and the lawyers in the prosecutor’s office have manipulated (“scared and swayed”) this girl into refusing to testify so that they can give Koskan a break?
Have you seen any evidence that they are lying about her unwillingness to testify?
If they are not lying about the girl’s wishes not to testify, do you feel that the State and the prosecutor should ignore the girl’s wishes and try to force her testify, because in your opinion there is no real danger to her mental health because she ought to be able to bear “the pain and trauma of a trial?”
For what it might be worth, the Mellette County Magistrate Court website contains this information:
https://www.courtreference.com/courts/16357/mellette-county-magistrate-court
I see from Cory’s posting that the charges against Koskan were filed in Mellette County.
Isn’t Koscan the real victim in this ordeal, bcb?
e platypus onion, I sure haven’t seen any evidence or indication that Koscan is in any way a victim in this ordeal, let alone the real victim. Are you aware of some such evidence that you can share on DFP?
And to clarify, the only evidence I have seen that his daughter does not want to testify is from one of the links in one of Cory’s DFP reports stating:
https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2022/11/07/sd-senate-candidate-attends-preliminary-hearing-sexual-assault-allegations/
Kempema is reported to be Koskan’s defense attorney so it would be natural to take any statement from him with a grain of salt, yet I saw no indication in the story that the prosecutor or anyone else contested this statement about the victim’s wishes and concerns about her mental health (which would have been, and still are, exceptionally easy to double check for accuracy),
If the statement is factually correct, however, I am speculating that attempting to take into account the victim’s wishes and avoid causing her further harm may have been one of the key motivating factors for the prosecution’s willingness to offer this plea deal, rather than any desire by the prosecution to sweep the case under the rug or grant Koskan some sort of leniency due to his obnoxious political views (which unfortunately seem to prevail among SD’s current elected officials and way too many Republican voters).
And here’s wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season.
Too many times, BCB. I have personally witnessed victim’s advocates, prosecutors, judges, you name it not want to be put to work. Not want to put a fellow 6 foot something fellow man through any hardships. Goes to show how wimpy and sick the system is. She should have been fortified and strengthened and told how she should take his raping butt to civil court to sue him for every penny he had. But instead, she was asked how she expects to pay for school and who will support her so she can finish college if she follows through and puts her dad in jail. Weak and typical. We need some dauntless advocates, not adversaries posing as good guys.
I am sorry to hear of those experiences All Mammal. Hopefully they are the exception rather than rule. Are you aare of any of the victim’s advocates, prosecutors, judges you have witnessed behaving so atrociously that are involved in Koskan’s case?
aware not aare
Is it possible the young lady is afraid to testify because the monster that abused her still lives with her? Why is that? That certainly would not appear to be a normal scenario for victim/abuser. Except maybe for South Dakota where this resembles what I recall of the Mette case. I stand corrected if I am wrong.
e platypus onion, the hypothesis that “the young lady is afraid to testify because the monster that abused her still lives with her” would make a lot of sense, except that Cory’s earlier report indicated:
https://dakotafreepress.com/2022/11/08/state-not-requiring-koskan-to-register-as-sex-offender/
Of course I have no knowledge of the reasons for her reported desire that Koskan not be imprisoned and her fear of testifying. But if I were to speculate, it seems more likely that she fears how Koskan’s wife (who is her adoptive mother) and her other siblings might react if their husband and dad is sent to prison because of her report and testimony in court, and they blame her rather than him. She could also have feelings for Koskan affecting her, such as love and affection despite his abuse, or possibly fear of him after his release from prison, or worse yet, if he happened to be acquitted after a trial where she testified against him.
Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Bearcreekbat and the rest of Mr. H’s lively crew. I am thankful for every single perspective shared on here and cherish your thoughts more than you know. Have a great day.
It’s deplorable! The levels of psychological trickery deployed in South Dakota attempting to “guilt” a pregnant woman or girl into not getting an abortion but there’s no safety net for this incestial rape victim. This young woman should be taken out of the state to a safe place where there are psychological professionals and caring legal professionals to explain the ramifications of her future actions. She’s done nothing wrong, but the SD system seems rigged to support the rapist instead of a true victim. A fetus is treated with more respect than this living, hurting woman. Is it because she’s not white? Probably has a lot to do with it.
The girl literally has no place to turn. She wants to move on, move away, start again, totally on her own. Pretty scary situation for any 20 year old. She needs support and I hope she gets it.