A beloved friend of mine was brutally raped several years ago by an organized crime figure in her city. A serial predator, he used his business front, a restaurant, to lure young women with prospects of working there. Eventually he would get them alone, then viciously assault them, and rape them, like he did to my friend. What's more, in addition to the horrific crime itself, he went even further in committing the foulest gestures of misogyny. But it didn't stop there -- afterwards he would slander his victims as prostitutes to his staff -- to cover his tracks. Still, the most terrifying part is -- he knew he could get away with it.

He knew that his victims would find out when they reported the crime to the authorities that he was a member of a local mafia, so that they would not press charges for fear of retaliation. He also likely had someone within the county DA's office in his backpocket, such as the attorney who strongly dissuaded my friend from seeking justice, while applying an air of cold indifference. (He wasn't interested in the rape itself. In fact, he asked few questions about it. Instead, he wanted to know what other criminal activities she had seen. Perhaps it was to know what else he needed to be proactive about?) On the one hand, the attorney was very likely someone tight with this vile thug who would run interference for him (something like Matt Damon's mole inside the police dept. for crime boss Jack Nicholson in "The Departed.") On the other hand, that doesn't rule out that the entire DA's office was compromised.

The point is that as many times as this happened, for some reason, the DA's office and the police kept looking the other way. They never clamped down on him in any way, not even for his various underworld activities. In fact, the attorney from the DA's office told her that there were major federal charges in the works against him (which he didn't specify) -- which was one of the reasons he gave for not prosecuting her crime. Of course, nothing ever materialized in the form of any charges.

Although this abominable crime happened years before I knew my friend, it has outraged me on so many levels, with all the intensity as if it had happened yesterday. It is singularly the most horrifying story ever told to me personally (all I have shared here is but the tip of the iceberg of this truly heinous crime). One of the most disturbing aspects of the crime is that the criminal justice system tolerated a brutally violent serial rapist. In fact, to this day he is still a restaurant owner (now in a town just outside the city where he had the other restaurant), with all the outward veneer of being a "respectable" businessman.

One question that has especially haunted me is how could this depraved monster keep getting away with it? (Even though he could evade the law, how come he isn't six feet under on some small piece of real estate?) My theory is that he is a very intelligent criminal psychopath, who carefully sized up his potential victims. Since they were regular customers, he probably would meet their boyfriends and husbands. Perhaps he even checked into their backgrounds -- especially to see if they had any connections of their own. If he determined that there was really no threat of personal retribution (i.e. taking the law into their own hands) -- then he had his next victim. And of course, he also covered his tracks by probably having at least one attorney in the DA's office to run interference for him (if not the DA himself). He would also fire, or do whatever else, to eliminate any of his employees that might be in touch with the victim afterwards (suddenly the bartender who was talking to my friend one day had a disconnected phone and an empty apartment -- she never heard from him again). So, he would maintain his reputation to those unaware of his role in organized crime, that only knew him from the mask he wore as a restaurant owner and family man (while craven and despicable, it's still astonishing that he pulled this off again and again). In effect he'd wipe the slate clean and start over for the next victim.

This story has truly haunted me. Because this happened to a friend, it has especially made me realize what a horrific crime rape is. As burned out as I am on politics and causes in general, I am now so inspired to join the fight against sexual violence. In her case, the crime itself is about as nightmarish as can be. Truly, rape is the ultimate violation of one's space, of one's personal boundaries -- in a world where incursions of any kind -- are generally considered infractions. But with rape -- it is the worst violation one can commit upon another (save for murder).

I myself have never been the victim of a violent crime. I was once mugged by a group of young hoods holding bats and knives on me, but I talked my way out of it. I just lost some cash, but kept my wallet and credit cards. In fact, this is the first time a violent crime has happened to someone close to me -- amazingly enough. But especially because of the depraved, sinister nature of the crime, and the fact that it was committed by an evil figure in the underworld -- it couldn't be any more disturbing. This has really shown me on a personal level the outrage of how acts of evil can be committed, even repeatedly, by those who have the power to live above the law.

I was driven for years to expose whatever I learned about the likes of the Bushes, who could somehow keep committing crimes, and still get elected to office -- with their respectability somewhat intact. But I found this story of a relatively small-time criminal figure, and his ability to get away with maybe the worst crime against society (apart from murder) so much more disturbing. Maybe it's simply because it hit so close to home, so to speak. The fact that the powerful can live above the law and act with impunity, thanks to corruption within the System, is a frightening matter to behold. In the case of what happened to my friend, it's horrifying enough when existing laws are not enforced, due to personal connections and corrupt officials. But what about when the laws themselves are designed to grant impunity for the powerful? Of course, the Bush Administration did just that to allow CIA employees and others to perform torture.

But more related to what I have discussed is how companies like Halliburton's KBR have clauses in their employment contracts barring their employees from suing the corporation -- if they are raped by co-workers. This of course has been countered by Al Franken with his amendment that "would ban the practice of committing employees to arbitration in the case of assault." (In other words, Franken's Amendment would make it so that the victims could get their day in court.) So on the one hand, there is often impunity for the powerful due to under the table corruption and the power of organized crime, as happened in the inability of my friend to seek justice. But when impunity for a crime such as rape is actually made official policy --- that is taking it to another level of social immorality . My next blog entry will be on the KBR clause, and the Franken Amendment as a remedy against such a travesty.