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Hostage story deserves scrutiny
(by Dave Lange - July 07, 2010)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Hostage story deserves scrutiny
The bizarre case involving David Carrasquillo, 48, of South Euclid, who was arrested and jailed following a 10-hour standoff with police June 12, when a Moreland Hills woman was held hostage in a Beachwood office building, has been tough to follow.
The victim, 42, and her husband are wondering why and how Mr. Carrasquillo was let out on a paltry $25,000 bond a few days earlier, after being charged with rape, burglary and theft in connection with a late-night incident June 1 at their home. Mr. Carrasquillo's wife is questioning why she posted bail for him after her mother reported being raped.
I'm wondering why we, the various segments of the media, have covered the story with such diverse approaches and where we go from here.
During the standoff, when the hostage was being held at gunpoint behind secured doors at the hair salon where she is employed, various electronic media reported with the frenetic immediacy that is their claim that the victim is the mother-in-law of the suspect.
At that time, it was not yet known that there would be allegations of two rapes occurring during the hostage situation and certainly not that they would be characterized as retaliation for reporting the earlier incident at the victim's Moreland Hills home.
With very few exceptions, we, the media, consider identifying rape victims taboo. We perpetuate the perception of humiliation and debasement that society attaches to that particular crime.
To my knowledge, none of the local media have named the victim. But you don't have to name someone in order to identify them. And identifying her as the accused perpetrator's mother-in-law certainly narrowed the field.
Most subsequent news reports shied away from referring to the victim as the mother-in-law -- but not ours. On June 17, we reiterated the earlier radio and television reports, stating that "Mr. Carrasquillo's mother-in-law was held hostage at Alfredo's International Salon in Beachwood." We also pointed out that Mr. Carrasquillo had been charged and released on bail posted by his wife in the Moreland Hills incident. In what turned out to be a shortsighted attempt on my part as the editor to shield her identity, we chose not to state that the victim was the same in both incidents, although we knew that to be the case. I also believe we underplayed the story on Page 23.
The daily newspaper identified the victim as a person with whom Mr. Carrasquillo "had a relationship," which most readers would assume to be something other than mother-in-law. It also reported that police said Mr. Carrasquillo "was angry that the woman called police and accused him of rape, and he wanted to retaliate." Some readers might surmise that anger is more likely to be caused by a false accusation than by a true one.
It has been widely reported that Mr. Carrasquillo is a registered sexual predator who was convicted of rape in 1978 in Philadelphia. That readily available information would lead reasonable people to wonder why, after his arrest in the reported Moreland Hills rape, his release came so readily and so cheaply. The Cuyahoga County bond office, which recommended the $25,000 bail, has come under intense scrutiny, but the unidentified judge who actually approved it has not.
Mr. Carrasquillo's wife told one TV station that she regretted bailing him out, and she initially didn't believe her mother's story. "Now, I see that I was wrong," she said. She should not be the only one.
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