 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
An Anne Arundel County judge acquitted a man on domestic assault charges after he and the victim had sex days after the assault.
Stephanie Hidrobo says her former boyfriend and the judicial system have done her harm. "I did feel like a was a victim, yet again you know that I wasn't being heard."
She filed assault charges against Thomas Knight after she says he beat and kicked her last February. District Court Judge Robert C. Wilcox acquitted Knight in part because of what Hidrobo did ten days after the incident. "It seems to me if I'm afraid of someone, I don't go sleep with them. I'd stay the heck away from them," he said.
Hidrobo says she went to Knight's hotel room, despite a restraining order. Those who have worked with victims of domestic abuse say Hidrobo's behavior is common.
"We find a number of women go back to their abusers actually," said Advocate for Victims, Molly Knipe.
"It was just the all the phone calls you get, the 50 phone calls during the night. The 'I love you', 'I miss you', and you think maybe he is going to change," Hidrobo said.
Judge Wilcox has made controversial decisions before.
In August 2006 he ordered Aubrey Mayhew be released from the county jail after police picked him up for violating a restraining order and his wife said she no longer feared him. Three weeks later Mayhew killed her.
In the Hidrodo case the judge said he doubts a person who is really a victim would have intimate contact with an abuser.
"I understand when human beings are afraid they act afraid," said Wilcox.
As for Stephanie, she has advice for victims of domestic abuse.
"I would tell women to stay away the first time, don't go back. Stay strong, you can do it."
Judge Wilcox reportedly apologized for saying earlier this month that he could not trust the victim in the case because of what she had done, but stands by his decision to find Thomas Knight not guilty of assault.
Victims of domestic abuse often CAN'T leave their abusers because they DO believe the abuser will change. Each time he beats her, he promises her he'll never do it again - and because she loves him, she believes it. If she tries to escape him, he'll hunt her down and make her come back. Constant telephone calls, in spite of court orders to stay away and not contact the victim.
If the judge were a woman - especially a battered woman - he'd be more likely to understand.
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.