Bond set for campus rape suspectAmount set at $75,000; man also is student at C of C, is employed at VA hospital By Ron Menchaca (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Post and Courier Rasheid Miquelle Mervin A man accused of raping a College of Charleston student in her dormitory last week remained jailed Saturday after turning himself in to police the night before. Rashied Miquell Mervin, 35, is charged with third degree criminal sexual conduct. At about 11 p.m. Monday, Mervin allegedly raped the woman in McAlister dormitory on St. Phillip Street, according to a Charleston police warrant. The woman told police that she and Mervin, also a College of Charleston student, had gone to dinner and returned to her dormitory room and began kissing when things got out of hand. She told the suspect several times to quit, and she tried to push him away but couldn't, she told police. Magistrate Priscilla Baldwin set Mervin's bail at $75,000 in a bond hearing Saturday. A man who described himself as Mervin's "spiritual advisor" appeared at the hearing in support of Mervin, but he declined to give his name. The man said he met Mervin through a substance-abuse recovery program. He said Mervin previously attended Trident Technical College and recently had been taking classes at the College of Charleston. Mervin said during his bond hearing that he is employed as a housekeeper at the VA hospital and lives in a halfway house on James Island. The alleged campus rape is among four sexual assaults reported in the Charleston area in less than a month; two of the other incidents were near the downtown campus and one was in North Charleston. Not all of the cases are related, police said. |
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Comments
This article has 11 comment(s)
Posted by auger on June 22, 2008 at 4:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's a shame he turned to a life of crime. He could have scored a role as one of the villains in the next "Richard" Tracy movie. No makeup required, he's there.
NOTE:
Had to use Mr. Tracys proper name. The P&C Bot told me to "watch my mouth!". They must have that thing set to intercept 5th grade humor.
Posted by mr_happy on June 22, 2008 at 5:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well at least he turned himself in. Can't argue with that.
Posted by Perspective on June 22, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
He turned himself in, because it will be he said-she said argument. Had he fled he will look more guilty than he already does.
Now I don't want to sound like I am "Blaming the Victim", but lets talk about decisions: You are young and attending the college of charleston, living in a dormitory. Either you are at least average smart (scholarship) or your folks have a little cash. You think it is a good idea to go to dinner with a man nearly twice your age, who is a housekeeper (aka janitor), that lives is a halfway house. Afterwards you let him in your dorm - probably going through some kind of sign in system (virtually all dorms have sign in systems - especially female dorms). So you sign him in and go to your room that amount to a desk and a chair! Everyone knows you ain't going to study. You allow someone nearly twice your age to kiss you once - and then things get out of hand! Doesn't anyone else think things were out of hand when the guy said "Hey Baby" one day and actually got a response. ..... . . This is a bad incident and I don't want to sound like I am blaming the girl, because she is the victim and probably telling the truth. But if I were the public defender that will end up representing this guy, I would take it to trial and point out to a jury the MANY bad decisions that were made leading up to this and try and convince the jury that the sex was consenual and just one more BAD decision made by the victim that she now regrets.
I think what really happened is that a savy drug addict criminal played head games on a young impresionable girl who doesn't have any street smarts and thinks everyone is basically good. He tricked her and then raped her when she said no. He should probably be executed for the commission of such a crime against another human being. Civilized society should not treat you as human when you act like an animal and prey on other humans.
Posted by oldglory on June 22, 2008 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It only becomes rape when one of the partners says 'no' and the partner doesn't cease/desist--doesn't matter how bad the choice of partner was, the walk of life, what led up to the act, etc. It's 'NO' that everyone, regardless of gender, must heed.
Posted by eyfigueroa on June 22, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
perspective: a woman NEVER deserves to be raped. Regardless of the circumstance.
however, I have to agree with you on the stance that young women need to be careful. There is such a thing as placing yourself in harm's way.
I have an 18 year old leaving home for the first time to attend college. I printed out this story so she can read just how quickly a foolish decision can become a lifelong regret.
Did she deserved to be raped? NO!
Should she have invited this man into her dorm room? NO!
Should this 'man' be punished and never see the light of day again? YES!
However, this is a sad cautionary tale for many young women out there who make questionable decisions, especially if under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
(NOT TO SAY THAT YOUNG WOMAN WAS EITHER DRINKING OR DRUGGING)
My hope for this young girl is that she receives the best physical and psychological care that can be had.
Hopefully she will learn to have a long and fruitful life in spite of this terrible chapter.
Posted by Perspective on June 22, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
eyfigueroa - i hope you understand that i agree with you. i am not saying that i blame the victim at all. i am saying that although this guy is clearly a POS it would be hard even for an intelligent person to send him to prison if his defense is that it was consentual and she later decided she should not have participated. it would be easy for a defense attorney to establish a fact pattern of bad decisions on the young lady's part and say that sex was just one that she regretted (that happens a lot). i hope this guy confessed to going too far or the girl put up some resistance (left marks) or maybe someone heard her scream. i say that only in hopes there is additional evidence. i realize that a girl has to do what she thinks will get her through such an incident - if that means being quiet and not physically resisting until it is over then that is what she has to do. it is a horrible crime and i think that in many cases the death penalty should apply. if someone preys on another human they should not have the same rights as us. if you act like an animal, you should be treated like one.
As for your daughter - good luck - I have kids too and it is a scary world. Talk about it all to them. I would rather my kids be scared than be a victim.
Posted by SCdeacinNYC on June 22, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Date rape is horrible and tricky. I've seen both sides of the equation. I had a friend in college who was raped her freshman year by a guy she had been out on a date with. She never brought charges, because she "knew" no one would believe her that things had gone too far.
On the other hand, when I was in high school, three football players were charged with raping a girl, one of whom I grew up with. It became apparent after a while that it was consensual sex and that she only cried rape because she had been caught in a car with the three guys. I hate to say it...but the tension was also maximized because the guys were black and she was white and apparently afraid that her parents would find out about her screwing around with black boys.
I hope the truth comes out here, if he did it he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But date rape is contentious and a very hard thing to prove in court after all the "he said-she said". Unfortunately there are a few women who have cried wolf and just made it worse for any woman who has actually had to go through this horrible experience.
Posted by Charles_Town on June 23, 2008 at 11:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
eye, I think you said it very well.
Posted by Early on June 23, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think we all now that a spiritual advisor is not always a good thing, ask Obama
Posted by wpc3iop on June 23, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like "Big Bubba" will be Mr. Mervin's new spiritual advisor...
Posted by prosperous_hb on June 23, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't wait to see the outcome of this.