Judge Says Teen Who Is Accused Of Rape Deserves Leniency Because He’s From “A Good Family”

A South Jersey judge said a teenage boy who filmed himself raping a girl deserves leniency because he comes from “a good family.”

Judge James Troiano told the family of a 16-year-old girl that her alleged rapist, identified as “GMC,” should not face trial as an adult for his actions and doubted whether the attack came to rape at all. Investigators said GMC sent the clip to seven of his friends along with a text that said: “When your first time having sex is rape.” However, Troiano said he believed the incident was an assault rather than rape.

According to court documents, the teen girl, identified as Mary, was visibly drunk at a party with 30 other teens. As the girl was slurring her words and stumbling, GMC proceeded to lead her to a dark basement away from the rest of the party. A group of boys then sprayed Febreze on her butt and began slapping her with so much force that the imprints from their hands lasted until the following day.

Afterwards, the boy began filming himself sexually assaulting her, penetrating her from behind. In the video, you can see Mary’s bare chest, and her head hanging while it repeatedly hits the wall. Mary was found vomiting on the floor after the attack, according to court documents. A friend’s mother took her home.

The next day, covered in bruises and ripped clothes, the girl told her mom she believed she’d been sexually assaulted. Over the next few months, documents state Mary learned GMC’s video had been sent to his friends and their mutual circle. Mary confronted GMC and asked him to stop sharing the video, but he denied having ever recorded it. When the video continued to be shared, Mary’s mother contacted authorities and pursued criminal charges.

While the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office recommended in 2017 that GMC be tried as an adult, calling his actions “sophisticated and predatory,” Judge James Troiano of Superior Court denied the prosecutors’ motion last year. Now Troiano is facing backlash by the state’s appeal for showing leniency towards GMC. “This young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well,” Troiano said, during the court session back in July 2018. “He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college. His scores for college entry were very high.”

In response to sexually explicit messages the teen wrote following the alleged assault, the judge said: “it really doesn’t make a lot of difference because the whole paragraph to me is just a 16-year-old kid saying stupid crap to his friends.” The state’s appellate court disagreed with Troiano and reversed his ruling in a 14-page document. GMC can now be tried as an adult with the case moved from family court to a grand jury.