Maldonado and Schultz Acquitted in New Year’s Eve Rape Case: What Happened Here?
Warning: Rape triggers
Thank you Reddit, for pointing me to this article. It is all about the Maldonado and Schultz case. Most of my information on this had been through Georgette, and this was another take on it, also rounding up info from her blog.
Not guilty does not always mean innocent.
I remember hearing about the New Years Eve rape case. I was horrified. I cried when I read the report. The basics are: a young woman got very drunk on NYE, asked her teammates to take her home, and instead they gang raped her in a garage and left her on the ground.
I don’t generally talk about rape culture and sexual assault on my blog – usually it’s on my Facebook site. One article that is well worth reading is So you’re tired of hearing about Rape Culture.
Rape culture is when a group of athletes rape a young girl, and the mainstream media laments the fact that their “promising futures” have been dashed by their crimes – as though THEY are the victims.
The original article about Maldonado and Schultz quoted Aaron France, an instructor and BJJ black belt:
So if we were to look at Maldonado’s behavior, put criminal implications aside and give him the benefit of the doubt, here’s the best thing we can say about him… He had sex with a woman who was intoxicated to the point where she could not walk, and afterwards he treated her like a piece of trash, by leaving her half naked on the cement floor of a parking garage, in the middle of the night, when it was barely above freezing.”
People need to watch out for each other. Even if it was consensual, wild, crazy, garage sex and all parties wanted it (which I don’t for a second believe), you don’t leave your sex partners half naked in a freezing cold garage, especially when they can’t even stand up afterward. Human beings are not a one time use coffee cup that you throw on the ground after you finish using.
Josh Hall goes on to say:
I can say with confidence that the actions of Maldonado and Schultz this past New Year’s Eve were morally deplorable (even if not found to be illegal), and I will vocally boycott any gym that has anything to do with either man.
Yes, yes, yes.
My personal suggestion: if you hear about a rape and things come out of your mouth like, “But he’s such a nice guy” or “Look at how she was dressed” or any variations on those themes, please remember – it’s about an act. It’s about what they did, not who they are. And in the case of the victim – it’s about what happened to her.
JiuJiu’s Question: if your gym decided to allow Maldonado or Schultz to join and train with you, what would your reaction be?
I’d be out of there in a second. Have any gyms allowed them back?
I just asked Georgette, and she said this:
I think that’s an easy one. I’d bring their past public record to management’s attention and point out that they’re going to lose a lot of business if they proceed, including mine.
I don’t know if I’d quit my school, because there isn’t anywhere else to train and I love it. I think their presence would actually change the training atmosphere though, so that may change. We are a very small, close-knit school. We generally don’t attract the meathead-type, so I doubt they’d fit in.
That said, I’d be very uncomfortable being around them, and wouldn’t participate in anything they’re involved in. I’d certainly bring up their behavior and my discomfort with it.
Agreed – it would change the atmosphere. I would hope, though, that your instructor would support ANYONE’s right not to personally train with them.
I would find another gym and fast. Who would want to have anything to do with these creeps?
If my gym allowed either of those boys to train (I doubt they would), I would go every day and make their lives a living hell. I’d be talking to EVERYONE at the gym about who these boys are and what they did. I would do everything in my power to drive them out of the gym. I’d be relentless.
Interesting. I hadn’t considered that angle. I’m glad women like you exist.
I’d leave. I’ve been raped. I hate the jokes that go around about rape- those are bad enough- but any man who felt it was ok to behave like this- whether it was rape or not- is not a man I’d feel safe training with.
Totally agreed. I wouldn’t feel safe, either.
Being in the position of instructor, I would definitely ban either of these fellas from training at our gym. Having someone like that would not only be a cancer to the culture of the academy, I wouldn’t feel safe with my female students. If either of those guys walked into our gym they would be lucky to leave without a beating. I know many of us were very upset when we read about the whole ordeal.
Regardless of whether the PERSON would be an issue, the situation would be immediately polarizing. Personally I would think that the instructor didn’t give a sh*t about their female students if they allowed a guy like that in.
Hmmm, I work with sex offenders in a clinical sense, but I wouldn’t take the high road in this circumstance. Come in to my therapy office, and I’ll do my best to help you make better choices and understand the gravity of what you did. Come on to the mat, and all that goes out the window.
Sorry for the testosterone fueled response, Jiujiu, but that’s bullshit.
I think we definitely have a right to decide who we allow into our physical personal space. I fully recognize there are different levels of “sex offender” and I don’t feel that way about ALL sex offenders. But would be rapists, or accused rapists – they fall under the “hells no” umbrella.
Well that’s exactly what this is about isn’t it? Having the right to CHOOSE when, where and who we allow into our personal space. But Maldanado and Schultz took that choice away from their team-mate right? They raped their team-mate! From now on any gym they train at will have to constantly wonder it they’re going to rape the other students.
What really frightens me is that eventually, people will forget who they are and what they’ve done. In a few years, the names “Nick Schultz” and “Mathew Maldanado” won’t necessarily be a red flag to a gym. And that’s assuming that they don’t change their name. Plus, how often do you get your training partner’s LAST name?
We should start a “BJJ sex offender” black list and make sure that dojos are aware of these people.