WSU SGA President Accused of Sexual Assault, Steps Down

[Kel Varnsen]

Some of you may be following this, but here are a few articles:

SGA Cabinet story: https://thesunflower.com/35945/news/...enon-brinkley/
Accuser's story: https://thesunflower.com/36024/news/...oming-forward/
Brinkley resigns: https://thesunflower.com/36041/news/...shelby-rowell/

I did find this bit a little odd:

“It took me over a year after the night of June 17th, 2017 to fully admit and recognize that Kenon Brinkley had raped me,” Cuellar wrote. “Not using a condom without the consent of your sexual partner is rape.

Holy hell:

The night of the alleged encounter, Cuellar had purchased a room at the Candlewood Suites hotel in Wichita. She provided The Sunflower a digital record of the transaction.

“I did want to have sex with him,” Cuellar wrote. “But I wanted to have protected sex. I thought that we’d made this very clear before.

“I didn’t know what to do. I liked him a lot. I wanted to have an emotional relationship with him. I didn’t tell him to stop.”

[shoxlax]

Multiple alleged victims?

[Kel Varnsen]

Only one, but other claims of harassment.

[RoyalShock]

I read the accuser's full account earlier this week, and I think her story is credible. However, while Brinkley's behavior was certainly poor, I just can't get behind calling that particular instance rape, just because she assumed he would use a condom based on a prior conversation.

[_kai_]

Anyone see the picture of the ex SGA president at a rally with a big sign he made that said "NO MEANS NO."

Can't make this **** up.

[1972Shocker]

But didn't the accuser admit she did not tell him to stop? Now I don't blame the young lady for being upset but I think she shares some of the responsibility for this situation.

[Kel Varnsen]

It just strikes me as weird when she says, "I didn't tell him to stop" and they both consented to the encounter, but somehow still classifies that as a sexual assault?

[_kai_]

Kel, I totally agree, but remember what that counselor at WSU said in the article, we have to acknowledge the victims verbiage and respect it, because that's how she feels. -___-

[jdshock]

Kel Varnsen - it's not worth litigating something over a newspaper clipping with the viewpoint from only one side. But I would push back on your characterization of not wearing protection as a "dumb mistake." Certainly there are situations where we all would hopefully agree it escalates well beyond a "dumb mistake," even if we would use terms other than "rape" to define it.

For example, if two individuals agreed to engage in relations with protection, and the man took it off in the middle in an effort to infect her with an STD. Or even if he took it off just for the purposes of pleasure, but he risked her getting pregnant. Certainly, removing protection after it was already on would indicate some level of sinister intent. But what about a couple that was intoxicated, they had agreed to only have sex with a condom, but the woman was impaired to the point that she didn't realize he wasn't wearing one?

At some point, if you have an agreement, you have an agreement. If she was aware he was not wearing protection, but she didn't say no, then you get into the issues of implicit consent. And you're talking about implicit consent CONTRARY to a prior agreement. If a woman says "no, I don't want to have sex." And then she doesn't say it again, but you have sex with her, is it her obligation to say "no" again? According to her side, she made her wishes perfectly clear, he ignored those wishes, and it's entirely possible that an aggressive attorney could make the argument that she had no obligation to say "no" again since her wishes were already made known.

I don't know if any of the above qualifies as "rape." I do know that it seems insensitive and disingenuous to refer to the above scenarios as dumb mistakes. I also know that we cannot be certain the current scenario is analogous to the above or not.

[Kel Varnsen]

jdshock I understand where you're coming from. However, none of those conditions (alcohol, her saying "no" even once, STDs, pregnancy) apply here, or at least have not been reported to apply here.

The scenarios you mentioned are not "dumb mistakes." To be sure, they're anywhere from "incredibly reckless" to "incredibly heinous," but I would still characterize this particular situation, based on the facts we know and can reasonably verify, as a "dumb mistake."

[Shockm]

Drama, Drama, Drama. It's amazing how much we know about others lives even though no charges are filed. You know. I just really don't care and anyone who does has their own problems. :)

I used to say that the "ole days" weren't better but, I'm beginning to change my mind.

[abdullah_sharif]

sucks for her, but i agree with what others have said about her sharing some responsibility. different circumstance but same universe as flying on a plane.. it could crash.

i'm not an attorney but if she isn't filing charges, why other than to "let others know" (sarcastic) is she coming out now... seems like a shaming and playa' hatin' opportunity to me.

[Kel Varnsen]

Safe sex is great sex
Better wear a latex
Cause you don't want that late text
That "I think you raped" text

[Kel Varnsen]

Man, I long for the days when the SGA President wasn't so controversial. Like when Joseph Shepard was around!

[SHOCKvalue]

Thank goodness for the institute of marriage (or a committed relationship) and stable, non-crazy women.

[abdullah_sharif]

i wonder where she resides on the hot crazy matrix?

[Walker]

This whole story makes me sick. It pisses me off that people are changing the definition of rape to fit whatever scenario they want in order to ruin somebody’s life. She states that she isn’t out to ruin his life but this is exactly what doing something like this does.

If the sex was consensual and if protection was really important to her, this is something that is talked about during the deed. She has culpability in this. The fact she would do this is malicious and vindictive, especially in a time where outrage mobs could care less about due process or truth.

Hook up culture has never been a good thing and it’s especially dangerous now.

[Aargh]

She's claiming conditional consent and the condition wasn't met. What if the condition is that you still have an emotional attachment to the guy a year later and that attachment is destroyed by something the guy did?

[1972Shocker]

She's claiming conditional consent and the condition wasn't met. What if the condition is that you still have an emotional attachment to the guy a year later and that attachment is destroyed by something the guy did?

Would the young lady not bear some responsibility to verify the condition had been fulfilled before completing the agreed upon action. Man it doesn't get more romantic than this does it?

[Kung Wu]

I swear if my wife buys any more groceries without a coupon, I'm turnin' her ass in for embezzlement!

[WuDrWu]

You told her that before Christmas right? She's been warned.