Rape Charges Against Former Hockey Player Dismissed

Max Nicastro’s BU status unaffected by decision

June 4, 2012
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Rape charges against Max Nicastro, pictured here in Brighton District Court on Friday, have been dropped. Photo by Ted Fitzgerald, courtesy of the Boston Herald

A Brighton District Court judge on Friday dismissed rape charges against former BU hockey defenseman Max Nicastro.

First Justice David Donnelly’s action followed notice from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office that it was ending its prosecution of the case.

“Based on a review of the evidence, we made the decision that we did not have a good-faith basis that we could prove the charges beyond a reasonable [doubt],” Holly Broadbent, chief of the DA’s sexual assault unit, said in an interview after the hearing. She declined to elaborate. The Boston Globe reported that in its court document dropping the case, the DA’s office announced it was doing so while the alleged victim stood by her allegations.

Nicastro (CGS’11, MET’13) had pleaded not guilty to charges that he assaulted a female student February 19. At an earlier hearing, his lawyer, Hugh Curran, had told the court that “when all the facts are out, it will be found it was not a criminal act.”

“I feel relieved,” Nicastro told reporters after the hearing. “It’s been a hard road….My friends and family have been with me the whole time.”

After the arrest, BU announced that Nicastro had been suspended from the hockey team and was no longer enrolled. On Friday, the Dean of Students Office released a statement saying, “Mr. Nicastro is no longer a student at Boston University, and today’s decision by the district attorney does not change that.”

Broadbent told the Boston Herald that in sexual assault cases generally, any number of possible roadblocks may hinder prosecution, including an alleged victim’s reluctance to proceed in court, inconsistent statements from witnesses, and alcohol or drug use.

The Thousand Oaks, Calif., resident was one of two former BU hockey players facing sexual assault charges. The other, Corey Trivino (MET’12), was arrested in December for allegedly groping and kissing a BU student against her will in her dorm room. He has pleaded not guilty. The most serious charge against him, assault with intent to commit rape, was dropped in March for lack of evidence. Trivino also is not enrolled at the University. He is expected back in court on June 20.

The charges against the two men led President Robert A. Brown to name a task force to investigate the culture of the men’s hockey team. The task force is to report this summer.

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Rape Charges Against Former Hockey Player Dismissed

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  • Rich Barlow

    Senior Writer

    Photo: Headshot of Rich Barlow, an older white man with dark grey hair and wearing a grey shirt and grey-blue blazer, smiles and poses in front of a dark grey backdrop.

    Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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There are 106 comments on Rape Charges Against Former Hockey Player Dismissed

  1. Sad. You have to trust the DA’s decision, but it is sad that violence against women continues to go unpunished, whether or not the DA can make a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Today is the 93rd anniversary of the final passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution giving women the right to vote. Interesting juxtaposition.

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    1. Sad. That a young man’s reputation and college career can be ended by unsubstantiated accusations. Nicastro should sue for millions of dollars – – maybe then this coward’s name will finally be made public.

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    2. Why sad? Why assume guilt? As a woman I can appreciate your support but as a person and a citizen within a democracy, I can not understand how you assume guilt.

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      1. The general consensus among most people seems to be that because rape is such a heinous and awful crime and that because it tends to be difficult to prosecute, we should just assume that every man accused of rape is guilty.

        Seriously, that’s what these people believe.

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    3. True, he’s not facing jail time anymore, but he was kicked off the hockey team and expelled from BU. I would say that’s a fair punishment in a situation that seems to have little evidence.

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    4. One final thing. If we are really going to discuss false rape accusations we need to stop pretending they happen to middle-class white men because, except in the case of high-profile sports cases where their shitty past behavior allowed it to happen, it doesn’t happen to them. The people who are falsely imprisoned are men of color. Further, I suspect that a lot of false rape charges happen where the woman WAS raped but because of coercion on the part of her family or community, she blames someone who is a “better” criminal – not the star football player, but the obnoxious loner kid. Not her dad, but her neighbor. There have also been cases where sex workers claimed rape because they weren’t paid, which IS a form of sexual violation. It is unfair and incorrect to compare the occurrence of false rape accusations to the occurrence of rape. Why are you so angry about something that happens so rarely, but dismissive of something that literally happens every day?

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  2. These jocks get away with it because at the end of the day in most rape cases at colleges involve alcohol and not much physical evidence (i.e. defensive bruises on the girl). Then, it becomes a he-said/she-said case. These boys are groomed since middle school to think that they can do whatever they want whenever they want. And they keep getting away with it.

    Ironically, despite that BU is a liberal university, women get treated like dirt inside and outside of the classroom (especially in the Engineering department). Maybe BU should try to live up to its liberal ideals and help to empower women more. Then, maybe, these cowardly boys will be too afraid to mess with a fellow female student.

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    1. maybe women should empower themselves. If you want to blame someone for lowering the respect women receive maybe you should blame people like the “BU Biddies”.

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      1. I am a graduate student. At 27 years old, I realize how naive I was at 18. Maybe little boys should keep their junk in the trunk and learn to control themselves and stop taking advantage of drunk girls.

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        1. these drunk girls put themselves in situations that allow them to be easily taken advantage of i mean he wasn’t charged with breaking down the library doors to rape some helpless girl studying chemistry the girl went willingly to his room at a very late hour if i was him i would be expecting sex too

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          1. that could be right for this case, but unfortunatly you argument of “she asked for it” doesn’t justify this type of behavior.

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          2. Just because a girl goes to your room at 2am doesn’t equal she wants you on top of her. Yes girls in college need to learn how to control their drinking. Just because a guy is in the same chemistry class as her doesn’t mean he’s a good person. However, a drunk girl in your room doesn’t mean go ahead an take advantage of her. Maybe little boys should stop letting their other body parts think for them. Those kind of boys need to grow up and realize they are equally responsible to control themselves.

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    2. This post is derogatory towards the men of BU, and serves no deeper purpose than to push the conversation over a legal settlement to the fringes of sane discussion. I completely agree that if a rape charge is substantiated by evidence, the person responsible should be charged to the full extent of the law. However, false testimony should also be charged just as severely, as rape allegations follow the accused for the rest of their lives, even if they are untrue. There needs to be a common agreement between us students that we will all respect each other: that we will not take advantage of fellow students, and that drunken, embarrassing, consensual hook-ups are not mistaken for unwanted advances the next morning.

      Furthermore, BU is actually one of the most progressive schools for women’s rights, being the first university to open all schools to women, as well as promoting a good number of women high within the administration. Women most certainly are not treated like dirt at BU, and while your antidotes paint BU men to be slimy, cowardly perverts, this is simply not the case at our university. As a BU male, it is insulting and disingenuous at best.

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      1. Until you become a woman, you cannot tell the women of BU how they feel. I know lots of women who feel the way I do. Look at this article: http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/female-scientists.

        I believe a similar argument is “Just because the US elected a black man to presidency does not mean racism has been eliminated”. How about, “Just because women have been elected to higher positions at BU does not mean sexism has also been abolished”.

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        1. Lauren, I am a woman and I happen to agree with anonymous. You’re generalizing both male and female populations. Women are often the victims of rape but men can be the victims of false accusations. It happens more than you think and it’s equally sad when a man becomes a pariah for something he didn’t do. Justice should be dependent upon the particulars of each case and while no women should ever feel unsafe in her home or school, it is up to each of us to make smart decisions to reduce the risk of unwanted advances.

          I’m sorry you feel like you’re treated like dirt at BU. Perhaps you could turn your experiences into something positive and start mentoring other women in your field. Do you already belong to WISE? As a woman my blood boils when people highlight the sexist attitudes of men instead of focusing on how capable and talented women are.

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    3. “These boys are groomed since middle school to think that they can do whatever they want whenever they want. And they keep getting away with it. ”

      God.. this reeks of a dejected childhood filled with incredibly low self-esteem and a penchant for blaming and demonizing others.

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  3. Alex,

    I have no idea of the specifics of this case, so my comment here is generalized and not directed specifically at this verdict…

    Let’s not forget that people are innocent until proven guilty. We must trust that our system of justice not only puts those who deserve to be in jail, in jail; but that it also keeps those who do not deserve to be in jail, out.

    If this man truly is guilty, and he was not convicted due to lack of evidence, then the lesson to learn is how people can best protect themselves in these potential situations (always the number one priority), and how to better gather necessary evidence to prove a crime has occurred in the future (the number two priority).

    H.K.

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  4. Are you kidding? If anything is sad here it is that a wrongfully accused young man was just kicked out of school and off his hockey team because some female told a lie. The reduced burden of proof on college campuses is a tragedy for men’s rights when a jealous girl can ruin a young man’s life with a falsehood.

    “Mr. Nicastro is no longer a student at Boston University, and today’s decision by the district attorney does not change that.”

    Everything in the world is wrong with that statement.

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    2. How do you know it was a lie? It simply means in a court of law it could not be proven. It does not mean she was not actually raped? What if your sister/mother/aunt/cousin was in the same position?

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      1. I’ll ignore your obvious attempt to make this an emotional argument because it isn’t. In the United States of America we have an assumption of innocence until someone is proven guilty. Rape shield laws and feminist propaganda grossly inflating the actual number of rapes committed have turned that assumption on its head in cases of alleged sexual assault. If we’re going to all adopt your Stalinesque concept of justice then I just accused you of raping me, regardless of a lack of any evidence they will be kicking you out of your school later today. Impossible to imagine eh? That’s reality for young men. What if that was your brother, your cousin, or your son? A single lie from a jealous girl could ruin his life and women like you would just support it saying that because he’s a man he must be guilty.

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  5. BU needs to let nicastro re-enroll and rejoin his teammates on the hockey team. It’s beyond ridiculous that the school would ignore the DA’s and judge’s ruling in favor of believing another students accusation, which has been determined to be false due to a lack of evidence. BU has no right to ruin this young man’s future when he was found to not be responsible for any crime.. I would personally like to see Nicastro fight to get back into school, there’s got to be some law that protects people from the effects of criminal accusations if it can’t be proved..

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    2. SOOOO sad, BU Hockey can’t get their player back so let’s blame the victim and BU… Making a decision and standing by it is something leaders have to do everyday. He can fight all he wants, boy ain’t coming back. He should take his get-out-of-jail-free card and be grateful.

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    3. I hope the school releases more details, but I see no reason why this would automatically require the school to take him back. The university is doing independent investigations, and a good school like BU should have a stringent disciplinary system. Simply not being a criminal does not entitle someone to attend BU, and Nicastro could have behaved in an inappropriate manner regardless of if his behavior met the legal definition of rape.

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      1. So Nicastro going to a party, getting drunk, and hooking up with a girl constitutes “inappropriate behavior” which makes him unfit to attend BU? If they kicked out every BU student who gets drunk and hooks up on the weekends we would lose over half of our undergrads.

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        1. I’ve “hooked up” with ladies on occasion, but I’ve never done something to a woman that made her file rape charges against me. I would hope most BU undergrads fall under the same category as myself.

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    4. Just because there was no physical evidence does not mean she was not violated. You do not know all the details.

      @C, colleges across the country have stricter rules on appropriate behavior. Maybe you and other boys should think twice about touching a drunk girl. Or better yet just because you think you are God’s gift to women does not mean we want your dirty self thrusting upon us.

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      2. Alright, Lauren, save the commentary for the feminist bookstore. All of your comments have the same basic premise that all men are out to violate women. Clearly you have a bias on the issue and are not able to provide an impartial perspective.

        While the court has dropped the charges, it is due to a lack of evidence, not evidence supporting the contrary. As such we cannot assume that the assault did not occur. However, on the other hand we are unable to completely dismiss that the incident ever occurred. I believe that as the victim has chosen to maintain her allegations, BU has made an appropriate decision and is supporting her. This is not so much to remove an alleged criminal from the community but to send a larger and more important message: that this behavior will not be tolerated in the university setting.

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      3. “Just because there was no physical evidence does not mean she was not violated.”

        According to that logic we should just assumed everyone is guilty of everything. You sound like you live an incredibly paranoid and suspicious existence. Are you by any chance a feminist?

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        1. JUMP OFF A CLIFF YOU 19 YEAR OLD CHILD. Your comments are getting me more and more annoyed. I am a very proud feminist and I have devoted years to educating myself on feminist theory. I am positive that your understanding of feminism is limited to whatever privileged white boy view you’ve been lucky enough to get to have. If you think feminism is a bad thing, you’re a fool, and have no understanding of history.

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          1. Gadzooks. If you think feminism has contributed anything worthwhile to society as a whole and hasn’t only furthered the wellbeing of one gender at the expense of the other (with cases like this as a prime example) then you are a fool. And besides being a sexist fool, you’re also a racist and hateful one. You clearly see the world through a very limited perspective focused entirely on how things affect you and other women with no regard for men. If you think “feminist theory” is anything more than a paranoid and chauvanistic view of the world then you’re a sheep. Keep ranting and raving about “patriarchy theory” and “rape culture” while you automatically assign guilt to any man accused of sexual assault. You’re just a fembot with no free will, concept of justice, or even an original thought. Adieu

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          2. @Jimmy Feminism is the reason why I can vote and why I am not legally considered an extension of my husband (coverture). Many branches of feminism are deeply tied to workers’ rights movements as well as anti-racist and peace movements. It was early women activists that pushed against child labor laws and minimum wage…Because I am a genuine feminist I like men and have a strong relationship with a man. While patriarchy does hurt men, it does so by setting men up against one another, encouraging aggression instead of “weak”, “feminine” emotions, and tries to keep men in line with threats of what happens to “pussies” and “fags”. Let’s not forget the draft. While there are certainly flaws in the feminist movement – just as there are in any – it has done a lot for the world. Why don’t you start with reading about Mississippi appendectomies (happened to my grandmother) and the real story behind Bell v. Buck. That’s just a taste of the horrific things that have been done to women by a “rational”, paternalistic system.

            Fembot…I like that. Definitely convinces me you hardcore think of women as people! Va te faire foutre, con.

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          3. The fact that you equate feminism with women shows how blind you are that it’s an ideological and political movement.. not an entire gender. The fact that you can’t imagine someone supporting women’s rights but opposing feminism shows you’re incapable of viewing that movement in a critical way. If you think the suffragettes and feminists are the same thing, you’ve been lie to. If you think the incredible amount of funding that the feminist lobbyists continue to demand helps this country in any way other than providing for women, then you either failed economics or never bothered to even glance at it. How about you check where all that economic stimulus money went.. and why. How about you check DV statistics and tell me again about VAWA and the predominant aggressor. How about you check how many men die from prostate cancer and explain to me why so mich more money is poured into breast cancer research. How about you explain to me why the ACA doesn’t do anything for men who are diagnosed with breast cancer. If you legit believe that beig called a fa is on par with dying from prostate cancer then you’re out of your mind. And if you think the feminist movement has pursued equal rights and protections for men and women then you’re blind to your privilege.

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      4. You continue to plaster all men on campus as rapists and sexual predators, yet get offended when someone assumes she was a false accuser. I believe you are the very definition of the word “bigot.” That and you introduce ad hominem all over the place, so, you’re hardly credible on this topic.

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    5. I don’t think nicastro would want to come back to a place where someone accused him of rape and the university apparently just automatically assumed he was guilty. If I was him I would absolutely hate BU for throwing me out of school for something that I didn’t do and I would never come back.

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    6. Personally, I think Nicastro getting kicked out of BU is a pretty just punishment. The fact is that he put himself in a situation that led to these charges. Whether or not he is guilty is beside the point. People need to know that sexual assault will lead to consequences. The majority of rape cases never lead to a conviction because of incidents like these where there is not enough evidence. Think about it, if you got raped, what would be the first thing you would do? Take a shower most likely, and there goes all the evidence down the drain. I know women who have been raped and who tried to press charges but failed. Maybe Nicastro’s life has been ruined, but so has the victim’s. BU is sending the message that inappropriate behavior-whether convicted or not-is unacceptable, so hopefully that will give hope to BU women that if they are ever assaulted, there will be justice.

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      1. I agree with what you said, and especially given the field day BU had in the media this year, I think it’s good that they’re standing by their initial decision to kick him out. BU’s administrators were slow to respond to all of the sexual assault issues on campus, and as a female student there, I felt very abandoned by the higher-ups. I’m glad they aren’t reversing one of the only solid moves they made in support of the women on campus.

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      2. “Whether or not he is guilty is beside the point. People need to know that sexual assault will lead to consequences.”

        That is the most insane argument for justice I’ve ever seen. You are basically saying:

        “Make an example out of the wrongfully accused.”

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        1. Jesus, Jimmy. There’s a difference between being found not guilty and being wrongfully accused. There are a lot of things that count as cruel or immoral that are not technically illegal. As a woman, I HATE FALSE RAPE CHARGES (though I don’t think this was the situation here). I think the reason why a lot of high publicity rape charges end up dropped is because most women who actually get raped don’t tell anybody and, in the case of genuine accusations, it often comes down to who can afford the better lawyer. Frankly, the fact that BU is sticking by their decision makes me feel that this guy DID do something that crossed a line. It doesn’t mean she was lying, it doesn’t mean nothing happened, it just means he was not found guilty of sexual assault. There are a hell of a lot more women who get sexually assaulted and never say anything than men who get falsely accused. Half you guys on here love to think you have it so bad and that women have all the power. Hilarious.

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          1. You really don’t understand how these cases work? The woman doesn’t hire a lawyer… the DA prosecutes (or doesn’t if there isn’t any evidence…) And no there isn’t a difference, if he is not guilty then he was wrongfully accused. Are you unable to grasp that legal concept?

            “I think the reason why …”

            “Frankly, the fact that BU is sticking by their decision makes me feel…”

            You feelings and assumptions don’t mean anything. Especially after the ridiculous tirade you just spouted. You sound like an angry scared girl who feels empowered by feminism. Bravo for finding a purpose, but I hate to break it to you.. you’re not one of the good guys. You’re not a hero. You’re a chauvanist and a bigot.

            “There are a hell of a lot more women who get sexually assaulted and never say anything than men who get falsely accused”

            Really? Because last I heard there is no way for you to even estimate how many women get sexually assaulted and never say anything… because they never say anything. As for false accusations, it sits around 30%. Hell in Florida they had to make a public announcement asking women to stop falsely reporting rape.

            But the sad part is you’ll continue through your unhappy life always assuming that men are inherently evil and women are natural victims. You’ll never pursue equality, just an agenda of furthering women’s protections and privileges, largely at the expense of innocent men. Bravo, feminist.

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          2. @Jimmy I want to understand how you think. How do you think it was better for women before feminism? I’ve spoken to enough guys that think like you to know your arguments for how feminism hurts men (child custody laws, etc.) but how has feminism worsened women’s lives? Or does that not figure into your hatred of feminism?

            Also, me using “I think” and “makes me feel” was just me using filler words – bad English – which I tend to do. If you took those out they could still stand as fact, though admittedly I’d need citations. Often that tactic is a subtle way to dismiss lived experience and observations as invalid (derailing:
            http://www.derailingfordummies.com/)

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          3. Don’t tell me you want to understand how I think and then tell me you’ve “spoken to enough guys who think like I do to understand my arguments for how feminism harms men.” do you even read what you’re writing? You think you already know and understand everything, pretty typical of a feminist I must say. And don’t belittle men’s issues by casting them between parenthesis as (child custody etc.) you diminish the worth of others and act as if you’re better or somehow more deserving. You’re not. Don’t make light of other’s problems. You cast men as your enemy, like all feminists, whether you admit it to yourself or not you have entered into a zero sum game where you are forever comparing yourself to men and trying to “level the scale” but when boys and men need help, you let them drown. Your very question betrays your focus. You immediately discard any notion of men being harmed because as long as it helps women, who cares right? You don’t love humanity, you love yourself. And you would gladly send a thousand innocent men to prison if it meant no guilty men went free. That’s not wisdom, that’s not justice, that’s not love… it’s hate born of fear in a self-centered perspective.

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        1. That was incredibly horrible and sad. I just read a recent case where a man got FIFTEEN YEARS after being falsely accused. Can’t even imagine.

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          1. Don’t pretend to care. You’ve been stomping all over these comments beating your breast about how men who are accused but not even tried “probably did it.” People like you are the problem because you think you’re righteous but you’re blinded by ignorance of reality.

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    7. BU did not expel Nicastro. He was suspended from both the hockey team and the school. He left of his own free will and therefore was no longer with the team. BU did not expel him, but placed him on suspension until BU conducted his own investigation. In previous articles after the arrest this information can be found.

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  6. While it appears to be implied from the statement, I’d wait to see if there is clarification on the ‘he is not enrolled and this does not change that’ statement. Do we know whether the University has blocked his enrollment or if he has elected not to return to BU?

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  7. What is “sad” is the loss of a key presumption in this nation – that of “Innocent until proven guilty”. Let us – in a free society – reject this inquisitorial presumption of guilt in the court of public opinion.

    Just as in the Duke Lacrosse case, Nicastro and (I suspect) Trivino will carry this for the rest of their lives. The article also states Nicastro is done at BU -I assume he will not be reinstated. Both of these aspects are still ‘punishment’ in my opinion.

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    1. One of the boys falsely accused in the Duke case, when acquitted, chose to resume his education at the London School of Economics. The damage to him was so great, he chose to leave the country.

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  8. This is difficult to swallow as we see this too often. To me, this feels like a what if? What if he didn’t? BUT, what if he did? He has scarred an innocent woman which forces her to engage in an unwarranted yet highly personal fight, having to be strong to overcome something that was beyond her control and was not her fault; a calamity that will surely hamper a time of her life that should be her own. It is legal decisions as such that lead woman to forgo the evanescent internal bargaining with whether she should come forward in these situations when it truly shouldn’t be in question. If a man punches a man in a bar, he get’s arrested and charged rather straightforwardly, no one questions the men for drinking or having fun but a man rapes a woman at a party and surely her behavior at that party is in question and even becomes a part of the process. Sexual assault is assault, it shouldn’t happen, and the aggressor should be penalized severely and with the same transparency as that of a bar fight. Moreover, a punch will heal and surely the pain of sexual assault will heal but it takes so much more than an ice pack. It becomes a part of you, a fact that the legal system should take into account. But do they? Seemingly not as commonly the woman is blamed; and it is this general knowledge that stops a survivor from defending herself the only way she can after the fact. A reality which puts into question the triumphant victories won by our predecessors – equality. It is amazing that we as a country pride ourselves on this equality that we have so modernistically implemented while castigating others for their lack of. Are we really any different or do we just SAY that we are different. Perhaps, the legal system is a smokescreen cloaking the reality that we truly aren’t as civilized or fair as we appear.

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    1. In a bar fight, both the victim and the accused are publicly named. In this case, the supposed victim could hide behind “rape shield laws,” and it didn’t cost her anything to make the accusation. I wouldn’t be surprised if right now she’s congratulating herself for getting back at the guy who dumped her. If the supposed victim had expected her name to be made public, maybe she would have thought twice before ruining this guy’s reputation.

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      1. Yeah, and if she actually was hurt against her will (remember, you don’t know everything that happened that night), then she would be publicly admitting to something that must have been very painful for her. The rape shield laws exist for a reason. If she had been raped, she had every right to keep her name quiet. Shame on you for blaming the victim.

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        1. He wasn’t “blaming the victim” (and if there is a victim in this case it’s the wrongly accused) he was pointing out that annonymous accusations erode the justice system. No one should have the right to “keep their name quiet” while threatening another’s liberty.

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          1. Also, if there are some women who are willing to spend tons of money, months in trial, and then possibly face perjury charges for falsely accusing someone because that guy DUMPED THEM, then they are CRAZY and not representative of most rape/sexual assault cases. What worries me is that a lot of guys (like you) think women do that regularly, implying you think we are all liars and crazy.

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          2. You don’t seem to understand how sexual assault trials are conducted. First, the woman would spend $0 as the trial would be prosecuted by the District Attorney. And second, even when women admit that they lied they are very, very rarely prosecuted for perjury. For your information the average rate at which crimes are falsely reported sits around 30%, that applies for cases of alleged rape as well. 30%. Think about that long and hard.

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    2. In cases of sexual assaults like rape, no one asks for it. Just because a woman wears a short skirt does not mean she is telling men to rape her. Anyone a victim of sexual assaults (men or women) do not deserve it and never ask for it. In this case, we do not know if he raped her, supposedly there was not enough evidence and the court has to go on that…not on what she said what he said. I have worked with woman who have been raped and they are emotionally and mentally damaged for a long time. But if a woman or man is not telling the truth about a rape, then they usually get over their supposed trauma pretty quickly. Like I said we don’t know if it was a woman who told the truth or who was out to get him for some other reason. Either way it is a difficult situation for both of them.

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  9. Ladies and gents, it appears we are reverting back to victim blaming and unfounded accusations simply because a court case was dismissed. Come on, people- you are intelligent, educated and productive members of society- you’re too smart for that! The fact that Nicastro’s case was dismissed BY NO MEANS implies that he did not commit sexual assault against this young women. Proving and defining rape in law and in the courts is extremely difficult, and continues to be an ongoing, rigorous debate among legal professionals. The truth is that only two people know what happened that night, and none of us have the right to say that the victim is lying just because the case did not have enough legal backing…that’s just ridiculous. John Edwards just lucked out with a mistrial on several counts, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty. Let’s not kid ourselves in thinking that the legal outcome of an alleged crime is the absolute indicator of what actually happened.

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    1. Again this is another female claiming that because rape is a difficult crime to prosecute we should just assume that all men who are accused of sexual assault are guilty. This is the type of attitude that ruins innocent people’s lives. I hope one day you realize what a terrible miscarriage of justice this is.

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    2. So you want to live in a culture where people can accuse others of terrible acts and just because they are accused, it means they are guilty? And you think that is what smart people do? I find it terrifying.

      Yes, men do get away with rape. And women do falsely accuse, too. I suspect that more men get away with it than there are women who falsely accuse, but I have no proof of that. I can not hold all men accountable for the acts of others.

      Bottom line, there is no evidence. The case was dismissed. The guy has a legal and I would add moral right to be allowed to proceed with life as not guilty. You might hold personal attitudes (based on who knows what) but you can not accuse/try/hang this student because of your feelings. Surely you know that would ultimately be both chaotic and unjust.

      As for all of the “women are emotional/feminists” comments…doesn’t help. Show some respect. It’s a difficult topic.

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    3. I never said the supposed victim was lying. I’m pointing out the somewhat obvious fact that rape shield laws provide an opportunity to lie, because there is no risk involved. As far as I’m concerned – – and you’re free to your own opinions – – the only real victim here is Max Nicastro, who was victimized by a screwy criminal justice system and a woman.

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    4. You are not even sure there is a victim here.

      Without a victim, there is no victim blaming. But, without a conviction, what you *do* have is a good case for slander and libel.

      The accusing woman ought to find herself sued for damages and attempted malicious prosecution.

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      1. Emotions are clearly running rampant around this topic, and they absolutely should be- rape is a horrible act that occurs on college campuses frequently. Without respectful dialog, we don’t progress to handle cases such as this better in the future. My point in my comment above is that just because the court case was dismissed does not mean there was no crime committed- you simply can’t argue with that. The fact that the case did not hold water court may mean that the crime was not committed as the alleged victim described, or it could mean that this woman did not have enough bruises or physical evidence to build a case (unfortunately, this is often the deal breaker).

        So Jimmy, with all due respect, picture a woman you love- a sister, mother, aunt, girlfriend- and put them on the side of the alleged victim- someone who potentially went through a terrible trauma. I would hope they would have you’re support if they chose to prosecute, even if the odds were stacked against them. It’s irrational and ignorant to first bash “feminists” who are sick of dealing with the never ending threat of rape and sexual assault by their male counterparts, and second, to automatically assume Nicastro is truly morally innocent regardless of a court decision.

        John, the same goes for you. We have no idea whether or not this woman was victimized. YOU have no idea if she is NOT a victim. If she was, she had every right to take this case to trial.

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        1. Dana,

          It looks like you are a bit eager in your search for victims. This makes your perspective on this very slanted, and quite possibly irrational. And, for the sake of your ideology, you are putting the cart before the ox; ignoring basic premises that guide our legal system, and seeking extra-legal punishment for an act that has been declared nonexistent. Your thought-process is, I think, dangerous to society as a whole – even to women, in fact.

          Let me point something out to you:

          A far more heinious crime is murder. Men are murdered at a much higher rate than women are. Men are also much more likely to be mugged, to commit suicide, to die due to a work place fatality, and so on, and so forth.

          So please don’t overrate the situation that this woman found herself in.

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        2. Dana, like all of the women on here you’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment and through your question you attempt to do the same to me. But, for the sake of argument I’ll indulge you. If my mother or one of my sisters were attacked I would absolutely come to their defense and stand by them. For two reasons, one they have my undying love, and two, they have my unshakable trust. I would never doubt them for a moment. However, if you’re asking me to believe some woman off the streets (an anonymous one at that…) then you better believe you’re gonna need evidence. It’s neither irrational or ignorant to bash feminists who though “sick and tire of dealing with the constant threat of rape” deal with that problem by twisting and deforming our legal structure and socially accepted attitudes about suspects who have only been accused (let alone those freed when charges are dropped). I’d love to meet you in the middle on this, where I’ve been standing this entire argument. In a place where rape is still a horrible crime that should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but where we must also allow all people their rights of due process and presumption of innocence. If you think it’s wrong to assume that a man who has not been charged is innocent then you have no place speaking on legal matters in a 1st world country.

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          1. Reading these comments, I find myself utterly appalled at the words written by people of the 21st century. The fact that men still stand up for men in cases of rape and blame women for the wrongs done to them is disgusting. The fact that women still fear men and make blanket statements about their guilt without any facts to base said conclusions on is also very disturbing. This should not be a case of men vs. women which is what a select view (i.e. Jimmy and others) have made it into. This is not an issue of whether or not feminism is a dirty word, as Jimmy likes to use it as. It is an issue of wrong vs. right, a conflict which has no gender. You, Jimmy, make wildly generalizing statements about women and feminists that, as a member of both groups, I find quite offensive. Your comments about “all of the women on here letting your emotions cloud your judgement” make an easy argument for me that you are not “in the middle on this” but are in fact a chauvinist pig. While I cannot argue that some of the women that you have degraded in your comments and quarreled with have not also made offensive generalizations about men, it is your stereotypical characterization of women that I find most juvenile and moronic. You mentioned in one of your many demeaning comments that the women on here are afraid of men and therefore quick to characterize them as the enemy. This could not be further from the truth in my case. I am with a man who is devoted to me and I to him. He is kind and loving and we have the healthiest of relationships because we both treat each other with respect. My feminism has not made me bitter towards men or lead me to make them my enemy. It is not men who are the enemy, Jimmy, it is just men like yourself who do all that they can to make themselves feel big, when they know that they are nothing more than anyone else, even women. I know that this comment comes late to the debate, but I hope that you read it still. Though I am not naive enough to believe that I will change your mind, for clearly you have lived your life in this sorry state of woman hating for a while, I do hope that you will at least read this and realize that the DA dropping the chargers due to lack of physical evidence is far different than someone being innocent. But whatever happened that night, I hope that all parties involved can recover and move on. I hope that bigots like yourself, Jimmy, learn to be better people and treat others with respect. Even you deserve that, and I apologize in advance if you feel that I have not treated you that way with this comment.

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  10. To those of you who think the woman is guilty: You cannot know.
    To those of you who “know” the man is guilty: You cannot know.
    Unless you were there, you can’t know. The courts provide the only way to “judge” without being there. If there is not enough evidence to reasonably prosecute a case, a D.A. must consider that their resources may not be best used in such an endeavor.
    This does NOT mean that the accused is innocent, but that s/he (he, in this case) cannot be prosecuted in a court of LAW. There is civil court, I believe, if the accuser wishes to go that route. (I could be wrong; lawyers, correct me.)
    People commit heinous acts – some get away with it, some don’t. Some people wrongly accuse others – some get away with it, some don’t. Please don’t make this some feminist vs. machoman black-and-white issue.
    I speak from the perspective of one who was raped many years ago. I never considered prosecution, partially because I was too weak at the time to consider it, partially because I knew the evidence wasn’t there, partially because I felt like I was at least somewhat to blame. And my (angry and hurt) friend, whose boyfriend committed the act, did not make me feel any less to blame at first. I am sure if that case had gone into the court of public opinion, I would have heard many of the same opinions expressed here: that he was a horny guy and must have done it, that he was a guy who did nothing wrong, that I was a girl who was asking for it, that it didn’t even happen and I was lying…
    Please just realize that some of the comments here are not only reactive and ill-considered, but can be hurtful and damaging to others reading them who have been involved in similar situations. And before you say it – I know people don’t have to read these comments… But they still might.

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    1. “If there is not enough evidence to reasonably prosecute a case, a D.A. must consider that their resources may not be best used in such an endeavor. This does NOT mean that the accused is innocent”

      Innocent until proven guilty. That’s exactly what it means.

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      1. You are right Jimmy; I forgot to add to that sentence:
        “, nor does it mean s/he is guilty but has dodged a bullet.”
        One point being that courts and our court system, flawed though they may be, are the best we’ve got for now.
        If everyone who wrote in to this forum (including me), and those who are reading it, spent more time working on improving our judicial system, and maybe also on educating young men and women about sexual violence, we’d probably be better off… Wouldn’t we?

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    2. I think the issue you are missing here is that political pressure have turned “Rape Allegations” into a special crime where the usual legal standard no longer applies.

      If you are a man, this means that your legal status has been subsumed to the whims of women. This is an intolerable situation.

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      1. “subsumed to the whims of women”. Change that to “subsumed to the whims of men” and you pretty much have the history of women’s legal rights in the U.S. up until the 80’s. Sorry that because sexual violence is so varied and widespread, the courts sometimes err on the side of the trusting the victim. As long as she’s white, and young, and hopefully pretty.

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          1. Please tell me. Seriously. Please, please tell me who you think it was before feminism. I swear to God I want to understand how you think. How do you think it was for women before feminism?

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          3. If you’d stop with the feeble attempts at shaming I might engage you in a thoughtful discussion, but right now you seem far too emotionally invested to have a mature and rational conversation. You’re just flailing blindly like a typical fem. Sad really, they take the bright but timid ones and turn them into vicious zealots. Good luck with your crusade.

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      2. John,
        Thanks for the suggestion, but I did not miss that point. I will not debate the man-vs-woman standing in politics, law, or socioeconomic status. There’s enough of that on all the news channels to overdose on. What I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get across, is that the discussion here about it seems to so often (not all) revert to almost stereotypical hair-trigger comments… Hoping to just be more thoughtful. Didn’t work, I guess.

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        1. A.,

          How can you possibly avoid these topics when talking about this?

          By avoiding them you are reducing your comments to long winded rhetorics. Sloganeering, i.e.

          If you want to get the bottom of this, all issues must be on the table, and you must be willing to deal with them in a fair manner.

          I understand that silencing and shouting down an opposing view point is inculcated early on in the Humanities, but I would hope you are above that kind of strategy.

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          1. John – You are right, and I should never have tried to get into the discussion on such a complex, complicated and – for me – VERY personal issue. In person, my discussions acknowledge all sides, and I see them here. I apologize to anyone who feels my comments are an attempt at silencing them; I was not trying to silence ideas, only the more pejorative and hurtful aspects of the comments.

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  11. The prosecutors dropped the case because they felt they didn’t have enough evidence for the conviction of rape- and this might have been because of the “complainant’s reluctance to be part of the criminal process, a situation where alcohol or illegal substances were involved, inconsistent statements” or other such ‘obstacles’ of which we know nothing about.

    The conviction of RAPE is different from a conviction of SEXUAL ASSAULT or SEXUAL HARRASSMENT or INDECENT ASSAULT or INTENT TO RAPE- in a court of law these terms matter, and we know nothing of the details. Not having enough evidence for rape or ‘intent to rape’ does not rule out that possibility that the woman was still sexually assaulted/harassed etc. However, to prove that would be another case.

    I think it is pretty clear that this is not a simple case of a ‘malicious lie’ done by a ‘vengeful woman’ because NICASTRO’S PROSECUTOR HIMSELF calls this a “difficult case” in which there are “no winners”.

    I think it is a problem that the reasons for the prosecutors dropping the case are not detailed: was there improper implementation of rape kit evidence? a backlog? Was alcohol/illegal drugs the reason they could not “prove charges beyond reasonable doubt”?

    Sexual assault is underreported not inflated (60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police), 1 in 5 college women survive sexual assault and 99% of people who rape are men. This is not feminist propaganda.

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  12. I think it is pathetic that these individuals were assumed guilty and not supported by many people. Did they choose to leave BU or were they forced to leave? I feel awful for them because no matter what they do now they will always have these rape allegations following them around.

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    1. Completely agree. If it happened they should be brought to justice but in a case where there wasn’t even enough evidence to bring it to trial I’m pretty amazed at how ignorant and bigoted the females are being. Guilty until proven innocent indeed.

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  13. I find it extremely sad that after all that has happened at BU this year there are STILL people in the BU community who post comments that victim-blame and attack sexual assault survivors. Please note that there are many members of our community who read these posts and who might be triggered by some of the comments posted here.

    I’m not going to attack anyone’s personal opinion because hey, it’s your personal opinion. I am, however, going to correct many of the statistics quoted here because, to be blunt, they’re wrong. If you are going to make a claim that 30% of rapes are falsely reported and not give any sources to back it up you can bet that you have another thing coming.

    Trigger Warnings: rape, sexual assault
    This is taken from the RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) website:
    Out of every 100 rapes, 46 get reported to the police. 12 lead to an arrest. 9 are prosecuted. 5 lead to a conviction. 3 of those rapists will go to jail. (http://rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates)

    The fact that the Nicastro case even got close to prosecution speaks volumes about the case. Don’t assume that it was dropped due to insufficient evidence – like the DA said, there are numerous reasons why cases are dropped.

    Now to address the fact that “30%” of rapes are falsely reported.

    Actually, the number is at 3%. A study was done in 2005 of over 2,000 cases, and it was found that over the past years the rate of falsely reported rapes has stayed at that level (http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/the_voice_vol_3_no_1_2009.pdf) and (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1905867/?tool=pmcentrez). The FBI’s number of false reporting is at 8% (where it has been for the past decade or so).

    Finally, let’s look at the claims that say that “Rape shield laws and feminist propaganda grossly inflate the actual number of rapes committed…”

    Taken from RAINN’s website:
    ‘Every 2 minutes a person in the United States is sexually assaulted.’ Before you can ask how people got these statistics, here’s the math: There are 525,600 minutes in a non-leap year. That makes 31,536,000 seconds/year. So, 31,536,000 divided by 207,754 comes out to 1 sexual assault every 152 seconds, or about 1 every 2 minutes. Go look at RAINN’s sources. All of these statistics are taken from the Department of Justice, the World Health Organization, the CDC, etc. It’s not information that people just decided to make up.

    Rape is not a joke. It is not something that people make up for fun. It’s serious and can be quite frightening for some. Posts like what I see on this comment thread are what discourage people who are raped and sexually assaulted from reporting what happened to them and getting the justice they deserve. After all that BU (let alone the countless survivors at BU who have not come forward about their assaults) has been through, let’s all take a step back and educate ourselves about rape & sexual assault. Learn how to help a friend who has been attacked. Think twice about what language you use when you’re around survivors. Spread awareness. And for heaven’s sake – use real statistics and cite your sources.

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    1. Great post, W.C. And thanks for sending out those stats and for writing out your final thoughts so well.
      And your links show me just the sort of place to look into, perhaps get involved with, and learn from (RAINN).

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    2. If you keep getting your statistics from the same bogus sources you’re gonna get the same bogus numbers. Sexual assault does not equate to rape, dummy. But hey you’re gonna believe whatever you want to believe. Keep up the fear mongering.

      And bee tee dubs if you actually cared about rape you would know that more men are raped each year in prison than women outside of prison. But you don’t care about rape, do you? You only care about women being raped. How progressive of you.

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      1. Jimmy, just because you don’t like the statistics doesn’t mean they aren’t true. I do feel bad for the men raped in prison. But female prisoners are also victims of rape.

        I think what men can take away from this ordeal is that if a woman is drunk, DO NOT TOUCH HER. If you like her and want to hook up get her number and call her the next day after she is sober. It’s really not that difficult.

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        1. So the guy is the party who should be entirely responsible and not the drunk female co-ed who was fooling around with the guy at the bar physically and goes back to his room/apt late that same night?

          No woman deserves to be sexually assaulted/raped but absolving that person of any responsibility or common sense is pretty ridiculous.

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          1. I am not saying that only the guy should be responsible. Many young girls don’t understand that it is not responsible to drink and hope that no one will take advantage of them. I am saying in lieu of all these rape charges going on maybe guys should also take some responsibility and learn to say “No” too.

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        2. Why are women not responsible for their actions when they decide to drink? If I get drunk and hold up a gas station I’m still going to jail. If a woman gets drunk and decides to have sex with someone, he might go to jail. Even if he was just as drunk as her, if not more so.

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      2. Pray tell how the WHO and the DoJ are bogus sources. I notice that you have not shared where you got your (false) numbers from.

        I care about all rape survivors. Please don’t assume that I don’t care about men simply because I am defending the woman in this specific situation. I know that 1 in 10 survivors of rape are male (http://www.rainn.org/get-information/types-of-sexual-assault/male-sexual-assault) and that it is often harder for male survivors to get justice against their attacker. I know that statistics of male and female rape inside prisons are hard to come by due to cover ups and low reporting rates. I also know that rape can happen between people of the same gender and between people of different genders. No one’s suffering is less important than anyone else’s when it comes to rape and sexual assault. Like I said, I care about all rape survivors.

        Look Jimmy, I don’t know what your issue is with women and feminists in general. In nearly every one of your comments you have attacked women for being too emotional, vicious, and men-hating. That’s simply not true. That would be like a woman calling all men rapists. Both of these statements are generalizations, and they are extremely false ones at that. As a feminist at BU I can say that none of my fellow feminists think that men are the enemy. That’s honestly an equally ridiculous idea as thinking that all women are too emotional to hold rational conversations. It’s thinking like this that leads to stereotyping and slut-shaming (with men and woman alike).

        Again, we all have our opinions about this case. Discussion is good but name-calling gets us nowhere. After all the BU community has been through this year we should be educating ourselves on how to stop sexual violence instead of pointing fingers and blaming survivors.

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    3. I agree that rape and sexual assault are serious problems, and I hope that these unfortunate incidents this year have helped people in the BU community gain more understanding of the issues involved. There are good points and also misconceptions held by people on both sides of the issue, and an exchange of views should be civil and informative.

      Personally, though, I’m most concerned with the injustice of this particular case, where someone who I believe is a decent and law-abiding individual was railroaded because the criminal justice system allowed it to happen. As a liberal, I think that, whatever the charges – – whether it’s rape or shoplifting or treason – – protecting the innocent needs to be a higher priority than punishing the guilty. In rape cases, I see an imbalance favoring the latter, which makes for a rather slippery slope that threatens all of us. I see very little justice for Max Nicastro.

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    4. You make several valid points that rape/sexual assault is a seriously under reported issue in the US and even more so in other parts of the world.

      That said, if you are a drunk female co-ed who goes back to a hockey’s player room you aren’t using common sense. No woman EVER deserves to be raped/sexually assaulted but you are putting yourself in a potentially bad position.

      I knew several of the hockey guys when I attended BU. Their assumption (rightly or wrongfully) is that if a co-ed is fooling around with them physically at the bar and goes back to their room that it means they will have some type of sexual interaction. Let’s also be frank too – there are a ton of female co-eds who want to sleep with the hockey guys too. Just go to T’s Pub and you will see this on almost any Friday/Saturday night.

      I grew up in the city (Philly) and I was always shocked by the naivety/stupidity of most of the undergrads who attended BU when I was there. Sometimes trouble will find you and you will be the target of random violence but this almost never happens. Using common sense and just willing to back down will prevent trouble from finding you in almost all situations.

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  14. You have no idea whether Nicastro committed this crime or not or what the particular allegations were since they weren’t publicly disclosed. Good chance the DA dropped the case because they didn’t any physical evidence which would have made getting a conviction in a trial nearly impossible. It is part of what make rape convictions so difficult because there often is no physical evidence that is admissable & it comes down to a matter of ‘he-said/she-said.’

    Regardless, Nicastro has already paid a pretty steep price. Something that is going to follow him for a long, long time whether he was innocent or not.

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  15. If nothing else this should teach the women what crowds not to hang out with. It’s a choice when you hang out with the jocks and other type of people with the given mentality.

    I know when I was in undergrad a lot of the girls I knew would shun going to the frat and/or sport houses because some of the guys were less than safe to be around. However, they would still go because that’s where the “best” parties were.

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    1. Maybe a solution towards improving college social life would be for more colleges to have mandatory classes that teach both guys and girls the dangers of drinking at parties and what qualifies as rape and sexual assault. I know at some undergrad institutions their policy is if the male student knows the the female student is intoxicated and still pursues her sexually that is ground for suspension and/or dismissal. And not many students are aware of that policy.

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