Column: Clark sex-crime conviction like any other

I've got no inside information about Donald L. Clark, the former elementary school guidance counselor sentenced last week to up to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing a student.

And I don't know anything about the victim - the teen who testified that Clark touched him inappropriately years ago, when the boy was just a fifth-grader.

I don't know anything really, just what I've read in the papers. I suspect we're alike in that.

Oh, I've heard some of the things you've heard - rumors that have been floating around the water cooler after Clark's August 2009 arrest.

I've heard about his criminal history - all the gossip circling around the question of whether Clark is the type of person who would sexually abuse a child.

I've heard about the victim's troubled young life, the violent outbursts, suicide attempts, substance abuse - all the gossip circling around the question of whether or not he's the type to make up such a horrible story.

Some people say Clark doesn't seem like a sex offender. Others say he does. Some people say the victim isn't credible, others say he is.

But here's one thing I do know: None of that matters.

As with every crime, sexual assault cases are tried by the state, not the victim. As with every crime, perpetrators and victims are of every race, age, sexual orientation and other demographic breakdown.

As with every crime, juries or a judge weigh the facts and evidence to come to a verdict.

So why is it only in cases of sexual assault that we give so much weight to gossip about the people involved?

We'd never say someone must be innocent of a crime because they don't look like an arsonist or an embezzler or a thief - or guilty because they do. Even the cliche, “he seemed like such a nice guy,” doesn't presume to mean the serial killer couldn't, in fact, have done it.

But when it comes to sexual assault, we talk as if those knee-jerk impressions are evidence.

We second-guess victims' every decision, act as if they have to prove the crime occurred.

If I told you I'd been burgled, you'd probably believe me. You'd be unlikely to say I was making it up for one reason or another.

We're guilty of it here at the newspaper, too, writing about “alleged victims” of sexual assault in news stories. If that's the right form, then we ought to write about - to talk about - alleged victims of carjackings, fraud and vandalism. But of course we don't.

That would be wrong.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com