A Pennsylvania woman was blamed for her own rape after she filed a federal lawsuit on the incident. Multiple reports say that the Pennsylvania attorney general's office had a Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape even after the DNA already supported the fact that she had been attacked in jail by the rapist - a dangerous criminal.
According to CNN, at the time of the attack in 2013, the 24-year-old Pennsylvania woman blamed for her own rape had been a typist at the state prison at Rockview in Bellefonte, Penn. The inmate Omar Best first choked her unconscious before violating her for 27 minutes.
A CCTV footage showed Best leaving the room where the attack occurred, and of his own accord. According to the Mail Online, prison staff later found the typist unconscious on the floor.
Reports say that Best had already been convicted three times for sex-related crimes. He has also been transferred from another state prison for also assaulting a female employee there.
The lawsuit, which resulted in the state having the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape, stated, "Despite this knowledge, defendants ... still allowed Omar Best to have unsupervised access to the offices of female employees."
Apparently, the prison superintendent had moved the clerk offices from a secure floor with no inmate contact, to an area on a cell block, meaning unavoidable contact with the inmates.
The lawsuit stated, "There were no locked doors between the offices and cell blocks, including Block C where (the victim) worked, except for the copy room."
According to CNN, Best was already convicted of the rape in May. There had also been a review of the prison which found multiple failings and has led to the superintendent's removal.
Despite these proofs, the Mail Online reports that the attorney general's office still had the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape.
As a response to her lawsuit, a senior deputy attorney general made a 13-page document citing "contributory negligence" on the victim's behalf. The document stated she "acted in a manner which in whole or in part contributed to the events."
The woman's lawyer, Clifford Rieders from Williamsport, Penn., told CNN that the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape is "victim shaming at its worst."
Rieders said, "Worse than that, it's an attempt to embarrass the victim." He added that the attorney general's office putting the blame on the rape victim is "insulting to women generally who face rape cases only to be told that it's their fault."
Meanwhile, the office reportedly declined to comment on the matter at first, when it was being reported by the Centre Daily Times, in State College, Pennsylvania. But on Wednesday, they released a statement saying that it is mandatory for them to present all possible defenses and "contributory negligence is one such defense," according to Fox 6 Now.
The office attorney general's office provided a statement to CNN regarding the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape. They said, "This initial filing should not necessarily be interpreted as meaning this defense will be pursued throughout the entire case." They added that elected Attorney General Kathleen Kane was not aware that her senior deputy included that defense in the filing.
The statement also said, "Attorney General Kane is disappointed that she was not made aware of this matter prior to the filing, and was saddened to learn that the filing implied that the victim somehow contributed to this crime."
36-year-old Best is currently serving a life sentence for the rape. According to the Mail Online, he had been serving a rape sentence during the attack. He also reportedly had an earlier conviction for attempted rape from 1996, of which had been reduced to indecent assault.
CNN asked Pennsylvania state victim advocate Jennifer Storm about the incident of the Pennsylvania woman being blamed for her own rape. Storm said what the general district attorney's office did was deceitful, using victim-blaming as a defense for the prison.
Storm said, "I think it's absolutely deplorable to blame the victim in this case. It's not common legalese in rape cases."
She added, "And it shows a significant lack of sensitivity to not understand the harm this has done to the young woman and the re-victimization she's going through today. In a rape case, this is plain victim-blaming."
To further put their point across for the district attorney's mishap of blaming the Pennsylvania woman for her own rape, Storm and Rieter told of how the jury and local district attorney Stacy Parks Miller, who prosecuted Best, had no doubts believing the victim.
Storm said, "The DNA went to bat 100% for this victim. To then backtrack ... it's despicable, I'm disgusted."
Rieter added, "It's obviously completely inconsistent with the criminal trial. I think it's bad lawyering. It's what some lawyers do. I don't think it's right, or just, and has no basis here ... There are some people in this day and age who will still do that even though there is no factual or legal basis for it."
CNN reports that according to the suit, in 2010, Best was linked to the 1999 abduction and rape of an 18-year-old woman in Philadelphia via DNA testing. For that he was sentenced to 7 to 15 years in prison.
Also in 2011, the criminal pleaded guilty to rape and robbery in another Philadelphia case. He had been sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
In a 1996 case, Best also pleaded guilty to indecent assault. According to the lawsuit, he had been charged with attempted rape.
The rape of the typist at the state prison at Rockview in Bellefonte came after another assault to a female assistant at another facility called Graterford.
The Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape started working for the state prison on June 10, 2013. According to the Mail Online, by mid-July, she complained to prison officials about inmates entering hallways and stairs that led to her office. She reportedly mentioned her unease about Best entering her office.
Apparently, a week before the attack, the Pennsylvania woman blamed for being raped had already complained to her boss twice. The lawsuit states she was assured Best would no longer have access to her office.
Despite the assurance, Best finally raped the woman on July 25, 2013, with the criminal pretending to go into her office to take out the trash.
The rape occurred around 8:30 a.m. According to the suit, he grabbed the woman from behind and choked her until she passed out. She also tried to blow a distress whistle she carried but to no avail. The lawsuit said the prison was understaffed.
An investigation at the prison led to superintendent Marirosa Lamas getting fired and the hiring of 70 new corrections officers. Also, the offices where the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape had worked, was moved to a more secure space far from inmates.
However, in the state's response, it cited that Lamas left not because of the internal investigation.
The lawsuit which resulted in the state having the Pennsylvania woman blamed for rape rape, is suing the state Department of Corrections, her former supervisor, the block manager and the former superintendent, Lamas, for damages.
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