Rape case raises conflicting issues

• By GREG GARLAND
• Westside bureau
• Published: Jan 11, 2009 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 am

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PLAQUEMINE — The facts of what happened in the “playhouse” outside a home in Grosse Tete on Jan. 21, 2003, aren’t in dispute.

David Crowson, 17, and a 19-year-old woman were caught with their pants down by the woman’s older sister, according to court records and police reports. The sister screamed.

Under ordinary circumstances, the incident likely would have been an awkward, embarrassing chapter in the lives of those involved — an unpleasant memory that would fade over time.

But the circumstances in this case weren’t normal.

The woman involved, whom The Advocate is not naming because she is the victim of an alleged sex crime, is mildly to moderately mentally retarded. Under Louisiana law she is considered incapable of consenting to sex.

As a result, Crowson faces a possible life sentence in prison for aggravated rape.

Six years after the incident, questions are being raised about the constitutionality of the seldom-enforced state law as Crowson, now 23, awaits a new trial to decide his fate.

The case went before 18th Judicial District Judge Alvin Batiste Jr., in Plaquemine last year but ended in a mistrial.

The case raises thorny legal and moral questions that are part of a national debate about allowing intellectually disabled adults to make decisions about participating in sexual activity. Balanced against that is society’s desire to protect the vulnerable from exploitation.

Leslie Walker-Hirsch, author of a recent book on sexuality and intimacy for people with intellectual disabilities, said attitudes on the subject have changed over the years.

“Intellectual disability doesn’t usually affect your physical growth and maturity,” she said. “The dilemma is that physical maturity is on pace, but often not intellectual, social and emotional maturity.”

Walker-Hirsch said determining a person’s capability of consenting to sex depends on the extent to which the individual has been taught about it and can understand the risks and benefits.

However, establishing a bright line that sets an IQ level of 70 as the threshold for consent, as Louisiana has done with its law, is an “antiquated approach,” she said.