Advocate: Ohio judge mistreated two rape victims

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio judge recently ordered two rape victims to appear before their confessed attackers in court, an insensitivity that shows why so many rape victims don’t come forward, a victims’ rights advocate said.

Judge Timothy Horton of Franklin County Common Pleas Court acknowledges that the two cases weren’t his finest hours and says he’s evolving as a judge after three years on the bench.

Often, rape cases are settled in way that protects victims from retelling their stories on the witness stand. But in two recent unrelated plea deals, Judge Horton said he wanted to hear from the victims — a 19-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy.

When the woman began to break down on the stand in late April, transcripts show the judge told her to compose herself or he’d tear up the guilty plea.

“With that lack of compassion and threat of injustice, it’s no wonder why 70 percent of rape victims don’t report,” said Catherine Harper Lee, executive director of the Justice League of Ohio.

In the other case, earlier this month, Judge Horton relented and the boy was allowed to give a written statement through his mother about molestation that began when he was 9.