14yo Huron High School Teen Who Accused Classmate Of Rape Takes Own Life

[Whisper]

I remember this was on the news here and it was so cool she was standing up and not playing victim.
I think its completely shitty they allowed the "alleged" rapist back into the school before they had resolved it and the students took sides and then she has now committed suicide.
Im not saying he has no right to go back to school,the students picking sides killed her,even he says that



Romulus (WXYZ) - A painful story is spreading along Verdun Street in Romulus today, involving a reported rape, high school cruelty and a young girl’s death.
Monday night, a 14-year-old girl took her life at her home, just two months after accusing a senior at Huron High School of rape. Friends got the news in class Tuesday morning.

“I had to leave because I was crying. She was my friend,” said one 15-year-old student.

Huron High School has been the center of turmoil between the 14-year-old accuser and the 18-year-old suspect, Joe Tarnopolski. He lives just down the street from the girl and was charged with criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, statutory rape.
Tarnopolski was released on bond and went back to classes at Huron High. But the kids in school took sides. Students say the girl was teased, taunted and ignored.

“People were saying just not to go by her,” said one student.
Another student said the suspect was getting targeted too.
He said he felt bad because everyone in here was on his side more than hers,” said the 15-year-old student.

The girl’s mother complained and met with the school administration more than once. The principal and superintendent tell Action News, the 14-year-old girl was given a pass to come to the office any time she felt threatened, and the principal would patrol the hallway near her locker during passing time.

A friend told Action News she spoke to the 14-year-old girl yesterday.
"She told me she couldn't take the stress anymore," said the friend.
The girl took her life at her home Monday evening. Family is still trying to work out funeral arrangements.
A spokeswoman from the Wayne County prosecutor's office says the statutory rape case will now be dropped.

A team of counselors are at the high school to help students deal with their emotions.

Experts say children who are bullied are often lonely, sad and withdrawn. They may visit the school nurse several times without having anything medically wrong. Students who are hesitant to walk to the bus stop or who exhibit behavior changes may also be victims of bullying.http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/huron-high-school-teen-who-accused-classmate-of-rape-takes-own-life-
http://i53.tinypic.com/9a5wmt.jpg
Memorial set up at High School

[XenMojo]

Man, this one gets to me a bit. My Sophomore year of high school I has a situation happen that was slightly similar to this one. I had stayed after school to hang with a bunch of friends of mine. I ended up breaking off from the pack to hang with this one guy I had a small crush on. I had been a little flustered because he was one of the 'good looking popular ones' so I kind of brushed off the uneasiness I felt as our walk took us by the defunct elevator room. (A popular make out spot) Needless to say, after one kiss and him getting a bit handsy I asked him to stop. At that point he tightened his grip on my wrist and began sucking the living shit out of my neck. Thank GOD my friends happened to be walking by and heard me. The thing I remember the clearest was one of the guys whipping open that door, then Hell breaking loose as they hauled ass after him.

I came out of that with a very badly bruised wrist, the worlds most embarrassingly large hickey on my neck, and a very important life lesson learned. My friends forced me to tell my parents about what happened, and my mom took me right to the police station. I too had to deal with the 'his side - her side' standard that comes with situations like this. The only ace I had in my corner was that this douchebags cousin (who was much higher up in the high school popularity schematic) believed me. I may have had to deal with the marks he left on me for a little while, but I was vindicated when he was sporting facial road rash from my friends catching him that day, then further vindicated the next day when he sported a black eye from his cousin.

Maybe this girl didn't have friends like mine in her corner, who knows, but I know her pain and her panic. Not only from the attack itself, but by having to be victimized all over again every time someone utters a dumb snide little comment. R.I.P girl, it didn't have to end that way.

Sorry for the long post, this story kind of brought back some crap on me.

[Pene784]

I don't want to blame this girls parents for what happened to their daughter but for crying out loud, I would never have sent my daughter back to that school day after day to face her attacker! Why did they send her to that school when they knew that boy was there and they knew the torment she was enduring?

[Whisper]

A mother is grieving for her 14-year-old daughter. The teen came forward saying she was raped by an upperclassman and then bullied in school after the attack. Her pain became too much for her to endure. Sadly, Samantha Kelly took her own life.

Her family is devastated. Adding to their pain, the case against her alleged attacker has been dismissed.
"All of (those) peers really need to think now more than ever. Was it worth it? ... I won't be able to take my daughter to the prom. I won't be able to walk her down the aisle. I can't see my first grandbaby born from my daughter," said June Justice.

The pain is too much for this mother to bear. Her daughter, 14-year-old Samantha Kelly, took her own life, no longer able to cope with the constant bullying and harassment.

"All the seniors, they're making fun of me. You know, 'It's Joe's mistake,'" Kelly told FOX 2 News back in October. "I have girls that want to beat me up because of him."

That's why Kelly first came to FOX 2. She said this all started after she told police she was raped by 18-year-old Joe Tarnopolski.

"I told him, 'You're hurting me. Stop. You're hurting me,' and 'I want to leave,'" said Kelly. "If you wanted to have sex, usually the person would let you leave, and on top of that, there was a point where I squirmed and he pulled me back down by my legs, and I cried and he wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay."
After Tarnopolski was charged with third-degree CSC statutory rape, Kelly claimed students at Huron High School turned on her. At the same time, police and prosecutors didn't believe her. She said Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Keisha Glen tried to talk her out of it.

"They're treating her like she's the defendant and not the victim, and they were breaking my daughter down," Justice said.

Tarnopolski, her alleged attacker, then took to Twitter, calling Kelly a liar and saying that she ruined his life.
One of Kelly's friends told FOX 2's Taryn Asher that from there the teasing only got worse.
"At lunch time, people would throw stuff at her. The seniors would throw stuff at her and call her a liar," said Sheila Little.

Kelly couldn't take it and tried to commit suicide. That time she failed. She spent four days in a psychiatric hospital.

Her mother tried to switch her school, but could not. Kelly convinced her she was strong enough to go back. That was Monday.

Monday evening, Kelly went into her room, wrote a message on the wall and the date of her alleged rape and then hung herself.
My daughter's dead because nobody wanted to listen to her, and the people who should have stood up for her didn't," said Justice.

However, it gets worse for the family. The abuse and harassment Kelly put up with that eventually forced her to take her own life was for nothing. Late Tuesday, FOX 2 learned the Wayne County prosecutor dropped the case against her alleged rapist, claiming it can't go forward without a victim.

"It's ridiculous. I mean, there's no reason why the charges should be dropped. The incident obviously happened," said Jeff Curry, Kelly's stepfather. "The outcome doesn't change the fact of what the guy did."
"I just hope people will now know that what they did was wrong and what they did drove her to this, so it's all their fault," Little said.

"I want to know how they're sleeping. I want to know because I was up all night with all three of my boys, and I couldn't sleep a wink. I probably won't sleep for a long time," said Justice.
[...]
Police would not comment. However, the school did issue a statement and told FOX 2 they did try to do whatever they could to help Kelly. Even toward the end, they said if she felt threatened, she could come to the principal's office, and on Monday, the principal even shadowed her to make sure that she was okay.

As for the prosecutor's office, it issued a statement basically saying they did all they could to support the victim in this case.
The family says they are going to fight to move the criminal case forward.
une Justice told FOX 2's Alexis Wiley she is struggling to find a way to pay for her daughter's funeral. She asks that anyone who wants to help make a donation in Samantha Kelly's name to the Michigan Memorial Cemetery. Their phone number is (734) 782-2473. They are located at 30895 West Huron River Drive in Flat Rockhttp://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/huron-high-school-student-takes-own-life-20101109-wpms
http://i53.tinypic.com/10qgd4w.jpg
Samantha Kelly

[Whisper]

The charges were just dropped and the son of a bitch turned and said"Im going to get a Big Mac"

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/huron-high-school-teen-who-accused-classmate-of-rape-takes-own-life-

To the right of the page theres a list and you can click on and see a video

[sleepinwithangels]

The charges were just dropped and the son of a bitch turned and said"Im going to get a Big Mac"

Un-friggin-believable!
I am so incredibly angry at this one, I can barely see straight.
I will admit, that I am somewhat of a skeptic when it comes to people crying rape…IDK what it is that makes me need further proof…but still, this poor girl was tortured. These children just sent a message in their community, that if you tell, you will be ridiculed....to death. These children and their parents ought to be so terribly ashamed of themselves. This girl should have been praised for her courage to come forward! Instead , she was bullied to death.
And his calm, cool statement above just proves what kind of predator he is. He will do it again. Why? Because he got away with it the first time, and can seem to give a flying shit about what he did.

UGH! Sorry about the rant, it just boils my blood.

[AngelFire]

Pene, I hear ya girl. I wouldn't have sent my child back to that school to face not only her attackers but all the other shitheads. To the major shithead that raped her, enjoy your fucking big mac for now. Karma will be visiting you real soon

[Whisper]

NEW BOSTON, Mich. (WXYZ) - A grieving mother was held back by relatives as she screamed obscenities at the 18-year-old accused of raping her daughter. Those charges were dropped Wednesday because the 14-year-old girl had taken her own life.
June Justice screamed "My daughter's dead you _____," as Joe Tarnopolski left court in Romulus. The encounter came just minutes after the prosecution dropped charges against Tarnopolski without predjudice.
Justice's 14-year-old daughter, Samantha Kelly, had accused Tarnopolski of raping her two months ago. The Huron High School student took her own life Monday. Friends say she committed suicide because she could not handle the bullying that came after charges were filed.

The prosecutor's office says the charges were dropped because, "Without the victim, we're unable to go forward with the case." The decision left June Justice livid.
Giving a very emotional statement after Wednesday's hearing, she said, "My daughter did not get any justice before this and she ain't getting justice now."
"They took me in another room to talk to a prosecutor while they could dismiss my daughter's case without me knowing," she said. "I asked to speak with the judge, he would not speak to me and this is our justice system. My daughter is dead at 14. An 18-year-old talked her into having sex and then, when she wanted to leave, would not let her and raped her and because she did not say 'no,' we have no case because she's dead and he don't have the right to talk to her it's being dismissed."

Justice says she doesn't understand why the case is being dismissed because there are so many other cases of different types that go forward when victims are too young or too ill.
Tarnopolski has been free on bond and back to classes at Huron High. Kids in school have taken sides. Students say Kelly was teased, taunted and ignored.
“People were saying just not to go by her,” said one student.
Another student said Tarnopolski was getting targeted too.
“He said he felt bad because everyone in here was on his side more than hers,” said the 15-year-old student.
Justice complained and met with the school administration more than once. The principal and superintendent tell Action News, the 14-year-old girl was given a pass to come to the office any time she felt threatened, and the principal would patrol the hallway near her locker during passing time.
Friends got the news in class Tuesday morning that Kelly had died.
“I had to leave because I was crying. She was my friend,” said one 15-year-old student.
Another friend told Action News she spoke to the Kelly Monday.
"She told me she couldn't take the stress anymore," said the friend.
Family members are still trying to work out funeral arrangements. A team of counselors are at the high school to help students deal with their emotions.
[...]
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/huron-high-school-teen-who-accused-classmate-of-rape-takes-own-life-


Romulus teen reportedly commits suicide after rape claims; accused upper classman tweets denials

[...]
Last month, the TV station reported that the Romulus girl's mother took her daughter to the hospital after a sexual encounter and reported the incident to police. 18-year-old Joseph Tarnopolski was arrested for statutory rape.
The girl appeared on camera with her face blurred. "If you wanted to have sex, usually the person would let you leave, and on top of that, there was a point where I squirmed and he pulled me back down by my legs, and I cried and he wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay. That's not how it works."
Tarnopolski was released on bond and returned to Huron High, but the girl and her mother say the girl was taunted at school for the incident. A police report described the incident as consensual, although the girl said Tarnopolski forced himself upon her.


Tarnopolski has tweeted about the case, calling the Fox 2 report "a f****** lie" as well as some other thoughts:

Sept. 28: "I want to kill myself literally right now...."
Sept. 28: "All girls are, are liars and backstabbers! I hate you all. Way to ruin my life. Seriously, now this will be on my record for life!"
Sept. 29: "School is the worst place for me to be right now......"
Sept: 29: "TRUST NO ONE! I DONT TRUST ANYONE ANYMORE!"
Sept. 29: "sometimes a certain thing goes to far....this time its rumors. Rumors I cannot live with for the rest of my life......."
Oct. 1: "I'm facing a sentance of prison time. Up to 4 years seeing as how I am 18 years of age now......."
Oct. 1: "Death before dishonor to my family! I'm not goin for 4 years....."
Oct. 3: "You say I f****d your life up, but your the one who lies to everyone because your scared to get introuble! You threw this upon me! Your idea"http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/11/romulus_teen_reportedly_commit.html
http://i56.tinypic.com/2wptqgj.jpg
Joseph Tarnopolski

[XenMojo]

The true injustice for this child is that the charges were dropped on this asshole. They should have gone on with the trial and found him either guilty or innocent. At least that way this poor girl had a shot at vindication.

[Whisper]

As of right now they dont have enough to convict but Kim Worthy Wayne County Prosecuter said they are still looking and he can be recharged if they do get enough to charge him and take to trial
I feel so bad for mom shes a mess which is understandable

[Whisper]

Joe Tarnopolski Facing New Allegations

HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Joe Tarnopolski isn't in the clear yet. We are learning that he is facing new allegations of sexual assault. The family walked into the Huron Township Police Department with his new alleged victim and made that complaint on October 22nd.
[...]
We've now learned the 18-year-old is facing a brand new set of allegations. Huron Township Police say another girl has filed a criminal sexual conduct complaint against Tarnopolski.

"It's of a sexual nature, but it's under investigation. We're conducting interviews on it," said Huron Township Police Detective Scott Carey.
Taryn Asher asked Tarnopolski and his lawyer, Matt Evans, if they were aware of the latest investigation.

"Not to my knowledge," said Evans. "I have received no report. I talked to the prosecutor today. I'm sure she would have mentioned it to me and no."

Tarnopolski also responded "no" when asked whether he had heard of any girls coming forward with new allegations.
Little is known about Tarnopolski's newest alleged victim, but we do know the girl came forward and filed the complaint on October 22nd, four days after Samantha Kelly told her story to FOX 2.

Kellywent to the news wanting to expose what happened hoping to end the constant bullying she faced from her peers for going to police about Tarnopolski. She also hoped talking about it would prevent this from happening to any other girl. It's now up to police and prosecutors to determine if it already did.

This new criminal sexual conduct case is expected to be handed over to the Wayne County prosecutor next week. She will then make a decision if any charges will be filed.http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/joe-tarnopolski-facing-new-allegations-20101111-wpms
http://i53.tinypic.com/nn0acm.jpg
Joe Tarnopolski

[kafka]

Karma is a bitch, dude, and you will get yours!

[Whisper]

She's the 14-year-old girl who took her own life after claiming she was raped by a fellow classmate. After coming forward with the allegation, Samantha Kelly was the target of bullying at her school and, ultimately, it drove her to suicide. Sadly, even in death, bullies are still tormenting her.

The Facebook page to honor Kelly's life is being bombarded with hateful messages and images.

We did not want to share the images with our audience because they are extremely offensive, and the metro Detroiters who did see them were disgusted.

"That's terrible. I don't know why anybody would do something like that. It totally is disrespectful, and I surely wouldn't want to see my daughter that way or have her remembered that way," said one person.
"You can't be that rude to someone," said another. "They were a person, and they're family's going to be really affected by this."

"I can't believe that somebody could actually do that. That just shows you the caliber of the people," a third said.
All of these people are parents, who say the bullying has to stop at home. Yes, the school has a responsibility, but it has to start with moms, dads and guardians. They have to take the lead.

Andrea Isom asked a former FBI agent whether anyone can be prosecuted for these actions. He said, unfortunately, no. It is horrible, immoral and wrong on so many levels, but they did not make a direct threat, so it is not illegal.

Isom also talked to state Senator Glenn Anderson.
"I think it's one more name just like Matt Epling up in East Lansing that my bill is named after. It's one more child that we did not have to lose," he said.

Isom asked Anderson if his bill were to pass would it make bullying and cyber bullying a crime. He replied, "It would require them to take action. It's not a crime, but it would require the school district to have a course of action in place and not only just to go after the bully. We're talking about addressing the problem that the bully has themselves. There's problems within the child that bullies other kids, and there's a reason for that. We need to address that because those kids will wind up in our court system. They'll probably wind up in our jails."

"It's very sad that we can't come together as a state and develop a policy that would address bullying across the state whether it's in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Traverse City or Muskegon. There needs to be a policy in place to protect these kids," he added.

Anderson says his bill is currently in limbo, that it's in committee, and he's hoping people realize they have to write and call their legislator to let him or her know how important this is to them and that they want change now.

He also said that people need to remember when you're bullied it's something you will never forget. We talked to a woman who is 62 years old, and she will never forget the sixth grade.

"They called me all kinds of names. I'd be walking down the hall. They'd knock my books out of my hand. They knew I didn't know my way around the neighborhood, so they'd tell me I'm going to fight you tonight at such and such, a show or something. I didn't know where to go, so I never showed up," said Sheryl Genaw. "The next day it was worse and it got worse."

"It just hurts. You dread going to school. You dread leaving your bedroom. You have no friends to go after school with, so you go to school, you go home to your room," she added. "I think bullies are afraid of (themselves) to be honest with you. I really do. Now I can say that, but I'll tell you it wasn't until I hit high school that I got really strong about it."http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/samantha-kelly-still-being-tormented-on-facebook-20101112-wpms

[kafka]

That crap is pretty bad. They did the same thing to Chelsea King.

[Whisper]

Funeral Held For Girl Who Killed Herself
Family Says Girl Committed Suicide Because Of Taunting

HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Mourners have paid their final respects to a Michigan girl who endured taunts after the high school freshman accused a senior of rape.
Samantha Kelly's funeral was Sunday afternoon at Michigan Memorial Funeral Home in Flat Rock. The 14-year-old from Wayne County's Huron Township killed herself last Monday.
ust two days later, prosecutors dropped criminal charges against 18-year-old Joseph Tarnopolski, saying they had no case without the accuser's testimony.
“I didn’t think that she had this many people who cared. It’s truly overwhelming,” said June Justice, Kelly’s mother. “When someone is bullied you may not see bruises, cuts and scars but what happens on the inside is deeper and I learned that with my daughter.”
A horse-drawn carriage transported Samantha’s coffin.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy explained that without Kelly as the key witness, there was in sufficient evidence of a crime that could be presented to the court.
During an interview with Local 4, Tarnopolski called Kelly "a friend,” and that they had arranged to have sex consensually.
“It was a mutual thing and I have text messages proving that,” Tarnopolski said.
Huron Township police confirmed to Local 4 that Tarnopolski is also being investigated on other sexual assault allegations.
“I just pray that her mom and her don’t have to go through what my daughter and I went through. I just hope justice is served for her,” said Justice.
Justice was criticized about going public with the allegations against Tarnopolski.
“I don’t think I would change anything except the last two days I had with my daughter,” she said.http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/25771380/detail.html
http://i52.tinypic.com/11blpxi.jpg
Samanthahttp://i56.tinypic.com/o88bo0.jpg
Samanthas Body Brought In Horse Drawn Carriage

[Dakota Valkyrie]

[...]
Huron High School students started taunting Kelly, a freshman, because she and her mother had given an interview that aired Oct. 20 on WJBK-TV (Channel 2). In the interview, the girl's story about having consensual sex was changed to accusing Tarnopolski of rape, school officials and police said.
[...]

Tarnopolski had been charged on Oct. 12 with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for intimacy that he and Samantha both detailed for police investigators after her mother reported the Sept. 26 incident. The crime is punishable by up to 15 years.
[...]

Samantha's mother, June Justice, said she went to the media because her daughter believed she wasn't being heard. She felt tormented "because she felt so alone."

"No one believed her," Justice said.

Police reports obtained by The Detroit News show both Tarnopolski and Samantha gave statements about her desire to lose her virginity. The girl also told police that she had hoped her mother would find out.

Tarnopolski was released on bond Oct. 12. School officials said they met with both students and their parents to coordinate class schedules and keep them apart. They had shared one math class.

Tarnopolski's court-appointed attorney Matthew Evans blamed Samantha's mother and the Channel 2 broadcast for her taunting and eventual death.

"Did harassment happen? Yes, but not from Joe and not by his direction," said Evans. "These were both nice kids. They liked each other. If mom hadn't dragged her daughter out in front of the camera, I am convinced she would still be alive."

Samantha killed herself the night before she was scheduled to testify in court about the case.

After the television broadcast, Evans said Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Keisha Glenn confronted the girl about the new conflicting versions. Evans said Glenn warned her against lying in court, and said if she testified as she did in the TV interview, she was going to have to tell the judge about her vastly different original statements to police.

"There is the pressure this poor girl was facing," Evans said. "She had to be thinking that either way she testified, the way her mother wanted or the way she originally told the story, either way she was about to get crucified."
Facebook messages deleted

Huron Township police said Thursday that Channel 2 reporter Taryn Asher spoke with them before the broadcast, and was told that both Samantha and Tarnopolski had originally given statements that said the incident was consensual.

"(Asher) was warned, and she ignored the information," Evans said. "(The reporter) told them the police and the prosecutor coerced the statements from the girl."

WJBK assistant news director Kevin Roseborough said the station acted responsibly. "We feel tremendous sadness over Samantha's death," said Roseborough, who said the station was solicited by June Justice to do the story.
[...]
http://www.detnews.com/article/20101112/METRO/11120383/1409/metro

There is NO excuse for the treatment of this girl... by either the students OR her own mother. The shithead had been arrested and mommy decided to drag her daughter in front of the media before the justice system even had a chance to play out. If she had left it alone, the shithead would be facing charges. This girl had enough on her plate without mom adding another helping.

Hopefully the girl in the second investigation will be able to seal the deal.

[Whisper]

He has now dropped out of school after another girl came forward accusing him of the same thing
They havent updated the website yet though
But they reported he dropped out on friday
They also think he may now move to live with mom someplace else(dads raising him and sibs)
Ill post when they update what they had on noon news

[Whisper]

Tragic sex case warrants look at teens and sex crimes law

In the wake of a reported teenage sex encounter turned tragedy in Huron Township, legal experts and victims rights advocates say the state's criminal sexual conduct laws should be reconsidered because the laws can hurt teens more than society benefits.

"There must be a better way of dealing with these cases" of sexually active teenagers, said Gail Benson, a Beverly Hills attorney who has extensive experience in representing defendants charged with criminal sexual assaults.
[...]

http://www.freep.com/article/20101112/NEWS05/11120413/1001/rss01


Teen sex and adult insanity
Girl was lightning rod for peers' fear

Incredibly, detractors continue to heap online invective on a 14-year-old Huron High School freshman who hanged herself last week after a local TV broadcast publicizing her sexual assault complaint against a fellow Huron High student triggered a vicious pushback by the defendant's supporters.
[..]
http://www.freep.com/article/20101114/COL04/11140722/1081/col

[Knighted]

I saw this story on another website today and at least 3/4's of the comments (and there were MANY) were - incredibly - blaming the girl and her mother in quite an ugly manner. I couldn't believe that.

I don't have a clue whether their sexual experience was 'consensual' or not, but I do know that an 18 year old boy should not be having any kind of romantic relations with a 14 year old girl - and it is against the law because she has not reached the age of 'consent'. I was aghast at how many people thought that was just fine and dandy. Unbelievable. Who would want their 14 year old daughter having sex with an 18 year old?

This is a very sad story indeed, and quite disturbing that other kids made her life so difficult and the Police and Prosecutor seem to have really flubbed this one; I just don't get how these people don't understand that it's ILLEGAL to have sex with a minor, whether it was 'consensual' or not. And this boy knew it; he should have been attempting his romantic aspirations with somebody his own age, and I feel he is Very Much at fault in this matter.