Our justice system should protect sexual assault victims like me, not the perpetrators

Allison Weidhaas
·3 min read

What if I told you my rapist, deemed a sexually violent predator under Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law, was granted the right to appeal his jail sentence based on a legal technicality? This man preyed on young women by slipping drugs into their drinks, rendering them unable to fight him off and unable to consent to sex. You might assume I’m one of Bill Cosby’s victims, but rather I’m the victim of a man tried in both Idaho and Pennsylvania for rape, Jeffrey Marsalis.

Allison Weidhaas
Allison Weidhaas

Marsalis has been in jail since 2006, and he is currently serving a 21-year Pennsylvania sentence, and should move to Idaho for a life sentence following his release from Pennsylvania. He is appealing his rape conviction in Idaho based on what he claims is ineffective counsel, not his innocence. I believe our justice system should protect victims, not rapists.

Although sexual assault survivors and advocates expressed outrage, Cosby was released based on a deal he made with former District Attorney Bruce Castor, even though Cosby admitted under oath that he gave women he wanted to have sex with quaaludes. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania called for Cosby’s release based “on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime,” according to Kevin Steele, the DA who prosecuted him.

What if the same happened in Idaho? Would you be outraged? Marsalis is claiming that his attorney should have challenged one of the state’s expert witnesses and hired an expert to support his defense. In my layperson’s opinion, this is not going to change his guilt and should not be used as a scapegoat strategy to avoid further jail time. He deserves the life sentence he received in Idaho for his crimes.

The world is a safer place with sexually violent predators locked away where they can’t prey on innocent people. Similar to Cosby, Marsalis left countless victims in his wake; we know about some victims based on a trophy list he kept over about a 2.5 year period, but there were others before the list was started and after it was seized, such as the woman who came forward in Idaho to bravely share what happened to her.

When the system releases serial predators back into society, it not only endangers us, but it sends the message the system is more important than the victim’s experiences. These women were drugged and raped.

Their stories are valid and important.

I’m writing today in support of not only the survivors of Cosby, but other women past and future, who might not have the support of our legal system.

In a system that, according to RAINN, will incarcerate less than 1 percent of rapists, we need to question the system. We need to advocate for survivors. We need to make sure their voices are recognized and not ignored based on legal technicalities that set criminals free.

Please stand with me in supporting victims.

Dr. Allison Weidhaas, associate professor at Rider University, speaks and writes about gender inequalities and gender violence. You can learn more at www.icameforward.com

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