Scandal Tom Silvagni convicted of rape

[RUNVS]

Get off your high horse.
We have only just had a case where the female fabricated a story.

The fact you said "the female" feels a bit telling too.

Also I just said that false accusations are rare, I did not say they never happen.

 

[Munich]

A supression order was placed before the trial began, Do you expect his parents to decide if their son is guilty or not before that?

Are you saying you think the trial was the first time they were hearing about the facts and evidence?

Deary me.

 

[thumbs_up]

or guilty of something in the grey area between rape and consensual sex.

I think the grey area is worthy of more discussion. Teaching of enthusiastic consent should be mandatory in all high schools in this country.

 

[Black Panther]

I hate pay offs and how they are legal because it is another way for the rich to get away with crimes.

Interesting for a Swans fan to say that, if only one of your clubs board members thought the same way

 

[420]

The thing is while false accusations exist they are definitely quite rare. Most men who are accused of rape are usually guilty of it, even if it can't always be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in a court of law.

A truly insane post

 

[Munich]

A truly insane post

Many tried bringing this up in the TB thread.

As a female I found it annoying.

 

[beside the seaside]

Are you saying you think the trial was the first time they were hearing about the facts and evidence?

Deary me.

What Tom did was frankly despicable behaviour, not only the actions but the attempt to cover it up/sweep it under the carpet. Thankfully he will now have to face consequences for his actions and hopefully the victim can have some sense of justice and recover from the trauma she has been through.

Your desire to tar the rest of the family with the same brush is odd. This would be a really terrible time for them, they obviously love Tom having known him their entire lives since he was an infant; there would be feelings of guilt, anger, regret, sadness at seeing what he has done. Just have a bit of empathy ffs.

If they did try to pay off the victim then I'm with you, that's really unacceptable behaviour but I haven't seen that being reported anywhere.

 

[BG__]

The girlfriend still standing by him and giving evidence to support him is wild. The money and social status that came with it must be too good to give up.

Also her still posting brand deals yesterday on instagram the same day he’s named publicly feels peak influencer.

 

[Munich]

What Tom did was frankly despicable behaviour, not only the actions but the attempt to cover it up/sweep it under the carpet. Thankfully he will now have to face consequences for his actions and hopefully the victim can have some sense of justice and recover from the trauma she has been through.

Your desire to tar the rest of the family with the same brush is odd. This would be a really terrible time for them, they obviously love Tom having known him their entire lives since he was an infant; there would be feelings of guilt, anger, regret, sadness at seeing what he has done. Just have a bit of empathy ffs.

If they did try to pay off the victim then I'm with you, that's really unacceptable behaviour but I haven't seen that being reported anywhere.

Sure, if I believed that they had no idea and truly believed him I would be sympathetic. I follow alot of cases and am often sympathetic to the offender's family.

In this case I just don't believe that they haven't acted to protect their own interests. It's my opinion.

 

[1970crow]

What's a lesser charge?

There likely wasn't one offered and rightly so.

A lesser charge would be sexual assault, carries up to 10 years. Downgrading isn’t uncommon, even for charges more serious than rape. And even if he it wasn’t offered, had he come clean as to his actual actions that night, you’d think the best legal advice would be to plead guilty and aim for a more lenient sentence. End result is he’s cost his parents shit trucks and spends longer in jail.

 

[Underarm]

Are you saying you think the trial was the first time they were hearing about the facts and evidence?

Deary me.

Why bother having a trial then. Cops say he's guilty and they say they have this evidence...

Jo and Stephen aren't judges. Even if they were told all of the evidence and heard all of the testimonies they wouldn't have the legal knowledge required to decide for themselves whether their son was guilty or not to the Judges standard, and even if they could, expecting them to cut their son loose is so completely far fetched.

 

[ajs071]

Agreed. Even after Bruhan was cleared and it was revealed the alleged victim had lied people still wanted him hung.

The alleged victim did not lie, a key witness lied to police, over what, not sure.

 

[Munich]

The alleged victim did not lie, a key witness lied to police, over what, not sure.

They did lie and so did the witness.

 

[Underarm]

Sure, if I believed that they had no idea and truly believed him I would be sympathetic. I follow alot of cases and am often sympathetic to the offender's family.

In this case I just don't believe that they haven't acted to protect their own interests. It's my opinion.

Unless you have evidence they acted any differently from other alleged offenders families, you are just proving the point of why the suppression order was given in the first place.

 

[Munich]

Why bother having a trial then. Cops say he's guilty and they say they have this evidence...

Jo and Stephen aren't judges. Even if they were told all of the evidence and heard all of the testimonies they wouldn't have the legal knowledge required to decide for themselves whether their son was guilty or not to the Judges standard, and even if they could, expecting them to cut their son loose is so completely far fetched.

Lol. The trial is to hold the accused to account of his alleged crime in front of a jury of his peers.

He chose to go down the trial path by pleading not guilty to the charge/s.

I never suggested they should cut their son loose. But there are two options here; they didn't believe him and sought to hide it all away hoping he'd be let off, or they did believe him and were doing the best for their son.

I'm allowed to think one way or the other as is everyone else.

 

[Cam Payne]

I'm not going in to bat for him, but it appears Tom is somewhat unlucky to have been convicted. It's not a common outcome in Australia. Any men's advocates here able to explain what happened?

 

[Gavin Excell]

Is it a criminal offence to offer money to an accuser to drop their case? Something something about interfering/contempt of court?

 

[VinnieB]

They said 7-10 is really long which suggests they think it should be less.

Probably 2 yrs, with 10 digits removed.

 

[blagodellago]

I’m glad they lifted the gag order. Hopefully it’s enforced in Barwon tho

 

[Underarm]

I never suggested they should cut their son loose. But there are two options here; they didn't believe him and sought to hide it all away hoping he'd be let off, or they did believe him and were doing the best for their son.

Sure but you're trying to say theres a 3rd option. They knew he was guilty but wanted to keep the name suppressed before the trial started for their own self interest.

Sure, if I believed that they had no idea and truly believed him I would be sympathetic. I follow alot of cases and am often sympathetic to the offender's family.

In this case I just don't believe that they haven't acted to protect their own interests. It's my opinion.

 

[Munich]

Is it a criminal offence to offer money to an accuser to drop their case? Something something about interfering/contempt of court?

Can't happen in criminal trials as the police/prosecution are the ones taking the case to trial, not the accuser.

And yes it's a criminal act to try and pay off the state.

Civil cases you can pay off prior to trial though, well in the states you can. Am sure it'd be the same here.

 

[Munich]

Sure but you're trying to say theres a 3rd option. They knew he was guilty but wanted to keep the name suppressed before the trial started for their own self interest.

No I'm including that in option 1.

 

[RUNVS]

Interesting for a Swans fan to say that, if only one of your clubs board members thought the same way

Go through my post history in regards to the Michael O'Loughlin situation, I agree with you.

 

[dergert]

He'll get a slap on the wrist - 3 month sentence and a community order because of his clean record. Absolute joke

 

[Gavin Excell]

Will he appeal?