Victimizing the victim

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — I have a bad feeling about how the Phoebe Prince case will go down. Phoebe was the 15-year-old student at a high school in Massachusetts who hanged herself in January after — allegedly — being bullied by nine of her classmates.

Those nine students now face criminal charges. Two boys, ages 17 and 18, have been charged with statutory rape for having sex with the underage Phoebe. As with many rape cases, the defense will likely argue that Phoebe willingly had sex with the boys.

We will probably learn all about her sex life: whether she was a virgin; what kind of clothes she wore; whether she had been drinking or taking drugs; where and when it happened; what kind of sex was it; did the boys use condoms; was Phoebe on birth control.

All the questions that would make a teenage girl feel like she was being raped even if it was consensual sex.

Blame the victim.

Four girls, ages 16 and 17, face charges of criminal harassment and stalking and civil rights violations resulting in bodily injury. Three younger girls face juvenile delinquency charges.

If the girls' cases do not end with plea bargains, we will learn about Phoebe's mental health. It will come down to this: Did Phoebe have a mental illness — perhaps depression — that would have made her vulnerable to taunts that a healthy teen could have withstood?

If Phoebe kept a diary, we will read it. If she went to a therapist, we will hear about it. Did Phoebe take antidepressants? Did she ever talk about killing herself? Is there mental illness in her family? Was she bipolar? Did she have ADHD? Was she paranoid?

Blame the mental illness.

But promiscuity does not absolve rape, and mental illness does not excuse bullying. We should not hand out get-out-of-jail-free cards because a mental illness prevents a victim from protecting herself.

As I see it, there will be no justice for Phoebe Prince, and the only justice her accusers will find will be at Phoebe's expense.

Phoebe will be a victim again — this time of the defense, the media and the stigma of mental illness.

God bless Phoebe Prince.

Christine Stapleton writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: christine_stapleton@pbpost.com.

Distributed by the New York Times News Service.