Former Ohio State Football Player Bri'onte Dunn Found Not Guilty of Rape Charges
By: Omar Cook
Former Ohio State Buckeyes running back, Bri'onte Dunn, was found not guilty of rape charges dating back to August of 2017. Dunn only 25, was one of the best running backs in the country coming out of high school and played for the Buckeyes from 2012-2015 before being dismissed from the team for another altercation. The once promising prospect found himself in the wrong situation unfortunately.
Dunn met a woman on a dating website and testified that the two were having routine casual sex, but consensual. The pair actually dated for some time during the summer of 2017 but eventually broke up, where is when the problems began. The woman accused Dunn of assaulting her and forcing her to have sex which spun Dunn’s life out of control. Dunn faced up to 22 years in prison for the charges.
Fortunately, this young man was freed based on the voice of the woman herself. The jury listened to a tape recording of the woman telling Dunn that she would tell everyone she had lied about it. By God’s grace this man was allowed to walk away free because 22 years in prison for something you didn’t do is a reality no one should ever have to face, but it is reality for some nonetheless. “I’m happy that the whole world can see that I’m innocent,” he said. “I’m just trying to get back with my life, and hopefully renewing my career.”
Not everyone has the luxury of women saying they lied about false rape accusations on tape and unfortunately there have been plenty examples of men being found innocent years after they sat in prison for lies. There are two problems with these situations. One is the obvious issue that the women are coming up with lies for whatever reason to fit their agenda. Second, the women never face charges for lying.
This young man’s life was completely altered by a lie. Whenever you look up his name, this situation will be attached to it. And of course, as a black man, he was already seen as guilty before he stood trial. It’s 2018 and we’re still dealing with cases of false rape accusations and it’s an extremely sensitive subject because you never want to accuse the woman of lying at first, but the man’s reputation is immediately tarnished once the accusations start flying. I can only imagine how it was 50, 60, 70 years ago for a black man to stand trial in a case like this, and in his mind knowing he didn’t do it.
What is supposed to be an innocent until proven guilty system, is actually quite the opposite, especially for black men in these cases. As soon as a black athlete is accused of rape, it becomes a witch hunt to take him down, whether the accusations are true or not. Unfortunately, this will be a continuous issue because there are no repercussions for women being caught lying. This gives the women the power to freely accuse who they want without even taking a second thought.
So what happens when the facts are released? Everything goes back to normal? The woman gets to go back to her life as if nothing happened? This is something that seriously needs to be addressed because having a penalty in place for women that lie about rape will greatly reduce the risk of this happening because women will have to really choose if that’s the route they want to go. To lie or not to lie? Tough decision huh.
We’ve seen this situation play out many times for black athletes. One of the most significant cases was the wrongful conviction of former Long Beach Poly standout, Brian Banks who spent 5 years behind bars for a false accusation. Banks faced 41 years in prison but pleaded no contest in order to receive less years behind bars. It’s crazy to think your only option is to plead no contest and just accept your fate because there’s really not too many ways to prove your innocence unless the woman says otherwise. Your word against hers.
Brian Banks Has Rape Conviction Overturned
What kick do women get out of this? Seeing a man rot in prison for something he didn’t do because you’re mad he broke up with you is the revenge that makes you feel good? It’s evil and men really have to be careful about who they choose to have as partners. That’s why having one night stands, or picking up women off of dating apps can be extremely dangerous, for both men and women.
Bottom line is, women need to be aware of the lives they can potentially ruin by knowingly deciding to lie about rape and men need to be careful of who they choose to have relations with. This is a new day and age and having awareness of your surroundings, who you share your company with and the situations you are in are an absolute must. Stay safe family.
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