James Barbour Arrested — Page 4

Next we'll here things like "Oh come one.. all the cool kids are doing it" and "Oh I can drive... I'm not that drunk"

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This may seem indelicate, but do they arrest people for this crime based simply on one person's word? Would there have to be some sort of evidence besides this young woman saying "This happened to me six years ago."?

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And I didn't mean to imply that "where there is smoke there is fire."

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Well I for one am EXTREMELY Jealous of her....

I'm sorry...I understand if she was underage then it's illegal....but PLEASE no one LURES or LURS...or however you spell it back to their dressing room she wasn't 7 and he's like "come to my dressing room, I've got gum"....I don't know...when I was 15 I thought older men were hot, I'm not the only one, I'm sure a lot of you think I'm nuts...but the truth is older guys find the younger girl thing hot, and vice versa....we all know that...I just find it ridiculous that she's just NOW coming forward...I guess she's ready for her career to take off. Problem is, everyone will be too afraid to hire her now.
bottom line....he messed up big time. He should have found me when I was 15....at least I was discreet!
(im sorry if I offend but I find it all very amusing.)
James, make me your one phone call!

Yes, her character and behavior is 100% irrelvant and because of rape shield laws, even if she had been sleeping with the football team, such evidence is inadmissable in court -- not only could the accused not use the information in his defense, the judge/jury would not even be allowed to see or hear about it. Rape shield laws prevent the victim's character from being called into question.

It's also irrelevant if she lied about her age. There are lots of people who went to jail for statutory rape who tried to tell the judge "But she told me she was 18. I even checked her ID, but I guess it was fake." Doesn't matter. If you had sexual relations with an underage person, you've committed a crime regardless of the circumstances or the victim's seeming "consent" or motive.

Really, the ONLY defense is if you can prove -- and under the rape shield laws it's VERY difficult to make this case -- that the victim is some sort of pathological liar or that she just said that the accused had sex with her to hurt him for some reason or because she was trying to get even with her boyfriend or some similar scenario or that her version of the events has inconsistencies and that he couldn't possibly have committed these acts at the time and place he was accused of doing so (and he has witnesses to that effect). If you can call into question whether the alleged sex act even occurred, then it may be possible to dismiss the charges on evidentiary grounds. But, if the sex act did happen, any motivation or "consent" or explanation is irrelevant and the accused will be convicted of statutory rape.

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It's also irrelevant if she lied about her age. There are lots of people who went to jail for statutory rape who tried to tell the judge "But she told me she was 18. I even checked her ID, but I guess it was fake." Doesn't matter. If you had sexual relations with an underage person, you've committed a crime regardless of the circumstances or the victim's seeming "consent" or motive.

Margo, I know that it doesn't matter a whit when it comes to a verdict, but can't that be a mitigating factor when it comes to sentencing or plea bargaining?

Interesting, Margo... for some reason I had always thought that the burden of proof in rape cases fell on the accuser, which makes them difficult to prosecute. From what you've said, it sounds like it's the other way around. I don't necessarily disagree if that's the case, but it sort of goes against the whole "innocent until proven guilty" philosophy.

*Deleted my message because it was a terrible thing to say*

Updated On: 4/6/06 at 01:31 PM

Why on earth do you people keep saying she's doing this for her career? In what alternate universe do you live in where someone can sleep with an actor (not a producer, not a casting director--an actor?), bring him up on charges of rape and then use it to further their career? How would that even work? Yes, the article says she's an aspiring actress, but this isn't the sort of thing people use for a career boost.

If you really WANT to be rude and blame the victim (which is ridiculous), you might as well go down the tried and true "I guess she wanted some money" road. At least that one is less far-fetched.

Or you could deal with the fact that James Barbour, however talented/cool/good-looking he might be, committed a crime and should have known better.

a 15 year old can and does make her own decisions...I'm not saying that means you're a full blown (exscuse the phrase) adult but you're no kid either.

Yes, but legally a 15-year-old cannot make a decision about this.

Look....I see how some people see that it's sick.. And yea when you're 15 and he's 35....it is a little sick. I also know that when I was 16, 17 and 18 I was in the city every weekend hanging out with my friends who were on Broadway...flirting with a lot of men who were "celebs" and I got offers...when I was that young there were MOST things I was too afraid to act on...but did I do things that would give my mother a heart attack if she ever knew? SURE DID! I didn't do them for my career...I acted on chemistry and attraction...and there was nothing wrong with it in my eyes. I was also a lot more mature than most at my age. It's just the way I was ...I was always 13 going on 30...and when I was 17 and 18 "dating" or "seeing" (not sleeping with mind you) someone who was twice my age...I can honestly say I saw nothing wrong with it. And the people who wanted to tell me about my "daddy complex" or whatever...they were just ignorant.
I'm now a 21 year old woman engaged to a 40 year old man...he's not a "sugar daddy" he's not in the industry...he's just the man I love and choose to be with.
You might all say, "Whats this got to do with anything?"
I'm just saying.....there are girls out there who are young, and they seduce, and they like the game and the idea when they're that young of being with an older man....it's ESPECIALLY relevant in this case.
I think Barbour was WRONG, very DUMB also. But don't paint him out to be some sicko with kiddie porn on his computer........until they find the kiddie porn

If he's convicted, his career is most certainly over. What producer would take the chance of hiring him for a show, knowing full well that on the first slow news day the Post would have a picture of him on the front page with the headline "Convicted Rapist and Pedophile to Star in New Broadway Show." After the whole Dede Harris front page scandal incident (claiming she groped the actors in Dog Sees God), you KNOW that that's EXACTLY what the Post would do and no producer would want that kind of publicity. Not sure if Hollywood might be different, but -- again IF he is convicted -- he can forget about Broadway.

We'll see how this whole thing plays out.

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