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Samantha Kelly, 14, Commits Suicide After School Taunting Over Rape Accusations
Last month, 14-year-old Samantha Kelly accused a classmate of rape. She knew 18-year-old Joseph Tarnopolski from her math class at Huron High School in Michigan. Tarnopolski, who loved down the street, was sweet on her and wanted to take her to homecoming...
But Samantha would later tell police it went from a budding romance to date rape. She says she was hugging and kissing Tarnopolski when he starting pushing for something more. "He wouldn't let me leave," Samantha would later say. "I told him, 'You're hurting me. Stop. You're hurting me, and I want to leave.'"
She was eventually able to free herself. We're not sure exactly what happened, but police subsequently charged Tarnopolski with statutory rape during consensual sex. Samantha, however, says there was nothing consensual about it.
"If you wanted to have sex, usually the person would let you leave, and on top of that, there was a point where I squirmed and he pulled me back down by my legs, and I cried and he wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay," said the 14-year-old. "That's not how it works."
She would return to Huron High, but so would Tarnopolski after he was released on bond. And when the school began to hear about the case, fellow students took sides. Most took the side of Tarnopolski, the popular senior.
Samantha was harassed and taunted. Other girls threatened to beat her up. Her own friends even bailed on her, claiming she was lying.
As usual, the school didn't do much, other than provide Samantha with a pass allowing her to come to the office whenever she felt uncomfortable. School officials say they didn't even know she was being bullied until they were contacted by a TV station. So three weeks ago, she tried to commit suicide by swallowing pills. We're not sure if it was merely a cry for help or she just proved unsuccessful. But the attempted suicide brought her even more ridicule at school.
So on Monday, she tried to commit suicide again, this time hanging herself in her Huron Township trailer home. She was successful.
Now a 14-year-old is dead, essentially taunted from this earth by people who were once her friends. And Tarnopolski is a free man. Since there's no witness against him, prosecutors say they have no choice but to drop the charges.
But Samantha would later tell police it went from a budding romance to date rape. She says she was hugging and kissing Tarnopolski when he starting pushing for something more. "He wouldn't let me leave," Samantha would later say. "I told him, 'You're hurting me. Stop. You're hurting me, and I want to leave.'"
She was eventually able to free herself. We're not sure exactly what happened, but police subsequently charged Tarnopolski with statutory rape during consensual sex. Samantha, however, says there was nothing consensual about it.
"If you wanted to have sex, usually the person would let you leave, and on top of that, there was a point where I squirmed and he pulled me back down by my legs, and I cried and he wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay," said the 14-year-old. "That's not how it works."
She would return to Huron High, but so would Tarnopolski after he was released on bond. And when the school began to hear about the case, fellow students took sides. Most took the side of Tarnopolski, the popular senior.
Samantha was harassed and taunted. Other girls threatened to beat her up. Her own friends even bailed on her, claiming she was lying.
As usual, the school didn't do much, other than provide Samantha with a pass allowing her to come to the office whenever she felt uncomfortable. School officials say they didn't even know she was being bullied until they were contacted by a TV station. So three weeks ago, she tried to commit suicide by swallowing pills. We're not sure if it was merely a cry for help or she just proved unsuccessful. But the attempted suicide brought her even more ridicule at school.
So on Monday, she tried to commit suicide again, this time hanging herself in her Huron Township trailer home. She was successful.
Now a 14-year-old is dead, essentially taunted from this earth by people who were once her friends. And Tarnopolski is a free man. Since there's no witness against him, prosecutors say they have no choice but to drop the charges.
Comments
KILL THE RAPING BASTARD
EVEN BETTER CUT HIS BALLS OFF
AND LET HIM LIVE
IN PRISON
And this is why
Can they charge the mom under Michigan law? She definitely failed in her duties as a mother.