Do you guys remember earlier in February when we talked about the good possibility that Lindsay Lohan was dating Dennis Hopper’s son, Henry? Here’s an excerpt from the post, if not:
Meet 21-year-old Henry Hopper. He just finished shooting a movie called Tar. He is French Stewart’s stepson. And! He is Dennis Hopper‘s son. I know!
Unfortunately, Lindsay claims there is no truth to the rumor they are an item. Furthermore, she would prefer that I not re-report that a liquor store clerk TOTALLY saw her kissing Henry Hopper.
So, OK. It sounded like the rumors were pretty founded, if you ask me, especially considering the fact that people TOTALLY saw her kissing Henry Hopper. Because generally, if people are caught in public, KISSING, there’s definitely more to it. Just ask Kristen Stewart, you know?
Anyway, TMZ has reported that the mother of a sixteen-year-old girl in California has come forward and accused Henry Hopper of rape. From TMZ:
According to the legal papers, the girl — identified in the lawsuit as Jan Doe — claims the two began to communicate on Facebook … and in the months that followed, Hopper invited her to his home in Venice, CA on multiple occasions with the promise of drugs and alcohol.
In the suit, Doe claims Hopper would wait until she was intoxicated … and “engaged in sexually offensive conduct with her” … including sexual intercourse, forced oral copulation and sodomy.
It’s unclear if Doe ever reported the allegations to police.
In the suit, Doe’s lawyer claims the actor “preyed upon a young impressionable child, suggesting that he cared for her, luring her into his home with promises of alcohol and illegal drugs, and then repeatedly taking advantage of her youth an vulnerability.”
Well jeez. Sodomy. Isn’t that still, like, illegal in some states in the US? Well no, not anymore. But the latest repeal of the anti-anal sex law was in 2003—in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, I believe. Up until 2003, poop chute sex (oh dear advertisers, can I say that?) was illegal.
But that’s not why we’ve gathered here to ogle. No, it’s because someone who used to have sex with Lindsay Lohan went crazy and possibly raped a teenager. There might be no two worse things you can do in this life than 1) have sex with Lindsay Lohan and/or 2) rape someone. Yikes. GTFO, Henry Hopper, you douche.
what happened to innocent until proven guilty?
i know, rape is one of the most awful things but still, it is so easy to ruin a guys reputation forever by making a claim like that. so, let’s wait til he’s proven guilty.
Why is everyone so worried about the guy’s reputation? What about the victim?
In the USA, 8% of all rape claims are “unfounded”. False allegations are a subset of that and the numbers vary WILDLY in studies between 90%(!!!!) and 1.5% of all allegations.
Researchers generally agree on 2% to 8% as the false allegation (in that the “victim” lied) rate.
Rape is a very serious crime (most people consider it more depraved than murder) and leveling that finger at a male (98% of all rapes committed by) automatically arouses suspicion regardless of proof. Even if later proved innocent, that person’s reputation is tainted forever.
Go take a look at the Duke Lacrosse Case, among several others.
I’m not saying the guy’s innocent OR that the woman doesn’t have a right to have her case heard, but false claims do happen; especially when there is money to be had.
Whenever someone famous (actors, athletes, etc) are accused of rape, people always throw out the “innocent until proven guilty” line. What about the accuser? Why aren’t they innocent until proven guilty? It’s easy to ruin her reputation, too, by saying she’s lying just bc he has a famous name.
So her mother files in civil court? Very different guidelines of establishing guilt in civil court. In civil court one only needs to establish a “preponderance of evidence” as opposed to “beyond a reasonable doubt.” I’m not saying that it didn’t happen, but it smells kinda fishy….
I think another good question is what is the age of consent in California? If it’s sixteen and the girl was underage, she could also have a prosecutor go after him for sex with a minor. If the age of consent is 16, and the girl was 16, it seems that the girl then made a poor choice or her mother is smelling money.
Not so easily quantifiable in California …
18 is universal consent, but …
Within 3 years older or younger than said minor is a misdemeanor.
And the law explicitly states:
(C) An adult who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor at least three years younger than the adult is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(D) An adult over the age of 21 years who engages in an act of
unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 years of age is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
California PENAL CODE SECTION 261.5 (for the above).
So he owes a civil fine of $10k if the allegations are true.
Oh, and if Jan Doe’s mother knew about it and didn’t report it to police, she’s likely an accomplice after the fact (as is the lawyer) in California law as far as I can determine. I could be wrong about that though.
Oddly, in a civil action, I’m not sure what liability she’d have. Likely she and the lawyer would have to pay the equivalent fine.
Age of consent doesn’t matter when a minor, even if that minor gives consent, and a legal adult ie: someone aged 18 or older, have sex. State laws vary but statutory rape, having sex with a minor, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor are possible criminal charges whenever this happens.
Btw, I’m not a lawyer but scored 174 when I took the LSAT…
Wow. That’s a good score! (err 99.5% if memory serves)
The max is 180.
Of course, *chuckle* if you scored that high then you’re smart enough to know that being a lawyer is a terrible career choice. :)
How is that ironical.
I always wondered what I’d score if I took the LSAT. Maybe I’ll sit for it early next year. I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t do that well though. Man that’s smokin’.
Word…. I’d more than likely be the worlds poorest lawyer so I got my masters in public admin instead…not using that either!!! I think you should sit for it though… I found the test quite stimulating, plus its another useless factoid in the story of my life.
Thanks for the facts about California law. Wonder if we’ll ever hear anything more about this.
“…repeatedly taking advantage of her youth and vulnerability.” suggests that ‘Jan Doe’ kept going back to his place knowing what she was in for. Sounds to me like her mom smells money.
Yep, and those kids that kept going to Sandusky’s camp although they were being molested were after his money and totally asking for it! And women that don’t leave their abusers, or go back to them deserve to be hit! they obviously like it! Not that any form of abuse could warp the mind or anything. NO OF COURSE NOT.
She was 16, not a child as in the Sandusky case. And he’s accused of having sex with her, not of beating her. You can definitely call me out on glossing over “forced oral copulation and sodomy”, but I’m suspicious of whether it was forced. This really sounds to me like an instance where a 16 year old was engaging in some fairly typical 16 year old behavior, but with a 21 year old. Extremely bad judgement on Henry Hopper’s side? Absolutely. Roman Polanski? Not even close.
He looks to be the new ROMAN POLANSKI…. Funny how celebrities are always innocent and their victims are the guilty ones or after their money. Of course, coz retards cant see how scummy and lowlives their idols are….
Listen, I went to school with Henry, and while he is a crazy eccentric party kid, I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that he would respond to random facebook messages from some 15 year old girl and engage in sexually abusive behavior. I see dollar signs in this girl’s mother’s eyes.