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To Catch a Predator

Feb 9, 2011
By .
Effluvia, Sports

Yesterday, Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio posted an expose on Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez's rape consensual sex with an underage a 17 year old.

So the story here is … an NFL quarterback had consensual sex? A woman had sex with an NFL quarterback? And this story is worth publishing because … the young woman very briefly thought it was a good idea to brag about it? Deadspin doesn't name the woman but they include all but her name. The NY Post steps in to connect the dots laid out so cheekily by Deadspin (her initials, hometown and a facebook screencap). Of course.

Deadspin is a site about sports but this story isn't within their jurisdiction. It isn't a story about Mark Sanchez. It isn't a story about the Jets. It is a story about how teenagers make decisions that they regret and about adults who take advantage of them.

The noteworthy adult in this story isn't Mark Sanchez; it is A.J. Daulerio.

What this is about more than anything else, it is that if you are a woman and willingly have sex, there is an asshole out there who will try to make you feel like shit about it.

You could say that E.K. asked for it when she dressed provocatively threatened to sue Deadspin to stop publication but that is just blaming the victim. Daulerio had already told her what he was going to do. And he told a 17 year old that she had to shut up and take it.

Last 5 posts by Charles

16 Comments
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16 Comments

  1. Andrew  •  Feb 9, 2011 @11:31 am

    "Deadspin is a site about sports"

    In the same way that Gawker is a site about politics.

  2. Mike  •  Feb 9, 2011 @11:51 am

    Her daddy is a hedge fund manager, and she's had all the privileges and advantages of life.

    I'll get over this outrage in about…yep, already over it.

  3. Charles  •  Feb 9, 2011 @12:08 pm

    Don't forget your disdain for rich people the next time you get all upset about progressive taxation.

  4. Grandy  •  Feb 9, 2011 @12:10 pm

    Andrew is not wrong. I agree with you about the story, and the noteworthy adult, Charles.

  5. Mike  •  Feb 9, 2011 @1:26 pm

    Charles, you have me confused with another "Mike," since I support progressive taxation.

    Anyhow, the chick who had sex with the guy was looking for fame, anyway. She got what she wished for. Homeboy is lucky that she didn't falsely accuse him of rape, as has happened to that Steeler's quarterback.

  6. A leap at the wheel  •  Feb 9, 2011 @3:57 pm

    Andrew got it in 1. Deadspin is about athletes, not sports. The story is right in Deadspin's wheel house.

  7. Mike De Lucia  •  Feb 10, 2011 @6:09 am

    Man, are 17-year-olds "women" now? I know I sure as hell didn't feel like a "man" when I was 17. Wow, that sucks.

  8. Charles  •  Feb 10, 2011 @9:13 am

    Andrew, leap – I agree that Deadspin is more about athletes than sports but that post is only barely about Sanchez. That story is about her, not him.

    Mike D. – "girl" sounded too infantilizing. She is adult enough to make a decision about sex without being called out for it.

  9. Mike  •  Feb 10, 2011 @9:57 am

    Andrew is right. Deadspin is about athletes, drunken sex, poop stories, and anything that sports fans would find amusing or funny.

    That said, the context to the Sanchez story is worth noting. Deadspin ran a piece a few weeks back about how Sanchez was accused of rape when he was in college and wondered out loud why Roethlisberger is considered a dirtbag while Sanchez gets to be the golden boy. So this story is relevant to their "Sanchez isn't so clean" narrative.

  10. Charles  •  Feb 10, 2011 @10:27 am

    An accusation of rape in college is not part of the same narrative as "consensual sex" unless Deadspin/Daulerio is intent on creating the narrative. If a 17 year old has to be publicly shamed to make that narrative work, tough shit on her? I'm choosing to call out Daulerio for the way he has decided to run this story without regard for the well-being of non-Deadspin-relevant E.K.

  11. Ed G  •  Feb 10, 2011 @10:43 am

    Not knowing what the New York state definition of Statuatory Rape is, I have to agree w/ Charles on this…while the 17 year old may not have been "victimized" by Sanchez, she certainly was by the author of the Deadspin piece…before, she was more or less in control of her own "message", that is "I slept w/ a star football player!" Now, everyone and their brother is fully aware of her apparent poor judgement…

  12. Charles  •  Feb 10, 2011 @10:47 am

    FWIW, I learned from this story that the age of consent in NY is 17 and in NJ, where Sanchez lives, it is 16. No question that this wasn't Statutory Rape.

    Be wary of people who have too complete a knowledge of the state-by state ages of consent.

  13. Mike  •  Feb 10, 2011 @11:11 am

    Charles – you're right, I'm not saying Deadspin's narrative makes any sense or isn't a shitty thing to do, I was just trying to give context to the most recent post.

    Question to the US lawyers from a Canadian lawyer – even if its not statutory rape, does Sanchez have a Mann Act problem?

  14. Charles  •  Feb 10, 2011 @11:17 am

    Re: Mann Act – no problem because the sex was legal. The law was amended to change the "crossing state lines for immoral purposes" to clarify that it only meant to cover illegal acts. At 17, E.K. was of age in NJ and her home state of Connecticut.

  15. Linus  •  Feb 10, 2011 @12:07 pm

    I'm pretty sure that it's Deadspin's contention that anything at all about any athlete anywhere is "news" and therefore totally fair game for publication. And the only reason they publish more stories about athletes engaging in legal and common behavior is because those stories are BORING. But Daulerio is a coward and a fraud. He lectures her on the "tough shit for you, it's a news story" and then half-assedly "redacts" her name, while still leaving PLENTY of evidence for someone, oh look, it's the New York Post! But hey, he can console himself after his weepy masturbatory sessions with "hey, I'm a good guy, just doing my job, I did my best to protect the innocent." Asshat.

  16. SPQR  •  Feb 12, 2011 @4:28 pm

    Well, Charles, you seem more sympathetic to the 17 year old than I think appropriate but no one in this story including the Deadspin people, are anyone I want to shake hands with. Not a one.