Why these three boys just got sentenced to 371 years in jail.

WARNING: This post deals with sexual assault and may be triggering to survivors. 

This is what justice looks like.

These three high school jocks celebrated their school formal by allegedly violently gang-raping one of their classmates – an 18-year-old girl. It happened in the middle of a party and was brutal enough to hospitalize the young woman.

The details of the assault are too graphic to publish here. But the young woman sustained “substantial” physical injuries and will likely take the remainder of her life to recover from the psychological pain.

Benjamin, Andrew and Damon have been charged with several counts of sexual battery and sentenced to 371 years in jail. That’s the equivalent of 10 life sentences.

This case allegedly happened at a high school in Calhoun, Georgia, USA.

Reportedly, the lawyers defending these young men are outraged by the sentences. They’ve never seen anything like this before, they say.

Jezebel writer Erin Gloria Ryan explains why that might be:

That’s probably because for much of the decades he’s been practicing law, the legal system did not give a shit about rape victims. If anything good can come out of something this bad, it’s the precedent that raping intoxicated women isn’t just boys blowing off some steam after the big game or the big dance or the big whatever. It’s a life-ruiningly big deal for the victims of sexual assault, and perpetrators should be punished as such.

She also, quite accurately, notes that “George prosecutors are not fucking around.”

No. No, they are not.

Please note if this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please call 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017.  It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.