RIP Annie Le

"She did not press charges."

Raymond Clark, Annie Le's murderer, allegedly forced his high school girlfriend to have sex with him. She declined to press charges.

I'm seeing some bad press about the girlfriend, faulting her for not officially pressing charges which could have prevented the murder. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. It is not anyone but Raymond Clark's fault for what has transpired. No one but his. And no one should be blaming anyone but him.

It's very easy to blame. I think many of us are affected by Annie's murder.

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I must have been a senior in high school because I was driving then. I went to Carls Jr. for a cheeseburger and had finished almost half of it back at home. I enjoyed being home alone. Just me and my yummy cheeseburger. When the doorbell rang, I looked through the peephole and quickly opened the door when I realized it was a family friend. I gave him a hug and asked where his wife was. He said she was in the car. He asked where my parents were and I said they weren't around.

"No one's here?" I shook my head no.

He closed the front door, then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me long and hard on the lips. I pulled away, stunned.

"We should go out some time." He wrote down his number and handed it to me. "You're a really pretty girl," he said, then left.

I ran into the bathroom and threw up after that. With the exception of my sister, I never ever told anyone that story. It would have severed the friendship between my parents and their friends. Were my parents even going to believe me? What good would it have done? Why say anything at all? Lots of things were going through my head. I just resolved to stay away from him.

It's pretty sad how guys can get away with this stuff, but faulting others for their bad behavior or future actions accomplishes nothing.