Genarlow Wilson: Free This Guy Right Now
Published January 25, 2007
This item has been inspired by a phenomenal piece of writing by Wright Thompson titled "Outrageous Justice" on ESPN.com. Thompson’s piece is a must read.
Thompson tells us the horrific story of how Genarlow Wilson, a then 17-year-old high school football player, was sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl who admittedly initiated the act.
Wilson was an outstanding student who was his school's homecoming king; he was a hard-working kid and a football and track star who was on the path to attend an Ivy League school. Everybody liked him. He never got into any trouble.
Now, as his future has been robbed from him, he rots in jail. Doing hard time with hardened criminals.
Back in 2003 Wilson and some high school buddies decided to ring in 2004 with a little New Year’s Eve party at a local motel. What happened at the party is pretty much what you would expect when high school kids get together with pot and booze.
Wilson and some of his friends had sex with a 17-year-old girl at the party and then another male received oral sex from a 15-year-old sophomore girl who when finished, turned her attention to Wilson and did the same for him.
And all of this was caught on videotape.
The next morning the 17-year-old girl at the party woke up and called her parents and said that she had been raped. The cops showed up at the motel and took everyone in for questioning – except for Genarlow Wilson, who had gone home to meet his curfew – and took the video camera as well.
Fast forward to the trial where the Douglas County District Attorney’s rape case had pretty much fallen apart. And Wilson refused to plea to anything, especially since a guilty plea to a sexual molestation charge would make him a sex offender and force him to move out of his family home, because he had a kid sister.
But the videotape evidence backed up the charge of aggravated sexual molestation. It didn’t matter that the 15-year old “victim” was the initiator of the act. But what did matter to DA David McDade and Prosecutor Eddie Barker is that a girl under the age of consent gave oral sex, which under the letter of the Georgia law made this interlude an act of aggravated child molestation.
Sal Marinello is a National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer, a U.S.A. Weightlifting Certified Coach, a full-time, private Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach, an assistant football coach and a Head Strength Coach for a suburban New Jersey High School. He writes a lot and has no free time. 
- Genarlow Wilson: Free This Guy Right Now
- Published: January 25, 2007
- Type: News
- Section: Sports
- Filed Under: Culture: Crime and Court, Culture: Society, Politics: Law and Rights, Sports: Football (American)
- Writer: Sal Marinello
- Sal Marinello's BC Writer page
- Sal Marinello's personal site
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here is a link to the online petition
free genarlow wilson
The problem is not only the ego of a stupid mean prosecutor, but the fact that juries are not informed of their right of nullification.
Hopefully, now with all the attention this guy will get some more than deserved justice.
~Becky
What I want to know is...why didn't they arrest & imprison the young trollop for prostitution? She might not have asked money for her services, but for being allowed to be present at the party.
All I want to know is did eric johnson receive oral sex when he was a teen? Did he consider it rape? Or is he jealous because he has yet to receive it? Okay, How can he call it rape when, upon being judged by a jury of his peers he was not even close to being considered a rapist. What a creep. FREE Genarlow!!!!
She is just a dirty whore and finally realized it about herself when she realized it was on video. She couldnt handle that about herself and had to blame it on someone. She is a loose slut that will give it up to anyone, but because there is evidence of that now, she had to rush and blame it on someone before her mommy and obviously distant daddy found out. What whores, those girls.
Genarlow Wilson did not deserve that punishment. Yes indeed he was guilty of the crime and maybe he should be punished for comitting such an act but 1o Years is tooooo extttrrreeemmee!!! Personaly I feel that color has alot to do with this injustice act. People claim that they are trying to protect the younger generation but if you look at the case closer you are actually hurting and destroying the future of the younger generation. Plus, now in days, in highshcool the age of your peers ranges from 14-19 which means you might meet someone and lets say the person lies about there age. Then before you know it you and that person have sex. Who's to blame? You or the other person involved that lied about there age.
And when they let him out he will be a great candidate to add to the Minnesota Vikings team. They need a player like Genarlow.
I have seen the actual tape off what happened that night. If anyone on this board has seen it and does NOT think that he raped someone needs to examine their life. It is a horrific video and the kid belongs in jail!
"And when they let him out he will be a great candidate to add to the Minnesota Vikings team. They need a player like Genarlow." That's not true in georgia because everyone must do the joshua's law course.
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