[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4363]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              CONVICTED RAPIST COLLECTS MONEY FROM VICTIM

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the white ribbon campaign's theme is 
``No Excuse for Abuse.''
  Crystal Harris was raped by her abusive husband, and it was not the 
first time he hurt her, abused her, or even threatened her. But this 
particular crime and rape was caught on tape. So, Shawn Harris was 
convicted and sent to prison for 6 years. It sounds like justice 
prevailed. The outlaw was put away. But that's not the rest of the 
story.
  A judge ordered that once the sex offender husband gets out of jail 
for rape, the victim must pay him $1,000 a month in spousal support 
and, get this, she has to pay the legal bills for the divorce--his 
legal bills.
  The victim has to pay the rapist. It should be the other way around. 
The criminal should be paying Crystal restitution because rape is never 
the fault of the victim, and a victim never owes the perpetrator 
anything.
  No judge, no law should force victims to financially support 
convicted rapists because there is no excuse for abuse.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________