"The Cucumber Incident". 5 Women gang rape a criminal and torture him. Only 2 are actually charged. Prison terms given for rape, torture, attempted murder and kidnapping? 4 months. I repeat. 4 MONTHS. During the show there is no remorse for the abuse, torture or kidnapping. Just lots of laughs, grins, and giggles in the movie for their "remorse". If 5 men had raped, tortured and kidnapped a woman criminal. Do you think only 2 of them would be charged. Would they would have gotten 4 months and been able to laugh about it for their remorse?

Should a father french kiss his child? IMO, absolutely not. Should that father be kidnapped, raped and tortured because of a french kiss? IMO, absolutely not. Yes, there should have been some intervention. These 5 women should have gotten 20 years. The standard male penalty for rape, kidnapping and torture. Where is Equality? "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant" of judicial gendercide. After all, according to the DA. "No one was hurt".

"The Cucumber Incident". Playing on the Sundance Channel this month.
Sunday 12.12.2004
4:05 AM
REMINDER SET

Wednesday 12.15.2004
3:50 PM
REMINDER SET

Thursday 12.23.2004
11:00 AM
REMINDER SET


An informative post revealing the common responses to this movie.
www.wideopenwest.com/~diggbyrow/findlay/
The Cucumber Incident
I saw a good documentary on July 26th, on the Sundance Channel. It is called "The Cucumber Incident" and tells the story behind a true event that involved 3 women from Delaware, Ohio and one of the women's estranged husband who was born and raised in McComb (about 10 miles west of Findlay). It happened in July 1997.

It seems that the husband, Randy, who had been convicted of child molestation of his young step daughter, was accused of further abuse shortly after getting out of prison. The main accusation was that he had french kissed the child.

The 3 women included Randy's wife, Jewel. Her mother Mary and Mary's sister Vicky. They decided that Randy needed to be taught a lesson. They attacked him, tied him up, shaved all the body hair off his body, stripped him naked, and stuffed a cucumber up his anal cavity. After that they decided he need to go home to McComb so they rolled him up in a blanket and drove him the 150 miles. Then they dumped him out on the street behind a pizza shop.

Jewel and Mary, who had driven him to McComb, were arrested just outside of Findlay on their way back to Delaware after Randy freed himself and called the police. Vicky was arrested a day or two later in Delaware. The women agreed to a plea bargain to reduce the charges from kidnapping and rape. Each served several months in prison and each had to register as a sex offender. They also had to get treatment that is required of convicted sex offenders.

I liked the film for the main reason that the filmmakers didn't do any voice overs. They let the participants tell their story. In some cases one person would tell a part of the story and then another would tell their version of the same part. Sometimes those parts were the same but most of the time you could see the contrasts.

The film didn't judge the women or make them heroes and they didn't make Randy out to be the monster he probably is.

There was also the side story of Jewel's children being removed to foster care after her arrest. The county refused to give them back saying that the women were a danger to the children. Mary went on and on about how Christian she is and that the foster family were good Christians. Her main complaint was the foster family didn't celebrate Christmas and refused to let the family to give the children gifts. (The foster family just bakes a birthday cake for Jesus). The foster family also had their kids names start with the letter 'B' so they changed the two girls names to conform.

My view of the whole event was the women, no matter what the motive, crossed the line by exacting revenge. The fact that Jewel didn't boot Randy while he was in prison just astounds me. She just let him back into the home almost as if nothing had happened. Mary blamed the county for not keeping Randy away from the kids and her daughter when it is clear Jewel had that choice.

Of course the whole family has issues of one kind or another (I am very familiar with what these families go through).

I also learned that French kissing children, while repulsive, is not sexual abuse as defined in the Ohio Revised Code. Mary complained that she told the police when the child reported the kissing and they did nothing. Children Services even had the child examined at Children's Hospital in Columbus and they found no signs of abuse.

I got a perverse chuckle seeing the women, acting to "defend" the child, being forced to register as sex offenders and attend sex offender treatment AND the child was removed from the home.

Of course the other side of me feels bad that they weren't allowed to introduce their motivation for the act which could have helped them in a trial. Since they were prevented from doing that they plead guilty to reduced charges.

It also showed how bad the sex offender laws are in Ohio. When you create inflexible criminal laws you get unintended consequences. Registering also punishes you for the crime for the rest of your life even after you do your time and the other punishment you get from the community (loss of job, family, friends, etc...). Being labeled a sex offender doesn't protect the children, it only helps the community know who to fire bomb or beat up should another child report abuse even if the person is guilty or not. The women probably will never commit another sexual offense yet they will be sex offenders for many years to come.

If you get a chance to see the film see it or rent it (if it comes out in video). They had some good shots of McComb and Findlay.

THE CUCUMBER INCIDENT
directed by Melodie Calvert and Bonita Makuch
2001
67 MINS, Color

THE CUCUMBER INCIDENT

2001

Director/Producer/Editor: Bonita Makuch, Director/Producer/Writer: Melodie Calvert

USA, color, 76 minutes

Original Music: Roddy Bottum; Associate Producer/ Consultant: Jennifer Terry

Sunday, June 9, 6:30pm; Tuesday, June 11, 3:30pm

THE CUCUMBER INCIDENT's title refers to an act of vigilantism by four women from rural Ohio who take justice into their own hands when they learn that one of their children is being molested. Increasingly frustrated by the inaction of Children's Services, the child's maternal grandmother, Mary Franks, feels forced to intervene. She decides that the best way to stop the abuse is to make sure the perpetrator, the girl's stepfather, leaves town. Mary is joined by her sister-in-law and daughters in a brutal and impassioned act of retribution that ironically results in charges of rape and kidnapping against the women of this matriarchal posse. Unintended consequences abound as the family is cast into a dizzying maze of media sensationalism and legal machination.


Two fascinating themes arise in this difficult and layered film: the family's version of justice versus the legal systems, and the media's portrayal of the incident versus the documentary's. THE CUCUMBER INCIDENT is unsettling, as much for the horrific crimes that are recounted, as for the impossible conundrums that the issues present.


Filmmakers Bonita Makuch and Melodie Calvert assemble candid interviews and astonishing TV footage to present a graphic illustration of criminals, victims and the gray area that distinguishes them.


Directors? bios: Bonita Makuch grew up on a dairy farm in upstate NY and developed a critical eye judging cows for her local 4-H chapter. She then went on to graduate from The Cooper Union with a BFA and The University of California at San Diego with an MFA. She has edited documentaries for both network television and cable, as well as narrative features. Makuch exhibits her artwork in festivals and galleries internationally, and has collaborated with Calvert on several video productions.

Melodie Calvert was born in Canada and has over 15 years of experience working in media production. She is a freelance director who works in documentary/reality television. Calvert has also been a curator of Film and Video for the internationally acclaimed Wexner Center for the Arts. Calvert?s holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of California

and was co-editor of the anthology Processed Lives: Gender and Technology in Everyday Life.

www.google.com/search...
www.columbusalive.com/2003/20030130/013003/01300309.html

Ed

My Best to You, Yours, Equality and Constitutional Rights,

Ed Ward, MD,
Founder, LA-CRC, groups.yahoo.com/group/LA-CRC/
Founder, LSMP, groups.yahoo.com/group/LSMP/
edward19(at)cox.net (at) = @ (for the @ crawlers) my email.
thepriceofliberty.org/ward.htm
www.quickbase.com/db/99r7qj9f (Class action lawsuit state info)
groups.yahoo.com/group/louisianacivilrightscouncil/ (LA state info)
groups.yahoo.com/group/LA-CRC/ [Louisiana Civil Rights Council Message Board]
Learn about your Family and Individual Constitutional Rights and this governments Constitutional Restrictions and Vote.
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5 Women gang rape a criminal and torture him. Only 2 are actually charged. Prison terms given for rape, torture, attempted murder and kidnapping? 4 months. I repeat. 4 MONTHS. Where is Equality? "You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant" of judicial gendercide. After all, according to the DA. "No one was hurt"

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