Upstate N.Y. Teen Who Admitted Raping Classmate Gets Probation
NIAGARA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A former high school student in upstate New York was given a year on interim probation after admitting he raped a classmate.
Elias Dowdy, 19, was three days shy of turning 18 when he raped the girl on May 28, 2018.
The probation deal gives Dowdy a chance to earn youthful offender status. If he violates probation, he could get up to four years in prison.
According to The Buffalo News, the victim and her mother complained to the Niagara Wheatfield school after the attack, saying the school did nothing to keep the two separate after the incident.
There was no order of protection until Dowdy pleaded guilty in May of this year, the Buffalo News reported.
The victim's mother spoke out against the sentence in court.
"Elias Dowdy raped my daughter, admittedly raped my daughter, and has continued to torment her ever since," she told the judge.
At the sentencing, the judge read aloud a social media post attributed to Dowdy's brother: "That girl had the right to say no ... it was consensual but they're making him out to be a monster. All them people need to take a nosedive off a bridge."
