A group of B.C. high school students who made tasteless comments about a suspected rape victim online decided to write apology letters to the teen after meeting with her face-to-face.
After the 16-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted at a party in Pitt Meadows in September, photos of the rape circulated online and a Facebook group was formed casting doubt on the victim's story.
Members of the group claimed the girl voluntarily took drugs, lied to police and agreed to have sex with multiple men. Similar rumours about the victim circulated throughout the online universe, including suggestions from other partygoers that the victim had "asked for it" or deserved to be raped.
But at least some of the young people responsible for those insensitive comments have since relented, according to Seamus Nesling, spokesman for the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows school district.
Nesling told ctvbc.ca that the girl's school identified a handful of students responsible for the vicious online attacks, and brought them in for "restorative justice" through meetings with the victim.
"The goal is for people to look at what they did and have an opportunity to reflect on it," he said.
"Part of the process was for them to understand, for the person they were talking about, that this was the effect that this had."
By the end of the September, the students decided they needed to apologize for their harsh words, and opted to write letters to the girl.
"It wasn't like, ‘Oh you did a bad thing, and for your punishment you have to write a letter," Nesling said.
"It's more a case of, ‘What do you think you should do?'"
Police say that terrible things continue to be said about the victim online, but the girl's school is confident students are no longer spreading nasty rumours and innuendo.
"What the school is seeing is coming from other individuals in the community," Nesling said, adding that the school has reported some offensive online posts to the police.
Last week, RCMP released a statement from the teenager, who thanked anyone who "spread lies about her," or blamed her for the incident, saying "you have made me stronger than ever before."
Her parents also issued a statement, saying that their daughter continues to be tormented by her peers. She is now enrolled in just one class at the school, but is taking several courses online.
Three people have now been charged in the attack and for spreading images online, and Mounties say they do not anticipate any further charges.
Colton Ashton McMorris of Maple Ridge, 18, was charged last week with sexual assault, while 19-year-old Dennis John Allen Warrington of Langley was charged with making and distributing child pornography.
A 16-year-old boy was charged with the production and distribution of child pornography in October.
