Outrage as man jailed for raping disabled woman who can only communicate by tapping her index finger is FREED- because court ruled that she could have BIT him to say no to his advances

• Man convicted of raping a then-26-year-old girl who has severe cerebral palsy and mental retardation
• Sentenced to six years in jail upon 2008 conviction
• Appeal overturned the ruling, saying that the woman could have bit or kicked him to stop him even though she can only move her index finger
  

By Meghan Keneally

Published: 14:16 EDT, 4 October 2012 | Updated: 15:02 EDT, 4 October 2012

Free man: Richard Fourtain Jr. was dating the victim's mother when he allegedly attacked the severely disabled woman

A man was set free after allegedly raping a woman who had such severe cerebral palsy that she cannot speak.

Richard Fourtin was released from jail after his appeal was approved because the judges felt that even though she is extremely handicapped, she could have tried to make him stop sexually assaulting her by kicking or biting him.

The verdict sparked outrage as now victim’s rights advocates fear it sets a dangerous precedent by setting the bar extremely high for disabled individuals who try to press charges after sexual assault.

At the time of the attack in late 2005, Fourtin was dating the victim’s mother. The name of the victim, who was 26-year-old at the time, has never been released and was referred to in court using only her initials L.K.

The woman is so physically restricted by her cerebral palsy, she can only communicate using her right index finger. She has mental retardation and NBC Connecticut reports that she has the ‘intellectual functualy equivalent of a 3-year-old’.

He was convicted of attempted second and fourth degree sexual assault in January 2008 and was sentenced to six years in prison.

 When the case reached the Appelate Court last year, the victim was able to testify in court because the Connecticut Post reports that the prosecutors placed a tray in front of her with a piece of paper with a sheet showing the letters of the alphabet and the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

From there she used her left hand to push her right hand so that her index finger would be pointing to the words or letters she needed to use to respond to questions.

Her testimony took four days due to the process.

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Final say: The conviction was overturned by appeal last year but the state's Supreme Court (pictured) just decided that he should be freed

In spite of the extreme difficulty that she had while trying to communicate, the court ruled that she could have tried to stop the alleged attack by ‘using various nonverbal methods, including screeching, biting, kicking and scratching’.

As a result, they ruled that ‘no reasonable jury could have concluded that she was physically helpless as defined (by law)’ and, in turn, his conviction was overturned.

He remained in jail until his case reached the state Supreme Court this week which ruled in his favour.

Victims rights advocates are extremely concerned about the ‘dangerous’ ruling for fear that it will create a lowered legal requirement.

Scene: The 2005 assault reportedly took place in the condo where the disable woman lives with her mother

‘Failing to bite an assailant is not the same thing as consenting to sexual activity,’ said Anna Doroghazi, the press director of the Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services.

‘By implying that the victim in this case should have bitten or kicked her assailant, this ruling effectively holds people with disabilities to a higher standard than the rest of the population when it comes to proving lack of consent in sexual assault cases,’ she told NBC Connecticut.

Neighbors of the victim, who was allegedly attacked in the Success Village complex in Bridgeport where she was living at the time, said that they cannot believe the court’s ruling.

‘It’s crazy. I don’t know what’s up with this justice system anymore,’ a man who knows both the victim and Fourtain told NBC Connecticut.

‘She was mentally retarded, she didn’t know what she was doing. She’s like a child.’

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