When Rapists Go Free

THREE WEEKS ago, a Middlesex County judge sentenced Edward H. Washburn '64 to a five year suspended sentence and ordered him to refrain from associating with minors in a professional setting, perform 1000 hours of community service and contribute $5000 towards the therapy of his victims. The victims where three children, one of whom--a 13-year-old boy--Washburn raped.

Around Harvard, and indeed around much of Boston, the incident seems to have been accepted as something very unfortunate that now is best forgotten. No one likes to see someone as successful and privileged as Washburn fall into an unspeakably ugly situation. This man had everything going for him. He was the scion of a prominent Boston family, a member of Harvard's Class of 1964, a coxswain of a gold medal-winning Olympic crew team, and a respected coach at a prestigious preparatory school as well as Harvard. What more could a man ask of his society? Washburn asked for and received dispensation from its most basic rules.

THE EXPLANATION for Washburn's light sentence seems to be that imprisoning one capable of contributions as great as those Washburn may yet make would be a disservice to society. The Middlesex County court was innundated with letters from prominent Bostonians--and 30 from Harvard students--praising Washburn as a wonderful man. His father, curator of the Museum of Science for more than 40 years and well-known philanthropist, is a wonderful man too. Why should such a family suffer? Haven't they already suffered enough? The heart just bleeds.

This is not the first instance of Washburn's mistreating minors. The charges on which Washburn was convicted involve students who did not attend Buckingham, Browne and Nichols. Before the case came to trial, Washburn resigned his BB&N post after admiting he had encouraged boys in his classes to masturbate and look at pornographic magazines. Perhaps those who wrote in Washburn's behalf don't think there is anything wrong with a teacher behaving in such a way. And why should they? Masturbation is just an exercise in growing up, and it is unfortunate only that every 13 year-old boy doesn't have an understanding friend like Washburn to guide him, discuss his feelings--and reccommend dirty magazines.

After all, Washburn did not actually do violence to any of the children (any of the children at BB&N, that is). Maybe that's why BB&N administrators didn't investigate the matter or inform the state or the parents of students not directly involved. It would have been unfortunate to involve the state in the affairs of a school like BB&N or of a man like Edward Washburn. And the state apparently agrees--judging from the slap on the wrist it gave Washburn when finally forced to act.

Once the charges were brought against Washburn and he had entered a plea of guilty, he was relieved of his duties at Harvard and very quietly prosecuted. This was no normal defendant.

Punishment usually has to do with things like reform, retribution, and deterence. Yet in the case of Edward Washburn--a man capable of such outstanding contributions to society by virtue of his fine family name, education, and wonderful life--what had to be arranged, it seems, was not punishment but an "appropriate sentence."

WASHBURN had broken several laws. So the court naturally determined that a man in Washburn's position should pay for psychological care and counseling for his victims--a whole $5000 worth. That covered his debt to his victims. How about his debt to society?

Washburn had already suffered so much. He had lost responsible posts at two respected schools. He had seen his family's good name soiled. So the court naturally determined that a man in Washburn's position should be sentenced to prison for the rape of a child--and that the sentence should be suspended.

Yet wouldn't this be a disservice to Washburn? Shouldn't a man in Washburn's position be given an opportunity to reaffirm himself in society's eyes? A little community service should do the trick--say a little less than a week a month at the YMCA or local Boy's Club.

And then justice had been served.

AT A TIME when the nation's prisons are overcrowded and courts backlogged, there is something inspiring in the handling of Washburn's case. Things do go so smoothly when one deals with the right class of people.

It's a pity everyone who rapes children isn't so upstanding as Washburn. If all of the rapists and molesters were white men from prominent families with Harvard credentials and influential friends to sing their praises, then the crowding in the prisons and the backlogs in the courts could be cleared up in no time at all.