2 ms·

Isn't that guilty until proven innocent, then?

• yawpitch 3y ago
  No, of course not, guilt and innocence is something that gets determined _after_ an accusation is investigated… in all other cases we presume the accuser is (or may be) telling the truth — “officer, that man stole my watch” should _always_ cause the officer to check if there was a watch and who is currently in possession of it, and if you had a watch and had reason to believe someone else stole it you’d expect exactly that — why not with people reporting sexual crimes? The accused is still presumed innocent until proven guilty, but there’s no value in presuming the accuser is lying… doing so is just presuming the accuser is guilty of perjury / fraud before _they_ are proven guilty.