h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Really. Find out who they are and what they did.

Hmm. What turbo-charged s.

Due to the nature of this case, it might be best to remove the names from the subject line.

However, the Moderators agree that a link should be allowed to explain the situation:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/savannah-dietrich-contempt-charege_n_1696303.html

****** ******* and **** **** are admitted and convicted sex offenders who raped a girl, took photos of the rape in progress, and shared the photos with their friends.

h2g2 moderators agree they deserve to have their identities protected.

The link provided identifies the victim of the rape, but not the convicted perpetrators.

That victim was threatened with a fine and jail for identifying her attackers publicly.

Note that the rapists' lawyer, dropping the charges against the rape victim, was quoted as saying ""The horse is out of the barn. Nothing is bringing it back."" So any media outlet NOT identifying them isn't protecting itself, isn't trying to avoid a charge of contempt or doing anything they're being forced to do. They're supporting the rapists' right to anonymity.

h2g2 moderators are doing their level best to keep the horse in the barn.

h2g2 moderators, I would not have believed it possible, but you have sunk to a new low.


[Personal details removed by Moderator]

I should just like to state that I have received an extremely gracious email from the mods, apologising for the way this was handled and explaining part of the state of affairs that led to it and what should have happened. It was completely unexpected and (compared to how moderation used to happen on this site when it was BBC) entirely out of character. It's an extremely pleasant surprise to find out moderation is being handled so much better than it used to be.

I should like to thank the author of the email and any other mods reading this for their consideration, and apologise for any inconvenience my posts may have caused. This news story fair got my goat (understatement alert).