Former high school student, Elias Q. Dowdy, who raped classmate given one-year probation after pleading guilty; victim distraught
A former Niagara Wheatfield Senior High School student who raped a classmate on May 28, 2018, was granted a probation sentence on August 28. Elias Q. Dowdy, now 19, raped a local girl in her home. At the time, he was three days shy of turning 18. He was arrested on July 31, 2018. He pleaded guilty to a third-degree rape charge in front of Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon in May, who also served him the probation sentence this week.
Dowdy was allowed to stay in school for months after being arrested for rape and was allowed to play on the lacrosse team. The victim and her mother also complained that the school administrators did nothing to keep the victim and her rapist apart during the school year that led to her feeling uncomfortable and unsafe. The victim told The Buffalo News in a text message that it "killed" her to see him at school, acting like nothing had happened when her life had been torn apart. "I don't think anyone should have to go to school and see the person who's ruined/changed their life," she wrote.
"They should know that going to school they'll be away from him/her. I understand he has the right to education but why couldn't they give him that a different way, with our after school program or send him to the academy?" the victim texted. "Why did I have to go to school everyday and see him, it killed me more and more everyday knowing he was walking school pretending nothing happened?" Dowdy's peers said that the school was promoting rape culture and victim blame by not taking strict action against him, at the time. The school had shrugged off responsibility and claimed that because the crime had been off-campus, they had allowed him to play. About 100 students from the school had threatened a walkout in protest and he had been expelled the same day by the district and Michael Mann, who was the principal had been placed on administrative leave. Parents had even demanded he resign.
Before the sentencing, the mother of the girl had said, "Elias Dowdy raped my daughter, admittedly raped my daughter, and has continued to torment her ever since," noting that there had been social media posts from Dowdy's family and friends who claimed that the sex was consensual and that they were making the rapist out to be a "monster". A post by Dowdy's brother was read out in court that reportedly said, "That girl had the right to say no ... it was consensual but they're making him out to be a monster. All them people need to take a nosedive off a bridge."
The judge told Dowdy that if the online torment continues, he would be in trouble. As a part of the sentence, he has to undergo mandatory psychiatry treatment. In case of violation of the parole sentence, he will be sent to jail. The term for third-degree rape for an adult offender is four years.