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A woman who posted audio of her rapist’s confession said she wanted to show how “manipulative” abusers can be.
ellie wilson25, put her phone in her bag and recorded secretly to Daniel McFarlan when he admitted his crimes.
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McFarlane was convicted of two counts of rape and sentenced to five years from prison in the UK in July last year.
Wilson said that despite the audio and written confessions used in court, the verdict was not unanimous.
The attacks occurred between December 2017 and February 2018, when McFarlane was a medical student at the University of Glasgow.
Since the conviction, Wilson – who at the time was a political science major and track and field competitor – He has publicly campaigned on behalf of victims of sexual assault.
Earlier this week, Wilson posted audio on Twitter of a covertly recorded conversation with McFarlane a year after the incident.
In the recording he asks: “Don’t you understand how horrible it makes me feel when you say ‘I didn’t rape you’ when you did?”
McFarlane responds, “Ellie, we’ve already established that I have. The people I need to believe me, believe me. Someday I’ll tell them the truth, but not today.”
When asked how he feels about what he has done, he replies: “I feel good knowing I’m not in jail.”
Positive answer
The tweet was seen by more than 200,000 people..
Wilson explained to the BBC that he posted the video because many people wondered what evidence he had to get a rape conviction.
I affirm that the reaction was “overwhelmingly positive“, although a small minority were very unpleasant.
Even with the recording of the confession published on the internet, some people kept saying “he didn’t do it”he assured.
In addition to the audio confession, Wilson had text messages pointing to McFarlane’s guilt. However, it was not enough to secure a conviction.
“The verdict was not unanimous”he explained.
“You can have a written confession, an audio confession, and not everyone on the jury is going to believe you. I think that says a lot about society.”
Wilson had already stated before that the experience that lived in the court seemed terrible to him.
She commented that she was subjected to personal attacks by the defense attorney, who made her feel guilty for having been assaulted.
“I felt humiliated, degraded and harassed during the interrogation.”
She said she recently read a transcript of the trial and “felt sick” about some of the things she was told.
The deception of the attackers
Wilson claimed that McFarlane was portrayed as a successful student and athlete who had a bright future and would never commit such a crime.
“I knew I could spin the story so I wouldn’t look like a rapist.He wanted to show people the reality of that, especially his supporters.”
He posted the audio on Twitter because he wanted to expose the “deceptive” nature of bullies.
“I wanted to show that these people can also be abusers and that they can act differently behind closed doors,” he said.
When Wilson reported the rape to the police in 2020, McFarlane was suspended from the University of Glasgow, where they were both studying.
She later learned that he had been able to enroll at Edinburgh University, despite being under police investigation.
“It was really shocking to me, because I thought about the female student population in Edinburgh. They too could be victims.“.
I couldn’t understand how universities could put the rights of an alleged rapist before those of their student population.
“I’m concerned that universities aren’t doing enough to keep people safe.”
will always accompany me
“I will never be able to change what happened to me, that will always be with me. I need to release my pain“Wilson said.
“Thinking that I can change society in a positive way and make it a little easier for other people is what motivates me, what makes me get up in the morning when I feel like I can’t do it anymore.”
The University of Edinburgh issued a statement stating that student safety is its top priority. and who act quickly when student misconduct is demonstrated.
“Our admissions process does not require applicants to disclose any criminal convictions or ongoing investigations at the time of application,” the statement reads.
“The university is fully aware of the strength of feeling around these issues,” he adds.
“We will continue to listen to feedback on what changes can be made to refine our processes and help ensure that all students feel safe and secure.”
A spokesperson for Scottish universities claimed they were working with Ellie and the government to explore what other measures could be taken for the safety and well-being of students
The change in data protection legislation, which came into force just before the pandemic, provided an opportunity to improve the situation.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
