Repressed Rage

Let’s see if the Right Wing gets as fumed over this as they did over the Lacross players.

A 48-year-old Narragansett man has been charged with raping someone 32 years ago when both he and the alleged victim were 16 years old, the attorney general’s office said this week.

Harold Allen, of 30 Riverview Rd., was indicted last month on a charge of first-degree sexual assault, and he pleaded not guilty, court records show. Allen is accused of raping the girl in North Kingstown between April 1 and Oct. 31, 1975, the records show.

“The traumatized victim decided back then not to tell anybody what happened and repressed the memory of it until recently,” said Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch’s office. “The victim came forward and made a complaint to the North Kingstown Police Department on June 15, 2006.”

Ah good old repressed memory. The thing is, having repressed a memory myself, I know how it works. The memory was always there, I just ignored it. I didn’t need anyone to hypnotize, drug or “visualize” with me to bring it up — all of which amount to brain-washing. I just needed to be asked. And unlike this case, the memory was not vague. It was specific. (No, I’m not putting the details on the internets.)

Two predictions: the charges will eventually be dropped. And certain quarters will go nuts when it does.