Source: Ted Soqui / Getty
After spending nearly 16 years in prison for the brutal rape of Lovely Bones author Alice Sebold, Anthony Broadwater was exonerated of his conviction in addition to other charges stemming from the case that occurred in 1982.
Following the news, Sebold issued an apology to Broadwater in a lengthy statement posted to Medium, noting how she and America’s “flawed legal system” failed him.
“40 years ago, as a traumatized 18-year-old rape victim, I chose to put my faith in the American legal system.” she wrote. “My goal in 1982 was justice — not to perpetuate injustice. And certainly not to forever, and irreparably, alter a young man’s life by the very crime that had altered mine… I will forever be sorry for what was done to him.”
Broadwater was the subject of Sebold’s book “Lucky” – a harrowing memoir that graphically detailed the vicious rape and beating incident she allegedly endured at the hands of the formerly convicted rapist when she was 18-year-old. The egregious attack occurred inside a tunnel just steps away from Syracuse University’s campus where she was attending in 1981. After the attack, Sebold writes in her book that she firmly believed she came into contact with her attacker on the street, which she identified as Broadwater.
“He was smiling as he approached. He recognized me. It was a stroll in the park to him; he had met an acquaintance on the street. “‘Hey, girl,’ he said. ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere?’” Sebold recalls in the book. “I looked directly at him. Knew his face had been the face over me in the tunnel.”
“Lucky” has since been pulled from production as the 58-year-old author plans to adapt the book following the news of the conviction. According to Variety, a film adaptation of the memoir has also been dropped. “You” star Victoria Pedretti was set to portray Sebold in the film, but now she has officially parted ways with the project.
RELATED CONTENT: “He Took her Soul:” The Story Of How A Sexual Assault At 14 Led Marcie Gerald To Suicide
It’s important to note that in the book, Sebold admits that she could not properly identify Broadwater in the police lineup. CNN reported that “a detective and a prosecutor told her after the lineup that she picked out the wrong man and how the prosecutor deliberately coached her into rehabilitating her misidentification. A piece of hair that investigators believed to be DNA evidence of Broadwater’s connection to Sebold’s rape was also discovered to be faulty.
In her apology, Sebold said that Broadwater’s overturned sentence took her “eight days to comprehend.”
“How could this have happened? she continued. “I will continue to struggle with the role that I unwittingly played within a system that sent an innocent man to jail. I will also grapple with the fact that my rapist will, in all likelihood, never be known, may have gone on to rape other women, and certainly will never serve the time in prison that Mr. Broadwater did.”
Broadwater has since struggled to maintain a normal life following his conviction, telling CNN that it’s been nearly impossible to find work. “I did what I could do, and that was just, you know — creating work for myself doing landscaping, tree removal, hauling, clean-outs,” he explained. Broadwater told reporters after the court hearing that because so much time has passed, he won’t be able to fulfill his wife’s dream of having children. “I wouldn’t bring children in the world because of this,” he added.
Social media has since reacted to the news with many people slamming Sebold for her poultry apology.
One person on Twitter wrote: “Alice Sebold put an innocent man in prison for 16 years and the best she could do was say, “My bad.” She owes Anthony Broadwater more than an apology. She’s scum.”
Alice Sebold put an innocent man in prison for 16 years and the best she could do was say, "My bad." She owes Anthony Broadwater more than an apology. She's scum https://t.co/beX6jtEPTx
— Mark (@MarcassTV) November 30, 2021
Another person commented: “Honestly not enough people have been talking about Anthony Broadwater and how he was falsely accused of rape by Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones. A black man was wrongfully convinced of rape. By a white woman author who PROFITED from it by writing a book about it.”
While a third user wrote: “Anthony Broadwater said he didn’t have kids because of his WRONGFUL conviction and my heart just broke wide open. Fvck an apology. Alice Sebold needs to cut this man a check for starters.”
You can watch Anthony Broadwater’s reaction to his overturned conviction below.
Anthony Broadwater said he didn’t have kids because of his WRONGFUL conviction and my heart just broke wide open.
Fvck an apology. Alice Sebold needs to cut this man a check for starters. pic.twitter.com/BUf34RuqFi
— THEE Renee (@PettyLupone) December 1, 2021
RELATED CONTENT: Should Lying To Get Sex Be Considered Rape?
0 Commentaires