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Jan. 10, 2005


A Rape in a Small Town: The Florence Holway Story


By Ray Richmond

8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 11
HBO

By turns chilling, unfathomable, infuriating and inspiring, this HBO
docu presented under the pay cabler's "America Undercover" banner is
unforgettable television. It tells the story -- in her own remarkably
candid words -- of Florence Holway, who at age 75 was brutally raped in
the bedroom of her rural New Hampshire farmhouse by a 25-year-old
intruder.

This guy belongs in a lunatic asylum.


 As she tells the gut-piercing account in excruciating detail,
Holway, now 89, is matter-of-fact and utterly unflappable. She is an
extraordinary woman and obviously a survivor who escaped her assailant
by sneaking out to her son's nearby home as the rapist lay sleeping in
her bed. He was arrested on the spot.

But that was only the beginning of Holway's ordeal. The reason why "A
Rape in a Small Town: The Florence Holway Story" was made at all
surrounds what came next: a shocking lack of justice. Despite having
caught her attacker dead to rights, the man -- John LaForest -- was
offered a plea bargain, pleading guilty to rape and sodomy in exchange
for the dropping of three additional charges and a lesser sentence.
This so enraged Holway

This is a good example of female stupidity and thinking that the world
revolves around your petty life. There's no death penalty in NH so the worst
a person could get is life imprisonment for the worst crime. Now this
LaForest has been in prison for 12 years and it doesn't appear he'll be
getting out soon. Females have no sense of proportion. Does she expect him
to be sentenced to life when the person who murders 10 people will only get
life? She wasn't really harmed in any way and LaForest did practise safe
sex:o)




 that she took her case to the media and became a
national crusader for common sense, victims' rights and rape laws with
more teeth. The plea was offered because the man used a condom, meaning
no semen was present and, thus, no physical proof of an actual rape.

Yes, that's the funny thing about Courts, they actually require EVIDENCE.



The film chronicles Holway's fight for justice and her heroism in
standing up for what was right regardless of the emotional toll. We see
her being interviewed while sitting on the very bed where she was
assaulted as her still-traumatized son and daughter-in-law sit nearby.
There is also footage taken from a harrowing 2003 parole hearing during
which LaForest was denied release 12 years after his imprisonment. The
fact that Holway -- now confined to a wheelchair -- was denied her day
in court still gnaws at her

Why would she have a day in court? It's up to the prosecutor to prosecute
the case. If in his judgement he believes that the only way to get a
conviction is to make a deal and get the defendant to accept it, so be it.
Prosecutor's are well aware that going to trial is risky, especially these
days where there are a lot of men like myself who will NEVER convict a man
under any circumstances. The best he could hope for is a hung jury:o)



.. Her loud battle for justice would bring
change to a flawed judicial system, though too late to help her. This
docu paints her as a feisty, highly intelligent old lady who rose to
greatness in her darkest hour.

Sounds like someone with too much time on her hands. Most people who have
suffered unpleasant experiences just want to forget it and live their lives.



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