In the wake of police officers shooting Jacob Blake in the back on August 23 that left the 29-year-old black man paralyzed, posts have been spreading around social media that the root cause of the incident stemmed from Blake's previous time in prison for allegedly raping a 14-year-old child from Wisconsin.
Jacob Blake, a child rapist?
Several rumors spread online that claimed Blake was a sexual abuser who targeted a child between 14 and 16 years old, some have argued that he raped a 14-year-old child and called him a rapist and a pedophile.
According to Snopes, the rumors were false. They were made after misleading information began circulating on social media that detailed Blake's previous charge of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend, who he has three children with.
The posts featured an image that detailed what looked to be multiple charges against an individual named Jacob S. Blake and included third-degree sexual assault. They also had the definition of what the charge meant, which was taken from a statute.
The surge of online posts led many social media users to believe that Blake had previously been charged with the sexual assault of a child and concluded that he was, therefore, a child rapist.
However, the charges against the suspect were, in fact, for the sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend and not a child, misleading information brought about by the statute's definition of third-degree sexual assault.
Prosecutors in Kenosha County favorably applied for an arrest warrant in July. The warrant includes charges of third-degree sexual assault against Blake. The complaint consists of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct which were designated as domestic abuse acts.
Authorities issued the warrant on July 7, and it was found that the individual who was shot by police in August was the same Blake who was written in the arrest warrant.
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Previous criminal charges
The Kenosha County District Attorney's office's criminal complaint in July claims that Blake entered his ex-girlfriends' resident against her permission on May 3 and continued to sexually assault her before grabbing her debit card and making two withdrawals worth $500 each, as reported by AP News.
While allegations against Blake stated in the July warrant were undoubtedly severe and detailed how he sexually abused his ex-girlfriend, the claim that he raped a child had no basis in the written statements.
In the state of Wisconsin, the definition of third-degree sexual assault does not include the sexual abuse of a minor. The statute that social media posts spread throughout the internet came from the laws of a different state, specifically, Rhode Island General Law Section 11-37-6.
The original creator of the image and post took a screenshot of Blake's charges. They added the photo of the definition of third-degree sexual assault that was taken from an entirely different state to accuse the suspect of raping a child falsely.
Court records show that Blake's previous history was only about child support disputes and in June 2018 was convicted on charges of driving a vehicle without the possession of a valid license. The incident was not considered a crime and Blake settled the issue by paying a fine.
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