That Facebook front page is awesome. I believe that's a photo of our perp posing with what's his name from that one band, the ex-junkie who writes for the Weekly now. And among his favorite books, the "NA step working guide" appears to be one of those he failed to absorb.

His phone number's on his Facebook page, if anyone wants to tell him how they feel about his actions.

I realize I may have slandered the possible band member - the junkie was the other guy, the drummer. The one whom I think is pictured is instead an ex-SU student, which is not at all the same thing as a junkie. Apologies.

"I'M SMART UM SEXY, AND ALWAYS READY FOR A CHALANGE"

what a winner.

@6 such as spelling...

8-and figuring out how that dang caps lock button works!

"my, life is over just kiddin"

...let's hope so.

That was a really stupid thing to do. She could sue him if he didn't beat her up enough.

How else can you prove that you're in a consensual BDSM relationship when resentful partner reports you to the police? I thought contract would be a good idea in that case?

This is why I support castration as punishment for most crimes men commit against women. Not only would it work as a deterrent, but it would most likely reduce recidivism.

!2: Uh-oh, gray area! Is it possible that someone could be coerced into consent? Are we allowed to ask that question?

!3: Nice. Do you also support genital mutilation as punishment for crimes women commit against men?

No.

@12 - Any contract signed under duress is invalid, and I don't see how the issues would be any different here. There's probably circumstantial evidence supporting the idea that she really didn't consent to this.

12 -- Consenting BDSM relationships don't intentionally result in bodily damage. You don't have the right to consent to serious bodily injury (sorry), so there are things you just can't sign a contract for.

Ha! Love Duff on the Facebook. A lesson to celebrities that you shouldn't just pose with just any jackass you run into on the street. On a side note, this d-bag's cell mate should draw up a contract about assaulting one particular body part. That'd learn 'em.

Yeah, if he really has that much control, then they can together plead "Extreme BDSM." That would overjoy the BDSM community.

The point, though, is control, as Dan points out. Ultimately, the law is never really more than a tool women can use if they are abused. More support needs to be given to women to show them that there is a way out of abusive relationships. If an abused woman keeps forgiving an abusive partner, there's not much the police or the courts can do, until it's really too late.

I wonder if her pregnancy was part of his controlling abuse of her. Someone did a study of that recently - forced pregnancy in abusive relationships. It's not all that uncommon.

@18: Bullshit. My body is my property, and it is my right to dispose of my property as I will.

Activities Mr. Smith enjoys? "IF IT'S ARTSY I LIKE DOIN IT OH AND SEX DON'T FORGET THAT LOL"

@22,

The law disagrees. You also don't have the right to kill yourself or ask someone else to kill you.

BUT WHY DON'T WOMEN JUST LEAVE ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS IT'S THEIR FAULT IF THEY DONT.

/troll

I think this case is a metaphore for how international politics with multinational corporations and national governments work. The corporations force a corrupt government to sign over its natural resources (body) to the corporations (male abuser) and then try to cover up improper conduct with a contract. However in the real world when you harm someone you go directly to jail, but if you're a corporation hurting millions of people for profit its just called business. If anything this man isn't original at all, corporations do this and get away with it, why should he be considered bad for it? If she (the state) didn't like it, why did she sign the contract (under diress)? Its ironic, the item he's likely most proud of will earn him top of his class in the big house, he'll make tons of new friends he can have lots of verbal contracts with, and by verbal contracts I mean anal rape with a penis.

you can't sign a contract for something illegal- it is de facto invalid. this isn't bdsm, this is a pregnant chick with head injuries.

@22: Pragmatically speaking, if you like the terms of the contract, who is going to say no while you are cheerfully consenting and abiding by the terms?

If you object to the terms of the contract and want out, it becomes a question as to whether or not you signed them voluntarily or under duress -- but for some terms, the court is going to look at those terms and declare them fundamentally invalid.

Then there are things that are illegal, which you simply can't contract for, willingly or not. In this case, the contract may as well be a signed confession.

@20, Actually the police and the courts go forward with domestic violence cases all the time when the victim isn't cooperative. It is very, very common for abused women to "forgive" their abuser and refuse to assist prosecution. The reasons range from love, not wanting to be responsible for putting him in jail to fear, embarrassment and financial dependency. Thankfully the law allows these women to be protected without their cooperation. In this case the injuries, the insane contract and the fact that the idiot probably confessed to the police is more than enough to convict.

If you look at the photos on his FB page you see some really fabulous art (sarcasm) on the walls, from spacey-sci fi, dogs playing poker, and guitars. I hope the lovely girl in them isn't the unfortunate victim.

The whole "contract" thing has been tried in BDSM relationships, too. It doesn't work. Plenty of tops have been prosecuted based on marks seen by doctors, co-workers, etc., and some have tried producing a submission contract signed by the bottom as defense. It doesn't work.

Basically, even the most submissive and masochistic of bottoms can still become a plaintiff, even if they choose not to, provided there is evidence a top broke the law regarding physical abuse or assault.

There is a gray area, which is a subject of endless debate in the BDSM community. If one is engaging in anything likely to leave marks, one has to be very very careful who sees such marks.

I can recall some time back, this subject coming up WRT rape fantasies, too - someone wrote Dan a letter asking about whether getting a signed agreement would protect them in court if someone misunderstood the consensual nature of a very realistic-seeming rape scenario. The general agreement was that, no, it would not.

And this guy is a total asswipe; I'm not implying this was any kind of consensual BDSM. This sounds like domestic abuse, plain and simple. But the "contract" wouldn't protect him even if it were consensual.

The poor thing. Physical abuse often escalates with pregnancy. It is hypothesized that the abuser punishes the woman for lack of attention or impending lack of attention. Which is odd, because for many of those I've dealt with the pregnancy was forced upon them. I worked with a woman once who if she didn't "desire to conceive" then she was strangled into submitting to having her ass forcibly fucked. She had five kids when I met her. She's out of the relationship, but she is still suffering the effects, today.

And, yes, some people really do suck. This guy seems like one of those who do.

And, thank heavens for all those good partners and fathers out there. I'm a sucker for a man in love with his family, especially his kids. Melts my heart.

@24: And the law is wrong, and tyrannical, and those who enforce it, like all tyrants, should meet with a short drop and a sudden stop.

@28: The British government among others. See "Operation Spanner," in which tyrannical British courts held that consent, even if proven, is not a valid affirmative defense to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH). The wikipedia article summarizes the case well. Also, as referenced by @31, investigations may be launched if marks are seen by third parties, and may not be stopped simply because no one's rights are being violated.

@2 Thanks for saying that about the NA book, gloomy gus. I realize this was posted a while ago and you probably won't be checking in on the comments again, but I am a member of that fellowship and my heart sank when I saw that reference on his facebook page. It's hard enough being one of us, as the fellowship is often misunderstood by people not as open-minded as you, without jackasses like him screwing it up on top of it all. Are you a friend of Jimmy K, gloomy gus?
Attention Everyone Else: This is NOT par for most members of NA, but just like every other community, we have our douchebags. We have a saying that explains this phenomenon, actually, "Some are sicker than others."

Nyker. It sounded like sarcasm. Gloomy Gus was being sarcastic. Jesus.

Nyker, now I feel dumb. I totally read that wrong. Sorry!

is this guy's profile picture with Duff McKagan?