A U.S. federal air marshal stands accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in a Seattle hotel room. Lecheton “Omar” Settles, 30, was arrested by local police after a 24 year old woman reported being assaulted by him. Settles had hired her to perform a show, which would included a massage and a private dance, during his layover. If such conduct were not unprofessional enough, what allegedly followed was beyond the pale.
*trigger warning*
The woman claims Settles was fully dressed when she arrived but after coming out of the bathroom, where she had changed into her “outfit,” she alleges Settles was standing completely naked with his government issued air marshal badge hanging from his neck and a gun in one hand. He then, allegedly, said “U.S. Marshal, you have to do what I tell you.” The woman told police she began to cry and Settles instructed her to get on the bed where he held her down, pushing on her chest, as he raped her for about 10 minutes, wearing a condom, with the gun next to her on the bed.
Afterwards, the woman says Settles told her to put her clothes back on and give him back the $180. She says he then put a handcuff on her and made a phone call to his “sergeant.” She heard him say on the phone, “OK, you want me to let this one go?” He then let her leave.
The woman was very brave to report the incident immediately. I’m sort of pleasantly surprised that law enforcement is taking her report seriously, especially because so many folks consider sex workers unrapeable, unreliable, and untrustworthy. And Settles is (or was) a respected and powerful member of society. Still, he is not on trial yet so we’ll see what happens then.
Settles initially denied having any sexual contact with the woman. After police told him the woman described his completely shaved privates, he admitted his pants were down at one point. He also admitted wearing his air marshal badge, but denied taking out his gun because, he said, it’s against air marshal policy to use a firearm after “drinking alcohol.” So the guy does have some standards of behavior.
“We are shocked that a law enforcement officer would be accused of a crime this serious,” said King County Sheriff spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart.
:spittake:
Riiiiight.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) immediately terminated Settles–a probationary employee–for the “misconduct.”
I’m so proud of that woman for having the courage to come forward, especially considering the kind of slut-shaming and dismissiveness that happens when sex workers report being assaulted. God bless her. I hope she stays strong and gets good support.
And I did a little spit-take also over Urquhart’s statement—not only because it’s hopelessly ignorant, but because there’s a weird relativism about a crime this serious . So….if it was less serious, he wouldn’t have been shocked? Where would he draw the line on seriousness? Traffic violations? Smacking people around a bit? Petty larceny?
If this guy was on a lay-over, does that mean that he was on the clock, or not? Whether or not, what he did is criminal, wretched, and I have a strong urge to kick him right in his “completely shaved” junk, but if this happened on duty, wouldn’t you think the TSA would want to pursue prosecution to the fullest extent? I mean, NOBODY likes the TSA anyway, but hiring rapists who offend while drawing their publically funded paycheck?
That woman is totally gutsy and I hope she sues his completely shaved junk right off. And as for criminal prosecution, let us count the ways: kidnapping, rape, assault…if he used a service weapon, he’s probably in trouble for that too. He’s looking at some very hard time, and he certainly worked hard to earn it.
I understand where Urquhart was coming from. I bet his cops usually get charged with excessive force. Settles was branching out. It’s hard out there for a cop. Really.
I think one reason that she could report it with relative confidence and also get attention is because it happened here in Seattle, a pretty sex-positive city (and therefore not so much hating on sex workers).
But how disgusting is this guy? He’d better get what he deserves.
*vomit*
Good for her for coming forward, and I am very, very glad that her case is being treated with the seriousness it should.
Good for her for reporting her assault, and I’m very glad to hear it’s being taken seriously. I’m also encouraged by the other comments–As soon as I read that she was going to do the massage/dance thing, I assumed that everyone would say she deserved it and almost didn’t look at the comments. Thanks, y’all, for restoring my faith in humanity.
That is so fucked up! I can’t believe the phone call part. “OK, you want me to let this one go?” WHAT THE FUCK????
That woman is a total warrior for reporting immediately. I’m also pleasantly surprised that law enforcement is taking this seriously, especially considering that she is a sex worker. Really, it’s sad that I’m pleasantly surprised. This should always be taken seriously.
Hopefully that fucking rapist is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
A secret source is telling me this woman asked for more money once she found out he was an air marshal and threatened to expose him unless he paid her more.
But we all know who is to blame, the man!
Just giving you girls a different perspective.
Hi Bill Diamond! Thanks for joining us!
1. If your source had any credibility, it wouldn’t be “secret.”
2. Blaming the man is entirely appropriate, since rapists are to blame for rape.
3. We are all over the age of 18 here. We are not “girls.”
You, however, are a useless pro-rapist piece of shit.
Agreed Becky.
Couldn’t say it better.
dear all,
not an unusual story at all. in hungary a girl was raped by 2 policemen, while 3 other were watching in 2007. of course the police has shun all evidence against the policemen. of course the girl has been shouted out to be everybody’s whore, a lie-making, confabulating little ass. of course the police has even modified evidence. so the girl faces right now prison for false accusation.
an amnesty international report about rapes in hungary has written, that a hungarian judge lady (anonym) would not report her rape in these kind of legal circumstances, and policemen think, that women, who are reporting rapes, are prostitutes, who had “difficulties while bargaining”.
policemen in hungary like to take corruption money from the prostitutes in “nature”. that means, if the prostitutes can’t pay the policemen not to bring them in prison, they will be raped by the policemen.
so i do not wonder about the us marshal.
Victim blaming in the case of rape is victim blaming regardless of the victim’s profession. Just because a woman is a sex worker doesn’t mean that she is “unrape-able.” Prostitution exists because there is a large demand for it. The majority of the customers are men. The commodification of women’s sexuality in our society allows the normalization of a system in which women can be bought and sold. Furthermore, rape is rape if active consent was not given. It is unproductive to use a rape victim’s character as evidence in a rape case. It doesn’t matter what you think about a victim’s morals or character, no person deserves someone taking control of their body. I have undergone 60+ hours of training at a local rape crisis center to assist rape survivors and secondary survivors of rape. Through my training I have learned that victim blaming is one of the root causes of survivors staying quiet about their experiences. Many survivors feel they will not be believed or will be blamed for the rape. This is unacceptable. As humans we all have the right to control of our bodies. Rape is never ok, no one is ever “asking for it”, and this type of behavior from a high ranking U.S. official is appalling and should not be excused for any reason.
Am so proud of this woman for reporting immediately.
Mr. Diamond, you are a tool and simply an artifact of the societal propensity to blame female victims in cases of sexual assault. If he had stolen her car you wouldn’t be sitting there in your misogyny, but because it was rape, suddenly you feel that you have cause to question her validity.