The Morrison decision left a void for survivors of gender-based violence, as it invalidated the federal Violence Against Women Act's civil remedy provision, eliminating federal civil remedies.
Bishop was found guilty on 24 counts of committing lewd acts on three minor victims, all described in court documents as victims under the age of 14. The span of these offenses covers multiple years. Evidence admitted at trial showed that Bishop possessed more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material depicting two of the minor victims.
Words such as 'relationship,' 'affair,' 'involvement,' or 'seeing each other' imply mutuality and consent. In the context of child sexual abuse, these implications are false. A child cannot legally or developmentally consent to sexual activity with an adult. Describing abuse using relational language risks distorting the inherent power imbalance and shifting perceived responsibility away from the adult perpetrator.
According to court documents, Winters looked up personal information about his victims and sent them hateful messages. He even went to the victims' homes and sent them pictures of their houses, and he threatened to kill some of his victims and gay men in general. He said that he wanted to make national headlines by repeating the Pulse nightclub mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people died.
