Verdict Questioned in Florida Rape Trial

After reading “Out of Control” (March 23) I feel sick. Five young men--not ignorant of ordinary decency, presumably having all the benefits of prosperous families--get drunk, use drugs, pick up a girl, take her to one of their homes and in his parents’ bedroom perform violent sexual acts that I can’t even bring myself to write. Finally, one of them picks up a statuette of Jesus with intent of using it in the next assault.

“I said no, we can’t have this. It’s sacrilegious!” (one of them says). The father is quoted, “Thank God they had the sense to stop there.”

I’m not a candidate for sainthood since I don’t belong to or attend any church, but something is sickeningly wrong. Apparently these five men attended at some time churches that spoke of the sexual union as an act of love. All five of them knew of the dangers of the overuse of alcohol and the use of drugs. And they are all declared innocent in a Florida court.

LOUIS GAST

Laguna Hills