Tamás P. and the Rape of a Nation

Like all opinion journalists I occasionally have to force myself to feel outraged or interested enough to write a proper column. Once in a while, though, I come across something so shocking I have trouble putting fingers to keyboard, or doing anything but sitting and quietly quaking. One such story is that of Violetta Hugyecz, who was supposed to celebrate her 14th birthday last Thursday, but instead was buried on Wednesday, with the present her parents were going to give her tucked into her coffin.

The facts are as follows. On the Friday before last, Hugyecz - or "Letti," as she was known - left the company of her friends in her hometown of Szécsény at around 11:00 p.m. to walk the 300 or so meters to her family's house. Somewhere along her journey she was accosted by another resident of the north-central town, Tamás P., 24, who abducted Letti in a manner violent enough that her bloody earring was later discovered on the road. Two days later, her brutalized body was found in a local sewer, into which Tamás P. later confessed to having thrown her. According to one local tabloid, Letti was still alive when her killer cast her into the pit. She tried to climb out but couldn't, because she was weighed down by a piece of concrete tied around her waist. Wounds on the young girl's head suggest that as she slowly drowned, Tamás P. stood above and threw stones at her.

Letti (top) and Tamás P. Before he killed her, his former victim was his former girlfriend

These vile images are only one reason the death of Letti Hugyecz is so sickening. Another is the fact that Tamás P. was known by many of the residents of Szécsény to be an unsavory and unstable character. But what makes the case truly outrageous is that Tamás P. had previously been convicted of rape, and had only served eighteen months in prison for his crime, having been let off for "good behavior."

To the average law-abiding citizen, a year-and-a-half in prison may seem like a long time, but it isn't, not even in Hungary. For example, just last week two policemen from Pécs and a former member of the armed forces were given sentences of as much as four-and-a-half year in jail for extorting bribes out of motorists. Meanwhile, an 18-year-old girl who sent threatening letters to members of the Edelény Police could face up to eight years in the slam, as her dim-witted scheme (she vowed to blow up the police station unless she was given Ft 400,000 - roughly €1,600 - and an Alfa Romeo) constituted a "terrorist threat."

From what I can tell, Tamás P. got off lightly because the person he tied up and raped was an ex-girlfriend, or, more accurately, a girlfriend who had just told him she would rather be an ex-girlfriend. Apparently, a year-and-a-half was the max that he was eligible for.

As you might suspect, the problem goes way beyond one particular case. According to Judit Wirth, president of the non-profit group Nők a Nőkkel Együtt az Erőszak Ellen ("Women with Women Together Against Violence"), Hungary's overall approach to such crimes remains mired in "feudal" notions and habits. For one thing, the second of the criminal code dealing with sexual crimes refers to such offenses as "crimes against sexual morals," as if rape were like talking at the opera or otherwise an offence against polite society, rather than the most elemental violation of an individual's human rights short of murder.

Meanwhile, some practical features of the legal system are nothing short of appalling. According to Wirth, Hungarian judges are required to consider what rape victims "did to get raped." It is because of these and other systemic shortcomings that those who are actually convicted of rape in Hungary often get as little as a couple of years in prison.

Wirth points to the habit of releasing rapists like Tamás P. early for "good behavior" as another indication that Hungary is failing to understand the problem. She says there is abundant evidence that people who commit sexual crimes often "behave well" in other areas of their lives, holding down jobs, keeping a family together and otherwise acting like normal citizens. Because of this, sexual predators regularly come across as model prisoners, leading those in charge of their custody to mistakenly assume that they are not a threat to society.

To combat these problems, Wirth proposes "lots of education and even more education" about sexual offenders for jurists and judges, including more opportunities to speak with the victims of delinquents like Tamás P. Indeed, she says that the fact that so many people are shocked by the Szécsény case just shows how little people in Hungary know about sexual crimes, and the people who commit them.

While I doubt anyone would disagree with Wirth's call for more understanding about the problem, there is less of a consensus about what to do with people like Tamás P., to prevent them from acting on their urges.

Dr. Virág Vajna, an expert at the Család Gyermek Ifjúság Egyesület (Family Child Youth Association) says the key to the problem is treatment, which is rarely given to those convicted or suspected of being sexual predators. While saying that "the question is whether punishment alone is enough," Vajna further argues that simply lengthening the jail time meted out to people like Tamás P. isn't the answer. "Western European experience shows that the longer the punishment, the bigger the chance for backsliding," she says. For her part Wirth stresses that "rapists are recidivists," and says that, in her opinion, they should never be let out of jail.

As you might guess, I would tend to side with Wirth, if only because I am wary of any "Western European experience" which purports to demonstrate that locking up dangerous criminals is a bad idea. Having grown up in America when the chickens of 1960s-era penal reform came home to roost, I have seen firsthand what happens when societies forget that the first priority of the criminal justice system is keeping the criminals away from everyone else. So while treatment is of course necessary and good, incarceration is the first order of business for animals like Tamás P., along with proper notification of those unlucky enough to be neighbors of recently-paroled sex offenders, regardless of the squeals of the criminals' rights nuts who so often seem to control public debate in Europe and North America.

As for Tamás P., I see no reason why, having confessed to his barbaric act, he shouldn't be quietly killed and buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in the forest. Though I would settle for life behind bars (which is what he faces, if convicted). Assuming, of course, that this time he doesn't get out early for good behavior.