John F. Orlando

John F. Orlando: The boy next door

John F. Orlando, a senior at Muskego High School, could write an interesting, albeit horrific, "What I did on my summer vacation" essay.

From 620 WTMJ:

A 17 year-old boy has been charged with four felonies in a shocking case of alleged torture and abuse in Muskego.

John F. Orlando is a senior at Muskego High School and, according to a criminal complaint, he and a 20 year-old woman the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes as his girlfriend were being "consensually intimate" at his family's home before he locked her out of the house.

More details from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The woman rode her bike to Orlando's house on Hillendale Drive at 2 a.m. Friday. Shortly after the rest of his family left at 8:30 a.m., he began cutting her sweatshirt with a box cutter and biting her. After writing on her stomach and pelvis, he took a picture with his cell phone.

After they were consensually intimate, he locked her outside of the house. When he let her back in, he burned her chest and neck with a cigarette. Then he sat on her and choked her until she vomited. He dumped a liquid over her head, telling her it was acid, then sprayed a flammable liquid on her hair and ignited it with a lighter. She was able to put out the flames under a faucet.

As she towel-dried her hair, he pulled the towel tightly around her face, then kicked her several times in the side, stood on her stomach and put one foot on her neck so she again couldn't breathe. When he stopped, she told him she wanted to go home, but he wouldn't let her.

The complaint says Orlando grabbed a pair of nail clippers and tried to gouge the woman's eyes out, but she was able to free herself from his grip. He continually told her he was going to kill her and told her how he would cut her body to pieces and dispose of it where no one would find it, according to the complaint.

The woman's mother then called to tell her she was coming to pick her up. Orlando held a butcher knife to the woman's neck until her mother arrived, the complaint says.

Here's the telling part:

"After they were consensually intimate, he locked her outside of the house. When he let her back in...."

WHY DID THE WOMAN GO BACK IN THE HOUSE?

Orlando locked her out. She wanted back in.

This sounds like S & M gone bad.

Orlando was charged with four felonies: first-degree reckless endangerment, intimidation of a victim, false imprisonment and substantial battery. If convicted on all four counts, he would face a maximum prison sentence of 32 years and a fine of $70,000.

The woman, also of Muskego, went to police Friday after the episode with lacerations on her face, scratches and burn marks on her neck, a bite mark on her abdomen and bruises on her body. A permanent marker was used to write on her abdomen and pelvis, according to the complaint. She wasn't hospitalized.

In court Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Michelle Hulgaard called Orlando an "extremely violent and sadistic individual."

Most homicides "don't have the level of torture I've seen in this case," she told Court Commissioner Martin Binn.

She asked Binn to set bail at $250,000 cash, saying that in early August, Orlando was determined by juvenile court authorities to be a delinquent in connection with a similar situation. She would not say later whether the victim was the same.

But Binn said the allegations "shock the conscience," and he set bail at $1 million.

Binn said the facts in the case are "as horrendous" as any he has seen.

At Hulgaard's request, Binn also issued a protective order barring Orlando from having any contact with the victim. The woman, who barely weighs 100 pounds, according to Hulgaard, was in court when Orlando, who weighs nearly 300 pounds, made his initial appearance. Hulgaard described the victim as Orlando's girlfriend at the time of the episode.

The details of this case are nauseating to me; but I'm sure some people, with let's say "alternative proclivities," enjoy the gruesome specifics.

I'm not defending Orlando. However, one person's abuse is another person's pleasure.


Christina Buehler

While I have sympathy for the abused woman, I would be far more sympathetic if she hadn't gone back in the house.

Although there was horrendous stuff going on, at least some of it apparently was mutually satisfying.

I wonder about this, too:

She asked Binn to set bail at $250,000 cash, saying that in early August, Orlando was determined by juvenile court authorities to be a delinquent in connection with a similar situation. She would not say later whether the victim was the same.

If the early August matter involved the same "victim," that would cast doubt on what this woman wanted from her "boyfriend."

This isn't the story of an abused wife and mother dependent on a husband and father for support, trapped in a bad situation, no way out.

As sick as it seems to me, I think this is likely to end up being a case of "safe word" confusion, consensual behavior run amok.

Very, very, VERY amok.
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Note: Sometimes the media either don't get or choose not to give out all the details of a story. I wrote this post when the story broke, based on the details of the case available at that time in early September. My reaction to it needs to be taken in that context.

A few points about the above post and the one about Christina Buehler:

1. I clearly stated that I was NOT defending Orlando. He's charged with four felonies.

2. Katrina Cravy of FOX 6 brought up the issue of statutory rape.

3. Katrina Cravy of FOX 6 questioned why Buehler would go back into the house after Orlando LOCKED HER OUT.

4. Some people have argued that Buehler suffers from a syndrome as well as emotional and/or cognitive delays. Do these conditions render her incapable of exercising her free will with sound judgment?

5. I believe that both Orlando and Buehler made bad choices.

6. Unlike Orlando, Buehler has not been charged with any crimes.

7. I said that I found the details of the case to be nauseating. I'm NOT being an advocate for Orlando or diminishing the plight of abused women.

8. I said that I have sympathy for the abused woman (Buehler).

9. According to the complaint, Orlando performed horrific, criminal acts on Buehler.

10. According to the complaint, Buehler is responsible for going back into the house after he LOCKED HER OUT.

In addition to holding me accountable for a "faulty assessment," perhaps it's appropriate to hold Katrina Cravy and FOX 6 accountable for raising issues about Buehler's character in its VERY public forum.