Anna Stubblefield

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Anna Stubblefield
Born
Marjorie Anna Stubblefield

(1969-12-03) December 3, 1969 (age 54)
Known forSexual abuse of an intellectually disabled man
Criminal statusReleased
MotiveSexual gratification
Conviction(s)Third-degree aggravated sexual assault
Criminal chargeFirst-degree aggravated sexual assault (2 counts; overturned)
Penalty656 days in prison (previously 12 years)
Details
Victims1
State(s)New Jersey
Date apprehended
2015

Marjorie Anna Stubblefield (/ˈɑːnə/; born December 3, 1969) is an American former professor of philosophy at Rutgers University–Newark, practitioner of facilitated communication, and convicted sexual assaulter.[1]

Stubblefield was found guilty of two counts of raping a man with severe mental disabilities whom she falsely claimed to have enabled to communicate via typing using the discredited practice of facilitated communication.[2] She was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[3] The convictions were later overturned on a technicality, and she agreed to a plea deal on a lesser charge and was released from prison. In October 2016, the family was awarded $4 million in a civil lawsuit against Stubblefield.[4]

Her use of facilitated communication with the victim resulted in an academic article that was published in Disability Studies Quarterly.[5] The article has since been retracted.[6]

The 2024 documentary film Tell Them You Love Me by Louis Theroux covers the abuse case.[7]

Early life

Stubblefield grew up in Plymouth, Michigan, with her mother, Sandra McClennen, and her father.[2] She was raised Jewish.[2] During her high school years, Stubblefield wrote for the school newspaper, studied Braille, and learned American Sign Language.[2]

Academic career

Stubblefield received her PhD in 2000, and became a "a prominent scholar in the field of Africana philosophy," the chairwoman of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers,[2] and the author of a book published by Cornell University Press titled Ethics Along the Color Line. In 2001, she became a philosophy professor at Rutgers University–Newark, where she also served as a faculty advisor to the university's Disability Services Office.[8] Her university website described her as a, "Facilitated Communication Trainer by the FC Institute at the School of Education, Syracuse University."[8]

Abuse and legal proceedings

In 2015, Anna was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault against a man with severe mental disabilities. At the time the investigation began in 2011, Stubblefield was the chair of Rutgers-Newark's philosophy department, whose professional work centered on ethics, race, and disability rights,[9] but she was subsequently put on administrative leave without pay and removed as chair of the philosophy department.[10][11]

The victim was identified as D.J., a 33-year-old African-American man with severe mental disabilities who cannot speak, has cerebral palsy, and is unable to stand independently or accurately direct movements of his body. Based on his disability, his mother and brother were appointed his legal guardians.[9] Stubblefield stated that she had successfully communicated with him, determining he was of normal intelligence. She subsequently brought him to conferences where she "held him out as a success story". In 2011, she revealed to his mother and brother that she had had sexual relations with D.J. and said that they were in love, attributing consent to messages received while facilitating. Stubblefield stated that the two of them had a mutually consenting relationship established through facilitated communication. However, testing of D.J. by family members failed to establish the ability to communicate, and Stubblefield was thanked but denied further access to D.J. She continued to attempt to maintain contact with D.J. and began challenging control of D.J.'s legal guardians over him.[9] In August 2011, the family contacted the police.[10][12]

Stubblefield pleaded not guilty to the charges and said that FC revealed D.J. was mentally capable, while prosecutors said that FC was scientifically discredited and that D.J. did not have the ability to consent to sexual relations.[10][11] Experts evaluating D.J. testified he did not have the intellectual ability to consent to sexual activity.[13] Facilitated communication testimony from D.J. was not allowed as the technique was ruled unreliable under New Jersey law.[9] After a three-week trial, the jury found Stubblefield guilty of two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, the equivalent of rape in New Jersey.[9] After conviction, the judge revoked bail, saying that she was a flight risk,[9] and she was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[14] This included requiring her to register as a sex offender.[14][15] In July 2017, an appeals court overturned her conviction and ordered a retrial on the basis that it was a violation of her rights to not allow her to use facilitated communication as a defense.[16][17] In 2018 she pleaded guilty to "third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact" and was sentenced to time served.[17] In October 2016, the family was awarded $4 million in a civil lawsuit against Stubblefield.[18]

The 2023 documentary film Tell Them You Love Me by Louis Theroux covers the story.[19]

Reactions

Daniel Engber covered Stubblefield's trials for The New York Times. In 2018, Engber wrote:

"From my position in the gallery, reporting on the trial, it always seemed to me that Anna was entrapped by the grandiosity of her good intentions. As an academic, she devoted much of her career to social-justice activism and the philosophy of race and disability, warning in her published work that men like D.J. (who is black) were like 'the canary’s canary' in the coal mine — 'the most vulnerable of the vulnerable' — and subject to both white supremacist and ableist oppression. In teaching D.J. how to type, using a widely disavowed method known as 'facilitated communication,' she believed she was restoring his right of self-determination: empowering him to take college classes, present papers at conferences and eventually express his longing for the older, married, white woman who had been his savior."[20]

Personal life

She was married to Roger Stubblefield, with whom she has two children.[2]

Works

Books

Articles

See also

References

  1. ^ Mintz, Kevin (2017-11-26). "Ableism, ambiguity, and the Anna Stubblefield case". Disability & Society. 32 (10): 1666–1670. doi:10.1080/09687599.2017.1356058. ISSN 0968-7599.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Engber, Daniel (2015-10-20). "The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  3. ^ Sherry, Mark (2016-08-08). "Facilitated communication, Anna Stubblefield and disability studies". Disability & Society. 31 (7): 974–982. doi:10.1080/09687599.2016.1218152. ISSN 0968-7599.
  4. ^ NJ.com, Thomas Moriarty | NJ Advance Media for (2018-03-19). "Ex-Rutgers prof admits it was a crime to have sex with disabled man". nj. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  5. ^ Dougherty, M. V. (2018). Correcting the Scholarly Record for Research Integrity. Cham: Springer. pp. 197–219. ISBN 978-3-319-99434-5.
  6. ^ Johnson, DMan, c/o Anna Stubblefield (2011). "RETRACTED: The Role of Communication in Thought". Disability Studies Quarterly. 31 (4).
  7. ^ Latif, Leila (2024-02-03). "Tell Them You Love Me review – this chilling documentary is vital, challenging TV". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  8. ^ a b "Anna Stubblefield". web.archive.org. 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Daniel Engber (October 20, 2015). "The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015. ...the judge ruled that facilitated communication failed New Jersey's test for scientific evidence.
  10. ^ a b c Wichert, Bill (January 8, 2015). "New Jersey: Judge OKs document detailing Rutgers professor's sexual relations with mentally disabled man". NJ Advance Media. New Jersey Online LLC. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  11. ^ a b Zambito, Thomas (April 25, 2014). "Judge questions 'consent' defense in case of Rutgers-Newark professor accused of sexual assault". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. New Jersey Online LLC. Retrieved March 21, 2015. Dead link as of October 22, 2015
  12. ^ Szteinbaum, Sabrina. "Former RutgersNewark philosophy department chairwoman to appear in court for alleged sexual abuse of mentally handicapped man". The Daily Targum. New Brunswick, New Jersey. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015. Dead link as of October 22, 2015
  13. ^ Wichert, Bill (2015-10-02). "Professor found guilty of sexually assaulting disabled man". NJ.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Professor who abused disabled man sentenced to prison". Associated Press via Star Tribune. Retrieved 15 January 2016.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ David Porter, Associated Press (15 January 2016). "Professor who abused disabled man gets 12 years in prison". Times Union. Associated Press. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  16. ^ State of New Jersey v. Stubblefield, 162 A.3d 1074 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div 2017-06-09).
  17. ^ a b Napoliello, Alex (11 May 2018). "No more prison for ex-Rutgers professor who sexually assaulted disabled student". NJ.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  18. ^ Moriarty, Thomas (2018-03-19). "Ex-Rutgers prof admits it was a crime to have sex with disabled man". NJ.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  19. ^ Latif, Leila (3 February 2024). "Tell Them You Love Me review – this chilling documentary is vital, challenging TV". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024.
  20. ^ Engber, Daniel (2018-04-05). "The Strange Case of Anna Stubblefield, Revisited". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
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