When the victim thrusts himself into the public sphere, it's sensible to raise alternate hypotheses and call his story into question ... if only to conclude that he is, indeed, the victim!

This knee-jerk cry of "don't blame the victim" is just that: a knee-jerk response. Few people want to humiliate victims, but I don't see a reason not to ask pointed questions.

I mean no disrespect, but I think comments like yours lower the level of discourse and are pretty toxic despite their good intentions.

That's fine, I posted the story expecting exactly that. And to be fair our original post missed details that needed clarification. Always a tough choice between a short, shareable story and a longer, complete one. People have all the right to doubt our claims, and I hope I've been able to post sensible replies.

> I'm really shocked how many people here are blaming the victim here...

Welcome to Hacker News.

There are good ways to handle these situations. A cloying name and shame blog post with allusions to journalistic integrity is not one.