tiggerella
May 30, 2015, 10:56 AM
A friend of mine was working with troubled teens, basically as an overnight supervisor in a group home. For the most part, he didn't have too much to do, as most of the teens were sleeping most of the time, but every once in a while he'd make use of his degree in psychology to help out someone who was having issues of some sort. (These teens were basically in this shelter because of being abused at home, or getting caught with drugs and doing a small amount of jail time before being released into a society, that didn't want them, etc.)
That all ended when one of the girls bragged it up to a friend of hers that she'd had sex with him and her friend went to his boss, which resulted in my friend getting fired. Because the girl was under 18 and the group home is officially responsible for her well being, the group home is pursuing a court case, but so far, the trial has been rescheduled twice. My friend has been able to find work away from the field he went to college for, but at minimum wage, he's not able to contribute as much to his family's income and the family is struggling to keep up with their bills.
So far, if I understand things right, this is what they have against him:
1) A used condom, recovered from the girl's trash can, but the DA claims that the ejaculate was too old to yield anything, not even DNA. (I find this suspicious, as it was my understanding that there should have been usable DNA on the condom, hers on the outside and his on the inside, even if the fluids were long dried up.)
2) The bedsheets from the girl's room, which didn't even show that the sex happened there.
3) The testimony from the girl's friend, who basically has disappeared while the "participants" are awaiting the trial. (In other words, they only have whatever she said to my friend's boss, as she reportedly never even stuck around to give a sworn statement to the police.)
Basically, my friend hired a lawyer, gave up his DNA, has been unable to be alone with his teenaged stepdaughter, and has jumped through every hoop presented while waiting for the judge to hear the evidence and pass judgement - even though at this point, it's his word against hers only. I was totally peeved when, faced with a second rescheduling, his lawyer told him he should "make a plea arrangement" without telling my friend that, in our state, that would make him a sex offender, which is a felony. He wouldn't ever be able to own guns or have any inside his home. He wouldn't ever be allowed to be alone with his two stepchildren or his own toddler daughter. He would never be able to get a license in psychology, so he could never again work in the field that he spent 5 years in college to get a BA in.
My friend took the advice my husband and I gave him, so the trial is moved off to August at this point, but seriously, what would you do in this circumstance? Would you just plea out to get the whole mess over with and let the girl think she had successfully ruined this man's life, like his lawyer is telling him he should do, or would you continue to push for the trial?
Of course, MY advice to him was to force the trial, and, if this girl loses the case, go after her for defamation of character for basically ruining his life for the past 2 years so that she'll NEVER try this on anyone else, as this kind of thing may well be part of why she was thrown out of her own house. He says that he'd feel bad about such a thing, as she was already mentally unstable to begin with...
Thoughts?
That all ended when one of the girls bragged it up to a friend of hers that she'd had sex with him and her friend went to his boss, which resulted in my friend getting fired. Because the girl was under 18 and the group home is officially responsible for her well being, the group home is pursuing a court case, but so far, the trial has been rescheduled twice. My friend has been able to find work away from the field he went to college for, but at minimum wage, he's not able to contribute as much to his family's income and the family is struggling to keep up with their bills.
So far, if I understand things right, this is what they have against him:
1) A used condom, recovered from the girl's trash can, but the DA claims that the ejaculate was too old to yield anything, not even DNA. (I find this suspicious, as it was my understanding that there should have been usable DNA on the condom, hers on the outside and his on the inside, even if the fluids were long dried up.)
2) The bedsheets from the girl's room, which didn't even show that the sex happened there.
3) The testimony from the girl's friend, who basically has disappeared while the "participants" are awaiting the trial. (In other words, they only have whatever she said to my friend's boss, as she reportedly never even stuck around to give a sworn statement to the police.)
Basically, my friend hired a lawyer, gave up his DNA, has been unable to be alone with his teenaged stepdaughter, and has jumped through every hoop presented while waiting for the judge to hear the evidence and pass judgement - even though at this point, it's his word against hers only. I was totally peeved when, faced with a second rescheduling, his lawyer told him he should "make a plea arrangement" without telling my friend that, in our state, that would make him a sex offender, which is a felony. He wouldn't ever be able to own guns or have any inside his home. He wouldn't ever be allowed to be alone with his two stepchildren or his own toddler daughter. He would never be able to get a license in psychology, so he could never again work in the field that he spent 5 years in college to get a BA in.
My friend took the advice my husband and I gave him, so the trial is moved off to August at this point, but seriously, what would you do in this circumstance? Would you just plea out to get the whole mess over with and let the girl think she had successfully ruined this man's life, like his lawyer is telling him he should do, or would you continue to push for the trial?
Of course, MY advice to him was to force the trial, and, if this girl loses the case, go after her for defamation of character for basically ruining his life for the past 2 years so that she'll NEVER try this on anyone else, as this kind of thing may well be part of why she was thrown out of her own house. He says that he'd feel bad about such a thing, as she was already mentally unstable to begin with...
Thoughts?