Morality and the Law

MORALITY AND THE LAW XLVII

THE OTHER SIDE OF CHILD MOLESTATION

People often disagree with what I write…and that’s the way it should be. There are always at least two sides to every story. Sometimes one side is far more popular than the other, but that doesn’t mean the other side should be ignored.

By now, surely everyone is familiar with the side of the story that says children must be protected. If I were to ask people around the world what type of person they hate more than anyone else, I think the term "child molesters" would rank extremely high. Certainly, in my estimation, I think any adult taking advantage of a child should burn in Hell. Child molesters represent human beings at their worst.

There is, however, another side to this story and we should all be aware of it: It’s certainly not a popular position to take, but facts are facts, and we normally only hear one side of the story when it come to crimes against a child. Reports of child molestation are almost always written up with a presumption of guilt of the accused. Look at the Michael Jackson case: Here they had a celebrity who is, unquestionably, eccentric and odd, but the reports in the media emphasized the accusations against Jackson…not the denials of Jackson. Although Jackson was vindicated by a jury, there are still millions of people who, because of their hatred of child molesters, still believe that Jackson was guilty…and Jackson’s phenomenal career may have been injured beyond repair…by the false charges made against him.

It would be impossible for to count the number of times I’ve been told that "children don’t lie"; that if a child accuses someone, there must be some fire behind the smoke.

That’s simply not true! Children do lie. From the first time a parent finds the child with a broken toy and the child says, "I didn’t do it", children will lie to say something their parents or other responsible parties will approve of. In fact, children can and have been encouraged to lie including accusing people of molestation and sexual abuse that never happened. Their young minds are extremely malleable and the encouragement of a police officer or an ostensible child-psychologist to say something that will help the prosecutor’s case have put many innocent people in prison.

Let’s take a closer look at what happens to someone when he/she is falselyaccused of a crime against a child:

A man (or woman) is accused of molesting and perhaps even having sexual relations with a child. Because of the heinous nature of the crime, there is usually only the most cursory investigation. After the child relates to the police what happened, the man/woman is arrested. The police feel this is necessary in crimes against a child because they do not want the "dangerous" predator on the streets.

The media immediately steps in. Crimes against children sell a lot of newspapers and draw a lot of attention on TV and the Internet. The name of the child is usually withheld, but the name of the accused is blasted around the world for all to see.

The accused is usually kept in jail for three to five days before he/she is brought before a judge for arraignment and to have bail set. Bail against accused child molesters is inordinately high. One highly respected professor, a pillar of his community, was accused of child molestation and bail set at $6 million. The bail was later reduced to $2 million. But compare the bail set for a child molester to someone who breaks into your house and keeps you at gunpoint for an hour while they clean-out your valuables. His bail would probably be set at $50,000-$100,000.

Meeting the bail requirements to get out of jail can be done in two ways: (a) it can be paid in cash or (b) a bail bondsman can post the cash for which he charges a 10% fee. It is true that when the accused appears in court for trial or hearing, the bail is refunded. But if a bail bondsman is used, the 10% fee is not refundable. Truthfully, how many people can afford to post a million dollars in cash? So, the probability is that the accused will have to pay a 10% fee to the bail bondsman whether he/she is found guilty or innocent of the charges …or even if the charges are dropped for lack of evidence. If the accused can’t make bail…he/she stays in jail. There are some cases where a person can be released from jail "on their own recognizance", but this almost never happens in a child molestation case.

Once the bail has been posted the accused is released from jail. He/she goes home to a newly mortgaged home (to guarantee the bail) and finds that his/her picture has appeared in the newspapers, on the internet and on TV. Friends that he/she have had for years now shun them. But that’s just the beginning:

Now he/she has to hire an attorney to defend themselves against the charges whether the charges are fact or fiction. It’s possible to get a "public defender" or a "court-appointed" attorney…but, usually, public defenders and court-appointed attorneys are so overly-burdened with cases, that they do not have the time, the money or the facilities to prepare a proper defense. So, they try and make a deal for a "plea-bargain". A negotiated deal whereby if the accused pleads "guilty" the accused will receive a minimal sentence. Of course, if the accused pleads "guilty", he/she is forever branded as a sex-criminal. If there are other children in the family of the accused, the Child Protective Services may take them from their home and put them in Foster Care.

Good criminal attorneys are not "expensive", they are "extremely expensive". They are usually even more expensive when asked to defend against a "crime against child" charge. Most will require a $25,000 to $50,000 retainer (deposit), and the total cost of the attorney, through trial, will probably exceed $100,000 to $200,000. If the accused can manage to beg, borrow or steal the necessary money to pay the attorney, at least the accused will know that he/she will have good representation to try and prove his/her innocence. You should be aware that when a child alleges you have done something to them, the Constitutional presumption of innocence gets thrown out the window. You are presumed to be guilty until and unless you prove you are not guilty.

In the meantime, the District Attorney’s office is preparing the case against the accused. "Crime against child" cases are extremely important to District Attorneys. D.A.s are elected officials and like all elected officials need to do whatever they can to assure their reelection. Inasmuch as the case has received a lot of publicity in the media, it becomes especially important to the D.A. that he gets a conviction. He has the taxpayers’ money at his disposal, so he hires "expert" witnesses who will say that the child is not lying, he will hire top "child psychologists" who will say that the child has shown all the symptoms of molestation, etc. As much as it appalls me, prosecutors have frequently concealed evidence that would have led the exoneration of the accused because the prosecutors want to get a "conviction".

As for the child, even if the child was lying about the accused originally, the child is now too frightened and overwhelmed to ever admit that she lied. She is now surrounded by "experts" who may actually makeher believe she did not lie…even if she did,

I’ve presented this picture of what the accused must go through whether or not there is any truth to the charges! If the accused actually did molest or perform a sexual act with a child, I couldn’t care less what happens to them as long as they are taken off the street and are not a danger to other children. My concern is for those who didn’t do anything wrong, but still have to go through the procedure described.

It would be natural for you to ask yourself "How often does this happen?" If I said it happens hundreds of times, I’d be misleading you. It happens thousands of times! These days it happens with divorced parents where one does not want the other to have any custody of the children. So, the mother tells the daughter to tell the police certain things happened. People who can no longer afford their rent, may have a child say that the landlord touched them improperly. People jockeying for positions in corporations seem to have little compunction about using their children as weapons. And then, of course, there are the "nasty neighbors" and the religious zealots who find evil in everything they see. Then, too, there is mistaken identity.

It has been a lot of years since the famous McMartin Pre-School trials that started with the arrest of Ray Buckley and his mother, Peggy Buckley, in 1983. In this Manhattan Beach case the employees and owner of the McMartin Pre-School were arrested and charged with rape, sodomy and child endangerment (to name just a few of many charges). The prosecution convinced the children to testify that they were molested, sexually abused, forced to witness Satanic rituals, and the killing of small animals, etc. All of the allegations and the testimony of the children proved to be coached, rehearsed …and totally false. The most expensive two trials in California history and they did not lead to one single conviction on any of the hundreds of charges filed against the Buckleys.

Notwithstanding his innocence, it did make Ray Buckley serve five years in prison before the court would even set bail. It totally wrecked the lives of Ray and Peggy Buckley. It destroyed the McMartin Pre-School business that had operated safely for almost 20 years. The Buckleys lost every penny they had ever saved (including their home). The four years of trials were never justified by the facts, but the "pack-journalism" of the media leaning heavily in favor of the prosecution plus the distorted beliefs of a Los Angeles District Attorney and the psychoneurosis of a Children’s Protective representative, caused a nightmare that had repercussions throughout the world.

I still strongly favor sending child molesters to jail for life. But it is important that all of us always presume the innocence of someone until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Especially in cases that tend to make the blood boil. When you read an item in the paper or hear about one on TV that sounds totally "way out" such as parents tying their child to a tree and abusing him or a mother sitting by and watching while her child is molested…don’t believe it…until it is proven in court.