Having experienced the pain, heartache and inner torture that goes along with discovering my young son was sodomized multiple times by an elder in the congregation years ago, plus the added torture of my son then growing to teenage years to molest my youngest daughter, the knife in my heart continues to be twisted deep.
My teenage son, now 22, spent a few years in a juvenile detention school for his crime. HIS offender died years ago, and went unpunished by our so-called justice system. My son was paroled a year and a half ago and struggled to make a new life for himself. Jobs for S.O offenders are extremely difficult to come by in this society. From the recommendation of his Parole Officer, my son got a job working for a car ?dealership? (I use the term loosely), which also owned an apartment building (again the term Apartment is used loosely).
My son worked 60-80 hours each week and brought home a pay check amounting to no more than $25.00 most times. Why? Because this ?dealership? he worked for would take monies out of each check for rent, his car payment on the piece of crud car he got through them, AND for all the numerous repairs this ?car? had to have on a regular basis. Get this: If my son missed so much as an hour of work, he would automatically be fired; his car automatically repossessed and automatically evicted from his ?apartment?. The car he drove was in the shop more often then on the road, no exaggeration there. There was a noose around my son?s neck and it was being squeezed tighter and tighter as each day went by.
If my son missed an hour of work, he?d automatically be fired; which in turn, puts him in trouble with parole. If my son does not have an ?approved? place of residence, he?s in trouble with parole. If my son is too poor to pay his parole fees, he?s in trouble with parole. Either way you look at it, he?s always walking a tight-rope for his continued freedom. For him, it?s been a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don?t.
Well, his luck ran out last month.
Over the 1½ years that my son has been trying to support himself while on parole ,
the stress of trying to follow all his obligations for parole, employment, S.O. counseling, and supporting himself financially began to affect his health. The apartment (I use the term loosely) is uninhabitable ; the pint-size gas stove gave off a strong gas smell whenever started, as well as sparking where it's not supposed to spark. The toilet would back up into the shower stall (there was NO tub ), making the shower and toilet unusable for weeks leading up to his present situation. The "apartment" is infested with roaches, mice, rats, etc. The apartment was inhumane .
My son became very ill; inability to afford food caused his appetite to virtually CEASE ,
s causing him to lose a lot of weight; his bowels stopped up, urinary track infection symptoms, ulcer symptoms, s evere exhaustion, long crying spells, etc. My
husband and I were working on scheduling
him to see a doctor or be
put into the hospital . He was so ill that he was unable to go to
work. He was
immediately fired; his car was repossessed the same
evening; He received a 3-day Eviction notice the next morning. He was told he would find his belongings in the street if he were not out of the apartment in three days.
My oldest daughter was visiting from out of state at the same time
, so we went to see
my son at
his apartment to surprise him (He had no phone). We
found him bent over
, sobbing uncontrollably that he'd been fired, his car
repossessed and he was holding his eviction notice. He hadn?t been able to eat or sleep and his coloring was gray.
Fearing for my son?s health and well being, we packed up my son's belongings and took him to my house, ONE DAY PRIOR TO THE WARRANT BEING ISSUED.
I personally tried to call my son?s Parole Officer on Monday, the day after we moved him into our home, but the P.O. was not in his office and did not answer his cell phone. I tried again on Tuesday with the same result: I did not think it proper to simply leave a message on his voicemail. On Wednesday, my son spoke with his P.O., who told my son to WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT MONDAY TO TURN HIMSELF IN BECAUSE HE WOULD BE OUT OF THE OFFICE THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK! My son did not run or hide; he was sick and at MY house being cared for! We were trying to help my son, and believed we were doing the right and only thing that would save my son. While my son slept, plans were being worked out to get him seen by doctors, find an approved apartment and move my son into a DECENT apartment within the required county. Through my husband?s business contacts, my son was lined up with a REAL job. But, when my son woke up, he went into a terrified panic attack, saying he needed to call his Parole Officer to tell him where he was, why, etc. Two days had elapsed when he called his P.O. The P.O. told him a warrant had been issued for him , and that he should turn himself in. We all explained to the P.O. the full extent of my son's situation, but the P.O. said my son should turn himself in.
The hearing was held Thursday, April 8, 2004. Present for the hearing was our lawyer, my son, my husband and I, the P.O. and the S.O. counselor and the Hearing Officer. NOT ONE person recommended Revocation, NOT ONE! My son?s S.O. Counselor testified that my son is ?NOT a threat or danger to society?, and that my son?s ?form of sexual offense: INCEST has a very low recidivism rate?. The Counselor also testified that he was encouraged because my son had developed a relationship with an adult female.
After hearing all the testimony, the Parole Officer AND the Parole Hearing Officer recommended leniency for my son. The Hearing Officer recommended the warrant be removed and my son be released with electronic monitoring. The Parole Officer recommended the warrant be removed and be released, or be sent to I.S.F. briefly.
The decision was made to REVOKE my son's parole !!! He is at this moment waiting to be transferred to prison because HE DIDN'T MAKE A PHONE CALL FAST ENOUGH !!! The Parole Officer told me personally that he has had numerous parolees with "serious violations" that were given a slap on the wrist and warning and were released. The Parole Officer has also APOLOGIZED to my son for having issued the warrant! But, MY son is going to prison?!!!
And to think, it?s called the JUSTICE System. Yeah, right.
