Voice of Elmo accused of sexual relationship with underage boy

[Jackalope]

On the one hand, best wishes go out to whoever is the victim in this.

On the other hand...

Must... resist... temptation... to... post... inappropriate... cartoons....

Arrrrrrggh....

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Temptation can be a bitch.

[Faith No More]

I was really hoping the charges would turn out to be bogus, but the emergence of a second accuser does not bode well for that. Not that it proves anything. It just makes me less optimistic that these charges are false.

Who knew we'd have to watch out for people obsessed with puppets?

[downbeatplumb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVJWdV8GEOs

[Jackalope]

I was really hoping the charges would turn out to be bogus, but the emergence of a second accuser does not bode well for that. Not that it proves anything. It just makes me less optimistic that these charges are false.

It's possible that the second accuser is seeing an opportunity for a settlement.

Who knows? The court is going to have to sort it out.

[Faith No More]

I know, I know. I'm still hopeful...just less hopeful.

[Cyberman]

Unfortunately, in many people's minds, this sort of crime is one of the few in which the mere accusation is enough for a conviction. I've learned from experience, even if I was unaware before, that accusations are not necessarily indications of guilt. The police are duty-bound to investigate all accusations, true or not, otherwise how would they tell one from another? However, that's only the start of the process. It may indeed be the case that the accusations are true, but until the evidence has been assessed and the verdict delivered it's not my place to pass opinion. Even after the dust has settled, it may still emerge that the accusations were bogus. I've even got a "for instance".

There is an individual of my acquaintance who about twenty years ago was accused of something similar. I'm not going to reveal this person's name or my relationship to him, even if I were at liberty to do so (before anyone grabs the wrong end of the stick and beats about the bush with it, no it wasn't me). Anyway, this person was arrested and brought to trial, based on the accusations alone. I along with other potential witnesses recorded voluntary statements in his defense, since I at least knew for a fact that he was not guilty, yet we were never called to speak in court. It's a pretty long and involved story, but basically this person was scared into pleading guilty - not because he actually was guilty, but the advice from his solicitor was that by pleading guilty he'd likely get a lesser sentence than if he went through with the trial and ended up being found guilty. Plus he didn't want to drag all his friends and family through a long and messy trial; thus the guilty plea. He ended up serving nine years.

As for the accusers, as memory serves there were about five or six of them and the majority melted into the woodwork as the process went on. Even the chief accuser refused to go through with it; he said that he didn't want to play his mother's games any longer. The remaining accusers were offered counselling to help them overcome the trauma of being abused, but they turned it down, because they feared someone might spot that they'd lied. In the end the judge ruled that since they'd refused the counselling, the experience had clearly not adversely affected them and so they were ruled ineligible for compensation - which, we learned, is what the whole exercise had been about in the first place.

All of this only came out afterwards of course, but by then it was far too late. An innocent life had been destroyed. Even years after leaving prison, this person is still trying to pick up the pieces. After all, as I have heard from people who have an opinion but little knowledge of the case, there's no smoke without fire. Except when there is.

[Tiberius]

If there is anything I've learned from watching numerous court cases like this, it's:

1. Never say you are guilty if you are innocent, even if your lawyer says you'll get a deal.
2. Order your lawyer (you do pay them after all) to explain to the jury the concept of "beyond reasonable doubt" in layman's terms.
3. If you are convicted, keep fighting and appealing.
4. If the conviction is overturned; sue the fuck out of the accusers and the state for wrongful imprisonment.

[Cyberman]

Outside of my own experience, of course, but it's probably a different ballgame when you're actually in that position. I can't even imagine the sort of pressures on someone accused like that. Like I say, even if found not guilty, you're still likely to get your windows bricked and burning dogshit through your letterbox.

[Faith No More]

Unfortunately, it's just as you said, Stimbo, in that the mere accusation of this crime is enough to tarnish the person's reputation.

[Rev. Rye]

Unfortunately, it's just as you said, Stimbo, in that the mere accusation of this crime is enough to tarnish the person's reputation.

Yeah, remember Fatty Arbuckle? He was accused of raping and murdering a girl, and he was actually found innocent, and the trial's judge actually personally apologised to him at the end of the trial, not that that mattered; his career was over.