((((hugs)))) I have not logged in for a long time! I am so sorry for your pain.

I am so sorry to hear about your son's sentence. Yes, it is heartbreaking and it really bothers me. I don't really know how to express what I want to say, so I will just say, "I am so sorry."

You son will not qualify for a minimum security facility, so he needs to be at one of California's SNY yards. The SNY is Sensitive Needs Yard. These prisons are prisons where inmates who would have difficulty in the general population of any prison can be sent. Since the majority of the inmates at these prisons are all in the same boat as far as being a high risk for danger at a normal prison, there is not much violence there.

A SNY yard is made up mostly of snitches, sex offenders, and gang dropouts. When your son is shipped from the county jail to the assessment/reception center/classification prison, he needs to inform the case manager in no uncertain terms that he is requesting to be place at a SNY yard.

A SNY yard is just like a normal prison, with programs and freedom of movement, but the inmates are all high risk; it will be a safe place for him to serve his sentence.

He will be relatively safe there. The other alternative is to go to general population and learn to survive there or go to PC. I think the SNY concept is a better idea for all SOs in prison.

If you have more specific questions, message me.

rewdiazepam

I'm sorry to hear this news. It's certainly a devastating result.

Rew is right. He needs to request an SNY yard. He will most likely be sent to a high level yard (but have heard of others who had more years and put in a medium yard).

If you PM me, I can give you info about some of the prisons I know about,

So sorry to hear this, here if you need to talk

i can not even imagine how heartbroken you must be.

that an SO can be sentenced to this many years is horrific!!! yeah, sex crime has turned into the new war on drugs. different crime, new name.

My husband kept his story to himself; made up something else, i believe. He was courteous to the COs and followed the rules. He did have one cellmate who stole his personal info and set up some phony utility accounts, but that was relatively easily taken care of. To be honest, the extended cell hours had an effect on his mental state, but his personal safety was never in danger.

Tears, my heart aches for you as I feel the same way. My son was sentenced to 27 years and I also will probably not be here when he is released. My only grace was he was sent to a federal prison in Virginia and for the most part there is not much violence. He said a fight here and there, mostly over gambling. He is in a medium prison and for him it works because he does not want to be in a low where they have dorms, he feels much safer with the cell door locking at night. He just moved to a new two-man cell with someone his own age. Your son will not be in a low either with his points.

The medium has more rules, more restrictions but he will be ok. Tell him hold his head up and don't act scared no matter how much he is!! Rew has always said once they get to know you and like you it won't matter what the crime is, this is very true.

You will be in a constant fog for awhile, it's two years for me but feels like yesterday. Go on vacation, don't feel guilty and try to relax. Sure you will constantly think about him and cry if you need to. When my son was in county and I went on a mini-vacation I wrote him everyday. The first thing I looked for was where the post office or a box was located. This helped me tremendously. Take a journal with you, I just recently stopped writing in mine everyday. Now I find a month or two passes before I pick it up.

More importantly take care of yourself, he needs you. Get sleeping pills if you need to, I have been taking them for years (before my son went to prison). It's very hard to turn off the brain at night when you are worrying about your son. Sleep is important. Ask Rew, our resident pharmacist what is best.

Write your son as much as you can, send him books if he is a reader (my son never read a book until he went to prison and now has read 100 at least). Hopefully you can financially help him with commissary, phone calls, etc.

Good luck, keep us posted.
Debbie

Don't know what to say except I am so very sorry to hear about your son. Whenever I see something like this on here it makes me very sad. My son's case is still up in the air, but he too is facing the possibility of a long time in prison. I can't tell you anything about how to manage this since I am wondering how I would do under the same circumstances, but I can send you love, hugs,prayers, and good wishes for an easier tomorrow.

My heart goes out to you. Life can be so unfair. Sending hugs (( ))
My son was sentenced to 10 years federal, and is also facing an additional 15-25 years federal from charges in another state. He is still there awaiting trial or ???? so at this point we have no way to know where he will end up. I did some research in the beginning and it seems that (at least in the federal system) there are a lot of prisons with a separate facility just for SO's. I read that it has become such a widespread problem that the majority of inmates in a lot of prisons are SO's.
I have already come to terms with the fact that the odds are my son will die in prison, not from any kind of prison violence, but from his own health issues, and if he does by any slim chance live long enough to see the outside, there is a good chance that I will not be alive to help him (due to my own health issues). So I think I can understand how you feel. All you can do is take things a day at a time. I am here if you need me.

Hugs. Many, many hugs for you. My son is in for what basically amounts to life.