Families of SOs Community Group
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We're still in the early days of my son's case, but now we've finally gotten (partial) transcripts and the lawyers are starting to be more encouraging. For the most part, the conversations are as my son recalled—yes, there are lots of sexual statements, but there are many places where he voiced doubt about the truthfulness of the person on the other end, flat out saying that he can tell their picture is a fake, that the story they're telling about friends, family, and other subjects is inconsistent, and several times saying "you could be anybody." He also insists that he doesn't "want to do anything wrong" and says "I may talk a big game, but I just want to talk."
You can see the transition in the conversation, where at first they are both more playful, then the person on the other end shows that they know things about my son and he becomes more and more convinced that it's someone "out to get him" (he thought it was someone trying to blackmail him by embarrasing him, because he honestly didn't think the police could go this far to pull someone in). He finally agrees to meet out of fear rather than sexual interest.
In any case, the lawyers now believe we're going to face a deal: agree to take probation and signing the list, or take it all the way to trail where the conviction rate in these cases is greater than 90% and the minimum sentence is 5 years, no chance of parole.
It's easy to see why 88% of such cases in MO don't reach trial. According to the lawyers, the only ones that usually do are where the state is so certain of their case they offer no plea. With a 5-30 year club in hand, the state gets almost everyone to plead.
But... my son is a paramedic. He worked for years to get there, and he's still out there saving people right now (made several ambulance runs yesterday, including saving a woman who took too much blood pressure medicine). If he signs anything, even a misdemeanor, he'll never work again.
We have a tough choice ahead. We have a good legal team. I think the transcripts are compelling. But still, there's some graphic sexual language that definitely won't sound good in court and the lawyers keep repeating that these are very, very tough cases to win.
I'm going to surprised if someone doesn't die of pure stress before this is over.
You can see the transition in the conversation, where at first they are both more playful, then the person on the other end shows that they know things about my son and he becomes more and more convinced that it's someone "out to get him" (he thought it was someone trying to blackmail him by embarrasing him, because he honestly didn't think the police could go this far to pull someone in). He finally agrees to meet out of fear rather than sexual interest.
In any case, the lawyers now believe we're going to face a deal: agree to take probation and signing the list, or take it all the way to trail where the conviction rate in these cases is greater than 90% and the minimum sentence is 5 years, no chance of parole.
It's easy to see why 88% of such cases in MO don't reach trial. According to the lawyers, the only ones that usually do are where the state is so certain of their case they offer no plea. With a 5-30 year club in hand, the state gets almost everyone to plead.
But... my son is a paramedic. He worked for years to get there, and he's still out there saving people right now (made several ambulance runs yesterday, including saving a woman who took too much blood pressure medicine). If he signs anything, even a misdemeanor, he'll never work again.
We have a tough choice ahead. We have a good legal team. I think the transcripts are compelling. But still, there's some graphic sexual language that definitely won't sound good in court and the lawyers keep repeating that these are very, very tough cases to win.
I'm going to surprised if someone doesn't die of pure stress before this is over.
shs76 - the FL court only ruled that the LE must stop until they start following all the rules - good but not perfect
But now it looks like it really is coming to an end. As predicted back in December, they've offered a deal that would include probation and signing the registry, but slightly sweetened by a suspended sentence and the chance to get off the registry at a future date.
My son will have to leave his position as a paramedic, but he'll be home with us, and for now we're simply grateful for that. If all goes as planned, he'll begin probation this week.