Families of SOs Community Group
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shelly249
Hi Everyone, I am new to this group (well at least to posting init anyway). I have been reading through many of the questions and comments and am only comforted in knowing (finally) I am not as alone as I thought. I really don't know where to begin other than when our nightmare started. I am sorry this is so long. I totally understand if I don't get a lot of comments. I just feel I need to vent somewhere I won't be judged. At the end of June at 6:15 in the morning there was an extremely loud pounding on the door. First thing you should know is Nobody comes to my house unannounced. I am disabled and I have a special needs dog with a heart condition who must have medication at least an hour before any type of excitement (good or bad). When I opened the door there must have been about 30 H-Land Ofcrs standing my doorway. The woman in front just started screaming at me "We Have a Search Warrant". She never showed me the warrant. They all forced their way into my home and shoved me into the wall to clear their path. My dog started going crazy and running down the stairs. I begged them to please not shoot my dog. Not only am I her therapy human but she is my therapy dog (I have severe black out that put me in a sleep state. When I sleep I must wear a breathing machine because without it I stop breathing 40 times an hour. My dog warns me and wakes me up when I black out.). The one officer said not to worry they would not hurt her and told me they were all animal people (Now that I think about it I think they are all animals for what they did). They rushed up the stairs before I could call to my husband or my son (they were both getting ready for work). I bare saw them for more than a second before the one officer ask me if she could escort me out into the yard with my dog so she would not interfere with their search. She proceeded to chat very friendly with me asking how long we had lived here, how long have my husband and I been together. I answered her questions still not know what they were even here for. Finally I asked her what she was looking for and she said that back in August of 2014 our IT address (I think that's what she called it. I only know it has to do with computers. My husband and I are NOT very tech savvy at all) showed up on a site that on some occasions has been known to have CP. I told her that there was nobody under my roof looking up CP and that they would not find anything like that here. I told her my son had just been discharged from the Navy because he had gotten hurt and he was my live in "Tech Support" I had been having a LOT of problems with my computer and my son found over 30,000 malicious viruses in my computer. My son was able to clear 27 gb of memory getting rid of many of the viruses but there were still about 17,000 viruses still in there. About an hour into this whole mess my phone alarm went off to remind me to take my medication. I practically had to beg her to let me go into my own house. It wasn't until I told her with out the medication the black outs will be severe and I will need to be on my breathing machine for the rest of the day. When I went inside and up to my bedroom I am seeing officers in EVERY room tearing my house apart. I also am now realizing I am still only in my pajamas and not looking appropriate for anyone to see me outside of my family (I am sure you all know the look... A small tank top and pajama shorts are NOT meant for anyone to be seeing outside of family). When I go into my room there are about 6 or 7 officers tearing my room apart. They all went on defense mode when I walked in and told me I was not supposed to be there. I told them I needed my medication and I wanted a shirt to put on over my tank top. I also corrected them and told them I belonged anywhere in my house that I needed to be whether they were there or not. I went back downstairs and to the kitchen to take my meds and that's when I realized that I was alone... My husband and son were both gone. I felt sick and turn to the officer that was actually taking all the food out of my freezer to search and asked him where my son and husband were. He told me they let my son go to work and that my husband had agreed to a polygraph test. I asked why he needed a polygraph and they said he volunteered and that we were all be very cooperative. He also told me that my husband had called his job and told them he would be about an hour late. I thought "Oh Ok, I'll just call him in a little bit and make sure he is ok" (How stupid could I really be????) I went back out to the yard and the officer was kneeling with my dog. I told her I was upset because I didn't get to give my husband our customary Kiss/Hug/I love You/Be Careful/Have a Good Day that we have always done for the past 24 years. She told me not to worry that everything would be fine. About an hour later (a little over three hours since the whole pounding on my door), one of the demolition crew officers came out and told me they were finished and they all left. The officer that kept me outside had given me her card with her personal number on the back. I waited about an hour and called my husband (I figured an extra hour and a half would be a good amount of time). All I got was his voicemail. I sent him a text. He always answers my texts within a few minutes. A half hour later, I started to feel nervous and called his job. His boss told me my husband called out for the day (What happened to "He called out for an hour" like the officer had told me???). I immediately called the officer and she said "Oh he's still here we just got to chatting. He should not be much longer". Two hours later there was still no call or text. I called the officer again and she told me they lost track of time chatting and he was still there. I asked her what was going on and she assured me everything was fine he was not being charged and he was not under arrest. She told me he was able to come home when ever he wanted to leave. two and a half hours later he finally walked in the door. It was at this point that I finally got to see the actual warrant. He told me he failed the polygraph test and they told him he was going to go to prison for life. Now, this is how the polygraph test went. First they asked him basic questions (Name, Is the Door Open. Blah Blah). They asked him to write numbers then they told him to lie about one of the numbers he wrote (to get a "Base Lie"). The officer said "Good this shows us you are a bad liar". Then they asked him two questions... Have you ever touched anyone under the age of 18. Has anyone under the age of 18 ever touched you. My husband said "No" on both questions. Suddenly the machine isn't working write and the officer said they didn't get a good reading. They moved the bands on his arms and told my husband to whisper his answers. They DID NOT ask him the base questions again they only asked him the "Touch" questions, which he whispered "No Never". The officer then said that they were still getting a bad reading. The officer moved the bands again and the officer said that they wanted him to just nod his head and not speak. They again did not ask the base questions they only asked the "Touch" questions and again my husband shook his head no. The officer told him the test was over. A half hour later they came back in and told him he failed the polygraph. Has ANYONE here EVER had this happen to them?? It seems to me the polygraph was manipulated. They then proceeded to mentally torture my husband for seven hours. They did tell him he could leave at any time, but, he said "Why should I leave... I didn't do anything.". They asked him if he had ever clicked on pop ups and been taken to sites that had Illegal images. My husband said there have been a few times that this has happened. They proceeded to tell him, because he saw those images he was guilty and that he was a monster that they would make sure would rot in prison. My husband went to work the next day (God love him... He is still trying to do what has to be done). I made over 20 phone calls trying to find out about a lawyer and what to do. I finally found a lawyer that takes on H-Land on a regular basis and is one of the best in the country. She informed me because this is a H-land case they can now come to my home at anytime or come to us anywhere unless they are informed they we have legal counsel. I gave her a copy of all the cards (My husband and son each were given cards too) and she immediately called their office and informed them they would need to go through her for all future contact. They took our computer, my laptop and my son's laptop and all of our tablets. They took all of our flash drives, my camera, and my medical transcription class (all of my discs and my flash drive that the class was saved on), they even took my dogs I-pod!! The funny thing is they left stacks of CD's (I'm talking over 100 CD's) that I had made myself with family pictures and songs. Does ANYONE know how long it takes to get things back from them?? Especially since my son and I aren't even the one's who are under investigation, we would like our things back. The lawyer called me right back as soon as she was finished informing them she was now working for us. She told me they already had a prosecuting attny. She also said he is not very experienced in this type of case. Now, Jump to a week ago. The lawyer called and said that this prosecuting attny is convinced that my husband is out touching children and that if my husband goes and and admits to molesting children they will try to go easy on him... My lawyer told their attny that he was way out of line and way off with his charge. He is listening to what these crooked officers are telling him and they are lying to him too! Do They RECORD polygraph tests? Will I (or at least my lawyer) be able to see that recording? This prosecutor and these officers are ruthless and vile. My lawyer said this whole case seems to have become a witch hunt of some sort. She said it seems that they aren't getting what they want and they don't want to admit that they made a mistake so now they are grasping for straws that just are not there. It's only been 6 weeks and two days since this all started. There have been no charges or even an arrest yet. If they think my husband is such a danger to society, why aren't they doing... Something???? God, I feel like I am losing my mind. I told the lawyer my husband and I both wanted to go for counseling, but she advised us that with this being a H-land case doctor/patient confidentiality will not apply. So we must wait and slip farther into our depressions and worry. This whole thing is so surreal. I just feel so lost.
So you got an independent forensic team to search the computer and proved his innocence yet still had to take a plea deal? There's something wrong with that...
200 years without the possibility of parole for possession of 20 pornographic images of children.
http://tinyurl.com/ppvyobc
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David Hall
825 years for child pornography charges
http://tinyurl.com/jad7r4j
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Daniel Enrique Guevara Vilca
LWOP---Life in prison without the possibility of parole for possession of child pornography images.
http://tinyurl.com/l325ofm
I just adore this quote by the prosecutor in the Vilca case----
" “Too many people just look at this as a victimless crime, and that’s not true,” he said. “These children are victimized, and when the images are shown over and over again, they’re victimized over and over again.”
If this is the case, the FBI re-victimized hundreds---maybe even thousands---of victims when they seized and operated their own child porn site for two weeks. I suppose the victims are not "re-victimized" when the FBI is involved.
http://tinyurl.com/j6pyrkj
I could go on and on, but why bother?? This country has lost its mind when it comes to sex offenders or child pornography prosecutions.
rewdiazepam
The actual child porn site---named "Playpen"---- was actually on the Deep Web, which is only accessible by using the Tor Browser.
A judge ruled that the evidence the FBI collected was the result of an invalid warrant and much of the evidence is being thrown out of court. So I guess the FBI victimized all these children for basically nothing.
http://tinyurl.com/jspxgkh
rewdiazepam
Here is what I have to say ....but before I do I cannot emphasize enough that if you decide to do this check with your lawyer first. If they say not a good idea then wait - if your husband gets convicted or takes a plea then you are free to do it. No matter what happens make sure you get the straight answer on what affects an appeal or not so that you can file one ....
Here is my idea (and many on here will say that never works) but I think you should create a change.org or a White House petition (or both) - it is true that petitions usually do not work for RSO issue becasue no one (in the public) has any understanding or sympathy for them - but along comes a case like this where people WOULD have understanding and be outraged about it - why? becasue they can relate to the injustice of it all! Many people have had this same kind of thing happen to them. Another thing that bothers me is HOW they even knew about the virus? People should take heed to that because what it basically means is that either the feds planted the virus to begin with (I know seems far fetched but we are finding out more and more that it isn't) or they have something that gives "hits" on certain computer activity. In other words other people that get caught with CP is becasue the cops use certain software to scan folders of P to P networks etc. in this case where would the search be?
There is a reason they did not arrest him - not sure why yet but normally they would ....so that is also a clue that there is more than what meets the eye here....
On a somewhat related note the feds are actually trying to "sneak" in a bill that they say they thought was already part of the law and that is why they thought they were able to do certain things without a warrant - they found out that they were mistaken so now they are trying to remedy that. I am telling you as USA citizens we should be afraid - very afraid ....
https://theintercept.com/2016/05/26/secret-text-in-senate-bill-would-give-fbi-warrantless-access-to-email-records/
I am one of those that do not like online petitions, especially when they are trying to be used to change law and things. But for this purpose, it is a little different, it would almost feel more like a popularity contest to see how many of the general public agree that what they are doing with your husband's case is not only out of the ordinary but something more sinister. But as Advocate says emphatically, do not do any of it without consulting your husband's attorney first.
The reasons they didn't arrest him outright is because they got their indictment, they got their arraignment and they have guaranteed that he should show up for his court dates. Arrest to me has only ever meant a means to have someone show up in front of a judge to be indicted so that the criminal proceedings can begin. I could be wrong as I am not as familiar with the federal system as some here are.
Advocate, I couldn't agree more, US citizens are no longer free and should be very afraid of their elected officials from the local level on up.
Hang in there Shelly!
crossing my fingers for you!!!! I hate the waiting game too!
There shouldn't be any interrogation. You're lawyer should say "My client wishes to exercise his fifth amendment rights". He does have the right to do that. When you said, interrogation, I am hoping you meant polygraph.
If this is an H land case, TRY to get this into the state system. It is very unusual that the feds would pursue a case where is an unintended visual or just a few pop-ups. Sometimes the Feds DO send some CP cases to the state courts if they are up to their ears in cases. In the state system, I personally feel you'd have a better chance getting this dismissed (especially if it was an unintentional visual) or negotiating a better sentence. But check with your lawyer, first.
The legal system is designed to confuse the layman. That term is important, Legal System, because they like to call it a justice system, something it is not. This will be about the better legal strategy and the evidence the prosecution has as well as how they present it. This is what the attorney is for, to be the guide, to bounce ideas off of too. Don't be afraid to research, read, learn as much as you can about your particular case, the statutes that they are prosecuting him under as well as the complaint itself as the whole thing is based off of that initial complaint. Don't be afraid to ask the attorney about the things you learn that you believe might be helpful, if they say no, then ask why because it is the attorney's job with their Juris Doctorate to teach you about the law you are encountering. Doctorate means "to teach".
I can't emphasize enough that getting involved in your own defense is crucial to attempting to get good outcomes. Attorneys are only human, they are fallible, that is why they work in teams, shore up those 'holes' in their thinking, planning, strategy, etc. Like they say, fresh eyes can see things the seasoned ones might miss.
The confusion will subside once you learn more about what they are doing and possibly why, but that is irrelevant, freedom is the only thing that matters at this point. What they are doing, how they are doing it and when it will all take place in front of a judge.
Now that the case is underway, as curious as we all are and our wish to support you, you must not talk to anyone about this case. When discussing it be extremely vague from this point forward or just say "per our attorney I have been advised to abstain from commenting or answering any questions." If people don't like it and try to push, just repeat it, they obviously don't understand how our Legal System works in this country or have misunderstood the words, "anything can and will be used against you in a court of law".
Stay safe, we're here and we'll listen as the roller coaster begins. Just like that ride, this too will come to an abrupt end eventually.
wisconsinrsol.... Roller coaster is right. Thanks to all of you here in this group... I have learned a lot. The eyes are open and the rose colored glasses I didn't even realize I was wearing have finally been shattered.