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honestwitness 03/19/2012

My son has been in prison for 3 months of a 20-year sentence for sex abuse of a minor. So far, his prison experience has been surprisingly good. So good, in fact that I think he may be letting his guard down a little too much. He says that, when he's asked what he's in for, he tells the asker he's in for a sex crime. However, he doesn't give any details. He says he feels it's safer to tell at least a little bit of the truth than to tell a big lie and make up an entirely different crime.

Well..the other day, he asked me to print the news article that announced his sentencing in the newspaper and send it to him. I asked if he was sure it would be safe for him to have that come through the mail system. He said it will be fine. He said he wants to know what other people will find on the Internet, if they google his name. It's cvery easy to find the article.

However, after reading the article again, I have huge reservations about sending it to him. It quotes statements made by the Prosecutor which make my son out to be a dangerous predator and society needing to put him away to keep our children safe.

I just fear I could open a huge can of worms for him by sending that article to him.

What do you think? What would you do?

red55 03/19/2012

That would not be a good idea.. Sounds like someone is messing with his head..

red55

honestwitness 03/19/2012

Thanks for sharing your wisdom red55. That's my gut feeling, too.

FaithFlower 03/19/2012

You could always read it to him on the phone. He would still get the same information that way. I also would NOT send that to him in the mail.

honestwitness 03/19/2012

Faithflower, I thought of reading it to him on the phone, but calls are mmonitored and recorded, aren't they?

Steph2011 03/19/2012

I agree with FaithFlower, just read it to him, so he knows what it says. No reason to mail it and then it is in his possession and someone finds it. Especially since the newspaper article doesn't sound good. From what I hear people in prison aren't that nice to sex offenders.

Maybe read it to him over the phone and state your concerns with him and go from there. But if you don't feel comfortable sending it, then don't. If your "gut" is telling you not to send it, it is telling you for a reason. He might be mad that you don't send it, but I am sure he won't stay mad forever.

FamilyNoMore 03/20/2012

Do not send it. No good will come of it. He doesn't need it. Go with your gut feelings.

amynmesa 03/20/2012

I would read it to him on the phone , but would also be worried about them monitoring calls, so I would go one step further and instead of using his name I would act like I was reading an article about someone else and swap a fictional name in place of his.

catspaw1954 03/20/2012

I agree read it to him. The people monitoring the phones already know what he has done.

honestwitness 03/20/2012

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I especially like Amynmesa's suggestion to read it as if it's someone else.

deleted_user 03/20/2012

Do NOT send it to him. He IS letting his guard down. Im glad his experience is positive. But he really needs to keep his mouth shut. There are gangs in prisons known as " haters". They'll even leave gay men alone but woe to anyone who smells of a sex crime because it is always assumed to have involved a child. The "chomo" (child molester) is the new "n-word".

Can't you just paraphrase it? And yes, the monitoring people already know what he did. And he should already know what the Internet says about him anyway wouldn't he? If the whole thing is in the news, the Internet will have it all. Damn, once I found my Amazon Wish List online when I Googled my name!! I had saved all these books on sex crime to buy later!!! (I immediately discovered I could make it a private list). What's to tell him? If he's Googled, they know.

deleted_user 03/21/2012

he doesn't need to tell anyone why he there.

deleted_user 03/22/2012

I'm not sure about how things are in prison, but my guy was told that he is not allowed to have newspaper articles (luckily for us, it never made the paper) or things like that mentioning his "crime" because it's considered reliving the crime for pleasure. I wouldn't send it to be on the safe side.

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