Friday, September 30, 2011

Freak Show

I am continually amazed at the nonsense coming out of the mouths of some of the CFS supporters.  One in particular, BG, has done everything from trying to bring criminal charges against those commenting on the Sacramento Bee comments sections, accusing the District Attorney of victim recruitment, and now blaming the parents of victims from "raising their kids to be victims".  When will someone realize that these blatantly offensive comments are NOT beneficial to your cause?  You think Robert Adams is innocent...great.  Give him and his family support.  I have no problem with that.  What I DO have a problem with is the continual blame.  It doesn't make him look innocent.  It reminds me of a 5 year old trying to blame the dog for something he did.  In her latest comment she says:

[Name Removed], you make an excellent point. How awesome that your son had the courage to tell the officer that the gun in his face was making him uncomfortable! It occurred to me after reading your comment, that you hit a very important point. The whole philosophy and culture of CFS, what makes it so valuable to parents and children there, past and present, is that it's all about growing children to be authentic and respectable/respectful. People who live by that paradigm and raise their children that way, or run a school that way, do so in order for their kids to be stronger in character and more courageous so they DON'T become victims. They don't then turn around and molest the kids! You either raise kids to be victims, intentionally or unintentionally, or you take the higher road and specifically teach them otherwise.



I can't help but find it almost funny that those who don't really understand the value of the school, probably were pretty surprised when so many parents didn't just immediately believe the molestation allegations, and instead, supported Bob and the school. It's certainly not because the parents are half-wits as some would like everyone to believe, it's because they recognize that higher road of education, respect, and decency. Most people probably have never even experienced such a thing at their child's school. I know I hadn't before I found CFS for my kids. And it's certainly taken a lot of hard work for the City and DA to scrape up enough recruited victims to keep this farce going, and the only question left is why?


I think now is an excellent time for each and every parent, parent of previous students, previous students themselves, and concerned citizens to write to the governor and media as [PSP] suggested in her post below. It's time for the State and media to thoroughly investigate those who have blatantly violated an exceptional and dedicated educator, human being, and family man, his family, his school, and all the staff, students, and parents, and to hold them accountable for their actions before this goes any further. California can not afford to spend a fortune on a manufactured molestation claims trial, nor can it afford to lose the value of the progress CFS has made in child education.

The statement, "You either raise kids to be victims, intentionally or unintentionally, or you take the higher road and specifically teach them otherwise." disgusts meWhat a horrible thing to say.  So it is the fault of Jaycee Dugard's parents that she was kidnapped at age 11 and held for years by her captor?  According to BG, her parents raised her that way.  I suppose they failed to "take the higher road and specifically teach [her] otherwise."  Perhaps if she had attended Creative Frontiers and was subjected to the "philosophy and culture of CFS"  so that she could grow up "authentic and respectable/respectful"  It wouldn't have happened.  What about Lacey Petersen and her unborn child?  Did her parents make her a victim as well?  According to BG, if they had attended CFS they would have been "stronger in character and more courageous so they DON'T become victims" Ugh.

As you will see in several posts we will be sharing with you in upcoming days, there have been MANY cases where a man accused of molestation has had an outpouring of public support prior to being convicted or even admitting to molestation and sexual abuse charges.  I wasn't "pretty surprised when so many parents didn't just immediately believe the molestation allegations, and instead, supported Bob and the school" when the allegations came out.  I've seen it before.  Of course no one wants to believe this about someone they trusted with their children.   I didn't think they were "half-wits" although I question the involvement of children attending rallies and being more involved than small children should be in such a tumultuous situation.  There are many ways to publicly support your loved one without throwing around blame willy-nilly at everyone involved and without involving your young children.

I don't understand why some of these supporters refuse to believe that the investigators and district attorneys ARE acting as they are supposed to.  "Investigate those who have blatantly violated" Mr. Adams?  How?  By conducting interviews and determining if claims of molestation were true or not?  By all means, if at the end of the day if is shown that the allegations were fabricated, I sincerely hope someone gets to the bottom of it, but until then, it is Mr. Adams who has charges pending....not the media, the police, or the DA.  Yet again, there is no reason to insist that the allegations are fabricated.  They are different and specific and definitely warrant investigation, which is what the police are trying to do right now.


One thing I feel is important to note is that BG hasn't had children at the school for 15 years.  In addition, they were only there for ONE year.  In this SacBee article, she states:
My own [children- identifier removed] were only at CFS for 5th grade
I'm glad she enjoyed the school for the year that she had children attending 15 or more years ago, but how does this make her an expert on Mr. Adams' credibility?  His expert teaching methods?  His innocence?  If you read on comment down from hers there is another parent who was a "current and longtime" CFS parent who finds the actions on the CFS Facebook page as "disheartening". 
 
Just when you think she can't say anything more outrageous and uncalled for, BG goes on to post Thursday:


Something else to ponder: There was no reason whatsoever for the police to be "instructing" parents to be doing anything. The cops had no business getting in-between the children and their parents at all, and if it was their intent to truly be mindful of the best interests of the children, this whole thing would have been handled much more calmly and with more maturity for the sake of the kids.


Kids in a relatively stable home will show signs if there's abuse going on in school or elsewhere. Parents who are tuned in to their kids will notice something's not quite right. With a little patience and lots of love, kids will tell someone they trust that something happened to them when THEY are ready. All of this manipulation and second guessing is a load of crap, and very dangerous, as we're starting to see in these stories about how the kids are handling all this now.


I've said it before and I'll say it again. This isn't about protecting the kids. This is about using them to create a fiasco for another agenda. That's something worth pondering if you care about children.


But if you don't, then carry on with the freak show...

Yes BG, there WAS reason for the police to be "instructing" parents to do things.  Their children's school had just been shut down because of some very serious allegations.  Parents needed to know what to do.  Many were confused, upset, and worried that something may have happened to their child as well.  The police instructed parents NOT to interview their own children.  This is not victim recruitment.  This is allowing the interviews to take place with people who are trained to interview the children.  The sessions are videotaped.  Why?  So that it can be used as evidence.  This is for the benefit of the potential victim AND the alleged perpetrator.  Other than the actual closing of the school, nothing the CHPD has done can be considered anything but professional and appropriate.  What ISN'T mature is bashing victims, witnesses, posting witnesses addresses and phone numbers publicly, making farm noises at people, coming up with conspiracy theories, and telling supporters to prank call the attorney of an alleged victim.  All things done by CFS supporters.

Unfortunately just like many kids may not come forward when they are being bullied, many will not come forward to tell about molestation either. Often they are ashamed or scared. This doesn't mean their home is not stable. This doesn't mean their parents have done something wrong. It means that kids don't always tell an adult when something is wrong.  Often seeing that there are other victims that have come forward gives them some power and courage that lets them open up.  This isn't victim recruitment either.  The National Child Traumatic Stress Network lists many reasons a child might not tell an adult right away.  In addition, regarding parents picking up on the signals that something is wrong with their child the phrase, 'when you hear hoof beats, you think horses not zebras' comes to mind.  If a child is acting differently, a parent is going to go with the easiest, least traumatic explanation first.  What parent looks at Johnny not eating his breakfast this morning and assumes his football coach has been molesting him?  None.  You will go through every other explanation first.  Must have the flu, extra schoolwork, new baby sister...not 'He isn't eating, I bet he was molested!'  The world is not so cut and dry.  Often kids exhibit behavior changes, but many kids go through behavior changes as they grow anyways.  This is not a sign of poor parenting.  It is proof positive that parenting is a difficult journey.  A journey where we try, not always successfully, to make the right choices and decisions for our children.

Despite you saying it more than once BG, there is still no agenda.  No one wants the CFS property.  The public schools aren't jealous.  The District Attorney didn't need another case to prosecute.  The Citrus Heights Police Department and the Department of Social Services didn't need to "prove themselves".  The alleged victims didn't need a new BMW.  I care about kids.  I care about potential victims.  This is why I don't blame them or the people trying to protect them.  If that makes me a freak show, perhaps I should start selling tickets.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Does Not Included = Not Molested?

PSP asks some "hard hitting" questions today regarding the investigation against Robert Adams.

I find it quite interesting that the initial complaint by Irma Mertens that ignited this firestorm was deemed by investigators to be non-credible and the police interview of the little elementary age girl in question found that she wasn't molested afterall. Hummm, you think that it would have been a little smarter to figure that out BEFORE they closed the school and threw someone under the bus? I also find it interesting how police say they "instructed' parents on how to interview their children--it must be an extremely easy thing to do if any lay person can do it. I wonder though to do this if they had parents take a course on victim interviewing, did they give them a book to read on how to do it with a pass/fail test, or did they just give them a piece of paper or tell them over the phone, do this don't do that? Also, wondering if they made the parents videotape or audiotape the interviews so that they know exactly what was said, when it was said and how it was said. I'm thinking that since parents probably aren't professional interviewers but were intrusted with the police to do this, I wonder how many didn't follow all of the police's 'rules' on interviewing victims and 'accidently' used leading questions or nonverbals to get answers? Many thoughts to ponder....
I admit, the question regarding why Irma's most serious complaint was not part of the charges filed is a good one.  We don't know why her initial allegations were not part of the charges filed.  While prosecutors have the ability to include that charge at a later date, it is very interesting that it wasn't included initially.  It could be for a myriad of reasons, none of which truly matter in terms of the current 7 charges.  Is she saying she would rather he face 8 counts in court? As interesting as the Irma Merten's allegations are, never has it been said that the child in those allegations "wasn't molested afterall".  It simply means that as of today, there is not enough evidence for the District Attorney's office to warrant bringing charges forward. Yet.  That is a very big yet here, folks. Charges can be added (or dropped) any time during the legal process. This answers our question, not included surely does not equal not molested.

Remember though, Irma's allegations were regarding two different incidents and two different children.  One incident occurred in the summer of 2010, the other occurred in January or February 2011. Irma reported that a parent had complained to her that their child said "Mr. Bob had touched her on her pee-pee".  This child is included in the original charges that were filed.

Let's talk about the "parent interviews". Nowhere have I seen, heard or witnessed anything about CHPD instructing parents on how to "interview" their child. In fact, in looking at their website, it actually says quite the opposite:

- If you suspect your child may have been a victim, it is critical that investigators obtain the best statement possible.Conducting your own interview with your child may hamper this. 
-If you suspect your child may have been a victim, it is normal to be concerned. Please contact the police station via the provided numbers as soon as possible. 
-Avoid leading questions which may cause your child to falsely disclose 
-It is normal to be upset. Your child may interpret this to mean that an act of molest, if one did occur, is their "fault" you should be sensitive to these feelings an attempt to mitigate any feelings of guilt they feel.
At the parent meeting on July 18, 2011 the lead detective at that time was asked by a parent how to determine if their child may have been a victim.   His response was to ask non-leading questions and open ended questions and to call CHPD immediately if there was a concern.  The interviews of the children in each of the charges were done at the SAFE Center by one or all of the following: law officers, deputy district attorneys, social workers, medical professionals, victim advocates and licensing workers.  Parents are not involved in the interviewing done at the SAFE Center because of the very thing PSP mentions.  Charges are not brought forth simply because a parent says their child said something happened.

Once a report is received, Law Enforcement officials are engaged and the complaint goes through the course of investigation like any other case. To think I could simply call CHPD and report that PSP had taken valuables from my home and she would be charged is ludicrous.  There would be an investigation, LE would look for evidence and if sufficient evidence was found, charges could be brought against her.  Suppose my case makes it to the media, the DA is not responsible for disclosing the evidence found to the general public. Motions will be filed by PSP's attorney for Discovery and at that time evidence will be shared.  It still does not mean that the general public will hear about it.  The DA will not try their case in the media and if the evidencing is particularly damning, PSP's attorney will not want to advertise it either.

As the general public, we do not have all the facts, nor should we.  CFS supporters do not have all the facts despite possibly believing they do.  For some supporters, their reality of this case relies solely on media and what the Adams family tells them to believe. We are not saying don't believe in Robert Adams innocence.  We are simply asking people to use the brain in their head and truly think about the facts that are public record.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Money Money Money

We received an email from a reader and wanted to post this:

The reason I am writing is that I recently heard from a friend that CFS offered a summer camp deal through the discount website Living Social several months ago.  I just wanted the word spread that anyone who purchased one those deals can contact Living Social and their money will be immediately refunded.  I’m not a member of the CFS facebook page, so I can’t post this there but I wanted as many people as possible to get their money back. 

Refunds are something that still haven't been seen by parents that have emailed or spoken to us. Despite Linda Parisi's statement a week ago regarding the Adams family being "very serious about wanting to honor their financial obligations", contact still has not been made to former Creative Frontiers' parents with communication on the who, what, why, when and where of refunds taking place.  Despite being extremely vocal and, at times, offensive, Dan Adams has been silent over the last week. The daughters of Robert Adams have gone silent as well.

It seems the harder the questions get, the less they speak openly.  They certainly had no problem requesting monetary, physical and material donations.  When former families ask for a little consideration though, there seems to be no response.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Somebody call Alanis...

...because here comes some irony.

We've heard over and over again from the CFS camp that we shouldn't rely on the testimony of these children involved in this case.  They must have been coached.  None of them are reliable witnesses.  But then after a hugely contradictory post from JD on the CFS facebook page yesterday, our favorite inappropriate commenter BG chimes in again with:

It breaks my heart to read this [name removed]. It just really does. But it also makes me smile just a little because at the end of the day, kids are my favorite people, and your son still knows the truth in his heart. How sad for those who have become slimy, arrogant, corrupt adults who underestimate children. How sad for those who underestimate the wisdom children have, and the wisdom adults who genuinely love children acquire from them. Keep the faith [name removed].
So which is it BG?  Do we trust these kids to know if someone touched them inappropriately or do we trust that they "know the truth in [their] heart[s]"?  Who exactly are the "slimy, arrogant, corrupt adults who underestimate children"?  It seems to me, the only people who have underestimated children have been the CFS supporters.  The police have listened to the children and conducted appropriate interviews at the SAFE center.  They aren't underestimating them at all.

How ironic that we can trust a 7 year old to differentiate between a Citrus Heights Police officer and a Sac County Sheriff but not to tell the police or their parents who touched them inappropriately.  A child could have certainly perceived what happened when the school closed as "scary".  It could have even possibly tainted their view of Law Enforcement for a short while.  But with the proper parent support and guidance, there is no reason to believe that a child would be permanently scarred from the events of the closure.

Yet again CFS supporters, you can't have it both ways.  Either children are wise beings that need to be listened to or they are small people who soak up and regurgitate a bunch of lies.  You can't twist it to fit your rant of the day.  My opinion will always be that children need to be listened to.  Complaints such as these need to be taken seriously.  Do false accusations happen?  Of course.  This is why interviews are conducted by specially trained SAFE interviewers who are trained to see signs of coaching.  They aren't there to prove someone is guilty, they are there to find the truth.  Whatever it might be.

Monday, September 26, 2011

I'll put that in my blog and make it something its not

There has been a lot of talk of conspiracy theories from the CFS camp. Everything from the allegations were a way to shut down CFS because the public school system was hurting for students to the city of Citrus Heights exercising eminent domain for use of the land for a fire department station and training grounds.

When there is an unforeseen crisis, it is natural to say "That's impossible! This must be a conspiracy!". What is not natural is to continue to say "That's impossible! This must be a conspiracy!" when faced with evidence to the contrary.  Evidence that has shown the business license renewal was denied.  Evidence that has shown buildings to be unsafe and hazardous to be occupied. Evidence that has shown something inappropriate may have happened.

We can see a CFS parent write:
okay i got a real wake up call today, my son and me went to funday at rush park today and went to see all the booths and had a great time till we went by a booth with a couple of familiar faces at it and they even called to my son and he didn't want to go near them. I didn't understand shy but wasn't going to force him to even acknowledge them ether. Then we went across the grounds and came up to the citrus heights police dept. Booth when he actually started crying saying "I don't want to go there" but we came to a sac. County sheriffs display and he was more than happy to see them. This child was raised around law enforcement all his life and unroll now has had no reason to fear them. This by itself has told me all I need to know about how the children were treated that fateful day. Now the conspiracy bloggers can claim all they want and spread their cancer of fear and mistrust to all their friends. When you have a police chief and a city manager saying on camera that "we are currently doing our best to expedite the reopening of creative frontiers school and are working with the owners and the parents to do so" then turn around after the cameras are off and say "you didn't think se were ever going to let you reopen that school did you" then laugh all the way down the hall tells me yes just how corrupt and much of a lying campaign this whole farce really is. So in short I have a don who has never been afraid of a police dept. But is of only one and is now wanting to stay away from certain people. But when he sees people that are being vilified at every turn he runs up to them to give them a hug. So now put that in your bloggs and turn that into something it isnt.
(Spelling and grammar errors are not ours)

Let me introduce you to two local law enforcement officers.  On the left is John McGiness, Sacramento County Sheriff, the right is Christopher Boyd, Citrus Heights Police Department.

 
Photo from usacops.com
 (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)


I can't speak for all children, I can say though that between these two law enforcement officers, the differences are minor. The only real way to determine agency here are the shape of the badges and the patches on the left shoulder.  The child mentioned above is between 6 and 8 years old.  How on earth would that child be able to tell the difference between law enforcement agencies without being prompted?

In the event this child's terror truly is of CHPD and not Sacramento County Sheriffs, how does that matter against this case?  We talked earlier about how CHPD handled the school closure. Was it the best way possible?  As an outsider looking in with no knowledge of the true level of danger, procedures and resourcing, I would say no.  Although I am simply an outsider looking in and I cannot say what I would do if I were in that decision making position. I know that as a parent our instinct is to shield our children from as much as possible.  Perhaps it would be best to explain to this child that CHPD have the very difficult job of protecting us and in doing that, they have to make tough choices sometimes.  Explain that the Department of Social Services decided that CFS might not be safe and to protect him from harm, they have to close it while they figure out what really happened. Explain that when someone takes a tough job like protecting children, they only want what is best for them.

Supporting Robert Adams does not mean that DSS, CHPD, the media, the city of Citrus Heights and the CH Building Department are bad, evil entities.  It means that you are supporting a man you trust. This is not a bad thing in and of itself.  Vilifying these agencies though to a young impressionable child only creates an atmosphere of lack of trust in law enforcement and a lack of respect for authority figures. We want our kids to trust police officers of any agency.  We want them to obey their direction.  We want them to respect the inherent authority they have.  Because if there is a mass crisis, God forbid, and the only person there is a CHPD officer to help that child, I want him to listen to what he is told to stay safe.  I want him to know that by and large, that officer is there to protect him.

Conspiracy theories can be fun for critical thinking. They can also though cause damage for young children.  The fact is this, while we want our children to be educated in current events, not all subjects are appropriate for them.  As Dr. Phil says, grown up problems should be left to the grownups to think about, not the kids.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Why CFS is NOT McMartin

On September 7, 1983 Ray Buckley, was arrested on suspicion of child molestation.  At the time, Buckley was an employee of Virginia McMartin Preschool.  After the arrest, a letter was sent to some 200 parents encouraging them to interview their children to see if they thought that something inappropriate had occurred.  The trial that followed was extremely costly and brought out some bizarre accusations and stories.  In the end, there were 2 trials costing approximately $15,000,000.

On July 18, 2011 Robert Adams was removed from Creative Frontiers School and the school was closed. The elementary portion of the school was closed due to number building code violations while the preschool portion of CFS was closed due to the DSS investigation of allegations.  Parents were not instructed to ask closed ended questions, rather they were instructed to open ended questions and if further concerned to allow investigators from Citrus Heights Police Department to arrange for interviews at the Sacramento County SAFE center. It was not until after seven weeks of ongoing interviews and investigation that Robert Adams was arrested. Despite what the Adams family has said, there was not one investigation regarding the school.  The investigation DSS initiated regarding allegations of inappropriate touching, the CHPD investigation and the investigation conducted by the City of Citrus Heights Building Department.

While many supporters of CFS have shouted "CFS is exactly like the McMartin Preschool", it simply is NOT exactly like McMartin.  The only similarities between the two cases are the alleged abusers are white males, the alleged crimes took place in an educational setting and both cases happened in the state of California.

Here is an at-a-glance comparison of CFS case against the McMartin Preschool case:


CFS
McMartin
Number of alleged victims
7
48
Number of alleged abusers
1
7
Number of charges filed
7
321
Sets of parents involved
5
1
Adult witnesses to the abuse
2
0
Age of alleged victims
3-8 years old
All under age 5
How parents were notified
Citrus Heights PD and Department of Social Services
A letter sent home
Where interviews were conducted
SAFE Center
An abuse therapy clinic
How law enforcement became involved
In 2000 by parent complaints of inappropriate touching; again in 2011 by an employee witness
1 parent

There is now a "CALL TO ACTION" from our friend PSP.  She is instructing all CFS supporters to contact Bill O'Reilly, 20/20, Sean Hannity and Governor Jerry Brown.  We saw the anger that Sheriff John McGuiness incited with his talk show report regarding this case. We have seen the anger, threats of libel suits and disbelief towards every media outlet covering this case.  Why on earth would they invite ultra-conservative editorials on a case that has not been borne out yet?  The answer is obvious, the supporters of Robert Adams are looking for someone to tell their story in the way they feel it should be told.  They want it told with facts that do not exist, opinion that only they maintain and with conjecture that is their's alone.

Unfortunately during a criminal investigation, dirty secrets are exposed.  City of Citrus Heights, CH PD and DSS did not leave unsafe building conditions for students, these three entities did not ignore numerous warnings about appropriate touching nor did any ignore numerous letters of impending shut down if violations were not corrected.  It is easy to want to paint this case with the broad stroke of McMartin however that is simply not the case here.  The case against Creative Frontiers School is vastly different than the McMartin preschool case.  The longer that CFS supporters cry they are the same, the less credibility they will retain.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

What does a victim look like?

Throughout the last few weeks we have seen many supporters of Creative Frontiers bad mouth the alleged victims. We have seen them refer to these young women as seeking BMWs, being in this for a payday, as liars and as being abused by their parents, CHPD and DSS. These victims have names, they have dreams and hopes. They have parents and some of these victims are old enough to see what is being said about them.

A victim is not a nameless person, an accuser or a troublemaker. He or she is a human who, in one instant, had their innocence taken from them without consent. She/he did not ask for it to happen, they did not provoke their abuser and more importantly, they bear no fault in the abuse that happened to them. Let me repeat that, it is not their fault.

Sexual violence is the most under reported violent crime in the United States. Approximately only 37% of rapes are reported according to the FBI however the US Department of Justice estimates only 26% are reported*. Why are the numbers so low? Rape and molestation are crimes that often leave the victim filled with shame, guilt and humiliation. Once the story is told to a law enforcement official, it has to be retold over and over and over again before the abuser may even be arrested. One would think each retelling would make it easier but it doesn't, not by a long shot. As the amount of people hearing your story grows, your guilt grows, your shame grows, your humiliation grows. Law Enforcement officials have the unenviable task of asking questions to throw the victim off, of playing "devil's advocate" if you will.

You see, abuse victims often may feel victimized by the very people trying to achieve justice for them. Once the report is made, the complaint is sent to the DA to review and charges may be filed if there is a strong enough case. None of this compares to the raw humiliation of the medical exams that take place prior to all of this. IF the DA files charges, the victim may have face a trial in which he/she has to once again retell their story in front of their abuser and then be questioned by the accuser's defense attorney. Before the trial though, the victim will have to recount their abuse over and over for trial prep. They must be in top shape to undergo cross examination to not break down entirely.

While justice may be served against their abuser, the emotional and mental damage remains. Victim Advocates will recommend very qualified counselors, support groups and the like. But again, this involves telling the story again. We hope that at some stage, the victim will make the transformation from victim to survivor.  Many do, some do not, and their pain may last a lifetime.  Are you aware that of mental health clients, sexual abuse victims were 55% more likely to have had at least one suicide attempt? No one forgets what the abuse felt like emotionally, mentally or physically.  The majority of parents would not inflict this type of mental anguish on their children. To have 6 sets of parents and 2 staff members all willing to needlessly inflict this damage on children is preposterous.

The other problem we have though is the court of public opinion. When the media reports on crimes, generally there is a rush to judgement of innocence or guilt. We have seen that plainly in the case of Robert Adams. We do not know if he is guilty or not. We do not have the evidence Law Enforcement officials have, nor were we there at the time of the alleged crimes. We simply cannot know the status of his innocence or guilt unless we were, in fact, there. We do know that at least 2 adults saw enough for charges to be brought. We do know that at least 6 children said something criminal happened. These children, or young adults now, do not deserve or need to be re-victimized by CFS supporters. Standing by your man doesn't mean you have to take down the person, or people, he is accused by. It means that you can profess your belief in his innocence and do what you can to assist in his defense. You can have grace and dignity throughout this situation, something we haven't seen much of in some of Robert Adams' supporters.  

*Source: http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html

Friday, September 23, 2011

The real red flags that have been raised and the ones CFS fails to mention

It seems almost daily now that one CFS supporter or another says something completely absurd or offensive, either someplace like the comments section of the Sacramento Bee or the school’s Facebook page. On Wednesday, the day after Maria Medina’s report on Channel 13 News aired Tuesday, one supporter said this: (names changed to initials so I can keep them straight. You can always read the comments with full names on the Facebook site yourself. They apparently aren’t ashamed of making such horrific comments and “liking” them, but I will be ashamed for them)
PSP
Pound pound pound pound pound. Channel 13 inflicted another blow to Bob and his family last night on the 10 o'clock news. With a rerun of the very first video they had of him, Sandi and the girls, they had in red letters across the left of the screen 'ARRESTED' then words across the screen, 'NEW ALLEGATIONS.' You think he has been arrested again for new "touching" allegations. Then the story unfolds with something totally different; to refunds not received by parents who paid for the whole year or who put down a deposit with a blurred out interviewee talking about it. Then it goes on to say that the Adam's will be refunding tuition when they get copies of the billing records from the police in order to do so. Come on people! This is sensationalism, misleading and false--libel comes to mind. He wasn't arrested for not refunding tuition and really are they new allegations and if so, of what? Everyone knows he doesn't have the billing paperwork because the police confiscated everything since it's been in the newspaper and on tv a million times, knew his family was trying like hell to reopen, even selling CFS so it could reopen but the licensing dept came up with out of the ordinary and impossible requirements of having to provide paperwork that no one else has to provide including a 'release of liability' clause. Really? As a previous business owner in California, I never had to provide or sign paperwork like that nor have ANY other California business owners I know. The school opening was happening as we all know up until these impossible requirements squashed it less than 2 weeks ago, and who knows it may still reopen--most students will return. To constantly pound pound pound and villify, demonize, harass, and sensationalize a man from day one, who by the way is innocent until proven guilty in the court of our American justice system, is nothing less than committing murder of his character, his reputation and the stress of this injustice taking a physical toll on a man already riddled with previous physical ailments. This whole 'break 'em and string em up' attitude seems eerily reminiscent of the KKK, a part of American history I THOUGHT we had evolved from, with laws that were created out of that disgusting part of our history, but I guess not. It's very very sad that many people still think that way. But folks, just keep watching--it's not the end quite yet. There will be justice in Mr. Adam's favor and all of you who helped 'tie the rope' 'drag him down' and 'kick out the box' will have to answer to a higher power--I guarantee it. What comes around goes around so good luck to you.
Are you sure you want to play the “what goes around comes around” card at this stage in the game? Because looking at these allegations, I wouldn’t wish what was allegedly going around, to come around to anyone.

PSP mentions red banners across the screen. I watched the report at 6pm and at 10pm and don’t recall any red banners. On the online clip, there are no banners either. I've spoken to a number of other people and they report that they didn't see them either.

Sensationalism? Misleading? False? So the school/Robert Adams doesn’t owe parents money? I know for a fact that they do. I’ve seen emails and posts from several different parents upset about the money owed to them. I’ve seen them ask about the return of the funds on the school Facebook page with my own eyes. And as for tossing around the word libel, I'm afraid not. In the post from yesterday, we discussed this word in a bit more detail. Many supporters seem to think it is illegal in some way to report or post about things that don’t make people look good. Does the school owe people money? Yes. Are these people mad? Yes. Is it libelous for them to talk about it on camera? Not even slightly. Consider the leeway which is afforded to talk show hosts from every political party.

Ms. Medina did speak of new allegations. The parent interviewed is alleging that that Mr. Adams has not refunded her money. Doesn't that fit the definition of an allegation? Is it really possible that they have NO paper copies of their billing paperwork? None? Not a chance. 140 students at $720/month is $100,800/month. Are you telling me that they take in approximately $100,000 each month and don’t make backup records? Really?

PSP goes on to mention that they are being required to have a “Release of liability”. A quick call to the City of Citrus Heights and I am told they have no idea what she is talking about. My best guess is that she is confusing the city’s request for more information regarding the Limited Liability Corporation that Mr. Benedek has listed on his application. I was able to get more information regarding what the status of the license was on my phone call. The documents I was sent are here. Because I am nice, I have blacked out all home addresses, personal emails, and phone numbers. It is all public record, but it has been said before, this is not something I am willing to post publicly despite it being publicly obtainable information.

What people are failing to realize here is that it wasn’t Mr. Adams’ arrest that halted the opening of the school. It was the simple fact that it was NEVER going to open when they said it was. The old license was still suspended with a hearing at an undetermined date and the new one wasn’t approved yet. It simply WASN’T going to happen. Mr. Adams being arrested had absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact, if the new owner still wants to follow through with the paperwork, to my knowledge, nothing has stopped that. If the process has stopped, that is because they have stopped it. Yet the statement has been made that most students will return? Really? Possibly, if a person chooses to remain in dreamland. If you again reference the paperwork sent by the city, you will clearly see that they have defined, in simple terms what the problem they have with the new and old licenses. It isn’t about having punch list items completed, it is about having two owners, Creative Frontiers, Inc. and Creative Frontiers, LLC claiming ownership of the private school operating at 6446 Sylvan Road, Citrus Heights, CA. This can’t happen. It isn’t that they are trying to hurt the school, the parents, teachers, or even Mr. Adams himself. They tried to play some tricky slight of hand and it backfired on them. They had a “agreement” that wasn’t an agreement. Perhaps they should have just allowed the original hearing date in August to go through instead of trying to play a game with the city, and the families who were working so hard to help the school reopen by working on repairs.

PSP goes on to say that the media and other non-supporters (I guess several of the former parents are in that category) are guilty of murder of his character? No. Mr. Adams, is having to face up for all the problems with the school IN ADDTION to answering to the criminal charges for alleged child molestation.

PSP also mentions that Mr. Adams is “Riddled with previous ailments” Unfortunately for Mr. Adams, his health has no bearing on the CHPD’s ability to investigate a claim of child molestation. It also doesn’t mean the city is going to bend the rules for him and allow him to operate a school that is not up to code. That is the way it works. Should we refrain from convicting criminals if they are ill?

Here is where PSP wades into dangerous waters. To make the reference to the Klu Klux Klan with regards to the media reporting information to the public for a white man with a family of blonde haired children and grandchildren is offensive and demeaning to the all victims of hate crimes. People aren’t attacking Bob because of his color, religion, or heritage. People are reporting on crimes he allegedly committed. Entirely different ballgame. People who have spoken out against Mr. Adams have already been compared to members of the Taliban and the Westboro Baptist Church, so why not the KKK now? KKK actually murdered and tortured people in brutal, horrific ways…they didn’t merely report the news on them. Hardly a valid or evolved, comparison. Does the KKK exist? Do brutal race-based attacks still occur? Unfortunately, yes, racism still exists and runs rampant…but that’s certainly not the case here. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks comparing the crimes committed against people of color by the KKK has nothing whatsoever to do with the news reporting on an ongoing molestation investigation. I fail to see the connection to refunds, the CHPD, Irma Mertens, the City of Citrus Heights, or the District Attorney’s office.

The last part of her statement sounds suspiciously like a threat.

So I thought that would be it. I thought surely no one can possibly see that comment as enlightening and appropriate. I was wrong. Last time I checked, 10 people “like” that vitriolic post and 9 have commented on it.

CJ says,
I paid the year in full. CH13 did't speak to me. Now, CFS did contacted weeks ago. We are on the same page.
I’m not even sure what that means, but I’m sure KOVR did not contact every parent to speak to them regarding what is or is not owed to them. That doesn’t mean much. I’m not sure who is on the same page as CJ, but it isn’t me. I have no clue what he is talking about.

DD then says,
[name removed] you are wonderful! You have given this statement which I totally agree with. It's unbelievable and scarey to me that this could happen to someone who is so special and so loved. I can see more and more just how much the media is used, how much the police and politicians use the media to manipulate public opinion. It is shameful how the Adam's have been treated. I agree 100% what goes around does come around!
Unfortunately DD, this happens all the time. Do you think the family and friends of every criminal knew he/she was going to commit crimes? Of course not! You always hear “I never thought he/she would be capable of doing something like this.” Many well-loved teachers both male and female are charged and sentenced for doing inappropriate things to minors.

HPG says,
The media coverage continues to get more horrific. I will NEVER look at the media the same way again. And it is bad enough the authorities and the media are obviously trying to take Bob down, but why couldn't they let CFS re-open as planned?!
I kind of feel sorry for HPG. This is what CFS has done to their supporters. By only giving partial truths, they have left people in the dark. Bob’s arrest has nothing to do with CFS opening or not opening. As I said earlier, it is because they have not followed the process for applying for a new business license correctly. I’m quite certain that comments on the SacBee said this weeks ago. It can take up to *60 days* for the application to be processed. They were NEVER going to be open by the 6th. Yet they lied to their supporters and told them that they would. And sadly some children were actually removed from their new schools in anticipation of the so-called firm opening date.

DD then says,
I know, these days it's guilty until proven innocent, very sad world indeed.
I will give her that one. It often seems this way. He is not actually guilty until a judge and jury convict him of a crime. Until then, he is considered an innocent man. This is why he isn’t sitting in a jail cell currently.

I thought about editing this name out but decided against it. Tarpaulin Sky Press aka Christian Peet quotes two articles,
The LA Times did a great piece on the lack of skepticism shown by media in the McMartin trial. Highly recommended: http://articles.latimes.com/1990-01-19/news/mn-226_1_media-coverage
And

The NY Times did a similar piece as well: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/24/us/longest-trial-post-mortem-collapse-child-abuse-case-so-much-agony-for-so-little.html?pagewanted=all
Sorry Peet, those articles linked are 20 years old. Much has been learned by past mistakes in childhood sexual abuse investigations, just as much has been learned in the area of forensics.

PSP gives him some praise,
Wow, Tarpaulin Sky Press, excellent pieces. Thank you for the links. It's pure deja vu........25 years later.
No dear PSP, it Is not déjà vue. It is 2 entirely different cases.

MLA then links the following article,
Read about the DA at this llink and see what her platform has been since her election in 1994. http://www.sacda.org/office/index.php
Wow….an article about a District attorney being an advocate for victims. Why is that shocking? I sincerely hope none of these people are ever victims themselves…

Then BG feels compelled to add her two cents. BG has been quoted several times here. Unfortunately not for good reasons.
The media coverage being so blatantly imbalanced makes it all the more convincing that this isn't really about Bob or the school at all. We may not know what it is, whether it's personal or political, but any journalist worth their salt wouldn't be just ignoring the red flags. They'd be pounding on the doors at the City of CH and the DA's office, asking some serious questions, rather than spinning this nonsense every which way to condemnation. A decent journalist would want to know why, would need to ask those questions to be able to sleep at night. And if they didn't get answers, they'd be writing headlines like, "Are Hugs to Become Felonies in California???" after reading the complaint, rather than ignoring the elephant in the room.

I can understand that perhaps some people might think it's not possible for a man to love children in a non-sexual way. I can't understand why people are so afraid to consider the possibility, and in this case probability, that this particular man is so incredibly gifted with children, that it's preposterous to even consider he'd have such intentions. And that's the basis of the charges... intentions.

One thing is for sure, those who are hell-bent on condemning Bob Adams are clearly showing their intentions are not to tell the truth, but to twist it and turn it into an evil mental imprint on the general public. THAT should be a felony.
My oh my…where to start. “Are Hugs to Become Felonies in California???" I read the complaint carefully. I didn’t see a single complaint about a hug. I noted numerous complaints about reaching under shirts to touch breasts and vaginas. Not part of a typical hug I have ever received, nor part of any hug I offer to a child. Sadly I'm concerned that, BG fails to realize that the media ISN’T ignoring “red flags”. They are simply reporting the facts about Robert Adams' arrest and the closure of the Creative Frontiers School. The media, the CHPD, the City, and the DoubtingCFS group have not fabricated a single allegation. They didn't have to. These entities and groups were not the ones who failed to repair school buildings, refund tuition nor were they accused by 7 different children of inappropriate touching. The red flags do not make Mr. Adams look good but that doesn't mean someone made them up.  At some point, the diversion has to stop and blame has to be put back where it belongs. With Mr. Adams.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

You can't have it both ways

It is amazing what a little phone call will get you. Forgive our rudimentary document sanitation skills, this skill set is not indicated in our resume.

Inspired from the latest tirade on the CFS Facebook page, a quick phone call to the City of Citrus Heights was made. Emails dating back to 8/25/11 between Zsolt Benedek and the City. Them clearly telling him the application had problems, waaaaaaay back then. You remember....back when they were telling the parents and supporters it was opening 9/6/11.

On 8/26/11 Mr. Benedek submitted his corrected application.

On 8/30 they were told that the city would BEGIN processing. Wait...wasn't this about the time the CFS supporters were told that they just needed "one more signature"?

On 9/7/11, the date Robert Adams was arrested, Mr. Benedek asks for a status update. On 8/8/11 he is told there is a problem with the application. They need to know if he is going to be merely operating or owning the school.

On 8/18/11 Mr. Benedek is sent a detailed letter from the city. He is told clearly that a business license application can take up to 60 days to process. Something many people were saying when promises were being made of the school opening September 6th. The letter goes on to explain that you cannot have negotiations going on with Creative Frontiers, Inc and Robert Adams and then apply for a license for the same type of business at the exact same location under Creative Frontiers, LLC. The letter explains that the statement that Creative Frontiers, Inc sold it's tangible assets and operations to Mr. Benedek doesn't answer the question as to who is the owner. You can't have both.

The City is requesting a full copy of the sales agreement stating WHICH assets were sold. They also want to see the insurance paperwork.

As of yet, a response is not a part of the file. The letter was sent to Mr. Benedek 10 days ago.

So supporters....my advice is to read what is right in front of you. Hold off on blaming the city and read through the facts you have been presented with. It was clear from the beginning that the school would not reopen on September 6th. It was irresponsible to allow so many to think it would when they had no idea if that was even possible. I'm sorry you have been lied to and misled, unfortunately it was done by those you trusted.

City of Citrus Heights Business File on Creative Frontiers School

Just 'Cause You Don't Like it, Doesn't Make it Libel

The Creative Frontiers School camp has thrown the word “libel” around a few different times. The latest attempt at accusations of libel is their response to the KOVR Channel 13 report regarding the lack of refunds for Create Frontiers families that are owed money.

It is common for many parents to prepay their daycare or tuition for the full month on the 1st of each month. In the case of Creative Frontiers, there were multiple payment options. One could pay a full school year ahead with discount incentives, one could pay monthly or one could even pay weekly. If paying for the entirety of the school year, the lump cost was $6,458 for the 9.5 month school year. This works out to roughly $680 a month. The summer program cost $720 a month to pay monthly or if a parent chose to pay weekly it was $207 a week, costing more than $100 a month extra for that convenience. When Creative Frontiers was shut down on Monday July 18, 2011, parents paying monthly were still owed for 9 days of service. The calculation to determine refund amount is fairly simple. Hark back to fifth grade word problems with me for a moment. July should have had 21 days of service at Creative Frontiers School. $720 divided by 21 days equals a cost of $34.29 per day. $34.29 times 9 days of services not rendered equals $308.61 – the amount owed to parents paying monthly.

You say, Doubting CFS, that math isn’t hard! I say, I agree. So why have there been no refunds? Well, according to Courtney Adams, daughter of Robert Adams and fiance to Zsolt Benedek, the current owner of the business entity, the only copies of the accounting files for such a large business were on the computers seized by Citrus Heights PD and that is the reason why after 60 days, parents have not received refunds. The problems with this statement are numerous though. 1) HOW can you run a business without backup records? 2) Why not allow parents to show proof of payment and then grant refunds? 3) Are parents supposed to simply wait and trust in a family that has lost the trust their community gave them?

The definition of libel states:
li•bel   [lahy-buhl] Show IPA noun, verb, -beled, -bel•ing or ( especially British ) -belled, -bel•ling.
noun
1.Law .
a. defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
b. the act or crime of publishing it.
c. a formal written declaration or statement, as one containing the allegations of a plaintiff or the grounds of a charge.

Now, let’s talk about libel. Who is being libelous exactly? KOVR reports the news; they did not say that there is a criminal complaint against Robert Adams for failure to refund parents. They did not say “Hey, Bob Adams, you are a deadbeat!” They did interview a parent that gave factual information, possibly interlaced with their opinion; however opinion is covered under the First Amendment. Did the reporter defame Robert Adams? No, she may have asked questions that made the Adams family squirm a little in their seats but no defamation took place. Has CHPD defamed Robert Adams? No, they have investigated a criminal complaint and found sufficient evidence to move forward with charges and an arrest. So who IS being libelous? We have seen the comments about victims and their dishonesty. We have seen the public bashing of CHPD, the city of Citrus Heights and the media. We have seen their verbal attacks against supporters leading up to former parents unwilling to be identified any longer.

I am curious though as to what we haven’t seen. Where was the business continuity plan for an organization so large? We have seen Adams’ daughter stumble and stutter over why communication was relegated to Facebook and only IF the family sought out Creative Frontiers. We didn’t have the files yet a month later, the files were here the whole time. We haven’t seen an adequate response to as to why Creative Frontiers has not reached out to the families they served. We haven’t seen an adequate response to when refunds will be issued. We haven’t seen an adequate response that proactively staves off investigative journalism.

In a healthily functioning business, a business continuity plan is created. This plan outlines the actions that will be taken in a major crisis, which employee will perform those actions and at what step they will be performed. The business reaches out to their customers with a concise formed statement through regular business channels – phone or mail. Someone is designated to field questions and create a FAQ that can be easily accessed by customers. Healthy businesses do not relegate their customers to use a form of social media rarely referenced by them. They do not shy from hard questions they don’t want to answer, because if someone asked it, at least 10 more are thinking it. A healthy business does not dangle carrots with promises of unreachable reopening dates while major milestone opportunities are missed by their customers. They meet their financial obligations, refunding customers of monies owed, and refuse to accept payment for potential services while not having a business license.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A Victim's Perspective - Guest Post

In line with my previous post regarding publicly bashing potential witnesses, I wanted to share with you the powerful words from the mother of not one, but seven victims of molestation and abuse. Ms. Shelley Linsday made a comment on my post, but a small little comment didn't seem like enough. I invited Ms. Linsday to share her story.

I warn you, her words are powerful and heart-wrenching. If you are sensitive to reading or hearing about child abuse, you might want to skip this post. I feel privileged that Ms. Linsday has decided to share her story with us. I needed a box of tissues close by, you may too.

_________________________________________________________


My name is Shelley Linsday. It was brought to my attention that the Creative Frontiers School of Citrus Heights, CA has a supporter named Christian Peet. I'd like to take a few minutes and let you know how Mr. Peet has impacted our family's life.

Our family includes 14 children; three born to us, ten adopted and one living with us in permanent foster care. Eight of our adopted children have special needs--physical, medical, emotional and/or developmental deficits or challenges--due to prenatal drug exposure. Adoption has been a huge part of our family's life experience as we not only adopted a large number of children but I have worked as a child advocate since 1993. I was the Oregon representative for the North American Council on Adoptable Children and served on the Board of Directors of the Southern Oregon Child Study and Treatment Center until my retirement six years ago due to disability. My husband, Phillip, is a contractor and builder.

Our family was active, vibrant and challenging. Never could I have imagined the hard work, flexibility, resilience and sense of humor it would take on a daily basis to parent such a wonderful and diverse group of children. We live in Ashland, OR and were fortunate to have the very best resources for special education and a lovely group of friends, neighbors, teachers, therapists and coaches as our support system. I once wrote an article for the Journal of Public Welfare titled "It Takes a Village" and I truly mean those words. Our life was full but very rewarding--juggling the children's needs, building a large house, learning advocacy and just being a family.

On April 16, 1998, however, our life changed in ways we could have never imagined. One of our sons came to us and haltingly shared that a neighbor teen had done some "inappropriate things" to him. He was crying, wouldn't make eye contact and kept thumping his leg as he spoke. We could hardly breathe as he explained what happened. Our hearts broke as it became clear that our special needs 12 year old son had been sexually molested by our 14 year old neighbor. We assured him that he had done the right thing by telling us, promised him that we would keep him safe and put him to bed. We then retired to our own room to cry. Our minds were reeling. We liked our neighbors. The father was a doctor and the mother was our children's school librarian. They had two children. One was a daughter who was a gifted young lady and who walked to the high school bus with one of our older children. Their teen son was a unique and perplexing boy--cheerful, very ready to help but always a little different. We'd had many cautions about allowing our children to play with him, from other parents, teachers and school staff but every warning seemed vague. He seemed lonely, sad and "lost" and we felt empathy for him. He obviously wanted to play with our children and so we began to allow it. We even included him in family outings, such as sledding and park picnics. For some reason, we never felt comfortable with him inside our home but he played outside with the younger children. Our two oldest daughters, who do not have special needs, were close to his age but didn't seem to be interested in a friendship. An occasional pick up game of basketball or a quick check of baby chickens was about all they would offer. I secretly thought that he had a crush on one or the other. I even encouraged them to “be nice”. When they ignored him, he put all his energy into playing with and entertaining the younger children, who were 7-12 years old. Most functioned at a much lower level, though, and had few friends. They ate up the attention. We had strict rules which the teen had a tendency to break. We didn't allow him (or others) to hold the children on his lap nor to give them shoulder or piggy-back rides. It was hard to put a finger on it but it just seemed odd and not quite “right” when he did these things. We continuously set boundaries and reminded him of those boundaries. He was always apologetic when corrected. After about a year of him playing in our yard, he invited a few of the children to his exotic bird coop with our permission. Oh, they were excited. They even played basketball on his driveway. This was a huge step for many of them as they were just learning how to be social. Their therapist encouraged us to loosen up a little bit. And then April 16th came and everything changed.

The day following our son’s disclosure, we took him to see his therapist and he disclosed to her, with us not present in the room. He then disclosed to two local detectives at the Children's Advocacy Center and later to a physician. Our teen neighbor, Ryan D. Smith, was arrested that evening and charged with a number of sex crimes. He was lodged in the juvenile detention center. Our son still seemed agitated, however, and the other children were clamoring for information as to where Ryan had gone. We were very hopeful that Ryan would admit to what he had done and get some therapy. We were willing to help our son forgive this transgression by his friend. However, that's not the way things happened.

Within about a week, our seven youngest children disclosed horrific sexual abuse that had been going on for quite some time. Each one came forward after they were assured that Ryan could not hurt them. Even though they had loved playing with him and relished his clandestine treats, they all knew that some of his "play" was wrong and had hurt. The words they used to describe their rapes and assaults were those of young children. Being that they watched very little TV and had never seen anything beyond a G-rated movie, they didn't have the words. One little girl who is profoundly developmentally disabled, deaf and has cerebral palsy had to write notes to us and to the detectives describing what had been done to her as she couldn't communicate with words. I still have her notes, written in red marker. The sentences ran together...”Ryan hit Lily’s (***Name of victim has been changed to protect identity.) head and he hit her head and put his winkie in Lily’s tee-tee. Lily says that Ryan put his winkie in hard and Lily didn’t like it. Lily said STOP but Ryan said RETARD.” The child (now a young woman) still refers to herself in the first person. Another young son, aged 7, stated emphatically that Ryan had tried to pull his winkie off but “it was stuck on pretty good”.

Ryan also terrorized the children by threatening them with a gun, telling them that if they ever told he would rape their older sisters and kill his victims in their sleep. He showed them what might happen to them by demonstrating cruel sexualized abuse on our family pets and his chickens and rabbits. As they disclosed, there was so much shame in their tiny voices. They shook and cried and wet and soiled themselves. They were certain they were in trouble. But when they were told that they would be safe, you could literally see a weight lifting. Each surprised us, however, with simply wanting Ryan to stop the "bad things" and to return to being their friend. My husband and I and our older children were literally reeling. None of us knew what lay ahead.

Ryan was charged with over 20 sex crimes. Within a month's time, two other children came forward--children who had lived in our house with their mother prior to us buying it. Our children also reported that they'd seen Ryan being sexually abused by an adult friend of his and gave names of two other children who they'd seen him molest. These crimes had all taken place in the Smith's yard, our yard or in our elementary school. Ryan was a frequent volunteer who enjoyed working with the primary grade children. He spent many hours at our children's school, even though he was supposed to be across town at the middle school. It was in our school that he raped one of our sons in the primary grade restroom as our little boy could hear his teacher speaking on the other side of the wall.

There really are no words to describe what a parent goes through when they learn of their child's abuse. You feel as if you are drowning. You become numb. There's so much guilt. How could this have happened on "our watch", on the school's watch? We had been so protective, so careful and yet here we were with eight sexually abused children. To be bluntly honest, there were days--hundreds of days--when my husband and I just wanted to wake up from the nightmare. Our days were filled with Trauma Assessment Therapy meetings, physical exams, HIV/STD tests, meetings with the DA's office, the schools or the detectives. At one point we looked at my day runner and counted over 100 appointments that summer related to the case. On top of this burden, we had a family to raise, dinner to get on the table, older children's needs to meet, bills to pay, weddings to plan, grandchildren to welcome and a marriage to preserve.

One issue that was paramount from the first day of disclosure is that the children were forbidden to talk to others about their disclosures or to talk amongst themselves. They had to have aids at school to prevent any discussion. They had to sit separately on their special bus. We had to audio monitor their rooms and be ready to shut down any discussion immediately. We were not privy to all they had disclosed. The videotaped interviews were conducted by detectives at the Jackson County Children’s Advocacy Center and parents are not allowed to be present. We did not see the tapes until they were played in court, almost a year later. There were many many horrid surprises. We also were not in the rooms with physicians when the children disclosed. We were allowed to stand next to a child's side while they were examined but were strictly forbidden to show any emotion. I can’t describe the depth of pain I experienced as I stood by as my 10 year old daughter who has cerebral palsy had her tiny constricted legs forcibly held apart while a culposcope photographed damage deep in her vagina. My husband had to remove himself from the room when several of the boys cried in shame when they were examined. We were prohibited from asking any child about the abuse. If a child came to us and mentioned any detail, we were instructed to write it down word for word and to call the police to pick up the disclosure. In other words, there was no normal left at our house. We had turned into a treatment milieu overnight.

Ten long hard months passed and we came to trial. After an arduous eight day trial, with each child taking the stand in front of their rapist and bravely telling their story, Ryan D. Smith was found guilty (or under the jurisdiction of the court) on 12 counts. One count of Menacing, two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3rd Degree, one count of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree, six counts of Sodomy in the 1st Degree and two counts of Rape in the 1st Degree. I remember the children falling into each others arms as I quietly sobbed against my husband's chest. We gathered all the children and held them. Ryan D. Smith was guilty of raping our children. Their simple and straightforward words had rung clear and true. As we walked out of the Jackson County courthouse on a snowy day in February 1999, we made our children a solemn promise that the worst was over. We were all emotionally and physically spent. Our tears were surely not of joy but of sheer exhaustion. We looked forward to beginning the process of healing. The trial was behind us. I'm sorry to say that we told our children a lie.

It was not over and is still not close to being over. Our family's life was forever upended. We had to endure the appeal, the Oregon Supreme Court affirmation, the Post Conviction Relief Trial, depositions of the children all over again--9 years after the rapes--the Post Conviction Relief Appeal and finally the denial of a request for clemency from Governor Kulongoski. Time and again, each court, each judge and our governor affirmed what the Honorable Mark Schiveley of Jackson County had ruled. Ryan D. Smith was guilty of raping the Linsday children. Ryan served 10 years in a series of Oregon Youth Authority facilities. He never admitted his crimes even though his own probation officer and therapist testified that he had failed his polygraphs and refused treatment. He was released as a lifelong Registered Sex Offender on his 25th birthday, June 1, 2009.

Imagine our surprise when one of our very special needs daughters came home from school one day and told us that while doing a school project, she had found her name on the internet, next to a picture of Ryan. We were shocked as the children's names had been kept confidential by the courts and the media. Admittedly, everyone in our town knew who the victims were but on the internet? Surely not. We quickly had her show us what she had found on my private computer. She'd simply typed in her name and had come upon a site called the National Center for Reason and Justice. We read the site with growing horror. This organization had taken up Ryan's case. It turned out that they had been sponsoring him for quite some time and had been soliciting donations in his name. We clicked on his story and were totally shocked to read blatant lies about our children, our home, the crimes committed and even the trial itself. Even worse, the NCRJ named each of the children and gave our address. The testimony they quoted was taken out of context, lacked the follow-up explanations and completely twisted the truth. We called the Attorney General's office directly. They had an investigator check the site and copy it. They concluded that it was onerous and unprecedented but it was legal. Anyone can call a child victim a liar. Anyone can proclaim that a convicted person is innocent. It doesn't matter one whit that there's been a trial, a conviction, a failed appeal, a failed Supreme Court appeal, a failed Post Conviction Relief, or a failed request for the governor's clemency. We literally could not believe it. How much more pain would our children be forced to endure? At what point did Ryan Smith "count" as guilty and our children's testimony be accepted as fact? What motivation could we possibly have to bring about this misery?

We hired an attorney at the cost of $10,000 and another attorney assisted pro bono. Finally, after months of work with an organization called Crime Victims United, we were able to have our names removed from the NCRJ site. Our story still exists on that site but now we are known by X's. There has been no mention of Ryan’s release over two years ago, however.

Since 1998, not a single day has passed which was not colored somehow by the abuse--either the psychological aftermath, the drudgery of dealing with the judicial system, or the embarrassment and pain of the children's testimony being called lies. Our children spiraled in and out of depression, experienced behavioral difficulties, health challenges and we responded to over thirty suicide attempts. No 16 year old teen should ever have to get reassurance from his father that he was truly a virgin even though he was anally raped at age 9. No 15 year old girl should find her full name on the internet with a twisted discussion of her most private horror. No parent should have to cringe each and every time some nasty and completely untrue detail was added to the internet site and watch as the donations poured in. By their own admission, the NCRJ stated that Ryan D. Smith's case received the "lion's share" of donations for their site. Just how much did they receive in donations, strictly to support Ryan’s defense? Between the years of 2004 and 2009, donations rolled in totaling $163,709.55 per the IRS 990 forms available online. Ryan received by far the most donations compared to any other NCRJ case. Most of the other sponsored cases received only hundreds of dollars per year. Who is continuing to donate this money? To a small degree, I can understand someone stumbling across the site and finding the story horrific....beyond belief. Eight special needs children, their parents, their school, the local police, and the DAs had all conspired to destroy a happy, healthy young man's life. What they failed to share was the truth. However, they somehow got people to pull out their wallets. The NCRJ helpfully provides a "Statement of Facts" supposedly written by Ryan. But his statement of facts is not at all what the courts deemed believable. In fact, over and over again, Ryan had the opportunity to plead his case....his facts....and they never held up. The children's relation of facts never changed. To this day, they've never recanted nor accused others of abusing them. To this day, some of our most special needs children actually miss Ryan and wonder when he'll be their friend again. Just because the NCRJ says that Ryan D. Smith was "falsely accused and wrongly convicted" does not make it true. Just because the NCRJ says that no evidence as described by the children was ever found does not make it true. I recently contacted the District Attorney who handled our case, Karen Loomis, to clarify this issue. She told me that the gun was found exactly where each child had privately described it would be. The real truth is that Ryan D. Smith is guilty. Being that the donations for Ryan’s case ceased in 2010 (though his profile is still listed), it seems as though the NCRJ lost a “cash cow”. We’ve always wondered who donated this money, why they donated and how it was spent. One thing is for certain, Ryan Smith had the finest attorneys money could buy.

My husband, our older children, and I have learned to hold our heads high and to try to ignore this organization. We've tried to protect the younger and more vulnerable children (now young adults) from the knowledge that the site even exists. However, out of the blue this summer, that became almost impossible.

Since my illness struck, I've become bedbound. I can no longer do the advocacy I once did. I cannot walk nor speak clearly. But I can type. Because there was an element of photography in our children's disclosures and because the FBI gathered both photographic face shots and full body shots of the children for their files, I am extremely watchful of the crime of child pornography. I set a goal to make sure the names of those convicted of manufacturing and/or trading child pornography are readily available on the internet. That goal brought me to a crime forum called Websleuths. I chose this forum as their “Crimes in the News” and “Spotlight on Children” forums are tightly monitored and moderated. I try to start a thread on each and every "helping professional" convicted of this heinous crime. I began by starting threads on anyone convicted of the crime but as the arrests stacked up, I couldn't keep up. I only have about 10 hours per day to research and thus have put my energy into seeking out those in the helping professions--doctors, clergy, therapists, teachers, coaches, scout leaders, law officers. Because I spend so much time on Websleuths, I also comment and start threads on other crimes involving children and try to answer questions about adoption, childhood sexual abuse, the judicial process and disabilities. To date, I've posted almost 10,000 times and I'm proud to say that many victims have contacted me concerning men and women who I've written about. It is cathartic for me to help others who are victims. It helps me to see them get some closure.

It was on the Websleuths forum that I commented about the shut down of the Creative Frontiers School two months ago and said that I surely hoped we wouldn’t start hearing about "tainted or coerced testimony". I wrote an open letter to parents at CFS, in case they found our thread on Websleuths. I cautioned them not to discuss the victims and to leave the interviewing of children to the professionals. I wasn't overly shocked when Robert Adams was arrested. I've simply written too many posts about highly esteemed teachers and principals who have molested their students and betrayed their communities to be surprised any more. If people think this crime is rare, go to Websleuths and search using the words; rape, molestation, child porn, teacher, principal, etc. You’ll have your eyes opened.

When I started researching this school, located about 350 miles south of my home, I was absolutely dumbfounded to find a man named Christian Peet writing about false allegations. On his site, I saw the name Ryan D. Smith. In a heartbeat, the old wounds were ripped opened yet again.

I quickly did some research on Mr. Peet and learned he is a male feminist/cross-genre poet and teacher in Vermont. He started a press. He gives interviews and reviews books. He’s written several books, including one about his nephew, Jeremy Barney, who was convicted as a teen several years ago of sex crimes against a family of children for whom he babysat. I noticed that Mr. Peet had links on his site to the NCRJ and then I knew. I knew that Mr. Peet did not believe children. I knew that he believed that testimony is often coerced or tainted or effected by "planted" ideas. I looked at the list of people who he admired and I recognized names of expert witnesses who had written an amicus curiae (“friend of the court” letter) for Ryan Smith's appeal. I cannot tell you how alarmed I was......not for our family but for the families connected to Creative Frontiers School. I noticed that Mr. Peet was writing on their Facebook page, inserting himself into their traumatic experience. The acrimony and anger was growing. Mr. Peet immediately declared that a conspiracy was taking place and that any allegations made against Robert Adams were most definitely false and coerced...that children were being forced to lie. Another poster agreed with him and used the phrase “recruited victims”. Was Mr. Peet privy to inside information? Was he in Citrus Heights when these alleged crimes took place? How can he be so certain about alleged crimes which occurred 3000 miles from his home?

I concede that Mr. Peet might have done valuable research involving his nephew’s case but I still cringe when I think of his nephew's victims' reaction to a book about their horrible abuse. Jeremy Barney had his day in court too and was found guilty. He's serving 20 years in a Connecticut prison. I confirmed this with the State Police Sargent who arrested him, after he’d fled to Washington State. One would think that if Mr. Peet had information which would clear Jeremy's name, he'd give that to the authorities. I assume he believes in the innocence of his nephew as he can't imagine a human being committing such vile crimes, especially a young man he must care for. I'm sorry to inform him that those vile acts do occur. Men, women and teens are committing these crimes each and every day. Current statistics show that one in every five girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. One in every six boys are. Someone is abusing those children and not every abuser is a sibling of the same age. Not every child is lying with some evil intent. Mr. Peet is feeding the supporters of CFS one side of the story, one school of thought. There are expert witnesses who believe that children's testimony is not solid. But there are far more doctors, therapists and child development specialists who do believe the children. Thank goodness judges and juries do.

I then learned that Mr. Peet planned to research the case of Ryan D. Smith, who he also declared innocent and wrongly convicted. Was he in Ashland when crimes were committed against our children? Has he been contacted by our children and heard their recantations? If so, I hope he turns over any new evidence to the Ashland, OR police. He’s obviously using the information on the NCRJ site for his resource and couldn't possibly know the truth. I checked with the local police, the District Attorney and our children and Mr. Peet has not contacted any of them. I decided to write to Mr. Peet and offer to answer his questions. I believe my letter to be factual and kind. If he was a true journalist, surely he'd want to hear both sides of the story. However, I read on his blog a few days later that he had received a letter from me but had decided not to respond. Instead, he chose to write vicious words about our family. Here's a quote from Mr. Peet's site from August 29th:

"I received an email from "Mrs. X," whose false testimony in court, along with accusations she elicited from her adopted, handicapped son with a history of violent and sexual abuse of his siblings, proved enough to send a neighbor, fourteen-year-old Ryan D. Smith, to prison for ten years. I will not be replying to Mrs. X's email, however, except through my continued examination of the tragedy that not only ruined the life of Ryan D. Smith and his family, but Mrs. X's other seven handicapped children, who were made to lie, to believe those lies, and to live a lie since--a tragedy that is being re-examined not only by myself but (more importantly) others, including the National Center for Reason and Justice."
Mr. Peet is accusing me of lying, of making my children lie, making them believe those lies and making them live those lies. But more horrifying is that he is accusing one of the victims of "violent and sexual abuse of his siblings". Really? How can Mr. Peet possibly fabricate something such as this? Doesn't he believe that charges would be brought against a child accused of such abuse? None were. The eight children accused one person...their friend, Ryan D. Smith. They didn't accuse their parents, their teachers, their siblings or anyone else. They accused Ryan Smith.

I have no earthly idea as to why Mr. Peet is attracted to our case or to the unfolding case at Creative Frontiers School. I do know, however, that Mr. Peet does not care who he hurts with his words. I politely asked him not to hurt my children. I told him that the "X" children were very real human beings struggling to make their way in this world. They are now 20-25 years old and many are still extremely vulnerable. He doesn't seem to care.

I have to wonder what Mr. Peet hopes to accomplish. Does he have the ability to overturn the convictions or to bring about a new trial for Ryan Smith? Does he have new information that no one has ever unearthed? Does he have inside information about the crisis at Creative Frontiers? Does he have evidence that would clear Robert Adams’ name? If so, I urge him to turn over that evidence to authorities. If not, I implore him to allow the judicial system to do its work. I beg him to be kind and respectful of the children and families hurt by allegations of childhood sexual abuse--while they are being investigated and after there has been a conviction.

We're tired. We want to move on. Our children did as they were taught. They told an adult when they were touched in a bad way. We did what any parent would do. We notified authorities. What else should we have done? Over 13 years have passed since that awful day in April 1998 and we're working mightily to heal. Our wounds seem to be ripped open again and again. We want to move beyond victimhood. Victims live in a state of raw shock and pain. We are desperately trying to move toward survivorship. Survivors are scarred but are moving forward with hope.

I want to alert every person connected to Creative Frontiers School about Mr. Peet and his connections to the National Center for Reason and Justice. Please be sure you understand their motives before you allow Mr. Peet into your circle. Do your research. His intention is not to help find the truth. His intention is to hamper the investigation and to discredit the victims. Please be cautious, for your children’s sake.

I wish you all continued strength. My thoughts are with you. I’ve walked your path and it is not an easy one. Hold your lamps high to shine light into the darkness.

Shelley Linsday
Ashland, OR
September 20, 2011