Other Criminal Procedure Conflict of interest

ben.little.96

New Member
Freshman 14yo Daughter was sexualy assulted at school in a classroom by a 17yo senior. Boy admitted guilt and county did not charge him. Come to find out the boys stepmother is the towns bail bondsman and knows all the county attorneys. The school cop that did the investigation is also the mothers friend from school growing up. I have a full confession from the boy via Facebook messenger. We were asked if we wanted to pursue felony charges or drop it? I suggested it go to grand jury and let them decide. Months went by and I just drop into the office to find out that the case was dropped no charges filed. Is it possible to have a different county review the case?

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This is in texas also. No punishment from the school. The boy is a varsity football player, I'm also thinking of getting a civil rights lawyers for illegal search and seizure, and interviewing my daughter without a parent present.

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No, another count will not review it.
What reason was given for no charges filed? Lack of evidence? Was it handled in some other way? Has too much time passed? When did this occur?

You can contact your district attorney's office to find out why they have taken no action. It is possible it was never even delivered to them.
 
This is in texas also. No punishment from the school. The boy is a varsity football player, I'm also thinking of getting a civil rights lawyers for illegal search and seizure, and interviewing my daughter without a parent present.

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This is not that sort of civil rights issue, nor one of search and seizure. Your daughter was a victim, not the accused suspect.
That said, she did not have to provide a statement if she didn't want to, but why wouldn't she want to? Did she ask for a parent to be present? If not, you should tell her to ask... In fact, to demand it, before she says a word about anything.
 
There was a interview done at the crisis center with the campus cop. We were not allowed to be in the room with our daughter nor allowed in the room where it was being recorded. Told we could stop the interview at any time but how would we know when if we couldn't hear or see anything. Assult happened Friday, interview at crisis center Monday morning where the campus cop took my daughters phone, 9 days later brings a paper to sign giving permission to access the phone. No good reason for their decision except liency, there were witnesses and the boys confession should suffice right? Campus cop told us the boy spent 3 days in juvi after confessing to him. How was he held and not charged?

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There was a interview done at the crisis center with the campus cop. We were not allowed to be in the room with our daughter nor allowed in the room where it was being recorded. Told we could stop the interview at any time but how would we know when if we couldn't hear or see anything. Assult happened Friday, interview at crisis center Monday morning where the campus cop took my daughters phone, 9 days later brings a paper to sign giving permission to access the phone. No good reason for their decision except liency, there were witnesses and the boys confession should suffice right? Campus cop told us the boy spent 3 days in juvi after confessing to him. How was he held and not charged?

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Talk to a civil righst lawyer ASAP.

Also contact various women's and children's sexual assault groups, contact the media.

Get your message out, but watch your back.

I live in one of THOSE counties, and know they play hardball, and people lose their lives mysteriously.
 
It sounds to me as if it is too soon.
No charges filed does not mean he is off the hook. It means they hadn't yet decided what to do and he had to be released from custody. It is very possible the DA is still reviewing the case. The DA could have many legitimate reasons for needing more time. You should contact them first and find out for sure what the status is and whether they are still reviewing the case. I bet they are.
As for the interview, I don't know why you weren't allowed to be with your daughter, but you apparently chose to not end the interview.
 
It never got passed the county attorney's office for the DA to review. There is a plain conflict of interest in my eyes. Small texas town politics at its best.

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There is no reason for it to go beyond the DA. That is where it is supposeded to stop.
Have you spoken with the DA?
Just because the current status is no case filed does not mean there isn't an investigation in progress. This assault happened very recently and it may be too soon for anything more.
It is also possible that the circumstances lack evidence, or do not quitte meet the legal definition of a specific offense. Contact the DA to get some answers.
 
I don't think you understand why it was that you were not invited to be present when your daughter was interviewed.

She was the victim of a sexual assault. That's extremely difficult for any woman, of any age, to talk about. For a fourteen year old girl, talking about that is going to be very hard in the best of circumstances. To talk about it in the presence of her parents, who are justifiably upset as well, would be for most girls almost impossible. Even a girl who had the best possible relationship with her parents will be, in that situation, desperately afraid of being held responsible, told it was her fault, judged or blamed for what happened. That would be the case at 14, at 24, or at 64.

By allowing her privacy, they not only were attempting to make it easier on her, but also providing them with a better chance of eliciting the information, from her, that would be needed to make a case against the boy. It wasn't done, as you apparently believe, out of callous indifference of anyone's rights; it was an attempt at making her more comfortable. If she was one of the few who would have preferred to have her parents present, I'm sure if she had asked they would have permitted it.
 
I don't think you understand why it was that you were not invited to be present when your daughter was interviewed.

She was the victim of a sexual assault. That's extremely difficult for any woman, of any age, to talk about. For a fourteen year old girl, talking about that is going to be very hard in the best of circumstances. To talk about it in the presence of her parents, who are justifiably upset as well, would be for most girls almost impossible. Even a girl who had the best possible relationship with her parents will be, in that situation, desperately afraid of being held responsible, told it was her fault, judged or blamed for what happened. That would be the case at 14, at 24, or at 64.

By allowing her privacy, they not only were attempting to make it easier on her, but also providing them with a better chance of eliciting the information, from her, that would be needed to make a case against the boy. It wasn't done, as you apparently believe, out of callous indifference of anyone's rights; it was an attempt at making her more comfortable. If she was one of the few who would have preferred to have her parents present, I'm sure if she had asked they would have permitted it.
I understand the reasoning behind the parents not being in the interview room but why couldn't we be in the separate unattached room where the closed circuit tv was recording? Given the right to stop the interview at anytime but have no clue when that point should be because we were completely blind of what was going on.

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As a victim just a little older at the time than your daughter is now, I hope that you are also seeking out therapy for her. No matter how the case goes, or if it does, she will need counseling outside of her family. The best thing she can do is to talk it out to a third party who has nothing but her good in mind. As parents/friends/family can often in their "help" actually bring hurt without meaning to do so. Even by just asking an innocent question....
 
As a victim just a little older at the time than your daughter is now, I hope that you are also seeking out therapy for her. No matter how the case goes, or if it does, she will need counseling outside of her family. The best thing she can do is to talk it out to a third party who has nothing but her good in mind. As parents/friends/family can often in their "help" actually bring hurt without meaning to do so. Even by just asking an innocent question....
She has been seeing a counselor for over a year now. I also have a 7yo who was diagnosed with leukaemia last 4th of july, she took the news hard and we started weekly sessions since. She's a tough kid that's been through a lot. School is fixing to start again and the boy will be attending uneffected by all of this and I'm not happy with how things are being taken care of.

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You might never be satisfied with the way it is handled, or the outcome, but you can make sure it is not tucked away and forgotten as you suspect.

You should know that because of their ages certain conditions must be met for it to be criminal. If you care to give any details perhaps we could give some insight regarding what you might expect as a typical result.
 
Her 14 him 17, last week of the school year he forced himself on her in a classroom that had a substitute teacher. He was not supposed to be in the class it happened in to begin with. No penetration but he did force his hands down her pants. This boy asked months before to date her, she said no, I said no and it escalated to sexual assult. Called sherriff and they put me in touch with the school cop who did the investigation. Assult happened on a friday, no report or interview until the next Monday at crisis center. Get a call weeks later from county attorney to have a meeting where we were told no charges will be filed but he would get 100hrs of community service, I was not pleased with this and asked for a simple assult charge so the boy would have supervision from a probation officer or send it to grand jury. Didn't hear anything til the other day when I stopped by the courthouse. I've left 4 messages asking for updates in a month time span and didn't receive a call back which is the reason I went to the courthouse. I'll be contacting the da to see if they can review the case. With a admittance of guilt and the way things are being done I can't help but think they are being corrupt

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She has been seeing a counselor for over a year now. I also have a 7yo who was diagnosed with leukaemia last 4th of july, she took the news hard and we started weekly sessions since. She's a tough kid that's been through a lot. School is fixing to start again and the boy will be attending uneffected by all of this and I'm not happy with how things are being taken care of.

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You can request your daughter attend another school, or she can even be home schooled, using one of these kinds of home schools sites:

Online Education Programs & Schooling | K12

There are at least a dozen other such schools... find the one that works bets for your child.

If I were you, I'd just want her to be safe, happy, and healthy.
 
So this was weeks ago? Above it sounded as if it was days ago.

Much more has been done that it had seemed.

What you describe, absent penetration, was likely a misdemeanor. The DA has discretion of how to proceed and apparently opted to go lightly. Who knows why, but you can talk to them and get an explanation.

If you want you can also speak with a civil attorney about sticking the boy's parents with the bill for her continued counseling.

As above, I too would not send my daughter to the same school where this boy is, however I would take the approach that the school district failed to act after a student was sexually assaulted in class. Your daughter is not the one who needs to be removed from the school. Contact the district administrators about your concerns over their failure to act and your daughter's safety.

Of course, I say all of this not knowing all the details that may well justify the decisions that have been made.
 
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The county attorney said it was a felony but with the degree of the assult they weren't comfortable charging it as one. That's why I suggested the simple assult with supervision. I asked face to face if they thought a crime has been committed the answer was yes, then a charge should have been made.

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There is that discretion.
Not everyone who commits a crime is charged with a crime, especially first offenders and juveniles. It seems an alternative program was utilized. He performs the community service, stays out of trouble for a certain length of time, meets whatever other conditions they set, and the offense goes away. Fail to do those things and they can prosecute.
You may disagree with it, but the decision is out of your hands.
I think they will take the time to explain to you if you approach them without being hostile over it (which happens easily).

The school district has additional options for what to do, as do you in civil court.
 
I understand the reasoning behind the parents not being in the interview room but why couldn't we be in the separate unattached room where the closed circuit tv was recording? Given the right to stop the interview at anytime but have no clue when that point should be because we were completely blind of what was going on.

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Because it is to her benefit that what she says be PRIVATE. She may not want her parents, or anyone else, to know what happened. Can you say with absolute certainty that you wouldn't, out of your own fear, anger, grief and/or guilt (of course you felt guilty. It's called survivor guilt and it's perfectly common and normal) have said to her, "Why were you there? Why did you do that? What were you thinking?" or anything of the kind that she could have translated into blaming her, judging her, or holding her responsible? NOW you say of course you wouldn't, but THEN can you be absolutely certain?
 
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