My son was accused of assaulting a woman living on the same street as us. A kid came out of the bush, grabbed the woman from behind, she sprayed the kid with a hose and he ran away. She was not injured in any way. My son was out delivering his newspapers at the time. He saw the kid run past our house and gave the police officers a complete description. The officer pulled me aside and said, "I know he did it because he knows too much." I responded, "Well, he would also know that if he saw the kid!" The police officer said, "Yeah, but teenagers don't notice details like that." OH really!!!!!!!!
I am a single parent. I am also a professional in my community, volunteer, and I have just completed my Social Work degree. The supervising officer bellowed at me that night "I don't care! Go tell someone who cares!" and other things including threatening to lock up my son until the court date if he did not sign the papers right then and there, without having a lawyer to talk to about it.
The description of the kid does not match my son. My son did not have time to commit the act. His brother told the police officers details that verify what his brother said. He does not have the personality to commit such an act. He is more the type who would help if someone was being hurt. He represented our community in the Provincial Spelling Bee, delivers newspapers, is in his high school junior concert band, the Reach for the Top team, soccer, and bowling. He has volunteered the past three summers working with kids.
Before giving her statement to the police, the woman canvassed our neighbourhood with a general description asking people, including my younger son, if they knew a kid with curly hair and a red tshirt. My younger son said that his brother "has kind of curly hair and red tshirts". She asked if he has a red backpack and my younger son told her "No". SHE decided it was my son. The police spoke with her at midnight that night and had made up their minds by the next afternoon.
This all happened in June. My kids had to drop the one newspaper route so that they would not have to walk past the woman's house. We have been forced to move to try to find peace. My son was not able to do his volunteer work this year. I have gathered about 20 or so reference letters attesting to my son's good, calm, and caring character.
The pretrial was last week and the Crown attorney is pursuing the matter despite all the discrepancies including statements made by the woman that she saw the kid who attacked her walking down the street at times when my son would not have been walking down the street.
Thanks for asking! It's been a living hell! My family has had to seek counselling to try to deal with all the stress involved. The issue is still ongoing. I am told by the lawyer that I have to just sit back and let things go through the system.
Take care.
