All she wants for Christmas ....

Tiassa

Tiassa

Let us not launch the boat ...
Valued Senior Member
Have faith. Believe. Sometimes your wish will come true.

This could, of course, go in any number of subfora, but I choose this, claiming it for justice:

Police in south Texas say a 9-year-old girl's letter to Santa may have finally stopped a nightmare of sexual abuse for her and her 10-year-old sister.

Police allege that for as long as four years, Andres Enrique Cantu sexually abused the girls in their bedrooms while they slept or did their homework. Cantu is a computer lab aide at an alternative high school but has not been accused of crimes against students there ....

.... The 9-year-old's plea to Santa, written as a school assignment, launched the investigation and led to the first charge of continuous sexual abuse last week. On Tuesday, Cantu was accused of abusing the girl's older sister, who was also mentioned in the letter.

Investigators have refused to share the letter to Santa, saying it is evidence in an ongoing investigation. But the charging affidavit described it as "a wish list to Santa" asking that the girl's relative stop touching her and her sister.

(Associated Press)
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'Tis the season. A long nightmare would seem to be coming to an end. May its echoes someday fade.

Continuous sexual abuse is a felony charge that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least twenty-five years in prison.
____________________

Notes:

"Letter to Santa leads to Texas molestation charge". Associated Press. December 16, 2008. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SANTA_LETTER_MOLESTATION
 
Well, it would have been more spectacular, for starters

Draqon said:

how do we know she is not lying?
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How many sexual abuse survivors do you know?
 
Doubt not, but proceed cautiously

Draqon said:

thanks God, none
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The first lesson of dealing with sexual abuse claims is to not doubt the accuser. This does not mean that the accused is automatically guilty. Rather, it means that you operate according to the proposition that something has happened. The letter, in and of itself, is merely cause for investigation. It is not cause for arrest.

To revisit the AP article:

The 9-year-old's plea to Santa, written as a school assignment, launched the investigation and led to the first charge of continuous sexual abuse last week. On Tuesday, Cantu was accused of abusing the girl's older sister, who was also mentioned in the letter.

(Associated Press)
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The key to the arrest should, in any sane world, be found somewhere in the investigation.
 
yea well Tiassa, girls 9 years old are not exactly that stupid of people, they can accuse guys they dont like for not doing what they wanted.

The so called "proposition that something has happened" is in fact automatic assumption that the supposevly sexual abuser has indeed done it.

The invesigation better have some evidence and not some words of other people as proof.

That is all I am saying.
 
Damn

Draqon said:

yea well Tiassa, girls 9 years old are not exactly that stupid of people, they can accuse guys they dont like for not doing what they wanted
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Yeah, sure. Like all the kids on South Park, right?

The so called "proposition that something has happened" is in fact automatic assumption that the supposevly sexual abuser has indeed done it.
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Actually, it's not. Defense attorneys know damn well how to say, "Well, yeah, she was probably abused, but someone else did it."

The invesigation better have some evidence and not some words of other people as proof.

That is all I am saying.
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I'm trying so hard to not say, "Well, this is Texas, after all."

Damn.
 
Tiassa said:
Yeah, sure. Like all the kids on South Park, right?

Actually, it's not. Defense attorneys know damn well how to say, "Well, yeah, she was probably abused, but someone else did it."

I'm trying so hard to not say, "Well, this is Texas, after all."

Damn.
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Interesting, Tiassa, that you've already condemned the accused without a trial at all. And yet aren't you the very one who is constantly throwing up the Constitution and laws and such?

And even you, yes, you, should be well aware that such open, public discussions can affect the fairness of trials.

We should allow the justice system to make the determination of illegality without out constant ignorant, public discussions ......when you know so fuckin' little about the case.

Baron Max
 
Try being a little more specific

Baron Max said:

Interesting, Tiassa, that you've already condemned the accused without a trial at all.
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How so, troll?
 
Interesting, the Baron does not believe in suspending habeas corpus. Or is that only for pedophiles?
 
Tiassa said:
I'm trying so hard to not say, "Well, this is Texas, after all."

Damn.
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What the hell is that supposed to mean? People in Texas are more likely to abuse their kids? I guess you fancy yankees never abuse your kids...just us poor, unedjamacated Texans.

You regionalist you! :)
 
Thbpbpbpbpbpt!

MacGyver1968 said:

What the hell is that supposed to mean? People in Texas are more likely to abuse their kids? I guess you fancy yankees never abuse your kids...just us poor, unedjamacated Texans.

You regionalist you! :)
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Actually, it has to do with the question of whether prosecutors are so desperate to convict somebody that they'll charge anyone regardless of whether they have legitimate cause to think they're guilty. That is, after all, a vital component of Draqon's argument.

And it does happen in Texas. It happens elsewhere, too. (There, are you happy? ;))

And how could you miss the obvious tip toward morbid humor? Is that a widespread problem among you poor, unedjamacated Texans?

Oh, right: ;)
 
Tiassa said:
Actually, it has to do with the question of whether prosecutors are so desperate to convict somebody that they'll charge anyone regardless of whether they have legitimate cause to think they're guilty. That is, after all, a vital component of Draqon's argument.

And it does happen in Texas. It happens elsewhere, too. (There, are you happy? ;))

And how could you miss the obvious tip toward morbid humor? Is that a widespread problem among you poor, unedjamacated Texans?

Oh, right: ;)
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Sorry, T...just as Sam gets a little touchy when people say thing bad things about Islam...I get a little touchy when people bad mouth Texas. No offense. :)
 
A silver lining for every cloud

MacGyver1968 said:

Sorry, T...just as Sam gets a little touchy when people say thing bad things about Islam...I get a little touchy when people bad mouth Texas. No offense. :)
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None taken. (I wondered if the joke would snag up.) While I have my own doubts about Texas, it's hard to believe that everyone in that state is as far gone as something like the Tulia debacle would suggest. And, given the prudishness of the prevailing culture in Texas, one thing we can have faith in is the earnestness of a child sexual abuse prosecution. Perhaps Texan culture is a bit oversensitive about sexual issues, but, at the same time, they're not going to blow something like this so badly as Draqon suggests. It's far too important to them.
 
Express yourself

John99 said:

dont you read your posts?
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I'm not you. Your priorities are not mine. I do not see what you see.
 
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