Remember the inmate that came a few days after me, and all the gays were chasing him because he looks like a kid? Well, Billy and I had a heart-to-heart discussion a few days ago, and he revealed to me the circumstances that landed him in prison. I had figured that he was an s.o. within the first three seconds of meeting him, and I was right. I had even guessed correctly (mostly) what his primary offense was. What I couldn’t wrap my mind around was how much time they gave him.
Two counts of receipt of c.p., one count of possession of c.p., and one count of enticement of a minor netted him a grand total of THIRTY-FIVE YEARS.
Well, I guess it’s official. I have finally met someone with worse luck than me.
Because of his unique circumstances, the government blasted him as much as they could. He was foolish enough to fantasize about abducting a child with someone he met in an Internet chat room. Of course, that person turned out to be a cop. To make matters worse, he had recently purchased a pistol. The prosecutor argued that the gun was bought to murder a child to cover up a devised sexual assault. The truth of the matter was that the gun was for himself. He had fallen into a depression over a failed relationship and was planning to take his own life. Of course, the judge believed the prosecutor over Billy.
Now, because of the gun and his chat room conversation, all the other charges are completely trumped up. He’d been caught with fewer than thirty videos, and got charged with two counts of receipt and one of possession? As much as I hate to say it, his collection was nothing compared to mine.
Can Billy’s story be believed? Yes. There is nothing for him to gain from telling me about his case, and there is everything for him to lose. I could ruin him if I were to spread his story around the compound. I can’t help but feel sorry for Billy. He’s only 25 years old, and he’s gotten more time than he’s been alive, all because of the PERCEIVED threat he poses. I thought that the law was supposed to punish a person for what he DID, not what someone thought that person was capable of.
Billy and I are just a pair of modern-day witches caught in a witch hunt. Bring on the stakes and the oil.
Joe, Billy is lucky to have you as a friend... and I'm crying tears for him because he was in such a depressing dark place and the help he got for it was in the form of a "life" sentence pretty much. It sucks. I hope you are able to encourage him and help one another out through the hell you are going through. Be strong buddy... Tell Billy there's a SOs sister praying for him from the midwest. Praying for you too Joe.
ReplyDeleteYarnAddict
Pretty scary how many people get caught in the net. While I disagree that it is a modern witch hunt, I do think it is crazy that someone gets more time for watching a video of underage people than they would get for actually having sex with the same kids. I'm all for law and order (I'm a C.O. with law school in the future) but some things are just nuts.
ReplyDeleteI guess I am the only one thats appalled at Joe's blatant 'bragging' that Billy's 30 tape child pornography collection was *nothing* compared to his own. I could imagine that there's no chance Joe would survive out in the open with the general population, especially if his blogs became known in his prison. IMHO.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, please re-read the post. Joe was NOT "bragging" about his collection of c.p. He was pointing out the DISPARITY IN SENTENCING for c.p. crimes.
ReplyDeleteJoe is not proud of his crime. He is merely pointing out that sentencing for c.p. crimes is done on the whim of a judge. There is no fairness in sentencing, despite written sentencing guidelines. (And don't get me started about those WRITTEN guidelines . . . )
It makes NO SENSE that a person who commits a hands-on sex crime with a minor can get little or no jail time with 10 years on the registry, while someone who possesses c.p. can get YEARS in jail with LIFETIME registry.
NO molested child was ever compensated for his loss by injustice.
Editor-some people read what they want to into things. I totally *got* what Joe was saying.
ReplyDeleteits true. sentencing is crazy. just crazy.