STORY: "Reinvestigating the Friedmans," by reporter Peter Applebome, published by the New York Times, on June 15, 2013.
PHOTO-CAPTION: "Jesse Friedman, who along with his father, Arnold, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children in the 1980s".
PHOTO-CAPTION: "Jesse, center with Arnold in 1987, was granted parole in 2001 and is awaiting a review recommended by the United States Court of Appeals."
GIST: “I write to inform you that none of the events allegedly described by or attributed to Kenneth Doe ever took place,” a man in his 30s wrote last month, referring to his role a quarter century ago as one of the children whose allegations of sexual abuse sent three men to prison, fueled a panic in hundreds of families and were later portrayed in the 2003 documentary “Capturing the Friedmans.” In the letter, the man said that neither Arnold Friedman, who in the 1980s ran a computer class at his house in this affluent Long Island suburb, nor Mr. Friedman’s son Jesse, who sometimes helped him, had sodomized him, touched him inappropriately or shown him pictures of naked people. He had never observed either of them engaged in anything “even remotely akin to sexual conduct.” He had no reason to believe any such acts occurred. What he did remember was that the police repeatedly came to his house to question him and would not leave until he gave them the account of sexual abuse they wanted “As a result,” his letter said, “I guess I just folded so they would leave me alone.” He is one of several key figures who have recanted or disputed parts of accusations attributed to them in the Friedman case, the subject of an almost three-year investigation by the Nassau County district attorney’s office following a withering 2010 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The court said that it could not overturn Jesse Friedman’s conviction because the appeal came too late, but that there was “a reasonable likelihood” that Mr. Friedman was wrongfully convicted. It suggested that the Nassau County district attorney, Kathleen M. Rice, reinvestigate the case to determine whether Mr. Friedman’s conviction should be upheld or overturned. Ms. Rice has said she will release a report by June 28."
The entire story can be found at:
See Wikipedia account: "Capturing the Friedmans" - "In August 2010, a federal appeals court upheld the conviction of Jesse Friedman on technical legal grounds, but took the unusual step of urging prosecutors to reopen Friedman’s case, saying that there was a “reasonable likelihood that Jesse Friedman was wrongfully convicted." The decision cited "overzealousness" by law enforcement officials swept up in the hysteria over child molestation in the 1980s. Following the appeals court ruling, the Nassau District Attorney's office began a three-year investigation led by District Attorney Kathleen M. Rice. A report by Rice is due to be released on June 28, 2013, but details have already emerged, including letters from some of the alleged victims in which they recant their accusations and implicate the police in coercing their statements. Prior to the report's release, The Village Voice conducted an interview with Jesse Friedman, who described himself as "freakishly optimistic", and also reported that Ross Goldstein, a childhood friend of Jesse Friedman's, had broken his 25-year silence to explain he had been coerced into false cooperation with the district attorney's office: "He told the review panel of how he'd been coerced into lying, how prosecutors coached him through details of the Friedmans' computer lab, which he'd never even seen, and how he was imprisoned for something he'd never done.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capturing_the_Friedmanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capturing_the_Friedmans
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case;
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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