NM- Innocent man imprisoned for rape speaks out

7-25-2008 New Mexico:

A man jailed for child molestation after a name mix-up is finally speaking out about his ordeal.

Johnathan Chavez, a Santa Fe man, is still fuming at police and prosecutors three years after they arrested him for raping a child.

It started out for Chavez when an officer ran his license plate. Unbeknownst to him, another man by the name of Jonathon Chavez was wanted for raping a 14-year-old girl.

Chavez said he had no idea why the officer was putting him in handcuffs.

"They wouldn't tell me why I was being arrested, they just put me in the cop car and started hauling me off," he said.

Chavez's lawyer says when his client was arrested, the man police were looking for was already in jail on a burglary charge. That man has since pleaded guilty to the rape.

Chavez doesn't mince words about his erroneous imprisonment.

"At this point, I don't even care for an apology anymore. They pissed me off and I hate them," he says.

Chavez says after his arrest he was imprisoned for an entire week with sex offenders which caused him to live in constant fear.

"They threatened to rape me, mess around with me, get me while I was sleeping," he said. "You kind of have to live in fear because they are bigger and older and experienced at these crimes and you have to kind of watch your back."

In the last few months, Chavez has reached settlements with both the city and county totaling about $200,000. However, he says the situation won't be fixed until he changes his name.

"I don't want my name associated with anyone like that. I don't want another mix up," he said.

Chavez said the city hasn't done anything to fix the situation that caused the mix up and another innocent person could face the same predicament he did.

The Santa Fe police chief said he didn't want to comment on the case because it involved litigation. The district attorney was not available for comment. ..News Source.. by KOB.com New Mexico

After Man Serves 20 Years In Prison, 'Victims' Admit Lying: Pair Said Grandmother Pushed Them To Lie

11-5-2004 North Carolina:

.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Two women in North Carolina are recanting their testimony in a child molestation case that had imprisoned a man for 20 years, with one saying her grandmother made them accuse the wrong man.

The accusers are cousins who were four and six when they accused Sylvester Smith of sexual abuse. Smith was convicted and given two consecutive life sentences in 1984.

One of the women said the real abuser was a cousin who's now in prison. A prosecutor said the woman now say their grandmother pressured them to accuse Smith rather than the cousin, in order to protect him.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley prosecuted the case when he was a district attorney. Easley's spokeswoman said the governor doesn't have enough information to comment. ..more..

Sex conviction overturned: Detective made up evidence, court says

11-21-2004 Kentucky:

A molestation case that sparked outrage by parents in a Central Kentucky town took a stunning turn yesterday when an appeals court threw out the conviction of a church day-care worker because police made up evidence.

In clearing Joey Dean Herndon, Kentucky's Court of Appeals heaped criticism on Richmond police Detective Ellen Alexander for building a case "on a foundation of incompetent, unreliable and even manufactured evidence."

"The investigation was supported or carried out with outright lies," Judge Wilfrid A. Schroder said. "Children were told what to say. Even though the investigation found no corroborative evidence of abuse, the matter was taken to trial where the investigating detective continued lying to mislead the jury."

Herndon was convicted in 2000 of sexually abusing a young boy who attended Lighthouse Child Care Center in Richmond and sentenced to five years, though he was released on bond pending his appeal.

The three-judge appeals panel said the case was investigated amid a backdrop of "outrage and hysteria," including protests by angry parents outside the jail where Herndon was held. ..more.. Bruce Schreiner | Associated Press

Molestation Charges Against Lodi Firefighter Dropped

12-8-2004 California:

Felony child molestation charges against a Lodi fire captain have been dismissed after his purported victim recanted her claims during testimony. Deputies with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department arrested Fire Captain Michael Tecklenburg, 43, in September following claims made by a teenage girl that he had raped her.

The case surrounds a 15-year-old girl, who is not being identified by News10 because of her status as a minor, who had run away from home two weeks previously. Tecklenburg spearheaded an intensive search for her, enlisting his friends and fellow firefighters to assist.

According to the investigators, the girl contacted her therapist and told him Tecklenburg had repeatedly sexually assaulted her during the past several months. The therapist put the teen in contact with detectives.

In court testimony the girl claimed the notion that she was raped by Tecklenburg was planted by detectives. She said at first she denied it, but became exhausted after hours of questioning and said the sexual assaults had occurred. ..more.. News10

Accused child molester is found not guilty

12-10-2004 Vermont:

."The nightmare is over," Norman Cook, 48, declared after a jury found him not guilty of child molestation Thursday. Cook, of Brattleboro, was facing a maximum of 80 years in prison on charges that he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl six years ago.

"This is a small town, and Mr. Cook had to put up with being looked at as a pedophile for over a year," defense attorney Eileen Hongisto of the firm Harris & Stone said of her client.

"People need to know he was acquitted of everything." Hongisto said she believes the jury was swayed by Cook's testimony on the stand, and inconsistencies in his now 15-year-old accuser's story.

"The details of what she said happened, to the therapist and a police officer, a social worker and when she testified on the stand changed," Hongisto said. "And the fact that it was a one time alleged thing -- for pedophiles, that's not the pattern."

The allegations against Cook were brought forward after his accuser, of Troy, N.H., had been found by authorities, Hongisto said. "At worst case scenario, she was lying and trying to get out of trouble. A total fabrication," Hongisto said. ..more.. ANDREW RAGOUZEOS Reformer Staff