We all like to watch the police and court procedurals on television. I don’t know how many episodes of Law and Order I have watched over the years. They always get their man, wrangling between the legalities of our constitution and our need to control the worst in our society. But what happens when our Justice System ignores evidence such as DNA and takes someone to trial using only hearsay and botched forensic interviews? What does that say about our need to “get our man” at any cost? Burning the constitution and our laws in the process. What does it say about our country when we listen to lies and see the evidence right in front of us and still it does not matter?

We are all aware in this country of Tawana Brawley and the Duke Lacrosse debacle. False Allegations happen daily in our country and while we don’t think about it much, we should. We should be concerned about what happens in our courtrooms and in our communities. We should all be aware that in our country 8% of Americans (20.4 million people) have been falsely accused of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault or other abuse.

“False Allegations represent a serious threat to justice”, according to Rebecca Stuart of the Center for Prosecutor Integrity (CPI). We tend to all believe that no one would ever make up such disgusting lies and commit perjury, when we know deep down that everyone lies. Most of us don’t give much thought to these lies unless it directly affects our own families. Just this past year, my own family has had to defend ourselves from these lies.

My son Casey has been accused of vile crimes. And while I know he is innocent, I have struggled to understand why these people that called him his family, would lie about abuse. Why wouldn’t the police department and justice department do a full investigation so that one more person wouldn’t go to jail for being innocent and poor?

I struggle to understand how these women could get away with these crimes. And make no mistake, lying to the court is a crime. All the while being labeled “victims” and using resources meant for truly abused women and children. I struggle to understand why the justice system lies to my community, keeping one man in jail while they have DNA that proves he is innocent, while letting another go free.

I struggle to understand why my community, which is full of school aged children, is not more important to the Mesa County, Colorado Police or Justice System. I struggle to understand how the many attorneys Casey and I have talked with admit he is getting railroaded but can’t offer any assistance, that is unless the family can come up with $30,000.

I am angry that Casey’s ex-wife got away with these crimes. This is the third time she and her daughter have made up these fake crimes. The first time was when she Facebook posted a four paragraph piece about her ex-husband being a rapist. She claims he raped her when they were married and both of her children have been told they are products of rape . She goes on to talk about how wonderful my son Casey is and how much he has improved her life. Then she and her daughter Vanessa lied about my son.

The third time this family has used sex abuse to garner attention was a Facebook post about a driving instructor who sexually assaulted Vanessa. The problem here is that there is no proof of any of these false allegations. In fact, thru my own investigation, talking with the accused in all of these scenarios, there has never been a crime committed unless you count the three times these women have lied.

His stepdaughter, afraid she was pregnant set off this firestorm we now call our lives. Casey is facing hundreds of years in prison. I guess throwing an innocent man in prison does not matter much, as long as we believe #metoo. But it should. It should matter that after all these rape exams, exams of all the electronics and many hours of interviews, no evidence of any sexual assault has been found. In fact, the evidence (DNA) shows that these three children were sexually abusing each other.

I guess throwing someone, anyone in jail and prosecuting them for crimes they did not commit, solved the problem, at least for them. But it has left a child molester out on the street. While everyone in the justice system in my county is ok with what they are doing, my community suffers. These trials are very expensive and are on the backs of the tax payers in my county. But more so, my community is in danger because the judge, prosecution and police department have left a 16-year-old child molester out to re-offend.

All this pain and suffering could be lessened if we stop with the secrets and lies in our courtrooms. Perjury is a real thing and should be treated as such. Whether it be a 16-year-old girl who was afraid she was pregnant, unsure of who the father was, afraid she would get in trouble, or an abuse victim by her brother. We should not allow lying in our courtroom.

So, what can we learn from these false allegations? Believing all woman and children without doing a full investigation is wrong. Trying so hard in court to bury the truth such as DNA is a travesty for our justice system. Have the police and our justice systems forgotten who they serve? And lastly, using fancy legal terms like the “rape shield law” to cover up the real crime is disgusting. These legal gymnastics in the courtroom should not be accepted by anyone.

I will continue to fight for my son and show my community and country the real evidence. These women should be prosecuted for perjury and outed so that my community can be safer and know who the real criminals are.

http://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/