Sexueller Missbrauch: Unschuldiger Mann kommt nach 15 Jahren aus Gefängnis frei

Neues aus der "rape culture":

He could admit that he sexually abused his own children and continue with his probation, or he could profess his innocence and serve out a 15-year prison term. Such was the dilemma facing Kevin Peterson, a Utah man whose exoneration story continues to reverberate around the legal community.

It started in the late 1980s for Peterson, when a custody battle erupted with his ex-wife over their two children. "One night Kevin gets a knock on the door," attorney Jason Richards said of a night in 1990. "Children get taken out of his home and he’s arrested and taken to jail. Later he finds out he’s being charged with several first-degree felonies for allegations of sex abuse against his kids."

The case proceeded through the justice system and during a preliminary hearing, Peterson’s children took the stand and testified against him. "He heard his son testify and he just figured, 'Man, there’s no way I can beat this,'" Richards said.

Peterson pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony. He was sentenced to probation, but as part of the probation he was required to complete therapy treatment for sex offenders. "Of course, when he gets to that point in the therapy (he says), ‘Well, I didn’t do anything — I didn’t do this,'" Richards said. Part of the therapy was to detail the abuse committed. Peterson couldn’t do it. His probation officer caught wind, and his probation was ultimately revoked. Peterson ended up serving 15 years in the Utah State Prison.

Hier geht es weiter.