Thanks for the favor

The following is an excerpt from part two:

Shortly after our release from prison, a school principal was arrested on child molestation charges. The circumstances of absolutely nothing to go on other than someone’s accusation, does not put him behind bars as it did with us. His status prevented him from facing the firing line. Popularity released him of his charges without going to trial.

In a 2009 Rhode Island incident, a business owner was arrested on two counts of first degree and six counts of second degree sexual assault. Four female workers reported the assaults to the police. The charges were dropped by the Rhode Island attorney general’s office due to lack of evidence. The testimony of four adult women was not sufficient evidence, yet in our case the fluctuating statements of a neurotic child were enough to get us locked up and tried.

Something about these equations does not add up—except in the minds of heterosexual supremacists and those gravely amiss, steeped in the current climate of sex offender hysterics. I do not know either of the accused men but I wish them the best. The best Sid and I could hope for is exactly the reaction that shackled our wrists. The best we could expect was being exposed to danger every breathing second behind bars. The best we could count on was disastrous representation at our bail hearing: Attorney Manfreak offered to represent us as a “favor to the court.” He recommended that we decline bail.

“See all those television cameras over there? Those are here for you. That’ll make matters much worse.” He suggested that we decline and then appeal later. When we obtained our own lawyers, they told us that there was no appealing to be had. Once we declined, we waived our right to bail. The “favor to the court” was to make sure we did not get out. We were confined to prison for the duration.