Politics had no role in Sandusky probe, Friedman Sex Abuse Conviction

Report: Politics had no role in Sandusky probe
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press June 23, 2014

HARRISBURG — A report released Monday detailing the handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case faults police and prosecutors for long delays in bringing charges but found no evidence that politics affected the investigation.

The report, commissioned by Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane and written by former federal prosecutor Geoff Moulton, blamed a three-year time lapse in filing charges on communication problems, an expungement of a 1998 complaint about the former Penn State coach and a failure to take certain investigative steps early on.

“The facts show an inexcusable lack of urgency in charging and stopping a serial sexual predator,” said Kane, who had vowed to conduct a review of the investigation while running for office. “The report documents that more investigative work took place in just one month in 2011 than in all of either 2009 or 2010.”

Moulton said his review, including internal emails by state prosecutors, “revealed no direct evidence that electoral politics influenced any important decision made in the Sandusky investigation.”....

Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of sexually abusing 10 boys and is serving a long prison sentence....
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/latestnews/x1396897838/Report-Politics-had-no-role-in-Sandusky-probe


Jesse Friedman, Who Pleaded Guilty To Child Abuse In 1988, Fights For Exoneration June 24, 2014

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – A man portrayed in an Oscar-nominated documentary about a notorious 1988 sex abuse case has launched another attempt to clear his name.

Jesse Friedman and his attorney filed a motion Tuesday in Nassau County Court. They want a judge to hold a hearing to review evidence in the case.

Friedman and his father, Arnold Friedman, pleaded guilty in 1988 to abusing 13 children during a computer class that the elder Friedman taught at their Great Neck home. But Jesse Friedman has maintained that he was coerced into confessing....

Last year, Rice determined that Friedman was properly convicted.

“By any impartial analysis, the re-investigation process prompted by Jesse Friedman, his advocates and the 2nd Circuit, has only increased confidence in the integrity of Jesse Friedman’s guilty plea and adjudication as a sex offender,” Rice’s report  stated.

About a half-dozen prosecutors, supplemented by an independent review team that included noted defense attorney Barry Scheck, investigated claims that police used flawed interview techniques, employed hypnotism to elicit victims’ memories and took advantage of a moral panic that was sweeping the country in the late 1980s.

It also examined whether Friedman had caved to pressure from a county court judge and prosecutors to plead guilty, and methodically addressed that and all the other criticisms.

The report said during the first two weeks of the investigation, at least 35 children were interviewed by a team of 12 detectives working in two-person teams. No single detective dominated the investigation and different teams obtained incriminating statements from different victims, the report said.

The review team also said it found no credible evidence that hypnosis was used by investigators on any child....
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/06/24/jesse-friedman-who-pleaded-guilty-to-child-abuse-in-1988-fights-for-exoneration/


Rice: No Reason To Overturn Friedman Sex Abuse Conviction
Friedman Claims There's 'Nothing But Lies In The Report' June 24, 2013

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) – There is no reason to overturn the conviction of a man in a notorious 1980s sex abuse scandal, New York prosecutors announced Monday after a three-year review....

But Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice released a 168-page report Monday that concluded there was strong reason to investigate and prosecute both Friedman and his father, Arnold, when the scandal erupted in 1987. The new inquiry also concluded that the two abused young boys taking computer classes in the basement of their Great Neck home....

Friedman, speaking at a news conference on Monday, said he’s disappointed in the DA’s report but added he’ll continue his battle to clear his name....

“By any impartial analysis, the re-investigation process prompted by Jesse Friedman, his advocates and the 2nd Circuit, has only increased confidence in the integrity of Jesse Friedman’s guilty plea and adjudication as a sex offender,” the report stated....

The panel also noted that after his guilty plea, Friedman went on “The Geraldo Rivera Show” against his attorney’s advice and re-affirmed his guilt and discussed the abuse he and his father inflicted on the children.

The panel also re-interviewed parents of some of the victims and found none “have any reason today to disbelieve that their sons were victims of the Friedmans.”

The parents described their children having emotional problems, including bed wetting, defecating in their clothing, sleeplessness, nightmares, stuttering, a decline in school performance, separation anxiety and an overwhelming sense of fear....
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/06/24/rice-no-reason-to-overturn-friedman-sex-abuse-conviction/


Capturing the Friedmans
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/1.html

Deconstructing the Myths Advanced by the Film "CApturing the Friedmans"
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/myths.html

In Their Own Words:  Jesse's Victims Speak Out
http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/ctf/vict.html