First I thank you all so much for your statements below. This has been an emotional day.
Today I saw and heard evil, and watched good people suffer as this statement was read. My own husband was reduced to sobbing next to me. I even found myself later hugging his first wife and wishing I could make her pain go away. Much has happened. And I am not ok with this. And not able to do much more now than tell you what has happened.
*The Victims Statement.*
First of all we would like to say How Dare They! How dare they come into this courtroom before your bench and try to turn this case around to be about them. How dare they have the audacity to come into this courtroom on November 26th and assume that nothing in this case mattered except them and they would walk away with no accountability, being so brash in this assumption as to not even plan for a ride home if the assailant went to jail. How dare they!
This case in not about the finances of Donna and Wayne F. This case is not about their health. This case is about the felonious sexual assault of two minor children by the defendant Wayne F.
Wayne F. came into our home and found a private time to assault our 4 year old daughter V. He got her onto his lap, took his adult male hand with adult strength and size, put in inside the pants of his victim and inside the panties. He rubbed his hands hard inside her labia so it hurt badly and burned. He then took his adult male fingers and foreced them inside the vagina of our 4 year old little girl. When she tried to get away he wouldn't let her go until he was gratified. Finally when he was gratified he let her go and sent her away broken, injured, crying, confused and above all frightened. He continued this torture over and over again for 6 years. Åfter he had continued these assaults for 6 years he was diagnosed with cancer the very same cancer he says now makes him too frail to go to jail, well cancer, surgery, chemo and radiation did not make him too weak to seek out another victim. Again he came into our home and went after H his second victim in our home. He committed th same sexual assault with H again with no regard for the broken spirit he left behind. V walked in on the assault of H and finally came forward to protect her sister. We should all have so much courage.
If the pure heinous nature of the assault is not enough then let us look at the other aspects involved. He commited these acts of assault inside the homes of these girls, in their safe haven, their harbor from pain and danger. On top of destroying their sense of security in their own home, he was someone from their circle of trust, someone who is counted on to put their safety and their well being above all. To protect them from harm. Instead he committed the worst possible act of violence towards our children. After all of this he was cold, callous and calculated enough to sit at our table and share a meal with our family with no remorse. Cold enough to hug us and hug our children with no sign of anything being wrong.
Our daughter V was an outgoing energetic child before this happened. She loved to play, loved people, to hug and cuddle, all normal for a 4 year old child. Looking back now from the time the abuse started we knew she was changing and we didn't know why. She became withdrawn, shy, scared of people. She eventually became angry and rebellious for her aage. We could never figure out why. When her asailant was out of her life for a year undergoing cancer treatment she started to trust us with the truth, which was wonderful. She still is not the bubbly outgoing child she was before the assaults began, he has probably crushed tht part of her forever. V continues to be very quiet and a bit withdrawn but she is strong, strong enough to tell the truth.
H is so different from V. She is a soft, gentle loving soul. She has a giving heart and a delicate spirit. Her grandfather Wayne F took advantage of these beautiful parts of her and twisted them to serve his gross sexual desires. Had V not walked in and witnessed her sister being violated just as she had been, the abuse could have gone on for an indefinite length of time. Thanks to the courage of V the abuse was stopped in a matter of months.
There is no question if he committed these acts. There is no question of guilt here today. The only question before this court today is if justice is going to be done for these girls. We were forced to accept the lesser charge of Gross Sexual Imposition instead of rape to protect our girls from being dragged into the horrors of reliving all their pain in a court trial. We were then forced again by their assailant to plea bagain to a lesser charge or he was going to victimize them again by forcing them to testify in a jury trial. After 22 agonizing months we beg for justice to finally be served.
You are the elected voice of this community. You are the only voice for these young girls! There are two things that can happen here today and the outcome is in your control.
This court can choose the lesser sentence and make the clear statement that it is acceptable in our society to sexually assault our young children.
Or
This court can speak out with the voice of this predators victims and say this is not acceptable. We will protect our children and we will seek justice when they are harmed. We feel that the longevity of the assault, the amoral disregard for his victims, the ongoing repeating of his crime with dozens and dozens of assaults and multiple victims call for nothing less than the maximum sentence allowed by the law.
We kindly thank you for your time and attention and beg you to be the voice of our girls.
*Comments made by the assailant.*
Yes. It happened. I wish I could take it back. But the children were not afraid of me. It was not rape. It was touching. (touching? Is that what they call it these days?)
In the background, his wife (who had the misfortune of sitting near me) was telling the woman next to her that her son was too gutless to show up. (he had sent a letter to the court supporting his children and explaining that he could not bring himself to be there. Understandable for such a betrayal, IMO.) She also made the comment that the children were not well disaplined. And how would she support herself if he were to go to jail.
*The verdict.*
Two weeks ago, the judge leaned heavily toward probation. Today when 30 people showed up in court on behalf of two young children who could not speak for themselves, he was forced to take stronger measures. But NOT, IMO, strong enough.
At first the judge gave a 6 month prison sentence to be followed by 10 years of some kind of "watching" by the courts. And of course the man will now be classified as a sexual predator.
Both attorneys quickly requested to approach the bench immediately after sentencing. You see, the minimum prison time for sexual offenders is 1 year. And so it became one year.
Why? Because the man is 65 years old and has had part of his colon removed because he had cancer. More importantly the judge was impressed with the findings of the court appointed therapist who reported, that after five weeks time, she feels certain, the liklihood of a reoffense is slim.
about
Fresh off the Ohio local news. (all true I swear on my Alchemy high scores....cept for the pics which I googled a'course)
One hour before deer hunting season officially began, a hunter hearing movement in a clump of nearby bushes, looked away from his watch in time to see a very large buck. Knowing the game warden would understand, he took aim and fired. Excited he approached the bushes with his trusy knife to bleed his kill preserving the meat.
Check your shoes before you leave.