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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| Just a quick reminder Dale and his party have long subscribed to the theory that "its not the evidence but the seriousness of the charge that matters". as far as republicans go. Remember Clarence thomas?I guess we shall see if what goes around comes around and bites old Dale in the ass. |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:05 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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quote:
Stephen James schreef:
In response to Motorcity007 valid questions.
Not speaking for Mr. Kildee, but think about this…..
1) Do you believe that Patrick is cured of his mental illness or is living now copping with it?
2) Do you not think that Patrick was exposed to the question of sexual abuse during his treatment during his early years and do you know that Patrick, seeing the sympathy and an excuse for his poor “Life” choices as being motivation to vaguely stating that he was molested? (P.S. his guilt-ridden mother found this to be a way to valid herself as a mother of a prodigal son.)
3) Politically motivated! Yes, and no. This group, Jane the mother, re-married to a hard core republican, sister Sandy, is a rightwing Christian with strong radical pro life views (Hates that Dale voted for Obama’s health care package). The reason that this allegation has taken so long to be published is due to its convoluted facts, lies, and time line. No respectable publisher would run the story because none could make sense of it. In addition, do you not think that in all the years of muckraking none of Dale’s political opponents believed the story enough to make propaganda fodder with it? When no one found any validation to the story, they went to their most sympatric allies, and floated the story in front of Republican Party leadership and Christian television programmers.
4) Not until they tried to blackmail Dale, and Dale took this letter to the FBI and then it was brought to the house ethic committee (which is evenly split between Republicans and democrats), but again, no one found it valid or believable. Understand that during this time both the Republican leaders and Christian television were hot on the story. The republican ran with the story as a way to smear all democrat (it was a no go before the election.) and as a way to fend off the chances of dems regaining Dale’s seat. I believe that Christian television unwittingly ran the story thinking they would be “Heroes” of truth.
I saw the Channel 5 story last night and felt sorry for Katie O'Mara. She really needs to stay at the anchor desk if she is afraid to ask the tough questions.
The age of Patrick is now 15 and not 12
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The abuse allegedly lasted two years and not four to five. Although the mother stated Kildee did not go to Traverse City sfter he married in 1965.
Patrick speaks about the abuse as though he were a small child. "Ihad no understanding what my penis was for other than going to the bathroom. I didn't know anything about sex"
"Do you want to see some magic? And I said, like what? He would take my litte penis and it would get harder and bigger-you know? But I had no idea what sex was. I really did'ny know-and then he would get me to do it to him. Thats how it started and I didn't know it was wrong."
This is a story that sounds more like a seven year old and not a fifteen year old. I have never met a teen that did not have some discussions with his peers about sex. Come on and lets be real-a fifteen year old did not know his littele penis was for anything other than going to the bathroom? |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:25 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Katie asks Patrick why he wants his story out after over 50 years-which puts the age back to 12 again.
"Patrick says it was one simple phone call his son, Sean, made to Congressiman kildee's office seeking a favor for Social security benefits."
"He said "i called Dale kildee up, we talked for a little bit and I just said, would you swear on the name of Jesus Christ that you didn't molest my father," Patrick said of of his son's phone call-"and Dale says, 'yes I will do that'- and then he comes on with these talking points.."Your father got out of jail and he needed a villain in his life, he chose me and I don't know why."
This is the conversation that allegedly led to Kildee filing blackmail charges with the FBI. It is also the reason Patrick says he is coming forward with his claims. |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:36 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Now Patrick Kildee's son Sean is stepping up to support his father and combat claims that the story is false. Below are posts Sean Kildee left defending his father on TV5's Facebook page:
•Easy for you people to just wake up take a look at the news and form your opinion. But for someone who has lived this story there whole life. it means a little more. like i said walk in my shoes before you speak on something you have no idea what your talking about.
•Its called toxic shame!!! have you ever been abused or molested? not something you really want to think or talk about!!!
•@Susan no one enjoys as you say tarnishing the reputation of others!!! but until you know what your talking about keep your opinion to yourself.
•Anyone one else have something to say? |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:43 am |
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Sandi Lindstrom
F L I N T O I D
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In reply to Steven James comments:
3) Politically motivated! Yes, and no. This group, Jane the mother, re-married to a hard core republican, sister Sandy, is a rightwing Christian with strong radical pro life views (Hates that Dale voted for Obama’s health care package).
My mother is a life long Democrat and is married to a wonderful man who happens to be a Republican - their political beliefs had nothing what-so-ever to do with BOTH of them coming forward to go with me to the initial interview with Mr. Singer. They came to tell Patricks story to the people who had stepped up & offered help in getting the truth out.
As for me being a rightwing Christian with strong pro-life views - I'm not sure where you got your info but I'm not a rightwing-leftwing anything regarding religion or politics. True I am a Christian.
My pro-lfe views are exactly that - mine. I am a birthmother who has been reconnected with my firstborn son for many years and have supported other members of the adoption triad in healing from their loss.
Radical - no Avaiable for support - yes.
And your statement that I hated that Dale voted for Obama's health care package is just plain ridiculous - I have no clue on how Dale voted on any issue, nor do I even pretend to know enough about the bill to even form an opinion.
I'm attaching a statement that I released last night and respectfully ask that you read it and understand that this is who I am & where I come from on this issue.
The allegations regarding Dale Kildee and my brother Patrick Kildee were brought to light by an e-mail that I sent out in October, 2010.
My intention then, as it is now, was to bring out the truth about a horrible wrong that was done to my brother. This was an issue that should have been dealt with decades ago, and wasn’t for various reasons.
The story is Patrick’s and it is his to tell. I can’t put in to words how touched and proud I am of his courage to come forward with this.
Politics has never played any part in either of our making this public – the only thing political about the story is the fact that it involves a politician.
It has been a very long painful journey in the past year for so many people involved, but it has been the beginning of a healing process that is long overdue.
Sandi Lindstrom |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:53 pm |
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Dave Starr
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| Sandi, it's sad that some people think being a Christian makes a person a "radical right winger". |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Tue Nov 22, 2011 2:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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A Media Lynching; Dale Kildee story deserved more scrutiny
By Jack Lessenberry
Patrick Clawson is one of the more aggressive investigative reporters I know.
The former CNN journalist is now semi-retired, and dabbles in a number of occupations. He is no great worshipper of government, titles or institutions. Last year he broke the news that Governor Granholm had awarded a huge tax break to a convicted embezzler whose business was entirely fiction.
Yet he is now outraged about a story he sees as totally irresponsible, and so am I. Yesterday, media throughout the state began reporting allegations that longtime Flint area congressman Dale Kildee improperly touched a young male second cousin of his more than half a century ago. The 82-year-old congressman, indignantly denied the allegations, and noted that the man making them had a long history of mental illness.
There has never previously been any hint of scandal involving Congressman Kildee, who has a wife, three children and announced months ago that he intended to retire after this term.
These stories bothered me when I saw them, because they contained absolutely no evidence or shred of proof. And because I know that any time anyone is accused of something like this, the accusation sticks to them through life, even if later exposed as totally false. What I didn’t know was that it had been checked out.
Pat Clawson contacted me last night and said that he and another well-known investigative journalist, a man instrumental in exposing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick became aware of these allegations more than a year ago.
Clawson told me they both checked them out, and, “We each, separately and independently, came to the same conclusion. These allegations could not be substantiated in any way and were most likely false.” He notes the accuser has a record of drug abuse and a history of hospitalizations for mental illness.
“The real story here is how incompetent journalists and partisan political opponents smeared a very good and decent man,” Clawson said. Incidentally, Clawson is not a political supporter of the liberal Democratic congressman. He ran for office as a libertarian last year. He’s just in favor of fairness. And the more I looked into the story, the more uneasy I became. It first appeared in the right-wing Washington Times after it was reported by a blogger, Susan Bradford, who later urged caution, saying she is now uncomfortable with the story, said it might be part of a blackmail attempt, and added “I don‘t know if the allegations were true or not … I am urging the members of the press and public to withhold judgment till all the facts are in.” Well, that’s a little late.
She criticized the paper for doing an ambush video interview with Kildee, but added “let’s be honest, (the congressman) fits the ’profile’ of a pedophile as defined by Hollywood,” because he was a former priest. Well, that’s not true either. Dale Kildee was never a priest.
None of this stopped a Flint TV station from airing a graphic interview with his accuser last night. Clawson told me he thinks he would have been fired if he had done something like this when he was a broadcast reporter, but added, “journalistic standards have changed over the years, and I am afraid for the worse.”
I am afraid I have to agree.
Ramona, I speak out because I'm afraid for what's happening in my country. I want my government to understand their obligation to the common good and do what's right. I nudge them along on my blog, with the help of a whole raft of clever, intriguing voices of and for the people. Join us at Ramona's Voices and follow me at dagblog.com. (Smart, funny commentary on just about everything by just about everybody.)
There are many things that make me uncomfortable about this story. There is so little concrete evidence either way. Where does the truth lie? It could be that we'll never know.
But what bothers me is the dismissal of the accuser based on prior drug use and/or mental illness.
It could be that he is out to get money and this is his lazy, unconscionable way of doing it.
It could be that he is certifiably crazy and is known for off-the-wall accusations like these.
Or it could be he was abused as a child by a man who went on to become a well-known, long-time politician.
The thing is, nobody knows the truth, including you, including your investigative reporter friends, yet you give us this:
"Clawson told me they both checked them out, and, “We each, separately
and independently, came to the same conclusion. These allegations could
not be substantiated in any way and were most likely false.” He notes
the accuser has a record of drug abuse and a history of hospitalizations
for mental illness."
So much for "journalistic standards".
Anonymous
Jack appears to be angry at the Washington Times for doing the original story, but not the Detroit Free Press for doing the denial story:
http://www.waitingfornextyear....
Whatever. I suppose Jack has a valid point. Newspapers wield power that ought to be used very judiciously. As a matter of fact, I felt the exact same way, when the Free Press abused its position and a couple of fresman football players and attempted to smear then-Coach Rich Rodriguez. Michigan Radio contributor John U. Bacon has authored a must-read book on that affair, "Three and Out."
But Jack, remind us of the link to your column wherein you complained about "the left-wing New York Times" story on an alleged extramarital affair with John McCain. Or the dubious quality of the complaints recently made against Herman Cain.
Jack Lessenberry
John McCain's extramarital adventures became public when HE talked about them. AS for Herman Cain, there are multiple women, on the record, as opposed to one person with mental health issues. But unlike the previous poster, at least two used their real names.
©2011 Michigan Public Media, The Regents of the University of Michigan |
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Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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What Ramona fails to take into account is that these memories were allegedly "repressed memories' from therapy sessions in which numerous clients held such memories and engaged in self mutilation.
The real question lies in the fact that such memories are suspect and a therapist can be suggestive in their questioning so as to elicit such a memory. And until proven false, these individuals actually believe these suspect memories.
If you saw the interview by channel five, you would have realized something was amiss. What 15 or 17 year old talks about their "little penis", magic acts concerning their penis and an unawareness of sexual use of their penis. This conversation was more like the memory of a 7 year old not a teen.
I predicted before the interview that shizophrenia was probably going to be the diagnosis. This illness often starts in the teen years and because more than one family member has been diagnosed, it may have agenetic component.
Your defense of the mentally ill is admirable but sadly mislaid. are you saying it is hustifiable to ruin a man's life at 81 over undocumentable evidence? |
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Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:39 am |
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Adam
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How can these claims be proven or disproven?
If I would have had the info I'd have posted it because apparently the family did want this to come to light. Apparently Michael Moon, John Kupiec's wife and the Gensee County GOP chair all had this info long ago. Apparently John Kupiec's wife did go to the authorities with the info. Apparently John was mainly concerned with running an above the boards campaign and did not want to get into "mudslinging".
I just received this today from the Genesee County GOP secretary:
"Prudy Adam's Respsone to Flint Journal Reporter
Hello Fellow Republicans,
Please read the response that Prudy Adam, GCRP Chaiman, made to Beata Mostfavi, a Flint Journal Reporter, that incorrectly quoted her and mistated information about the Dale Kildee alligations.
Prudy just wanted all of you to hear it directly from her and the facts as they are.
JR
Beata,
In my previous email I mentioned the misquote in your article in today's Flint Journal, you, stating I'd met personally with Patrick (I have yet to meet or speak with Patrick). You also headlined the article stating I was one of three who broke the story. I ask that you make those retractions. Neither Jon Yinger, Michael Moon nor myself broke the story. Susan Bradford who I do not know, and Katie O'Mara from WNEM Channel 5 broke the story. I've not been interviewed by you which means you are receiving your information secondhand and secondhand information is mostly likely to contain errors. Also, when asked if I thought Kildee was guilty I originally responded, "if you had seen the agony Patrick's mother was experiencing during the interview, you would probably believe it to be true."
I could have "buried my head in the sand" as many do when hearing allegations such as this. I chose not to. I am a mother and grandmother and pray for protection for our children and grandchildren from predators. A prayer I've prayed for many years. My father told me years ago that he was sexually abused as a young child when his parents allowed an older man visiting their home to sleep with my father in his bed. My father, in his 60's, was still agonizing over the abuse. I've been a church board member at Central Church of the Nazarene for over 20 years and a member for 35 years. I've taught Sunday School and served in many other capacities. I live by christian/biblical principles and have no desire to destroy another person's life by making false allegations. This type of behavior must be investigated, and with evidence, exposed. Obviously Katie O'Mara believed she had enough evidence to expose Mr. Kildee. Tell me Ms. Mostafavi, what would you have done when put in the same position as I?
Just recently I was given authorization by John and Kelly Kupiec to use their names. The letter from Patrick's sister Sandi was first emailed to John Kupieck. His wife Kelly read the letter and then emailed it to me but not before she had contacted social services in Traverse City and reported the allegations. John being the integral man that he is did not want to see the letter and was unaware of it's contents until several months later. John was involved in his race for congress at the time and neither he nor his family wanted to use the information for political gain. But Kelly knew the letter could not be ignored.
The reason I've even responded to the press and allowed my side of the story to be told, is to encourage others to do the same should they be put in the same position.
I knew if my name was made public the story would be told with a political slant yet it was a path I chose to take. The fact remains, there is a man who according to his mother and sister, was an innocent, happy, good looking, normal, intelligent young boy who was robbed of his innocence, living a life of self mutilation and depression, and by the grace of God, tied a knot on the end of a rope and hung on.
While I've been conscious that an allegation such as this must be dealt with by investigating facts and not driven by emotion, after viewing the interview with Patrick last night I went to bed and wept. Again Ms. Mostfavi and other reporters involved with this story, while I know you are only trying to do your job, I still wonder, what would you have done under the same circumstances?"
Prudy Adam, wife, mother, grandmother and concerned American citizen"
Last edited by Adam on Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Adam
had you posted the allegations as factual, I believe you could have opened yourself up to possible claims of libel and slander. Kildee threatened Channel 5 and their lawyers felt that the station's interview with Patrick covered them sufficiently. You did not have that protection.
Personally, after seeing the interview, I did not believe that interview relieved the station of any liabilty as the interview was ridiculous!
As you pointed out Prudy Adams has distanced herself from the allegations that she released the story. Now Susan Bradford, investigator for the Christian Broadcasting mogul, is backing off the story.
In the tapes, the family stated the claims were not able to be substantiated. They were the reult of allegedly repressed memories that occured in a mental hospital therapy session with other patients who has similar memories and who also performed self mutilation.
people can make allegations, but that does not make them true. I was bewildered by the Channel 5 expose. The story did not ring true for the story of a 15 yr old. The story seemed more plausible for that of a very young child. the story was disjointed and Patrick went to great lengths to make himself seem like a vulnerable victim. It did not ring true to me. |
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Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:57 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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How can these claims be proven or disproven?
If I would have had the info I'd have posted it because apparently the family did want this to come to light. Apparently Michael Moon, John Kupiec's wife and the Gensee County GOP chair all had this info long ago. Apparently John Kupiec's wife did go to the authorities with the info. Apparently John was mainly converned with running an above the boards campaign and did not want to get into "mudslinging". FROM ADAM
Adam-Take your cue from these political figures. They did not want to open themselves up to exposure by making public a story that could neither be confirmed nor denied. Trust me when I say there are a ton of similar stories out there that the media can't touch because of issues of proof. Just because Patrick, long after the fact, claims it happened, that does not make it true.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:28 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:03 am |
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Adam
F L I N T O I D
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It appears these claims can be neither proven or disproven. Even if they are 100% true and verified Kildee can no longer be put on trial.
I don't see how you can reliably "infer" anything. |
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Adam
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Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:25 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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of Representatives - POLITICS
Kildee Weighing Legal Action After Sex Abuse Allegations
Published November 22, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Michigan Rep. Dale Kildee is exploring legal options stemming from allegations he molested a second cousin some 50 years ago, a representative in his office told Fox News on Tuesday, but did not say whether the congressman will sue his relatives for making the claim.
Kildee, a Democrat who is retiring next year after 18 terms in office, told The Flint Journal in an interview that was published Tuesday that he is angry that his relatives are trying to sully the family name.
"I'm angry. It's outrageous," Kildee is quoted telling the newspaper. "I'm 82 years old. I'm not going to be around that long, but (my grandkids) are going to be around a long, long time. I'm not going to let that name be besmirched by people who first of all suffer ... mental health issues."
Kildee's office did not tell Fox News whether the congressman has retained legal counsel. The lawmaker told the newspaper that he is weighing his next step.
"Truth is the best defense. That's what we've done from the very beginning is just tell the truth. It's unfortunate I have to defend myself this late in life but I'm going to defend myself," he reportedly said.
Kildee has refuted the allegations that he repeatedly assaulted a cousin, Patrick, when Patrick was 15 years old, now 50 years ago. The allegations -- that the abuse started when Patrick was 12 and continued for five years -- reportedly were first told by Patrick's mother, stepfather and sister to Jon Yinger, president of the Christian Broadcasting System.
Patrick Kildee, who is not now institutionalized but previously stayed in a psychiatric hospital two decades ago for schizophrenic manic-depression, told WNEM television on Monday that he confronted his cousin years ago over the allegations when he came to visit him. Patrick Kildee recounted how Dale Kildee and he were driving in a car when the congressman told him that every year he makes a confession about his action.
"He says you have no idea how much I've suffered for what I did to you," Patrick Kildee told WNEM, adding that when he was about to forgive him, Dale Kildee then said, "Well you know you did come on to me."
"And I said, 'What?' He says, 'Well this was a mutual thing.' I said, 'Let me out of the car.' And he says, 'Oh no, no, no. Let's talk about it.' And I said, 'Let me out of the car.' And I got out of the car and walked away and it was the last time I ever seen the man," Patrick Kildee said.
Kildee declared the charges part of a smear campaign that followed a botched attempt to blackmail him. Kildee supporters argue that the concerted effort is part of a campaign to make sure Republicans take the seat in the next election. Kildee's nephew, Dan Kildee, a former Genesee County treasurer, is among the Democratic candidates running for the post.
Kildee backers note that the allegations -- made in recorded interviews released by independent reporter Susan Bradford -- were obtained by Yinger through the help of Genesee County Republican Party Chairwoman Prudy Adam.
Yinger, who owns WSNL-AM in Flint, denied a political motivation. He told The Flint Journal on Monday that he first got the interviews before the 2010 election but didn't use them as a tool in the election because the circumstances were much more troubling than politics.
"It was about getting down to the bottom of things, researching and digging and finding facts. It's up to the people to decide. We’ve been very diligent," he reportedly said.
Yinger reportedly added that Bradford did not have permission to publish the recordings and he was working with his attorneys to have the posts removed.
Bradford has said she has no idea if the allegations are true.
"I did not interview the family myself," Bradford wrote on her blog. "I have no knowledge of any evidence, beyond allegations of a father's confession on a death bed and alleged police/hospital reports in which Patrick, who was mentally ill and abusing drugs/alcohol accused Kildee of abuse."
According to Bradford, Yinger reported an ethics complaint to the House Permanent Select Committee on Standards and Conduct in April 2011 after hearing the story from Kildee's relatives. She speculated that the complaint led to Kildee's decision to retire in July.
"I was uncomfortable with the story as I don't even like to make accusations unless I have absolute proof nor do I think it's fair for the accused to be convicted through trial by media," Bradford wrote in an email to The Flint Journal. "And in this case, we only have hearsay."
Fox News has confirmed that materials related to the Kildee allegation have been presented to the ethics committee. But technically, it can only take referrals from within the body. The Office of Congressional Ethics, which accepts complaints from outside Congress, can forward complaints it deems to have merits. It is then up to the ethics panel to entertain those complaints.
Read more: http://
www.foxnews.com
/politics/2011/11/22/kildee-weighing-legal-action-after-sex-abuse-allegations/#ixzz1enZ3Qd31 |
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Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:39 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Allegations against Congressman Dale Kildee raise questions about repressed memories and statutes of limitation on child abuse cases
Published: Sunday, November 27, 2011, 8:00 AM
By Beata Mostafavi | Flint Journal
Follow
FLINT, Michigan — Patrick Kildee’s claims that his second cousin Congressman Dale E. Kildee sexually abused him 50 years ago will only be tried in one court: public opinion.
There won’t be a trial. No criminal or civil charges. No opportunities to close the case with a guilty or innocent verdict.
The now highly publicized accusations made by the alleged victim and his family members won’t ever see a courtroom because of laws that prevent it.
Statutes of limitations on alleged child abuse has become a contentious subject in recent years, with cases making national headlines in dozens of states where child advocates have fought to reform the law for cases involving children while others have argued that allowing decades-old accusations into courts would create unfair trials.
In a televised interview last week, Patrick Kildee described the abuse that allegedly started when he was 15 years old, as repressed memories that came out later in life. U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Flint, has refuted his second cousin’s allegations as “completely false and shameless.”
But when it comes to legal cases, repressed memories are a controversial psychological phenomenon that even child advocates have backed away from as a reason to lift statute of limitation laws.
In the interview in which Patrick Kildee made the claims, he said it was when he got out of a state hospital in his early 30s that the “repressed memories came out.”
“I was angry because I could see,” he said during the interview.
Patrick Kildee was eventually diagnosed schizophrenic manic depressive
and was in and out of a mental hospital for psychiatric counseling, according to the televised report.
The Journal has been unable to reach Patrick Kildee for comment.
Darryl L. Douglas, a Flint-based clinical psychologist who has worked with children, said uncovering a repressed memory takes intense and lengthy therapy. They aren’t easily recovered, nor simply triggered by later events, he said.
“When there’s an experience of trauma that our brain deems too risky for us to deal with, then our brain may take the memory of that event and things associated with it and put it on a shelf somewhere way back in the unconsciousness,” said Douglas, a psychology lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint.
“
It’s an automatic defense mechanism. Once that happens it tends to be a relatively permanent thing. The chances of just having a sudden recollection of a presented memory are pretty low.”
Many child advocates working to repeal statue of limitation laws — a revived effort after a series of sexual abuse allegations surfaced against Catholic priests — no longer use repressed memories as a defense for reforms because they’ve been widely discredited, said Massachusetts Citizens for Children Executive Director Jetta Bernier.
But there are compelling reasons for why victims don’t speak out until so many years later, she said.
There are intimidation methods by the abuser, fears no on will believe them, guilt and shame, Bernier said. There is also often a disassociation between the trauma and the psychological and physical wounds such as depression, substance abuse, obesity and relationship issues, she said.
“Children often think they’re the only ones being abused and that something is wrong with them and they try to push it aside and try to cope with life,” said Bernier, whose agency leads the Enough Abuse Campaign that calls for repealing statute of limitation laws on child sexual abuse in Massachusetts.
“They just stuff it and think it will go away. When you report sexual abuse, it’s not an easy thing to do. This is not something people want to deal with but sometimes they’re forced to because of the way their life is going.”
She said surveys have showed that many people don’t disclose abuse stories until their mid-forties, sometimes when their own children reach the age they were abused.
Statutes differ by states where some laws demand people report the abuse not long after the age of 16 or 18.
“That’s way too early for them to understand the connection between the past and the trauma,” Bernier said.
In Michigan, a child has until a year after they turn 18 to file a sexual abuse claim in civil court for any allegations that would have occurred when they were a minor.
Bills in the state House and Senate have aimed to extend that window, which the Michigan Catholic Conference has fiercely lobbied against in Lansing.
Similar legislation has been introduced in other states, including Alaska, Maine and Delaware that have extended or eliminated statutes of limitations for civil and criminal cases involving child sex abuse.
Some states, including Connecticut and Pennsylvania, give alleged victims decades after they turn 18 to take the accused to court, in some case as late as near 50 years old.
But legal experts say there are legitimate reasons for statutes of limitation, such as a defendant’s ability to account for whereabouts on the dates of the alleged abuse.
“They’re not designed to help someone get away with something,” Flint-based defense attorney Frank Manley said of the laws. “They’re designed to preserve a person’s right to fairly defend against an accusation.”
He said with the exception of DNA and other breakthrough evidence, cases that emerge years after the fact risk turning into he-said, she-said testimonies.
“Time has a way of eroding the history of events,” Manley said. “Evidence are destroyed, people’s memories are faded. It really limits your ability to go back and recreate what happened.”
Dale Kildee has vowed to clear his name.
It is unclear whether he will seek legal recourse for defamation but his office hasn’t ruled it out.
Kildee’s chief of staff, Callie Coffman, told The Journal Monday that the congressman was exploring “legal options” to protect his reputation and that he won’t let the accusations go “unchallenged.”
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Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:39 am |
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Sandi Lindstrom
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I have been reading the media opinions & spin regarding my brothers allegations regarding the abuse he suffered from Dale Kildee and I’ve found the amount of misinformation and ignorance in many of these printed and spoken statements to be, quite frankly, disturbing.
The letter I wrote and mailed last year to Dale’s opponent in the congressional race was prompted by a conversation I had with my father before he passed. For many years before that conversation I had struggled with knowing of the abuse and not understanding why my parents didn’t confront Dale about it. Fear of retribution was honestly my biggest fear for not coming forward myself.
Sending the letter to his opponent was a decision I made only because I didn’t know who else to send it to that might actually read it. There was never any political motivation for my choice of recipients – just blind faith that it would be taken seriously and it was. During the initial phone call from their office they respectfully told me they were touched by my letter but felt it would look like a political ploy if they became involved and put me in touch with someone they believed who could help that wasn’t in politics. It ended up being a connection that helped me through the most heart wrenching, difficult and frightening experience of my life. Complete strangers to me, with no ulterior motives, stepped up and walked me through this journey – I will be forever grateful to them.
The continuous references to my brothers mental health issues that dismiss his credibility are beyond disturbing. Patrick’s biggest fear in coming forward was that this is the issue that would be used to discredit him – and boy was he right on the mark about that. None of the people who have written these comments have ever met or spoken with Patrick. If they had, they would have met a wonderful, intelligent, caring man who is as sane as any of them.
Patrick wrote a letter to Dale decades ago, while he was being treated for bi-polar issues, asking him to help people in a third world country – never has he tried to blackmail Dale or ask for favors – unlike other family members.
Believing Patrick’s story or not is ultimately everyone's personal right – but making judgments on untruths that have been maliciously planted is unfair.
I came forward with this at the request of my father, and I knew it would be difficult. I have been bullied, threatened, and have had my life and integrity raked over the coals. I’ve lost relationships with people that I never expected to lose, and have seen a side of life I would never have chosen to see – but I have no regrets.
Sandi Lindstrom |
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Wed Dec 07, 2011 12:39 am |
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