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  • SUNDAY NOVEMBER 7 2004 9:00 AM

Worst Granny Ever

Submitted by jake_lex

Edited by SquidProQuo

In 1984, Sylvester Smith was convicted of child molestation and given two consecutive life sentences. The charges against him were dismissed on Friday, however, because one of the victims, has recanted her key testimony and said that their grandmother pressured them into testifying aganist Smithto protect the real guilty party, a cousin who also lived with them at the time.

The victims, who were 4 and 6 when they made the charges, testified that they falsely accused the man under pressure from their grandmother because she wanted to protect the real abuser - a cousin of the girls.

More than 40 members of the family of Sylvester Smith were in court when the charges against him were dismissed. Smith's reaction to the dismissal was "a jubilation,'' said his attorney, Roy Trest. "We all are jubilant.''

Smith, 53, was serving two consecutive life sentences after being convicted in 1984. At the time, he was the boyfriend of one of the girls' mothers and was living with them.

Prosecutor Rex Gore asked the younger girl Friday why she didn't come forward earlier. "I was just afraid to,'' she said. "I was just afraid nobody would believe me.''

The other victim said she decided to recant now because, "I wanted to get something off my chest.''

Gore said he will not pursue charges against the cousin, who was 9 at the time, because he was so young. He is serving a life sentence in state prison for first-degree murder, Gore said.



As noted above, the cousin who apparently did it was only 9, so he wouldn't have gone to jail; rather, he probably would have gone into treatment for sexual aggression. While it's questionable whether or not that would have helped him, in the end, because what he did was concealed, an innocent man has spent 20 years in prison, and someone has been murdered.

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hermetica

hermetica

Cook Islands
January 2004

NOV 07, 2004 09:07 AM

One word... Appalling. frown

JonnyBleugenes

jonnybleugenes

Vatican City
October 2004

NOV 07, 2004 09:14 AM

and just think, if the cousin was blamed from the beginning, he would have gotten treatment and might not have killed someone later in life. this just goes to show you folks... DON'T LISTEN TO GRANDMA, SHE'S CRAZY!

Rachel

Rachel

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

NOV 07, 2004 09:20 AM

such sadness... frown

and people wonder why children are often not believed when they try to come forward about abuse... surreal

Eponine

Eponine

Denver, CO
March 2003

NOV 07, 2004 09:32 AM

Rachel said:
and people wonder why children are often not believed when they try to come forward about abuse... surreal



no shit! that grandmother should have to face charges. mad

OriginalThought

OriginalThought

Laurel, MD
January 2004

NOV 07, 2004 09:36 AM

i don't understand the causal link people seem to be making between the perpetrator actually having been known at the time and the murder he committed later. it isn't like he would have gone to prison as a 9-year old...

Feifer

Feifer

Encinitas, CA
October 2002

NOV 07, 2004 09:40 AM

Eponine said:

Rachel said:
and people wonder why children are often not believed when they try to come forward about abuse... surreal



no shit! that grandmother should have to face charges. mad



yeah... whats going to happen to the granny? I hope she's still alive so she can be executed

Eponine

Eponine

Denver, CO
March 2003

NOV 07, 2004 09:46 AM

*reads the fucking article*
oh, the grandma's dead.
...good.

Dave_the_Robot

Dave_the_Robot

Atlanta, GA
September 2004

NOV 07, 2004 10:06 AM

Well.... Then let's rough up her corpse a little.

Also, it's kind of funny, there was a Law & Order SVU on last night that had almost this exact same situation.

[Edited on Nov 07, 2004 by WrongTurn]

unravled

unravled

Portland, OR
August 2003

NOV 07, 2004 10:11 AM

This is why I'm against the death penalty.

JohnnyForeigner

JohnnyForeigner

United Kingdom
July 2003

NOV 07, 2004 10:34 AM

Remember, Kids: Old People Are Evil shocked

ThisIsWhoWeAre

ThisIsWhoWeAre

Oakland, CA
July 2004

NOV 07, 2004 10:42 AM

eeek

Quenten

Quenten

I'm lost
September 2004

NOV 07, 2004 10:48 AM

It's so sad. It seems like I only hear about these things either when someone is wrongly accused, or when the child is telling the truth and not believed.

boontje

boontje

Netherlands
October 2004

NOV 07, 2004 10:54 AM

OriginalThought said:
i don't understand the causal link people seem to be making between the perpetrator actually having been known at the time and the murder he committed later. it isn't like he would have gone to prison as a 9-year old...



But he probably would have gotten treatment

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 07, 2004 10:56 AM

boontje said:

But he probably would have gotten treatment



Which could have potentially helped the agression issues the kid clearly had. Sexually assaulting two kids at age 9 is a pretty clear sign that something is wrong. Treatment could have helped prevent future agressive acts.

OriginalThought

OriginalThought

Laurel, MD
January 2004

NOV 07, 2004 11:09 AM

FreakPirate said:

boontje said:

But he probably would have gotten treatment



Which could have potentially helped the agression issues the kid clearly had. Sexually assaulting two kids at age 9 is a pretty clear sign that something is wrong. Treatment could have helped prevent future agressive acts.



meh. i have no faith in the system.

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