Chapter 20 - Ryan’s trial
At trial, Ryan admitted the cameras.
“Why hide them from Emma?”
“I thought she would remove them.”
“Why would she?”
“She believed privacy mattered.”
“Did you?”
“For Lily, yes. I thought monitoring was temporary.”
Then curated folders.
Why label:
Emma neglect?
“I was documenting concerns.”
Why include clips with context removed?
“I selected relevant portions.”
Then clonidine.
He said Diane told him the pill was:
“Something pediatricians sometimes use for sleep.”
Did he verify?
“No.”
Did he know it was Diane’s prescription?
“I suspected.”
Did he hold Lily?
“Yes.”
Why?
“She was kicking.”
Why not stop Diane?
“I trusted my mother.”
Then basement.
He admitted knowing Diane used it for time-outs.
Claimed he did not know about padlock.
Neighbor footage showed him watch Diane carry Lily toward basement.
Could be unaware of locking.
But text:
No basement tonight.
He knew the practice.
Then Noah.
The prosecution introduced limited prior testimony after the court ruled it relevant to Ryan’s knowledge of Diane’s disciplinary history.
His old words:
My mother is strict but not abusive.
Then:
I was advised she should not provide unsupervised discipline pending investigation.
The jury heard both.
May you like
Ryan’s face changed.
He had defended the same danger twice.
