Chapter 17 - Raymond’s case
My father refused a plea for almost a year.
He believed criminalizing his discipline would:
“let courts define family culture.”
The prosecutor responded:
“Courts already define limits on confinement and child safety.”
Good.
Evidence:
Notebook.
Witnesses.
Eleanor’s admission.
Sofia’s recorded interview.
Medical documentation.
Door.
Padlock.
Historical plaque.
No dispute that Raymond ordered the sessions.
The strongest legal issue was repeated endangerment and causing another adult to confine the child.
No serious bodily injury.
No long-term imprisonment.
No prior criminal history.
At sixty-nine, first offense.
Eventually he entered a plea.
One felony-level child-endangerment count reduced under agreement from more serious initial charges.
Additional misdemeanor coercion/unlawful-restraint-related count.
Sentence:
Six months county custody with eligibility for work/medical accommodations as appropriate.
Two years supervised probation.
No direct contact with Sofia absent court-approved therapeutic process.
No unsupervised caregiving of minors during supervision.
Mandatory behavioral treatment.
Community service after release.
Restitution for Sofia’s counseling costs.
Some family members said six months was humiliating.
Correct.
Some said too lenient.
Maybe.
Sentencing is not emotional arithmetic.
At allocution Raymond said:
“I believed I was teaching resilience.”
The judge asked:
“Did the five-year-old ask for succession training?”
“No.”
“Did her father authorize it?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her her father could not protect her?”
“Yes.”
“Then you were not teaching resilience. You were teaching power.”
Raymond looked down.
May you like
For once, nobody at the table waited for him to correct the judge.
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