In Reply to: Capturing the Friedmans posted by Acheick (reposted) on June 24, 2004 at 16:41:39:
Wow. Interesting case. I agree with FYI that the reporting is slanted in Friedman's direction, but that doesn't mean we can't sift through elements of the case study, which includes the perception (on the part of some people) that the school children & their parents were "whipped into a frenzy."
People do get frenzied about these kinds of cases, there's no doubt about that. But there's some details of this case that are missing. I can't figure out where the Friedman son comes into the picture. What was he accused of doing? And why did he get a prison sentence?
Whether or not the father Friedman was guilty of molesting his school students or whether those students got caught up in dubious memories is irrelevant. Mr. Friedman has admittted to two pedophilic encounters and he was caught buying child pornography. On that basis alone, there is enough clinical evidence to bar this man from working in a school system or holding any sort of job that puts him into unsupervised contact with minors. On that basis alone, there is enough evidence to sentence him to prison.
Period, no argument about that. During the sentencing portion of this case, my recommendation to the judge would be that Mr. Friedman can never be trusted with minors because there's significant clinical evidence he's a fixated pedophile. The judge could sentence him to prison, on the condition that he be paroled as a sex offender. Under those circumstance, in most (if not all states), Friedman must register with the police when he is released. He cannot obtain a job as a teacher or ever work with minors in an unsupervised position. He could also be given probation with specific restrictions re: contact with minors. Under those circumstances, which is ideal. A P.O. skilled in the behavioral management of sex offenders would supervise him indefinitely in the community.
Here's the thing: Prison isn't going to fix this guy. The only "fix" is to put him on a strict behavioral contract and supervise him in the community through a parole order. If he screws up--i.e., the P.O. finds out he's been looking at kiddie porn--wham, his pedophilic ass goes right back to prison.