The latest possible Texas innocence case to make the news involved an ex-cop convicted of child molestation. A victim recantation calls into question the sexual-assault conviction of a former San Antonio police officer, the SA Express-News reported ("
After 13 years in prison, ex-cop may be innocent," Nov. 3). The article opened:
For the past 13 years, retired San Antonio Police Officer Frank Navarijo, 73, has sat in prison — serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted of repeatedly raping a 5-year-old female relative.
Friday, his accuser recanted. For now, Navarijo remains in Bexar County Jail.
The now 20-year-old Texas State University student's outcry and
subsequent testimony during the 1999 trial were lies fed to her by her
manipulative grandmother, the woman testified Friday as Navarijo's
attorneys asked state District Judge Maria Teresa Herr to recommend that the jury verdict be overturned.
Herr is not expected to issue a recommendation for months to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will ultimately decide the matter.
“I just wanted to set the record straight,” the woman said. “For
whatever reasons, which I do not know, she (the grandmother) hated
(Navarijo). She did have a fair amount of control over me.
“From what I remember, she ... would basically sit there and tell me,
‘This is what (Navarijo) did to you,'” the woman continued. “It
happened gradually, over time as I grew up.”
Yikes! An ex-cop convicted of child molestation wouldn't have had an easy time in prison. Definitely a habeas petition and possible innocence case to watch in the coming year. See the
full story for more details.
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29 comments:
Well considering the 1,000's of people in american who have been sandbagged by law enforcment over false confessions and out and out fraud in sex crimes...All i can say is
"Life's a bitch"
and
"Karma is hell"
This is also just one more reason it's time to call a halt to the sex crimes witch hunts...even the hunters are now getting shafted
LOL
Is there some way this wrongful conviction could have been prvented back in 1999?
I assume Grandma is dead. That's to bad because she is the real criminal and it's her ass that should of been in prison for the last 13 years.
What took the girl so long to come forward?
What I never understand, is why it takes so long to set these injustices right and set the victims free.
Now if we can get all the victims to recant. That would be a glorious day in East Austin.
For those that think children cannot lie or mislead as witnesses, please raise a few. It will prove an enlightening experience. An alternative would be to go watch Bill Cosby's Himself, focusing on the chocolate cake episode.
I would refrain from ending all sex crime investigations just because a few were tainted, baby and the bathwater scenario, but society should continually improve how it handles any such investigations. The karma comment by Anon 10:14 is exactly the kind of thing that makes improvement difficult, there being no evidence that the retired officer ever had anything to do with sex crimes.
Okay, first off this is a retired police officer and everyone knows that his former colleagues would have had the investigation stopped in its tracks had there been any doubt whatsoever. Secondly, after he retired he went to work for the district attorney's office as an investigator. The same district attorney's office that prosecuted the case! Now everyone knows that the DA's office put the victim through HELL before they charged him. As any parent of a child who was victimized by a relative knows full-well, this child is just feeling sorry for her grandpa and is willing to sacrifice the truth to free him from prison. She likely has the mistaken belief that at 73-years-old he is too old to harm any other children. Grits, we are THE experts regarding child sexual assault by law enforcement officers. No other organization in the country tracks these particular crimes.
By this woman recanting her testimony it hurts every child in the future who is victimized by an officer. Cops already threaten these children with physical harm and constantly tell them no one will take their cries seriously. If this child molester is freed it will make their outcries that much harder. Are you aware that when a child finally finds the courage to come forward their accusations are questioned 100X times as much than if they were to make the accusation against a member of the general public? These little children are INTERROGATED by experienced detectives who try their hardest to shake their story and not be forced to charge one of their own. Investigators have even been known to threaten the child victims with prison!
DO NOT expect this pedophile to be released as we are getting involved and will be talking to the district attorney as well as trying to convince the victim that while she may indeed feel her abuser is too old to harm other children, we'll show her evidence to the contrary. This case is far from being over.
Please take just a few minutes to peruse our Facebook pages and read the thousands of documented cases we have profiled. Child sex crimes committed by law enforcement officers is at epidemic proportions in this country but is often downplayed by the media because no one wants the public to lose faith in law enforcement. We miss a lot of the cases but are still able to document at least a dozen new cases each and every week: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall
Vincent van Gogh, the grandmother is not dead. Indeed, another possible reason for the victim to recant is that her and the grandmother have had problems in their relationship. All of the possible reasons for her recantation will be examined thoroughly before the convicted pedophile is released. His appeal was denied and he refused to take the stand in his own defense. He's grinning like a cat with a bird in its mouth at the possibilty of getting out and collecting millions of dollars for his wrongful incarceration. Cops all over the nation who have been convicted of child molestation will use this case and publicize it to cast even more doubt on the victims. We simply cannot allow him to beat the system!
Whether he is truly guilty or innocent is the question, not whether some self appointed experts think they know better. Just being a victim does not make someone an expert anymore than someone working in law enforcement making them innocent. When all of this is examined in detail, hopefully the right outcome will prevail, whatever that might be.
Our law office in East Texas had a sex offender case where after 12 yrs in prison the thne 5 yr old victim lied about the assault, and 12 or 13 years later recanted. The family had been hiding her until she reached her majority. When we found her she was greatly relieved to be able to tell the truth. It was also her grandmother who set up the false accusations.
The client was a young man just out of college with a degree in computer science.
The problem with these cases is one must be able to prove the recantation is true. NOT SUCH AN EASY JOB IN MANY CASES.
To Anonymous 08:44,
Are you really that f****** vindictive, stupid, ignorant and crazy? Whether or not he was a law enforcement officer, truck driver, school teacher or janitor, the VICTIM RECANTED HER TESTIMONY. Please tell me...just who are YOU to decide if what she said during the trial or years later was the truth or not. If you have some psychic power that enables you to read the mind of the "victim" then you shouldn't be on a blog spouting your stupidity ...you should be working for the FBI. It's nut jobs like you that really makes me wonder about the mental state of the people in this country.
To Anonymous 07:14,
Please take just a few minutes to peruse our Facebook pages and read some of the thousands of documented cases we have profiled before you begin name calling. Child sex crimes committed by law enforcement officers is an epidemic in this country but has downplayed by the media because no one wants the public to lose faith in law enforcement. After you've looked at a few of the documented cases we have profiled, ask yourself why you have never read about them in any newspaper. The reason is that when these cases happen and the media actually reports on them, they are relegated to the back of the newspaper where no one will notice them. Even online publications don't publicize them. We have the most powerful web crawler available and often come across these articles by accident as the headlines are often along the lines of "City Worker Jailed On Sex Charges" or "Officer Arrested On Child Abuse Charges". Child victims of familial sex abuse often recant their allegations out of compassion for the family member. Usually there is a lot of pressure being placed on them by other members of the family, so a recantation doesn't mean the abuse didn't occur. We don't wish to see any innocent person jailed but since this officer used a knife to penetrate his victim he has shown his propensity for violence and if released he could kill his next victim: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall
True Believers like 8:44 scare the bejesus out of me. Like MADD, they claim to have the last word on matters in their respective concerns. Hearing assumptions of guilt stated as fact does great damage to the search for truth. How do you KNOW a knife was used and not just a gory frill thrown in by gramma? The very accusation of child abuse, true or not, can ruin a life. Surely a more objective, less polemic approach must be taken. Hate to break it to you 8:44, but kids DO lie,vindictive exes,etc do make up charges. The man has the presumption of innocence, even now, with that recantation. How about we let the system do its job before setting anything in stone. And why post as "Anon" when you give a FB link?
Anonymous 09:02 (08:44),
Again, you are completely missing the point. I am quite sure the statistics about the offense rates of police officers are quite accurate. What you are MISSING is the fact that as an adult, the victim RECANTED her story. It doesn't matter that the guy used to be a cop...she claimed that she lied and he was falsely convicted. Are you trying to tell everyone that because this guy is a cop...and that all cops..are not allowed to have a "victim" lie about their testimony? How can you even begin to defend such a stance like that? I am NOT a fan of crooked cops and I believe that this country is full of them. However, when someone recants their story you can't simply dismiss it because the defendant is in law enforcement. This is...well. I am at a loss for words at how stupid your comments are.
If we took YOUR stance on this issue, we would have to run with the idea that if you are in law enforcement then any sex crime allegation made against a cop is the absolute truth, regardless if the same person who accused the cop of the crime in the first place comes back and says it is a lie? Your statistics are just that...statistics. They don't hold true in every scenario. The victim recanted...accept it.
As far as how does anyone know what really happened? I would think that the so-called victim would be the one to know. And if she stated that the entire event never occurred, then how can you justify keeping a man in jail when she recanted? Spare me all of the bullshit and tell me how you can morally or legally back that up? You can't..but I sure would like to hear your bullshit anyway.
no 12:46 what we are saying is that usualy when it's a Normal person who is in this spot and the victim then says they lied before. The cops and the prosectuion pull out all the stops to make them out to be a LIAR NOW! not in the past.
So like i said
"Life is a bitch" and so is KARMA.
Yes i hate it. But till things like this happen to enough of the good people like copper here. NOTHING will change.
Rod,
Your last comments was poorly written and really doesn't make any sense. Care to clarify that?
Anonymous 12:46,
If you knew how police officers and prosecutors operate when they're investigating and prosecuting a colleague then no further explanation would be necessary. As I stated earlier, if there had been ANY doubt whatsoever, this case would have been dropped the instant it was opened. Police don't investigate one of their own the same way they do members of the general public. They are afforded every break in the book. And quite often their colleagues will even cover up their child sex crimes. No doubt there are hundreds of thousands of innocents in our prisons, and many have been exonerated. However, not one convicted former cop has ever been shown to have been wrongfully imprisoned. Why? Because the investigations are 100X more thorough than they are whenever a member of the general public is accused. Think of it this way, if your close friend or even a family member was accused of a child sex crime would you accept it as fact like you would someone you didn't know, or would you conduct a bit of investigation before you believed the accusation? Contrary to popular belief, sex crimes are NOT about sex. Rather they are about having power and control over the victim. And no group in our society derives more pleasure from having power and control over others than do those who wear a badge. Please, take a few minutes and peruse a few dozen cases we have profiled on our Facebook pages. You'll quickly realize that many of those are RETIRED police officers or those who have quit or were fired and who no longer can officially bully others with a badge and gun. This creates a vacuum in their psyche and causes them to seek out and molest children. We are THE EXPERTS on child sex crimes committed by cops. We've spoken with dozens of victims and their families, and our organization is comprised of victims and their families. All we ask of anyone is that before they get behind this officer and question his guilt is to visit our site and read a few dozen cases we have profiled there. You'll see an undeniable trend and it may even spark an "Aha!" moment within you as it has so many others: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall
All of you who doubt just how bad child sex crimes have become in police departments nationwide would be well-served to read an article that was just published today. And the reporter is NOT affiliated with us in any way whatsoever. Please read the entire article, it will open your eyes: http://www.examiner.com/article/convicted-pedophile-cop-throws-department-under-the-bus
Sorry, Grits, for over-posting but there is a linked file acknowledging that there is a huge problem regarding police officers and child sex crimes at the above article. And here's the true beauty of it, the report is written by and published in The Journal of Law Enforcement's August 2012 issue entitled, “Sexual Deviance Behind the Badge. IT IS A MUST READ! Either they have been reading our site, or the problem has gotten so bad that no one in law enforcement can any longer deny it.
well 1:17 not sure what's not to understand
When it's a regular citizen who is accused; convicted and impriosned for a sex crime. If later the so-called victim comes forward and says. I lied or i was forcced by"x" to say those things.
The police and DA fall over themselves to make them out to be a lier NOW and had told the truth in the past.
So again like i said
Karma is a bitch.
Well...to all of the crack pots on here that are of the mind set that all cops are guilty of any charge leveled against them....get a life. It is very apparent that you have an ax to grind with law enforcement, which leads me to believe that you have some shady dealings in your own past.
By the way, I am NOT a cop. Actually, I have first hand experience of having a cop provide false testimony while under oath against me. That being said, I am also not so stupid as to believe that every cop out there is dirty. Anyone can level an accusation and lie about it. In this case, thank God, the accuser recanted.
I don't know if he's guilty or not. I also have never said all cops are crooked just that like any other profession a small portion maybe 5-15% are bad. Put unlike other professions where when the bad are found. they tend to be charged, tried, convicted and imprisoned. Cops on the other hand tend to have the good old blue wall slammed down and protected.
My only opservation on this case was that he was probably part of any number of sandbaggings of his own...and now is caught up in one.
you know KARMA!
I disagree wholeheartedly that only a small portion of cops are bad. Every cop who has ever made an arrest from a traffic stop where there wasn't probable cause is a bad cop. And there isn't one cop in the nation who isn't guilty of making a stop where probable cause didn't exist. Therefore, all cops are corrupt and have made a mockery of The Constitution.
Anonymous 9:59, I have been in law enforcement for a very, very long time and have never engaged in such actions, nor have those I worked with. Probable cause is easy in a community where so many speed, so many fail to keep their registration updated or get inspected, drive like the lines don't exist, or many other violations.
I disagree with some of the junk posted above about law enforcement attrracting sexual deviants too. It is rare, very rare, that an officer locally engages in such acts. Having looked at the website in question, it is just more of the same conspiracy laden internet statistic crud you find when you turn over a rock. I have never met anyone that would protect such an officer though most would assuredly give them the benefit of the doubt until the facts came in.
To 01:40, Well, the quarterly magazine written by and for police officers has itself concluded that cops are 8X more likely to commit child sex crimes, and, to have their department cover them up. In their August 2012 issue of The Journal of Law Enforcement, they admit it's true and that we were right all along: http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/download/149/144
Join with us and help save the children. The word is getting out on you! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall
I've been in law enforcement awhile too, not quite 25 years, and I have yet to see a single officer I knew being charged with such a crime or even accused. Reading the cite, it says the following:
"According to the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (3rd Quarter
Report) “police officers were accused of sexual assault at a rate of 79 per 100,000 law
enforcement personnel."
This is twice the rate, not 8x, and this only reflects accusations. Does that translate into convictions? No, it does not. Still, with around 500k officers in the country, some are going to commit crimes and slip through the cracks. I'm not so naive to think my associates are angels but having seen some of the comments above, the implication that we all know about such matters and cover up for them is contradictory to what your journal cite points out.
For the record, such offenders are almost always brought to justice by their own departments. Then the Monday morning quarterbacking begins as to what behaviors they showed should have been picked up sooner. There is no wall of silence for this kind of thing that I have seen, most officers would throw their own under the first bus that came along.
The cite gives some modest insight as to potential reasons why some stray, and it is far from the "5 to 15%" mentioned by someone else above as the numbers only consider those accused & even then amount to under .1%. It also points out that this includes a wide range of crimes, not just child molestation, so forgive me if I cringe at your overstating the facts so loosely.
I have no personal knowledge of the SA officer, his crimes, the validity of the new information so I'll refrain from commenting on it other than to join others in saying if he is guilty, let him rot in jail and if he is not, let him go free.
LEO-25, This is what you should concern yourself with, the quarterly magazine written by and for police officers has itself concluded that cops are 8X more likely to commit child sex crimes, and, to have their department cover them up. In their August 2012 issue of The Journal of Law Enforcement, they admit it's true and that we were right all along: http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/download/149/144
That, and the fact that ALL law enforcement officers will, at some point or another in their lifetimes, commit a child sex crime. That's a PROVEN FACT.
No, Anonymous 4:29, the conclusions were the same as posted above that they are less than .1% likely to be accused of any sexual offense, the cited data replayed one more time since you did not read it:
"According to the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (3rd Quarter
Report) “police officers were accused of sexual assault at a rate of 79 per 100,000 law
enforcement personnel."
This is twice the rate, not 8x, and this only reflects accusations. Does that translate into convictions? No, it does not. Still, with around 500k officers in the country, some are going to commit crimes and slip through the cracks. I'm not so naive to think my associates are angels but having seen some of the comments above, the implication that we all know about such matters and cover up for them is contradictory to what your journal cite points out.
For the record, such offenders are almost always brought to justice by their own departments. Then the Monday morning quarterbacking begins as to what behaviors they showed should have been picked up sooner. There is no wall of silence for this kind of thing that I have seen, most officers would throw their own under the first bus that came along.
The cite gives some modest insight as to potential reasons why some stray, and it is far from the "5 to 15%" mentioned by someone else above as the numbers only consider those accused & even then amount to under .1%. It also points out that this includes a wide range of crimes, not just child molestation, so forgive me if I cringe at your overstating the facts so loosely.
Misquoting statistics, presumably because your agenda needs support, is no way to convert the masses to your cause. Very, very few police officers engage in sexual misconduct, your own cites prove it. Best of luck getting the help you need.
Leo_25....you are really wasting your time trying to argue with that fool about their website "statistics". Someone like that is going to believe what they want to regardless of the facts or the truth. Obviously, they think they are the EXPERTS, when in reality they are just another conspiracy, nut-job loon that you will never convince otherwise.
Leo_35, the problem with the statistics you quote is that the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project only tracks current police officers. We track retired cops along with those who quit or were fired. As we point out, it's the mentality of those who choose careers in law enforcement that make them susceptible. Child sex crimes are not about sex at all, rather they are about power and control over the victim. And no group in our society desires power and control over others as do those who become cops. We'll keep a space reserved for you on our page, because all cops are predisposed to committing a child sex crime at some point or another in their lifetimes...
Anonymous 10:37, those were YOUR statistics, not mine. If you are going to present journal cites as evidence of anything, be prepared when someone reads them and points out the flaws of your logic. I doubt very much that the author of the article would extrapolate so outlandishly as you do, your anecdotal "evidence" being flawed on many levels, hence your need to take over threads like these (it is clear that you have done so many times in the past given the links, here and elsewhere).
Do a few officers, retired or active, engage in crime? Yes, and we know this because active officers catch them, make cases against them, and help prosecute them. No one is looking through rose colored glasses to say every officer from the dawn of time is morally pure.
With over half a million active officers working at any given time in the USA alone, you are going to have some bad apples. On the flip side, those no longer working in the field may well have been removed for criminal conduct or policy violations establishing they were not suited for this kind of work. If they engage in criminal activity, and clearly a small percentage do, they get caught, prosecuted, and even if they were kicked out of law enforcement during their first week of training, they are forever labeled as cops to the unwashed.
On a side note, to Anonymous 8:30, lies left to fester take on a life of their own. Challenging them on a factual basis deflates their influence. In my experience, police attacking children sexually is so rare that even the less than .1% statistic he brought up seems high. That was merely for accusations, not convictions, and those like police who interact with lots of people are going to be accused more regularly than most, but I'm all for an open discussion of the facts. People like him do not want this, hence their parroting narrow points of a script rather than rely on facts.
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