Cleared of molestation, man describes his 20-year secret - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Cynthetiq · 05-08-2004, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Cleared of molestation, man describes his 20-year secret
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — Not even murderers and rapists can stand child molesters. Behind bars, they are the marked men, constantly living in fear.

John Stoll walks Tuesday from a county detention facility in Bakersfield, Calif.
By Gary Kazanjian, AP

Found guilty of child molestation, John Stoll knew he would never survive with that stigma. So he lied, posing as a drug runner for 20 long years, and managed to avoid attack until his conviction was overturned last week.

"I was terrified," he said. "I knew the odds weren't real good that I wasn't going to get stabbed going to prison as a convicted child molester."

Stoll walked free on Tuesday after most of his alleged victims recanted and said they lied about being molested back in 1984. Prosecutors maintain Stoll is guilty but said they would not refile charges because of a lack of evidence and the recanted testimony.

During his first days in prison, Stoll began researching crimes that could carry a 20-year sentence. He came across a newspaper article about a man convicted of smuggling marijuana and guns. He decided that would be his crime — "and that's what I was for 20 years."

Stoll disclosed details of his life behind bars as he joined his lawyers for a celebratory meal on his first night as a free man — his 61st birthday. He gorged on filet mignon, calamari and chocolate cake.

He recalled a close call one night: A fellow inmate came to his cell and said he knew Stoll's secret. The man had discovered his case in the prison law library.

"He says to me, 'I've got paperwork on you,'" Stoll remembered.

Then the cell doors closed for the night. Stoll thought it would be his last.

"I could feel the blood draining from me. I was scared. I sat all night and didn't sleep," he said. "Who's going to let a child molester walk around? It's a pretty disgusting crime."

By a stroke of luck, the next morning there was a riot in the mess hall and the inmate who threatened to expose Stoll was whisked away. A guard later came to Stoll's cell and handed him a bundle of the other inmate's papers — the details of Stoll's conviction.

"I tore it up and flushed it down the toilet," Stoll said. "More than once, a prison staff member saved my life."

Stoll refused the protective custody offered to most child molesters because it would have meant 23 hours a day alone in a cell. He knew he could not take the solitude, so he banked on his drug-running story.

"For 20 years, nobody stabbed me, so I must've said the right things," Stoll marveled.

Stoll's ability to keep his conviction a secret was "quite remarkable," said Anne Mania, an attorney at the San Rafael-based Prison Law Office, which handles civil rights issues for inmates.

"There's a huge stigma attached to being a child molester, so they're often the victims of violence by other prisoners. A lot of them are parents, and everybody can identify that the abuse of children, particularly sexual abuse of children, is wrong. There's never any justification for that, whereas somebody might be able to, in his or her mind, justify a murder or a rape."

Stoll was convicted as part of an alleged child molestation ring that supposedly involved sodomy, group sex and pornographic photography. But no pictures were found — in fact, prosecutors presented no physical evidence at the trial. None of the children, ages 6 to 8, were examined by doctors. The case rested on testimony alone.

Two Innocence Project groups in California won Stoll's freedom after tracking down his alleged victims and persuading most of them — now adults — to come forward once again. Four of those accusers testified in January that investigators pressured them until they lied. A fifth testified he has no memories from that part of his childhood.

The sixth accuser, Stoll's own son, Jed, still insists his father molested him. Stoll blames that on a bitter custody dispute, saying his wife at the time had filled the boy's head with lies.

Stoll said that as the case against him began to unravel, his story appeared in the newspapers in recent months. But he said guards and fellow inmates came to believe that he had been railroaded, and he continued to stay out of danger.

Stoll was a fit man when he went to prison in 1985, a carpenter with strong hands and a full head of dark blonde curly hair. Now, deep wrinkles cross his forehead, and his gray mustache frames a mouth with just seven teeth remaining, many lost to gum disease and medical neglect while in prison.

He has no other family left. His mother, who paid for his defense, died while he was behind bars.

"But she always knew I was innocent," Stoll said. "That's what matters."

20 years he spent in jail fearing for his life, all because "most of his alleged victims recanted and said they lied about being molested back in 1984. Prosecutors maintain Stoll is guilty but said they would not refile charges because of a lack of evidence and the recanted testimony."

IMHO that's where there is weakness in the justice system. Of course now he's going to file for wrongful imprisonment and get some payout of some sort.

Strange Famous · 05-08-2004, 01:54 PM

I think the reason that criminals who assualt children have such a hard time inside is more than our natural hatrid of thoe who attack the weak.

It is the way that many people inside make themselves feel like good fathers... because actually they are bad fathers, absent fathers... but shanking some nonce is a way to act like you love your kids...

Strange Famous · 05-08-2004, 01:56 PM

Oh, and he could have gine into proctive cutody, very easily he could have admitted "yes, I am a nonce" and got protected from the general prison popuation,,, staying with them was almost certainly to help, or keep alive, his appeal

Cynthetiq · 05-08-2004, 01:58 PM

what is a nonce?

Strange Famous · 05-08-2004, 02:00 PM

nonce = paedophile

Cynthetiq · 05-08-2004, 02:03 PM

if you read the article he was NOT a pedophile, but convicted as one so saying that he was would have NOT helped his appeal.

World's King · 05-08-2004, 02:32 PM

That is one fucked up story.

sexymama · 05-08-2004, 02:56 PM

It sounds to me like only a couple of people know the 100% truth -- Stoll and his son. However, it is totally possible that the son has grown to believe a fabrication from his mother. In the long run, time will tell. If he is a peadophile, he'll do it again. If not, how sad that 20 years was wasted behind bars.

Strange Famous · 05-08-2004, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cynthetiq
if you read the article he was NOT a pedophile, but convicted as one so saying that he was would have NOT helped his appeal.

yes, exactly...

That is the choice that anyone in the position would face, if innocent...

if you ask for protective custody it really hurts any possible appeal cos it is seen as admission of guilt; if you stay in the general population you risk being the victim of violence and possibly murder.

SpikeQX99 · 05-08-2004, 06:52 PM

how contradictory is it that people convicted for raping, killing, stealing, etc, have the "morals" to rape, kill, etc, these pedophiles while in prison?

Don't get me wrong, pedophiles deserve it as do the rapists, murderers, etc, but it seems really really wrong, you know?

"morals"... what are they good for in prison?

moonstrucksoul · 05-09-2004, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SpikeQX99
how contradictory is it that people convicted for raping, killing, stealing, etc, have the "morals" to rape, kill, etc, these pedophiles while in prison?

"morals"... what are they good for in prison?

it's not a moral issue, it's a "food chain" thing, rapists and pedophiles are on the bottom of it, prison is about how tough you are, in order to not become someones bitch. as for inmates raping other inmates, it just happens, noone goes to prison anticipating fucking another guy in the ass, it just occurs to relieve sexual issues, and to dominate others, making them lower on the chain.

RAGEAngel9 · 05-09-2004, 07:27 PM

Actually I on the moral scale I would put murder as less bad than rape of an adult and that as less bad as rape/molestation of a child.
It comes down to what you're taking from the person. If you murder flat out, then at least the person is just dead. Rape is tortue and leaving the person alive is often like turnign the person into living dead. Hurting children is the worst simply because kids are often though of as pure.

Obviously all are bad, but I do think there are degrees of evil.

gondath · 05-09-2004, 11:48 PM

As in every case of a wrongful conviction, someone should be fired. On the issue of pedophilia itself, it's largely a cultural issue on how it is viewed. Ancient civilizations used children as pleasure slaves. Some places in the world still sell children into prostitution. In the USA, you have people lobbying to put minors to death or put into prison for life for heinous crimes, even down to the ages of 6-8.

siogo · 05-10-2004, 02:01 AM

I don't know what the percentage figures are, but they are very high on wrongfull convictions. Talk to any ex con or prison guard about who in the big house is innocent and they will all tell you that its those that maintain their innocence throughout their stay. Why would you risk your own life for 20 years, if you admitted to the crimes you were convicted of you would be put on a safe wing, bide your time, do the courses, behave yourself and you will be up before the parole board and out on licence when you have served half of your sentence. (Applies in UK/EU)
Our prisons are filling up with innocent people sent there by 'SERIAL ACCUSERS' 'OVER ZEALOUS SOCIAL WORKERS' and a 'POLITICLY CORRECT MEDIA' that think its better to lock up innocent people just to be on the safe side.

PredeconInferno · 05-10-2004, 08:41 AM

I think this story is awfully sad.... I mean, the dude was in prison for 20 gorram years.... that's not exactly a weekend here.

"Oh... remember that dude we had convicted for molesting me? Yeah, he didn't do anything. Sorry for the inconvenience, dude"

la petite moi · 05-10-2004, 09:19 AM

OMG, that's the town I live in. Hahahaha, it made it to the TFP!!

kutulu · 05-10-2004, 11:59 AM

Wow, I feel for that guy. He lost a huge part of his life because people lied about him. I have zero faith in our legal system. Althetes and actors get off because they have the dough and abitous DAs get false convictions. In spite of all the changes in testimony, the fucking prosecutors would be happier that the innocent man stays in jail than to have their conviction overturned. That says a lot about the people we have representing us in the court rooms.

This is a perfect example of why we shouldn't have a death penalty.

05-08-2004, 01:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
Strange Famous follower of the child's crusade?	I think the reason that criminals who assualt children have such a hard time inside is more than our natural hatrid of thoe who attack the weak. It is the way that many people inside make themselves feel like good fathers... because actually they are bad fathers, absent fathers... but shanking some nonce is a way to act like you love your kids... __________________ "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." The Gospel of Thomas

05-08-2004, 01:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
Strange Famous follower of the child's crusade?	Oh, and he could have gine into proctive cutody, very easily he could have admitted "yes, I am a nonce" and got protected from the general prison popuation,,, staying with them was almost certainly to help, or keep alive, his appeal __________________ "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." The Gospel of Thomas

05-08-2004, 01:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	what is a nonce? __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

05-08-2004, 02:00 PM	#5 (permalink)
Strange Famous follower of the child's crusade?	nonce = paedophile __________________ "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." The Gospel of Thomas

05-08-2004, 02:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	if you read the article he was NOT a pedophile, but convicted as one so saying that he was would have NOT helped his appeal. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

05-08-2004, 02:32 PM	#7 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	That is one fucked up story. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

05-08-2004, 02:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
sexymama My own person -- his by choice Location: Lebell's arms	It sounds to me like only a couple of people know the 100% truth -- Stoll and his son. However, it is totally possible that the son has grown to believe a fabrication from his mother. In the long run, time will tell. If he is a peadophile, he'll do it again. If not, how sad that 20 years was wasted behind bars. __________________ If you can go deeply into lovemaking, the ego disappears. That is the beauty of lovemaking, that it is another source of a glimpse of god It's not about being perfect; it's about developing some skill at managing imperfection.

05-08-2004, 06:52 PM	#10 (permalink)
SpikeQX99 The Best thing that never happened to you Location: Silverdale, WA	how contradictory is it that people convicted for raping, killing, stealing, etc, have the "morals" to rape, kill, etc, these pedophiles while in prison? Don't get me wrong, pedophiles deserve it as do the rapists, murderers, etc, but it seems really really wrong, you know? "morals"... what are they good for in prison? __________________ I'm so in love with a girl... she is my everything

05-09-2004, 07:27 PM	#12 (permalink)
RAGEAngel9 Insane Location: Vermont	Actually I on the moral scale I would put murder as less bad than rape of an adult and that as less bad as rape/molestation of a child. It comes down to what you're taking from the person. If you murder flat out, then at least the person is just dead. Rape is tortue and leaving the person alive is often like turnign the person into living dead. Hurting children is the worst simply because kids are often though of as pure. Obviously all are bad, but I do think there are degrees of evil.

05-09-2004, 11:48 PM	#13 (permalink)
gondath Insane Location: Alton, IL	As in every case of a wrongful conviction, someone should be fired. On the issue of pedophilia itself, it's largely a cultural issue on how it is viewed. Ancient civilizations used children as pleasure slaves. Some places in the world still sell children into prostitution. In the USA, you have people lobbying to put minors to death or put into prison for life for heinous crimes, even down to the ages of 6-8.

05-10-2004, 02:01 AM	#14 (permalink)
siogo Psycho Location: England	I don't know what the percentage figures are, but they are very high on wrongfull convictions. Talk to any ex con or prison guard about who in the big house is innocent and they will all tell you that its those that maintain their innocence throughout their stay. Why would you risk your own life for 20 years, if you admitted to the crimes you were convicted of you would be put on a safe wing, bide your time, do the courses, behave yourself and you will be up before the parole board and out on licence when you have served half of your sentence. (Applies in UK/EU) Our prisons are filling up with innocent people sent there by 'SERIAL ACCUSERS' 'OVER ZEALOUS SOCIAL WORKERS' and a 'POLITICLY CORRECT MEDIA' that think its better to lock up innocent people just to be on the safe side. __________________ California sunlight, sweet Calcutta rain, Honolulu starbright, the song remains................the same.

05-10-2004, 08:41 AM	#15 (permalink)
PredeconInferno Reclusiarch Location: Unfortunately Houston, TX	I think this story is awfully sad.... I mean, the dude was in prison for 20 gorram years.... that's not exactly a weekend here. "Oh... remember that dude we had convicted for molesting me? Yeah, he didn't do anything. Sorry for the inconvenience, dude" __________________ Samurai in Training Knowledge is power. Guard it well.

05-10-2004, 09:19 AM	#16 (permalink)
la petite moi Filling the Void. Location: California	OMG, that's the town I live in. Hahahaha, it made it to the TFP!!

05-10-2004, 11:59 AM	#17 (permalink)
kutulu Junkie	Wow, I feel for that guy. He lost a huge part of his life because people lied about him. I have zero faith in our legal system. Althetes and actors get off because they have the dough and abitous DAs get false convictions. In spite of all the changes in testimony, the fucking prosecutors would be happier that the innocent man stays in jail than to have their conviction overturned. That says a lot about the people we have representing us in the court rooms. This is a perfect example of why we shouldn't have a death penalty.