I would like to commend the Chilkat Valley News for using discretion in not reporting the names of individuals arrested for alleged sex crimes. KHNS set policy on this issue over a year ago with my son, and now uses names when individuals are charged, not just when they are convicted. But they did not report all the information on record. No details of what exactly his charges were or were not. And while the presumptions and rumors run rampant. Everyone is asked to be quiet while the courts do their work, not to refute any of the rumors or misinformation. In a small town, where a guilty verdict doesn’t wait for the courts, and prejudice is a real possibility, a little discretion goes a long way.
I also want to commend the CVN for telling “enough” of the story, once the verdict was rendered, to clear up a few of the rumors. Thank you for explaining what “third-degree sexual abuse of a minor” means. And for the information about the Facebook conversations, in which each mention of sex, though perhaps only minutes apart, was translated to another online enticement charge, each of which carries such huge penalties that the defendant is forced to accept the plea bargain without going to trial, regardless of which party brought up the topic of sex in the conversation, or who pursued whom.
Donna Catotti