Welcome to the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Sex Crimes Blog
July 3, 2009
If you or a loved one has been accused of a sex crime or of child abuse, you know how important it is to find quality, aggressive legal representation. Unfortunately, being charged with a crime like sexual assault, child pornography, child molestation, indecent solicitation of a child or child abuse often times has immediate and lasting effects on your job, your loved ones, and your reputation, even if you are completely innocent. Without the support of a knowledgeable, empathetic attorney, defending against such a charge can be overwhelming and down-right frightening.
This blog is designed to discuss recent cases, legislation and news in Rhode Island and Massachusetts regarding sex crimes and child abuse. Topics will include proposed amendments to current Rhode Island and Massachusetts statutes, rulings from the states’ trial and appellate courts, and news articles discussing these crimes. The purpose of this blog is to help educate and inform Rhode Island and Massachusetts residents about how sex crimes and child abuse are handled in the state, and how wide-spread the impact of a conviction has on the defendant’s life. While many are quick to condemn anyone accused of a sex crime, there are many reasons to reserve judgment and view things from a different perspective. Hopefully, through this blog, those who are quick to judge can do just that.
Discussions are welcome on any of the postings. However, it should be noted that this blog will cover very sensitive and sometimes polarized issues. Any inappropriate, harassing or malicious postings will be deleted. I hope you will find this blog informative, and will use this space to find comfort with and understanding of these difficult issues.
For more information about legal representation of those charged with sex crimes, please visit: http://katherinegodinlaw.com/areas-of-law/sex-crimes/
Katherine E. Godin, Esq.
The Law Office of Katherine Godin, Inc.
615 Jefferson Blvd.
Warwick, RI 02886
Phone: (401) 274-2423
Fax: (401) 489-7580
Email: kg@katherinegodinlaw.com
Website: http://www.katherinegodinlaw.com
Criminal defense and appeals in RI and MA
My name is Keith Smith. I was abducted, beaten and raped by a stranger. It wasn’t a neighbor, a coach, a relative, a family friend or teacher. It was a recidivist pedophile predator who spent time in prison for previous sex crimes; an animal hunting for victims in the quiet suburbs of Lincoln, Rhode Island.
I was able to identify the guy and the car he was driving. He was arrested and indicted but never went to trial. His trial never took place because he was brutally beaten to death in Providence before his court date. 34 years later, no one has ever been charged with the crime.
In the time between the night of my assault and the night he was murdered, I lived in fear. I was afraid he was still around town. Afraid he was looking for me. Afraid he would track me down and kill me. The fear didn’t go away when he was murdered. Although he was no longer a threat, the simple life and innocence of a 14-year-old boy was gone forever. Carefree childhood thoughts replaced with the unrelenting realization that my world wasn’t a safe place. My peace shattered by a horrific criminal act of sexual violence.
Over the past 34 years, I’ve been haunted by horrible, recurring memories of what he did to me. He visits me in my sleep. There have been dreams–nightmares actually–dozens of them, sweat inducing, yelling-in-my-sleep nightmares filled with images and emotions as real as they were when it actually happened. It doesn’t get easier over time. Long dead, he still visits me, silently sneaking up from out of nowhere when I least expect it. From the grave, he sits by my side on the couch every time the evening news reports a child abduction or sex crime. I don’t watch America’s Most Wanted or Law and Order SVU, because the stories are a catalyst, triggering long suppressed emotions, feelings, memories, fear and horror. Real life horror stories rip painful suppressed memories out from where they hide, from that recessed place in my brain that stores dark, dangerous, horrible memories. It happened when William Bonin confessed to abducting, raping and murdering 14 boys in California; when Jesse Timmendequas raped and murdered Megan Kanka in New Jersey; when Ben Ownby, missing for four days, and Shawn Hornbeck, missing for four years, were recovered in Missouri.
Despite what happened that night and the constant reminders that continue to haunt me years later, I wouldn’t change what happened. The animal that attacked me was a serial predator, a violent pedophile trolling my neighborhood in Lincoln, Rhode Island looking for young boys. He beat me, raped me, and I stayed alive. I lived to see him arrested, indicted and murdered. It might not have turned out this way if he had grabbed one of my friends or another kid from my neighborhood. Perhaps he’d still be alive. Perhaps there would be dozens of more victims and perhaps he would have progressed to the point of silencing his victims by murdering them.
Out of fear, shame and guilt, I’ve been silent for over three decades, not sharing with anyone the story of what happened to me. No more. The silence has to end. What happened to me wasn’t my fault. The fear, the shame, the guilt have to go. It’s time to stop keeping this secret from the people closest to me, people I care about, people I love, my long-time friends and my family. It’s time to speak out to raise public awareness of male sexual assault, to let other survivors know that they’re not alone and to help survivors of rape and violent crime understand that the emotion, fear and memories that may still haunt them are not uncommon to those of us who have shared a similar experience.
My novel, Men in My Town, was inspired by these actual events. Men in My Town is available now at http://www.Amazon.com
For those who suffer in silence, I hope my story brings some comfort, strength, peace and hope.
For additional information, please visit the Men in My Town blog at http://www.meninmytown.wordpress.com
Keith Smith’s book is an intriguing, eye-opening tale of a brave young man determined to survive a life-changing night of abuse. It’s also an entertaining, accurate description of small-town Rhode Island, and how a tight-knit community might respond to one of its children being violated.
I commend Keith Smith for coming forward with his story, and would recommend “Men in My Town” to anyone interested in learning about a brave young man and his community’s emotion-filled response to the abuse.