Sidwell Soc. Studies teacher and Sleep Away Camp Director Arrested for Sexual Abuse
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Anonymous
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Everyone here assumes Robert Peterson is guilty. Quite literally everyone who knows him well and who has talked to him post-allegations believes he is innocent. Here is an open letter from those closest to him:
http://robertpetepetersonlegaldefensefund.org/openletter.html |
Anonymous
| This is the most outrageous thing I have ever seen. Wow. I have no idea if he is guilty either, but I do know that there are hundreds of sexual predators that also appear to be great guys and their friends are also adamant that the accused is guilty. But to write a letter to the accused is really sick, despite all the "we are holy and come in peace" language at the beginning. |
Anonymous
What a bunch of guilt-tripping assholes. Of course, those closest to him presume he's guilty. Hopefully, the trial will provide more clarity to this sordid situation. Pedophiles are some of the most manipulative creatures out there. I hope the victim(s) in this case have been receiving substantial support. |
Anonymous
| Honestly, sometimes I think that someone just goes through old incendiary topics just to keep the board going. It's annoying. |
Anonymous
Your complete lack of any knowledge of the situation or any of the individuals involved is obvious, so I don't blame you for automatically siding with the victim. But for those who are at all interested, this defense fund website was not created by his closest friends/family until they all publicly stated that they were 100% certain he was not guilty. |
Anonymous
| My DC had Pete and I will contribute to his defense fund. I do not know if he is guilty or innocent, but I do know that even after months of investigation, there is only one victim and no supporting evidence. Pete was a wonderful teacher and he deserves a fair trial. I'll contribute a little to help him get that. If he's acquitted, he'll retire. If he's guilty, he should go to prison. There are lots of pedophiles out there, and lots of false accusations as well. I'll leave it to the judicial system to decide what happened here. |
Anonymous
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The recent acquittal of a male teacher wrongly accused by a 6th-grade girl of improper touching should give us all pause about convicting someone in the court of public opinion. Like many, I have a tendency to believe a child over a teacher when it comes to allegations for sexual abuse, but rationally I have to fight this presumption of guilt in my mind. I am reserving judgment on this teacher until he has been tried fairly in a court of law.
No affiliation to Sidwell here. I'm just a parent and someone who, because of a personal experience as a teenager, tries to be vigilant about sexual abuse of children. |
Anonymous
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Oh wow, I am so offended by that letter. Wow. Its one thing to write an open letter to the public, saying you believe the guy is innocent. Its another thing entirely to write to the alleged victim, pressuring him to drop the charges.
And the language. "By your own volition and your parents permission, you were alone with him." That sounds awfully close to saying he brought whatever happened on himself, by being alone with the man. Is that a crime? Cause it sounds like they are accusing the alleged victim of doing something wrong. And his parents of bad parenting. Wow. I have no idea if the accusations are true or not but the letter does nothing to clarify the situation. if the accusations are true, this is bullying and intimidation and just wrong. And if they aren't true (and the writers offer no reason for why the person would lie) then the accuser has committed a crime that should be handled by the criminal justice system, not friends of the defendant. I don't know why everyone assumes "no supporting evidence." That phrase doesn't actually mean anything. There is evidence, sufficient evidence to get a grand jury to indict the man. The burden for the jury will be higher, and I assume if the evidence is insufficient to meet that burden, he will be acquitted. But it seems to me that the folks accusing the alleged victim of lying have absolutely no evidence to support that, while the grand jury has found sufficient evidence to indict. Raise money for a defense fund, fine. But back off the accuser. |
Anonymous
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This letter is OUTRAGEOUS and it shows the crazy, self-serving, self-righteous side of Quakerism that always gave me the willies. I could see writing an Open Letter to the Public. But to the accuser? Now that someone's posted this link, I am glad this thread was resurrected. I was annoyed at first. Boy this is enlightening.
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Anonymous
That language is utterly WRONG to use toward any child alleging sexual abuse. Incredible! |
Anonymous
It makes my skin crawl how they are placing the blame on the child and his family for the abuse. It sounds like they're saying he asked for it. |
Anonymous
| 11:57 I do not assume he's guilty but I also have a hard time believing a teen would have nothing better to do than fabricate charges against a teacher. That is not at the top of most teens' lists of favorite activities. This letter is doing the teacher a huge disservice. The judge is NOT going to like it. The prosecutor is going to use it to their advantage. The Defense Fund is creating more expenses for the defense. |
Anonymous
| P.S. I'm 12:10 and 11:24, too. Lest anyone think I'm sockpuppetting. |
Anonymous
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This letter is an obvious attempt to influence the jury pool, and could be read to be attempting to illegally influence the testimony of the victim or others. Outrageous. And I agree that this may cause more problems for the accused.
And agree that the words "no supporting evidence" means nothing. The "evidence" is the testimony of the victim. The prosecutor and grand jury obviously believed that the victim was credible enough to take the matter to trial. |
Anonymous
When is the trial and where? |