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James Parker
Victims recant, accused
molester freed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, November
30, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A man who
was accused of molesting more than a dozen children in North
Carolina has been set free after 14 years behind bars because
the victims recanted.
James Bernard Parker wept as
he walked out of a Brooklyn, N.Y., courthouse on Monday and embraced
a sister he hadn't seen in 15 years. He had been given three
life terms plus 60 years in prison for charges of molesting four
children.
"I've paid a price I shouldn't
have had to pay," said Parker, 44. "I didn't do those
crimes."
When Parker was charged in
1990, authorities said at least 19 children had been attacked
in Monroe, where he lived. Police found no physical evidence,
even though children told stories of being tied to trees and
fed poisoned ice cream. They also gave a wide range of descriptions
of their attacker.
After Parker was convicted
in 1991, he wrote letters to several news organizations and legal
groups maintaining his innocence and asking for help.
The Charlotte Observer ran
stories in 2002 in which 15 reported victims and witnesses said
the crimes never happened or that Parker wasn't the attacker.
The only three boys who testified against Parker have since signed
affidavits saying Parker didn't commit the crimes.
In May, Parker pleaded guilty
to reduced charges in the sex crimes in exchange for the state's
promise to free him. Immediately afterward, he denied committing
the crimes.
"I never molested any
children," he said. Pleading guilty was "the only way
I could get out."
He was then extradited to New
York to face unrelated 15-year-old robbery charges.
On Monday, the former day laborer
completed a plea deal on the robbery charge and was freed on
time served. He ate a belated Thanksgiving dinner of turkey,
chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens.
"It's a great accomplishment
that he's free," said Richard Rosen, a law professor and
board member for the Center for Actual Innocence. "But I
think the system didn't work for James Parker. It didn't work
at time of trial. And frankly it didn't work at the end when
he was pressured to plead guilty to a crime he didn't do."
James "Sonny" Rogers,
the lead investigator on the case for the Monroe police, told
The Observer that he still believes Parker molested children
in Monroe, which is about 25 miles southeast of Charlotte.
"The victims and their
families have to live with whatever's happened. I did my job,"
said Rogers, now a church pastor.
Parker's trial followed two
of the nation's most sensational mass child-abuse cases - at
the Little Rascals day care center in Edenton and the McMartin
Preschool near Los Angeles. Convictions against child care workers
in Edenton were overturned, and charges in the McMartin case
were dropped after juries deadlocked on criminal charges.
Innocent, but he did
14 years in prison
BY ROBERT F. MOORE,
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU, November 30th, 2004
A man who did 14 years in prison
for a felony he didn't commit finally walked out of a Brooklyn
court yesterday a free man.
"They took my freedom
from me," James Parker said after a tearful reunion with
his sister Theresa Parker, 37, of Brownsville. "They ruined
my name."
In 1990, Parker found himself
the focus of a child-sex-assault investigation in Monroe, N.C.,
about 30 miles southeast of Charlotte.
He denied involvement in the
attacks and was serving life in prison until a Charlotte Observer
investigation cast doubt on his guilt.
The newspaper reported that
all three victims who testified as children against him made
up the stories about being attacked near a housing project. The
recantations, repeated to Parker's attorneys, became the basis
of a court motion that led to his release.
Although Parker, 44, insisted
he never molested children, he agreed to plead guilty in North
Carolina in May to reduced sex crime charges involving children
and was sentenced to time served.
"I told the truth all
those years," he said. "Then I had to lie to get out."
But before Parker could taste
freedom, he had to deal with a legal matter in Brooklyn - a 1989
conviction for robbery.
After cutting a deal with prosecutors,
Parker was sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to
fourth-degree attempted larceny, a misdemeanor.
About 1:40 p.m. yesterday,
he walked with his sister to the Ingersoll Houses in Fort Greene,
where another sister lives. He spoke on a cell phone for the
first time in his life and marveled at the Christmas decorations
along Myrtle Ave.
He appeared fearful of the
traffic, and his sister held his hand as they crossed Flatbush
Ave.
"There are a lot of police
officers out here," he noted.
Minutes later, an anxious Wanda
Johnson, 34, spotted Parker and ran through a basketball court
at Ingersoll. She wrapped her brother in a long embrace, as tears
rolled down both their faces.
Parker says he'll meet with
a social worker next week and begin either job training or a
job search. He'll stay with Brooklyn relatives until he's able
to get his own place.
For the moment, he was concentrating
on his first home-cooked meal since 1990.
They were Thanksgiving leftovers,
but to Parker they were a king's feast. He started with chocolate
cake and then moved on to collard greens, candied yams and turkey.
- After 14 years, Parker
now free
- Young accusers in N.C.
later swore he hadn't hurt them
LISA HAMMERSLY MUNN,
Staff Writer, Charlotte Observer, Nov. 30, 2004
James Bernard Parker, sentenced
to three life terms in one of North Carolina's biggest child
sex assault cases, was set free Monday after 14 years behind
bars.
He walked out of a Brooklyn,
N.Y., courthouse and wept as he embraced a sister he hadn't seen
in 15 years.
"I've paid a price I shouldn't
have had to pay," said Parker, 44. "I didn't do those
crimes."
In the past three years, lawyers,
UNC Chapel Hill journalism students and the Observer have raised
questions about Parker's guilt and whether his reported crimes
at a Monroe public housing project ever took place.
All three boys who testified
against him in court have signed affidavits in the past two years
saying Parker didn't commit the crimes.
A December 2002 Observer investigation
found 15 reported victims and witnesses who said that the crimes
never happened or that Parker wasn't the attacker.
And four Charlotte lawyers
worked without pay for hundreds of hours to win a new hearing
on his case.
But Parker, who had maintained
his innocence since the 1990 crimes were reported, ultimately
won his freedom by accepting a deal from prosecutors last May
to plead guilty to lesser charges.
Even then he remained jailed.
He was extradited to New York to face a pending 15-year-old robbery
case. Monday, he finalized a plea deal on that charge and was
freed on time served.
About 1:40 p.m. Monday, the
former Monroe day laborer walked with his sister to a nearby
home in Brooklyn. He spoke on a cell phone for the first time
and marveled at the Christmas decorations, according to the New
York Daily News. He ate a belated Thanksgiving dinner of turkey,
chicken, macaroni and cheese and collard greens.
"It's a great accomplishment
that he's free," said Richard Rosen, a UNC Chapel Hill law
professor and board member for the Center for Actual Innocence.
"But I think the system didn't work for James Parker. It
didn't work at time of trial. And frankly it didn't work at the
end when he was pressured to plead guilty to a crime he didn't
do."
Rosen said he doesn't blame
Parker or his attorneys for accepting the plea deal, however.
If they had failed to convince a judge, Parker likely would have
gone back to prison for life. "Innocent people, as well
as guilty people, plead guilty under those circumstances,"
Rosen said.
Parker's release Monday was
an inconclusive end to a case that some legal experts compared
with the 1989 Little Rascals day-care sex abuse scandal in Edenton.
Authorities initially said
at least 19 Monroe children were attacked. But they found no
physical evidence. As in the Edenton case, the children told
police fantastic stories, including details of being tied to
trees and fed poisoned ice cream. They gave a wide range of descriptions
for their attacker.
Few children initially told
their parents. The stories came out only when school counselors
in Monroe began asking questions.
James "Sonny" Rogers,
who was the lead investigator for the Monroe police, said Monday
that he still believes Parker was guilty of sexually molesting
children in Monroe, about 25 miles southeast of Charlotte.
"The victims and their
families have to live with whatever's happened. I did my job,"
said Rogers, now a church pastor.
Noell Tin, Parker's lead attorney
in Charlotte, said, "There were times when I worried we
would never see this day. I've always believed in James' innocence.
We wouldn't have done the case otherwise."
After Parker was convicted
in 1991, he wrote letters to news organizations and legal groups
maintaining his innocence and asking for help. He wasn't scheduled
for parole until age 97.
He wrote Duke Law School's
fledgling Innocence Project in 1999. UNC Chapel Hill journalism
students decided to focus on Parker's case in 2001, and the N.C.
Center for Actual Innocence targeted his case.
Journalism graduate student
Joshua Myerov wrote his master's thesis about the crimes, and
that convinced the Observer to take a look.
Tin and three other lawyers
helped Parker win a new hearing that was scheduled for last May.
Then prosecutors offered a
plea deal. And on May 24, Parker pleaded guilty to reduced charges
in the sex crimes in exchange for the state's promise to free
him.
Immediately afterward, Parker
told family and spectators he didn't commit the crimes.
"I never molested any
children," he said. Pleading guilty was "the only way
I could get out."
Monday, Parker said he hopes
to get training and find a job in New York.
He has an appointment with
social services early next month on the training.
Then on Dec 17, he's scheduled
to return to court to learn if he has to register as a convicted
sex offender.
"I would like to get my
name back," Parker said. "They took my name and my
job, and those were the only two things that I had."
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
