Does anybody know someone who was wronged by the justice system? #metoo mvmnt

A former coworker (teacher) of mine was accused of inappropriately touching a child about 3 years ago. I know him pretty well, obviously moreso when he lived down here and worked at the school with me. He was active in their church, father of 4. Seemed to be a very big family man.

I tried to reserve judgement when this happened, because I know how the ‘me too’ movement works. When I worked with him, I never noticed him act out of the ordinary. He never made pervy comments or anything.

He moved away about 6 years ago, then this bombshell hit. I found out through the grapevine, and eventually got in contact with he and his wife. He immediately denied it. His wife was by his side. The student who made the claim had apparently recently moved to that school, and rumors are that she made a claim at her previous school. Daddy is an attorney, and her mom is a ‘women’s activist’. FWIW- social media shows the family at a party the night their daughter cried foul.

Fast forward to today. My acquaintance had been working construction for 3 years. I stayed in touch as a friend, and assumed this had all blown over. I asked him how he was doing, and he brought up this whole situation (which I obviously did not want to ask him about any time we talked). He said his attorney had set up a deal where he would take a plea agreement, would avoid serving time, and things would be manageable. This was apparently discussed with the other attorney (or DA?) and agreed upon...until today. The other attorney said they would be pursuing 6 months jail time, and he would have to register as a sex offender.

My first thought was, why take a plea if you’re claiming innocence? He said since he’s innocent, no evidence was ever found to support her claim. Because she’s a minor, her records are sealed regarding claims against other teachers or adults. That family’s social status works against him. His attorney also said that taking it to trial in a liberal city (Austin) wasn’t advisable. A crying activist-mother and child would not bode well for a middle aged white man, regardless of his clean record.

Apparently it would cost him several thousand in attorney fees just to go to trial, and if he lost he would face 2-20.

I can’t help but believe him and his wife. Zero physical evidence, but several outside factors working against him. It’s essentially ‘he said, she said’, where the she is a daughter that is seemingly brainwashed by a liberal, activist mother.

It hurts to know this could happen.