Horrible Miscarriage Of Justice: Man Jailed For 20 Years On False Sexual Abuse Charges
Clyde Ray Spencer spent 20 years of his life in jail for a crime he did not commit -- the sexual abuse of his children that his ex-wife claimed was going on. He was just awarded $9 million by a jury in federal court in Tacoma, Washington, for the disgusting denial of his civil rights by police officers and prosecutors there.
Via Lenona, Robert Franklin, Esq., posts at NationalParentsOrganization:
In 1985, Spencer was an honorable man and father serving Tacoma as a police officer. He had two children, Matt, 9 and Katie, 5, and a stepson who was four. His wife was having an extramarital affair with a police sergeant, Michael Davidson, and decided to divorce Spencer. Not long after their divorce was final, she went to Davidson claiming Spencer was sexually abusing the children.Davidson, eager to please his paramour, went right to work. He put Detective Sharon Krause on the case and soon she had the children on videotape claiming their dad was a brutal serial pedophile. Faced with that evidence, Spencer entered an "Alford" plea meaning that he maintained his innocence but admitted that a jury could find him guilty. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 14 years and began serving his time.
But all was not right with the case against him. Eventually he found a lawyer who was willing to do the hard work of overturning a plea entered into by a man considered the worst sort of monster. What that investigation turned up was the entire fabrication of a case by police and prosecutors. Here are a few of the findings of the civil jury in federal court this past February.
•Spencer's wife, who called policed about the abuse claims, was secretly having an affair with Sgt. Davidson, who led the investigation of Spencer. This was not revealed until after Spencer was in prison.
•Spencer's natural children Matt Spencer and Katie Tetz testified that they were never abused.
•The stepson maintained that we was abused. However, he has a long criminal record for crimes including burglary and forgery. The authorities reduced his sentence in exchange for his testimony against Spencer.
•The detectives concealed medical exams showing that Spencer's son and daughter were not abused.
•Attorney Zellner charged that Det. Krause was motivated by advancing her career, and that after she started working in the field the conviction rate in child abuse cases rose by 800%. She had been a hotel clerk and met police officers who came to the hotel bar. She joined the Clark County Sheriff's Department and became a detective investigating child sex abuse, even though she had no training in the subject area.
Even more of these points at the link.
And then there's this:
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there's the issue that's been almost entirely overlooked. The simple fact is that a mother - Spencer's ex - wanted a father - Spencer - out of his children's life, and with essentially no effort on her part, the legal system accommodated her wishes. She complained to Davidson and then sat back and watched the wheels of the criminal justice system crush an innocent man.
Beyond the imprisonment -- which is, of course, a huge thing -- this man and his children were denied a relationship for most of their childhood. And imagine what this can do to a kid -- being used for adult machinations in this way, to the point that they ended up sending their own father to jail.
Something I haven't seen in stories I've looked up: What happens to the ex-wife who accused him?
I've suggested that those who make false accusations -- those that are provably false beyond a reasonable doubt (same as the standard for the accused) -- serve the same prison time the accused would have.
Your thoughts?
The wife, detectives, and DA should all spend as much time in jail as he did.
All of the property should be sold and the money given to him
lujlp at April 10, 2014 11:15 PM
She should serve his term in his cell, not in a low security womans institution but in the same jail cell he had to, surrounded by the other prisoners who probably made his life hell.
My only real question is what blackmail did Krause have on the officers, because that's only logical way I see for how a hotel clerk/bartender became a detective
Joe J at April 11, 2014 12:01 AM
Put each of them in isolation cells, sell their property, give it to the wronged man. Let them have no visitors, give them only a bucket to shit and piss in. Feed them the cheapest rations, and let them stew in there for 20 years.
Robert at April 11, 2014 12:45 AM
Oh, and add them to the sex offender registry when they do get out.
Robert at April 11, 2014 12:45 AM
A judge should shake his finger at her very sternly and tell her not to do it again.
dee nile at April 11, 2014 5:14 AM
All that acted willfully should be executed. What do we need them for and how many others have been harmed over the last 20 YEARS.
Bob in Texas at April 11, 2014 5:47 AM
dee nile has it correct. Women are such delicate snow flakes, they cannot be expected to understand what they're doing...and a judge will give her a stern talking to.
I R A Darth Aggie at April 11, 2014 6:07 AM
"My only real question is what blackmail did Krause have on the officers, because that's only logical way I see for how a hotel clerk/bartender became a detective."
She probably didn't have to use blackmail. There's a lot of white-knight types among most police forces. Most likely all she had to do was bat her eyelashes, sweet-talk, and maybe make some kind of save-the-children speech. She sounds pretty crafty, actually -- she may have been a bartender, but at some point she obviously went to the Janet Reno School of Child Interrogation.
Cousin Dave at April 11, 2014 6:57 AM
I was extremely lucky my ex didn't think of going the date a cop route when she put me through hell accusing me of similar things with our kid. Everything was unfounded, CPS was helpful, etc.
Should she face consequences for false reporting? Yes. Will she? No. I'd even be up for equitable consequences - I didn't get to see my daughter for > 4 months, much less talk with her at all on the phone either. Killed me financially and gave me a very weak position during the divorce and custody battle.
I can see and understand why there is no perceived penalty. For those who really need this protection, parents (notice how I didn't say mothers) should feel like they can report what they feel is abuse without being terrified of what if. However, if it can be proven that it was maliciously done, such as the case above, and even partially... then throw the book at them. And make sure it's "I See Rude People." ;)
the other Patrick at April 11, 2014 8:23 AM
According to one medical testiliar "lack of evidence" is to be expected in child abuse cases. He knew this because men regularly confess even though there is no evidence.
Curtis at April 11, 2014 8:53 AM
Yeah, but wouldn't a lot of abuse not leave any marks? I mean, if you made a kid give you a hand job/finger you or something.
NicoleK at April 11, 2014 10:06 AM
NicoleK, I'm sure you're right - but the question really is, did the abuse alleged in court match the medical evidence? Since the description is of a "brutal" serial pedophile, my bet is no.
Jamie Wilson at April 11, 2014 1:36 PM
Could be worse.
The cops could have used an electric Taser on a man who had doused himself in gasoline.
Because just shooting them gets boring after awhile.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at April 11, 2014 5:52 PM
The ex-wife and Davidson are the primary bad guys here and should serve the same jail term he would have, and have to register as sex offenders.
Krause and other cops and prosecutors who took part may also be guilty or may have believed the charges. All records of the case should be investigated to find out which -- preferably not by cops, since they usually lie to protect each other.
All the guilty should also be banned for life from ever working as cops or public officials, and their property and pensions should be forfeit to the victim, who has certainly lost more than that in a career and reputation that he'll never be able to get back even now.
And most important, all these kinds of recompense need to be routinely (and constitutionally) granted to every person not convicted of a crime who has his life destroyed by the overeager use of police authority. It's time for the real Bill of Rights to sweep away and replace the "Police Bill of Rights" forever.
Any police who say they can't work under conditions of full accountability should resign, and look for a job they're willing to do honorably.
jdgalt at April 11, 2014 6:09 PM
Anyone can make an accusation.
To send someone to prison, the cops have to investigate the case and the DA has to charge the accused, based on actual evidence. When there is no evidence, or when exculpatory evidence is withheld, the accuser may just be a vindictive wife and the cops may be incompetent -- but the DA has to willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly go forward in bringing a case and pressuring the accused into taking a plea. The DAs who do this, more than anyone else involved, deserve the prison time.
JD at April 11, 2014 8:53 PM
A judge would have had to sign off on the plea agreement so everyone involved should be found guilty of perjury at the very least.
If this was just some false accusation that would be one thing but this was intentional and directly involved the police, the only buffer between false accusations and prison.
The wish list:
Everyone involved should have to pay a fine to the person they intentionally falsely accused amounting to the minimum wage at 40 hours a week for the entire time the person was in prison, garnishing wages if necessary.
The officers should be fired and forced, be federal agents if necessary, to give a formal public apology. The apology is meaningless to the person in prison but the humiliation from it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
If it can be proven the DA had knowledge, he/she should be disbarred and banned from practicing in any state... while it is their obligation to do their job whether they like it or not, this is perjury.
NakkiNyan at April 12, 2014 6:38 AM
I just looked it up, he was awarded 9million in damages. 9 million he will never get.
NakkiNyan at April 12, 2014 6:48 AM
Nothing will happen to any of them. That's why they did it.
Nothing will happen to their employer, the state. That's why it was allowed to happen.
Lastango at April 12, 2014 10:00 PM
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