We have a pretty big situation going on in our lives right now that I am looking for support, advice, prayers, anything at all would help us right now.

My Fiance (my childrens' father) was driving home from work with his employee in the truck and was right around the corner from our house when he slowed down because an eight year old girl that lives down the street from us was in the road on her bike.  So he slowed down, passed her and pulled into our driveway which is about 3 houses away.  Once he got there he played a game of horse shoes with his employee for about 1/2 hour before his employee went home.  Around 9pm that night a state trooper showed up at our house and said a girl accused him of trying to get her into the truck.  Of course we were shocked.  He took his statement and told him that hopefully this was just a misunderstanding and he would get back to him if he needed further information.  ????  This was in July, a couple of days went by then his employee was called in for questioning.  He said the same thing, they drove by and went home.  Nothing else.  Last Friday we got a summons in the mail that charges were filed for attempt to lure a child into a vehicle and he needs to be at the preliminary hearing in October and we need to get a lawyer.  !!!!!  We went to see 3 lawyers and they all said that this looks very bad and we will be spending up to $10,000 on fees from the lawyers.  We do not have this money and to get a public defender we were told in a situation like this would kiss your freedom goodbye.  Just to get to the preliminary hearing we have to give the lawyer a retainer of $3,000, whenit goes to trial which he said it most likely will because it is involving a child it will go up to $10,000.  We are goign to lose our house, our vehicles, His reputaion will be destroyed, he started his own business about 4 years ago and has been doing pretty well but it is still in its beginning stages, that will be gone. Our children will be ridiculed.  I now have to take my daughter out of her catholic school because I now can not afford it.  Our life is being destroyed because an eight year old girl possibly needed some attention and made up a life altering lie.  Everyone keeps telling us it shouldn't go anywhere, there was a witness in the vehicle but the lawyers told us that when a child is involved it's your word against hers.  We go from incredibly angry to crying our eyes out everyday.  He told them he would take multiple polygraph tests, he would do anything to prove his innocence but apparently the court does not even accept those as evidence, so we are left just praying.  We don't know what else to do here.  Any advice, insight, help, prayers, we really need them now. 

I really feel bad for what you and your family are going trhough but im not trying to be mean here. What I don't understand is why that little girl said that. Did she know them at all? Did they tell her anything when they were driveing by that made her think different? It does not make any sence too me that three total strangers would be involved. Sometimes kids do say the truth and sometimes they don't because of fear. Lets just hope that she was in this case saying a lie for everybodys sake. Good luck and my prayers go with you.

The family that she is from is very questionable.  They are not clean, the kids are always out in the road unsupervised, they use bad language.  We don't let our girls play with them because about a year ago when they first moved into the neighborhood they came around looking for kids to play with and our girls went outside to play and they were cursing and being very mean so we told them to leave.  They havn't talked to us since.  She has 3 brothers also ranging in age from about 9-15, something like that.  There are also about 4 or 5 adults living in the house.  We do not know much about the family but from the outside they don't look so good.  We have no idea what is going on in that house and we have no idea what emotional problems she may have to make her come up with such a lie.  At the begining when this first started we thought maybe she just heard the two of them talking while driving by and thought they were talking to her because the window was open but now that we have seen her statement she said that he stopped his truck and said "get in the car".  He certainly did not stop the truck and did not even speak to the girl so now we know that it was not her hearing something as he drove by and thinking it was directed at her but just a lie.  We are at a loss here.

It is true that sometimes kids make up things because they are being abused at home and feel that someone needs to be blamed for it. I really hope that this gets resolved and I do feel for her as well because who know what she is going through at home. I hope everything turns out oka nd no one gets hurt.

i hope everything turns out fine. on e thing that really needs to be pointed out is that you live right down the street and he pulled into your driveway and the work truck was more than likely in plan view. most the time when some one tries to abduct a child they have to do a wide search for the car, this just sounds like it was a matter of convenience for this little girl since it parks right down the street from her house.

my sister used to make up stories about all sorts of stuff from being abused at day care ( she wasnt and would later confess she also had a friend there we could ask about it), to other kids breaking her stuff when she really broke it (my mom confronted the other kid and came home to my sister bawling and she confessed she lied), she just had a constant need for attention and still does now it just come out in drama queen form. if these kids are left out on thier own all the time to play in the street i have a feeling it is just a attention thing and hopefully she will come clean soon and everything wil be dropped.

I am SO sorry to hear about that!  That is horrible!  Know that I will be praying for you and your family, as well as for that girl and her family (it sounds like not the best home situation for her).  I am also adding a prayer right now in the Call on Jesus group.  Take care and God bless!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

 

glitter-graphics.com ...

Thank you for your supporting words.  I truly need as much support as I can get right now.  We are good people and try to raise our children the right way and have faith.  I know we are going to have to talk to our girls about this because when there is a preliminary hearing the next day it is in the paper and we want to talk to them before they find out the wrong way about what is going on.  The reality of this all is really sad and a reality I do not want my children to have to hear about, but better from us than someone else.  Thank you so much for your prayers.

This is horrible!  I am so sorry to hear this.  Hopefully as the hearing progresses her story varies and the authorities will realize that she is searching for attention and this was a way to get it.  I have heard that kids will change their stories as things progress and that's how they find out they are not telling the truth.  Also when it comes to the money, do what you have to do to get a fair fight for him. I know suing is not the answer to everything since the us has become a sue happy nation, but when it is over go after your court costs, lawyer bills, and restitution.  I know its going to be a long horrible hassle for you.

A similar situation happened to my uncle.  He was driving up a street taking a friend of our family home, when a little girls ball rolled into the street.  My uncle stoped the car and threw the ball back and the little girl told her parents that he got out of the car, touched her and tried to get her to get in the car.  Things ended up being droped.  Hang in there.  You are in everyones thoughts and prayers.

We have asked all the lawyers we spoke to about getting our money back somehow and they all said we can't sue for anything.  They said the little girl is only eight, the parents were working off of instinct and the police were doing their job.  I am jumping a little ahead of ourselves here but this is going to put us under big time.  We are counting on this girl that we really know nothing about to tell the truth.  We feel that in the end even if this does go to trial that there just won't be any proof to find him guilty but the process of this is going to destroy us.  His name being in the paper, the business being trashed, our children having to deal with this.  I keep searching for a reason for all of this because I am the kind of person that needs reasons for everything.  Maybe God did have his reasons for this charade.  Maybe he knew that we were the kind of people that would look far enough into this to see that this girl is troubled and needs help.  I don't know why it needed to be done in this way though.  Or maybe he had nothing to do with this at all and we are all just on this earth walking around, tripping, stumbling and God just has to do his best to help pick up the pieces where ever he can.  I don't know.

I know dealing with legal processes is scary because if you're not an attorney it's so foreign and unknown. You're basically putting everything you have in the hands of another person and being forced to trust the system.

That being said, all you can do is trust the system and do whatever you can to pay for the best! It might mean debt, etc. but think of what's at stake.

It's fortunate that your husband wasn't alone and that this all happened so close to your home, because the little girl's story just doesn't make sense... 

Have Faith! and don't fret, I know it will be a long scary road because you have to let go of control here. Worry won't get you anywhere, so try to avoid it (I know it's easier said than done).

The best to you! You and your family are in my prayers!

  

Can't remember but didn't you say that his friend was with him at the time? (I need to look at the first thread) Don't give up at what all the atourneys are telling you. There has to be one desent one that can help you. Maybe talking to this little girl can help, I know its not possible but if she sees your face in pain and wanting the truth then maybe she will brake down and confess. good luck!

My good friend let her 4 year old daughter play in the front yard and mom watched her from the kitchen as she made dinner. Mom noticed a Jeep slow donw infront of the house (probably looking for an address) and thought the daughter was speaking to the man driving. Mom questioned the daughter trying to make sure that what she was fearing wasn't what happened, but in the process she led her daughter to say things that didn't happen. Children are very impressionable and sometimes answer what they think is the answer that mommy is looking for. "Did he talk to you" Head nod.... "Did he try to get you in the car?".... Head nod.... and so on. Not exactly moms fault because she is sincerely trying to help not harm but sometimes it backfires. I bet something similar to this is what happened here.

This is a tough one as it is a rough spot and the last thing anyone wants to do is give bad advice.

With that said, I know what I'd do based on what you've told us.  Typically there are groups that provide free or low cost advice and sometimes representation.  Look around the family court.  

What court is this being handled by?  Civil or criminal?  If this is just some idiot around the corner trying to build a case, what is the charge?  If there was some suspicion of wrong-doing by the State, it's one thing.  If it's the people down the street making a claim based on teh word of their 8 year old, it's another.  

The court sees crap like this enough to know the difference.  You could get depositions or statements from teachers and people in the community, produce your fiance's past record (clean I expect ) and prepare a chart that showed exactly how the truck passed, the two residences, the location of the girl, etc.

Anyway, there is a lot you coudl do to prepare for it without spending money on an attorney.  I would suggest an attorney for any court proceding, but if you get someone through a service and do the leg work for them, you could probably keep the money below $1000.

What do the immediate neighbors of the girl have to say?  What do other neighbors say?  If you have a body of evidence that they are 'dirty' and 'unsupervised' and statements from teachers about how well adjusted your kids are, statements from neighbors about what great people you both are, the sworn statement of the direct witness, and a clean record, the judge will do someting like a restraining order at most, but prolly just throw the whole thing out as a waste of time.

Good luck.  The legal system is scary, but usually gets it right if you are patient and thorough.

Great advice.  The lawyers told us not to talk to any of the neighbors about this though.  Of course they know all about it but from this point on we can not discuss it.  All of our neighbors are behind us.  They all have the same feelings about these neighbors.  All the neighborhood kids come over to our house and play everyday, it's not like we don't interact with everyone.  We have barbeques all the time, invite everyone over, organize baseball games etc.  Everyone was shocked by this of course but even more shocked when a month after the supposed incident that we get charges mailed to us for attempt to lure a child into a vehicle or structure.  Everyone was convinced after all that time that it was dropped like it should have been.  The lawyers keep telling us that all the girl has to do is stand up in court and say "that man said this".  Then we are going to trial.  No matter what witness's you have no matter how many people testifying to your character.  Seems insane.  Since this has all started we have been documenting everything.  A week after the "incident"  the girl and her brothers were playing in front of our house with no parents in sight.  We were sitting out front watching our kids and our neighbors kids ride their bikes and then all of a sudden here comes those kids on their bikes hanging out riding back and forth.  This happened two other times that week also.  The whole thing is crazy.  Two of our neighbors witnessed that also.  They were like " what is going on here?"  Everything is documented down to date and time.  I am just hoping that the judge at the preliminary hearing is reasonable and can see all of this for what it is.