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THIS IS IT--- FINAL VERSION
Hi gang, this has been uploaded to GEnie, CIS, AOL, and Internet. Hope you can
get it all over Apple.
=BEGIN DOCUMENT=
ANYONE WHO HAS EVER KNOWN OR CARED ABOUT MATT DEATHERAGE NEEDS TO READ THE
FOLLOWING MESSAGE, WHICH IS BEING POSTED ON ALL INFORMATION SERVICES.
This document is being distributed with the help and support of a number
of friends of Matt Deatherage, whose names and e-mail addresses are listed
at the bottom.
MATT NEEDS YOUR HELP, AND HE NEEDS IT BADLY.
By now, most of you have probably read news accounts and seen public
discussions describing Matt Deatherage's recent run-ins with the law. In
brief, Matt was arrested in late March and charged with three felonies
related to sexual misconduct with a 14 year old boy.
There have been a number of sensationalistic news stories describing the
incident. What you need to be aware of is that these news stories are
cases of the news media simply reporting the statements of the people
prosecuting Matt. Everything we are hearing from the news media is the
prosecution's side of this story, with no effort being made to report
Matt's side of things.
Since Matt has not contested the charges against him, you may be thinking
that it's not relevant what Matt's side is -- but it is quite relevant.
Some of us have spoken to Matt and his attorney. Here's what Matt had to
tell us:
"I made a mistake. I know what I did was wrong. I should not have done
it. I take full responsibility for all of this and for everything that
has happened. During this whole thing I have not hidden anything I've done
or denied anything that happened. That's why I pled 'no contest' to the
charges. I realize now that even though I thought I was in love with this
kid and felt he was very mature, I broke the law and I should have to face
the consequences. I take full responsibility for this. I feel horrible
about this whole thing."
The specific charges against Matt all revolve around a sexual encounter he
had with someone under the age of 16. Matt emphasizes that everything he
did with this person was fully consented to by both parties. According to
Matt, there was no coercion whatsoever involved; the young man contacted
Matt, expressed an open interest in sexual relations, and pursued Matt on
the matter. Even during the sado-masochistic sexual acts (yes, that's
what they were), there were signals arranged between the two of them at
every stage so that the entire thing could be brought to a complete halt
at any time either party wanted to. This was not an act of rape.
In fact, none of the charges are termed as rape. Matt has not contested
the charges which ARE placed against him, all of which revolve around the
fact that the person he had this encounter with was under-age. The
charges in court are NOT that he forced himself upon this person. Even
the prosecution, very much out for blood, has not attempted to charge Matt
of crimes other than simply having sex acts with an under-age person.
Had this been an 18 year old instead of someone just under 15, there would
be no case, because nobody was forced into anything here.
Matt acknowledges, however, that he still shouldn't have done this. He
says that he fell in love with what he thought was a very worldly, very
mature person capable of making his own decisions. He sees now that this
was wrong of him, because someone that age may not really be as mature as
he seems, and might easily be emotionally scarred or damaged by something
like this even if it was consensual. It was wrong, and again, he
recognizes that he should have to face whatever consequences he must for
his crime.
Again, you may ask the question, what relevance is this? He's admitted to
this thing and will now be sentenced, and that, as they say, should be
that.
HOWEVER, THERE IS A PROBLEM. The prosecution in this case is attempting
to make a great deal more out of the incident. Rather than simply
acknowledge this for what it is -- a case of an adult having sexual
relations with a teenager -- the prosecution is attempting to paint a
portrait of Matt Deatherage as a sexual predator in the online world,
using his various system accounts as a means to stalk and pounce upon
innocent children so that he might do nefarious and unspeakable things to
them.
Because the world at large does not understand what the national online
services are, they tend to form nebulous, half-baked ideas of how they
work and what people do there. They (and now the news media) are easily
able to dream up a bizarre and frightening image of Matt somehow stalking
the alleys of a mysterious online world, sneaking into children's homes to
molest them.
Those of us who understand the world of national online services, and how
much time and energy these activities take up, and how people really
encounter each other on them should know better. Does anyone honestly
believe that Matt would spend years hanging out on the national services,
spending enormous amounts of time there outside of his full-time day job
at Apple, just so that, in whatever time he might have left in his
schedule, he could hope to find children living near his home who also
happened to be on the same national services, in order to act out a
frustrated desire to be a serial child molester?
Let's be frank: if hunting down children were the sort of thing YOU were
going to do, couldn't you think of a ways to carry out such a task that
were at least more efficient... and maybe a little more practical? :)
Is not the more logical explanation that Matt, hanging out in the gay chat
areas on AOL, got into an online conversation with someone who turned out
to be younger than Matt would have initially thought? And that it turned
out by coincidence that this person lived relatively near him, and that
they got to know each other better because of that?
NOW WE COME TO THE QUESTION BEFORE YOU. The question is not whether you
approve of what Matt did. The question is not whether you are friends
with Matt Deatherage. The question is not whether you even LIKE Matt
Deatherage. WE consider Matt our friend, despite whatever shortcomings he
may have as a person that led to this situation, but that is not we are
asking of YOU.
What we are asking those of you who have known Matt as part of our online
world is this: Of all you have seen of Matt, could you ever believe that
Matt is some sort of horrible, twisted, predatory monster who uses his
online access as a tool to waylay unsuspecting waifs into some horrible
sexual abyss? Is that really in character with what you've seen?
Or is what you know of Matt more what we his friends know of him -- that
for all that he may be an irascible or grating fellow at times, he's also
a funny guy who knows plenty about computers and spends a lot of time
trying to share that knowledge? That he's the kind of person who goes out
of his way to be of help to those who need it? That he's someone who is
essentially honest and forthright and driven to help people?
Heck, if nothing else, can you see where he'd have the TIME to skulk about
hunting for local children online?
SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THIS?
Matt will soon go before a judge to face sentencing. We repeat yet again
that he admits his crimes, has never contested them, has expressed deep
regret for them, and has never been charged with doing anything against
anybody's will. He himself says that, regardless of the circumstances, he
should NOT have had sex with this young boy -- he was highly attracted to
this young high-schooler, and believed at the time that this person was
mature enough to make this choice, but acknowledges now that he was wrong.
He does not wish to hide anything and stands ready to face whatever
consequences he must for his actions.
Matt now faces up to four years and four months in prison for these
charges. But, it could be better. He could get only two or three years.
Maybe only one year, plus some form of probation. There's even some
reason to hope that he might be sentenced to a minimum-security prison
with a work-release program, with perhaps some sort of psychiatric
treatment, so that he would be able to keep his job while staying in jail
nights and weekends, with a few years of probation thereafter.
Needless to say, what happens to Matt and what his life is like from this
point onward will depend a great deal on what the judge decides Matt
deserves.
OKAY, WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
The Santa Clara County District Attorney, currently facing a re-election
bid, is making as much of a public hoopla over this case as possible. The
prosecuting attorneys are using every conceivable scrap of data they can
to paint a picture of Matt Deatherage as the most despicable and evil
human being imaginable. This is being presented to the judge (and passed
on by an uncritical media) in an effort to get Matt the most severe
possible sentence.
The defense, of course, will attempt to show that most of this is
nonsense, that this was a consensual act with an underage person by a man
who made a mistake.
Among other things, evidence attesting to Matt's good character will be
taken into account by the judge in deciding the sentence. And what we're
asking for everyone in the online community who knows Matt at all to do is
to write letters in support of Matt.
You are not being asked to support what Matt did -- Matt himself does not
defend what he did. You are not being asked to write letters saying you
believe Matt is innocent -- Matt himself does not claim to be innocent.
You are being asked to write letters in support of Matt as a person you
have encountered, in the hopes that the judge will give him a humane and
temperate sentence.
WHERE DO I SEND THE LETTER, AND WHAT SHOULD IT SAY?
Your letter should be addressed to:
Judge Charles Gordon
Judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County
c/o Dennis Lempert
100 Saratoga Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95051-7305
The letter should give your full name and address, and should say a bit
about yourself -- who are you, what you do, how old you are, and how you
know Matt (that's all very important). It should also state that you are
aware that he is being sentenced on a number of felonies relating to
sexual misconduct with a minor. And it should give your opinion of Matt
Deatherage; essentially, how you feel about him as an individual, and what
you feel about the idea that he is some sort of dangerous, malicious
person given to preying upon young boys sexually.
You might say other good things about him, such as that it's clear that
he's a knowledgeable, productive member of society. (We've spoken to
people at Apple who work with Matt who wanted us to say he is well liked
there and did good work for the company.) You could mention that the
knowledge he gained through his job allowed him to do many helpful things
for people online in his spare time. You might mention that he's never
seemed to you to be a disturbing sort of person prone to talking about
sexual matters with you online (i.e. he never seemed sleazy or
disgusting).
You might also want to keep in mind the following things when writing to
the judge:
- Matt is penitent.
- He admits his crime. He has never attempted to lie about this thing.
- It is his first crime.
- We have every confidence that he will not repeat his crime.
- Just by the news exposure he's getting, he's already begun to pay,
and will almost certainly be paying for the rest of his life.
- He'd likely be harmed in a real prison. (Matt is a large man, but
anyone who knows him personally knows that he is very unthreatening in
personality and probably easy to victimize physically.)
- Justice would probably be better served by work-release probation
and some sort of treatment that would give him a chance to put his life
back together after all of this.
What you write is up to you. You should NOT send form letters or simply
copy and paste the things in this document. Most important of all, you
should not make things up or say things that you couldn't possibly know
about Matt. Just be honest and write what you feel, written in your own
words. The judge isn't going to check your spelling and grammar, he just
needs to know how you feel. ;-)
Matt has also suggested that any young people who know him who would care
to write and tell how they feel about him might be particularly helpful,
since any young people he's encountered online should know full well that
he is not predatory toward them.
We must emphasize again that these are not letters asking you whether or
not you are "friends" with Matt. The question is how ANY of you who have
watched or seen or encountered Matt, whose lives online have been affected
by this man, feel about what the prosecution is saying... and whether you
can find it in your heart to do something about it.
Every letter written will help Matt. Every letter NOT written by someone
who believes Matt's story is a blow against Matt.
Matt wishes it to be known by the people who know him online that he has
no desire to share the intimate details of his private life with anyone.
He is very uncomfortable with this entire matter being discussed in
public, and it is only because of these dire circumstances that he is
asking for this help.
ALL LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN APRIL 27, 1994. Letters
received after April 27 will be of no help whatsoever. Matt needs your
help and he needs it right now -- delaying action will be the same as no
action whatsoever.
We, the below-named persons, have read the contents of this document
you are now reading, and support with what it says. We are not saying we
support Matt's actions. We are saying that this is a person we know who
we respect in other contexts, who we wish to support against the extremely
negative portrayals by the prosecution and the news media. We ourselves
intend to write to the judge to urge sentencing that is appropriate to the
actual crime he admits to, and to who he is as a person. We urge you to
do the same:
Dean Esmay Eric Mueller
(dean.esmay@genie.geis.com) (dland.eric@genie.geis.com)
Kent Fillmore Roger & Pam Wagner
(draco@genie.geis.com) (rwagnerinc@aol.com)
Tom Weishaar Dennis Doms
(tom.w@genie.geis.com) (d.doms@genie.geis.com)
Dave Lyons Jim Murphy
(dlyons@apple.com) (murph@apple.com)
Mark Baumwell Joel Cannon
(baumwell1@apple.com) (cannon1@apple.com)
Randy Brandt Jerry Cline
(brandt@genie.geis.com) (75300.735@compuserve.com)
Patti Birse Jim Merritt
(birse@newton.apple.com) (presbyte@aol.com)
Ellen Rosenberg Jerry Kindall
(e.rosenberg@genie.geis.com) (ii.alive@genie.geis.com)
Gary Utter C. Stephen Gunn
(gary.utter@genie.geis.com) (chuckie@genie.geis.com)
John E. Rahn Dave Ely
(jrahn@netcom.com) (ely.d@applelink.apple.com)
Tara Dillinger Hangtime
(tara.d@genie.geis.com) (hangtime@genie.geis.com)
Tim Buchheim Jim Zajkowski
(t.buchheim@genie.geis.com) (73223.1046@compuserve.com)
L. Bruce E'Sex Richard Bennett
(lunatic@netcom.com) (richard.b@genie.geis.com)
Susan MacGregor Gena Saikin
(a2.susan@genie.geis.com) (g.saikin@genie.geis.com)
David D. Miller Nick Passino
(just.dave@genie.geis.com) (mac.ps@genie.geis.com)
Earl Childers David Hecker
(75300.1743@compuserve.com) (sevenhills@genie.geis.com)
Joe Schober David Ramsey
(afljoeys@aol.com) (76702.335@compuserve.com)
Greg DaCosta J. Nathaniel Sloan
(gregd@pro-desert.cts.com) (a2pro.help@genie.geis.com)
Bryan Pietrzak Nate Trost
(bryan.zak@genie.geis.com) (n.trost@genie.geis.com)
Andy McFadden Jawaid Bazyar
(fadden@oes.amdahl.com) (bazyar@netcom.com)
Tom Zuchowski Doug Cuff
(t.zuchowski@genie.geis.com) (editor.a2@genie.geis.com)
Jay Jennings Mike & Patty Westerfield
(insidebasic@genie.geis.com) (mikew50@aol.com)
We wish to express again that we do not support Matt's actions here. Our
support is for Matt -- again, not for what he did, but for who he is and
out of a desire to see a fair portrayal and treatment of someone we know
and respect as a part of our online community. If you know Matt from
online, even if it's not as a close acquaintance, please help us to help
him.
Please don't think that your letter doesn't count. Every letter will make
a difference.
=END DOCUMENT=
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