One Year Later: Counselor Continues Fight to Clear His Name
One year after his felony indictment on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, former Woodside Trails counselor, Jackie DeWayne Reynolds, Jr., is still seeking vindication.
(PRWEB) August 25, 2005 ? According to Jackie DeWayne Reynolds, Jr., the former counselor charged last year with sexually assaulting a resident at the therapeutic camp Woodside Trails in Bastrop County, there is a consistent pattern of official misconduct related to his case that begins and ends with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and current republican gubernatorial candidate, Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
Mr. Reynolds wouldn?t comment on any specific evidence of misconduct by Mrs. Strayhorn, but did say much of the basis for his assertion could be gleaned in the lawsuit he filed recently in federal court alleging multiple violations of his civil rights.
?I just want my name cleared,? he says when asked about the lawsuit that names Mrs. Strayhorn as one of more than ten defendants. ?News reports of my arrest and indictment are all over the Internet. It?s frightening to think that state officials would intentionally label an innocent man a child predator knowing it wasn?t true, but I am convinced that?s what [the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Bastrop County] did.?
On August 25, 2004, a Bastrop County Grand Jury indicted two Woodside Trails counselors, including Mr. Reynolds, for sexual improprieties with children that resided at the therapeutic camp.
Mr. Reynolds, now living in Brownwood, Texas, says he was shocked to learn through media reports that he had been indicted. ?I was never notified that a grand jury was convening,? he says, ?nor was I given an opportunity to present any evidence.?
Mr. Reynolds contends that the case should never have gone to a grand jury. According to his lawsuit, the alleged victim admitted he lied to Detective Suriano of the Bastrop County Sheriff?s office and Investigator Shaw with the Residential Child Care Licensing division of TDFPS nine days before the indictment.
But even if the child hadn?t recanted, says Mr. Reynolds, charges still should never have been filed.
?To suggest that I could sexually abuse a child while surrounded by eleven other children and staff and there not be a shred of corroborating evidence just isn?t believable. It makes me wonder whether they investigated the allegation at all or whether they just concluded I did it because it was politically expedient.?
Also on August 25, 2004, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) ruled against Mr. Reynolds in their investigation, which was conducted jointly with the Bastrop County Sheriff?s office. TDFPS also ruled against the other counselor indicted that day and issued three other negative findings against their employer, Woodside Trails.
?There?s something really fishy about this whole thing,? says Mr. Reynolds. ?They (TDFPS) returned three rulings against Woodside Trails and two against its employees on the same day the Bastrop County Grand Jury indicts those same two employees? Come on, that?s too much of a coincidence?
Although the criminal charges against Mr. Reynolds were dismissed in March of this year, he still has to fight to keep his name out of the TDFPS central registry as a sex offender.
?They (TDFPS) botched my administrative review and now I have to wait up to two years for a Due Process Hearing. I am really looking forward to getting this before an actual judge. If given a fair hearing, I guarantee the ruling will be overturned.?
He claims he would have been happy to wait for his Due Process Hearing to clear his name, but TDFPS forced him to act by harassing him and threatening his family. Mr. Reynolds filed the Section 1983 lawsuit only after a TDFPS investigator told his fiancée that they would remove her children if Mr. Reynolds did not leave the home. In the lawsuit, he is requesting immediate injunctive relief barring TDFPS from any further harassment.
?I haven?t been convicted of anything, yet they charged my fiancée with neglectful supervision of her children based solely upon her relationship with me, nothing more. There was no evidence of any abuse in the home and they have admitted as much.?
Mr. Reynolds is forbidden from having any contact with his two step-children and is not allowed to live in the same home with his fiancée. He states the stress has put a strain on their relationship.
?We had to cancel our wedding. We had a great church reserved here in town and everything. Sent out invitations. We had to cancel it, though, because there?s just no telling what they?ll try next. They just sent the determination letter to her this week giving her forty-five days to respond, but they?ve left four voice messages on her cell phone since urging her to accept their services as soon as possible. It?s harassment, plain and simple.?
The threats and harassment notwithstanding, Mr. Reynolds says he will fight as long and hard as he has to to clear his name.
His lawsuit was received by the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, Austin Division on August 12, 2005, at 2:34 pm. It was assigned case number A05CA638 LY.
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