Mike, I would like to see *all* those responsible held accountable. Richard Bradbury was a member of the Straight Inc. staff. Why should he be able to go without answering to the abuses he committed? If Saddam Hussein where to spend a few years championing the Shi'ite cause, would he suddenly be able to be forgiven for the millions of them that he slaughtered? I realize this is an extreme example, but if Bradbury is going to say, "Let the law work.", then he should not be excused for the things he did to contribute to the attrocities at Straight.
It seems that you people are not willing to do what it takes to allow justice to truly be served. You want to try to solve this in the civil courts, but there is no statute of limitations on criminal acts in the state of Florida. So why aren't you trying to get these people prosecuted for their *crimes*? I have pondered this question for quite some time. At first I thought it was because you are listening to the money-grubbing trial lawyers. But then I realized that many of you are also guilty, and maybe you just don't want to own up to the crimes that you have committed.
This is not something that is unique to the Straight case. For instance, there is a woman who posts frequently on these forums. She put her child son in an abusive program. When she removed him, he was covered with bruises. Instead of immediately going to the police and having the offenders arrested, she began collecting evidence for a civlil case. The only reason I can come up with that she didn't persue criminal charges, is that she was afraid of being implicated herself. I have seen several such examples.
Until *all* of the parties responsible for this crap agree to be held accountable, it is going to continue to go on. This means that the staff, the parents, the doctors, the cops, and anyone else involved, needs to come forward and take what may be coming to them. If they are indeed remorseful, and they are willing to work with the proper authorities, I'm sure there will be some leniency.
I just feel that the path you folks are taking, by persuing this soley in the civil courts, is the wrong one. The law can and will work, but only if you do the right thing and own up to your crimes. There seems to be a lot of lawyers who stand to make millions from this sort of thing. Their attitude of hush-hush, unorthidox investigative techniques are only serving to hurt your cause. They have also been using Progam-like tactics to extract information from victims of abusive programs and some of these people have had serious PTSD episodes as a result of it.
Perhaps I started off on the wrong foot her by not asking the venerable Bradbury to grace me with the opportunity to kneel before him and kiss his ring.
