I haven't been able to get Anthony J. Tripoli out of my mind. He is the 69-year-old man I wrote about in a July 19th blog post. He was a volunteer who tutored children one-on-one in reading skills at a public school in Florida. Based on the testimony of an 8-year-old girl and without any supporting evidence whatever, he was given a life sentence for allegedly touching her in an inappropriate -- that is, a sexual -- manner. In reading the news story, I thought the man was probably innocent and a victim of the public/legal hysteria that surrounds the issues of children and sex.

I looked further into the story in the hope of finding reason to believe Tripoli is guilty because I hate, hate, hate the thought of a man's life being ruined because of an act of kindess he rendered to a child. But the more I uncover the more I am convinced of his innocence. .

Let me run down some of the facts giving me great pause:

--There is no physical evidence that molestation ever happened. No suspicions reported by the parents. Medical personnel who examined the girl found no signs of penetration.
--Volunteers for the program Tripoli was in undergo a screening process, that includes exhaustive local and national criminal history and sex offender checks. His record was so clean that he literally did not have a speeding ticket. .
--The police could not find other children molested by him. The man was 68-years-old. I find it difficult to believe that Tripoli, who worked with children, suddenly became a child molestor in his retirement years. .
--The tutoring and, so, the alleged molestation supposedly took place in a cafeteria-like area at the public school where food service workers were coming and going unpredictably. Volunteers also know that school officials will monitor their work in some manner from time-to-time.
--No one witnessed Tripoli taking the girl to or from a secluded area.
--Parents approve the tutoring as well as the tutor matched with their child.
--In the courtroom, the girl couldn’t identify Tripoli. The prosecuting attorney ascribed this to the fact that he had lost 20 pounds -- undoubtedly from stress-- and was no longer tanned.
--One of the alleged incidents occurred on February 15th, 2008. Tripoli was not at the school that day. He established his presence at a softball game through several witnesses.
--The girl was interviewed by Tripoli's female supervisor at least three times and never said anything about inappropriate touching.
--Moreover...Tripoli seems like a decent man. One paper reported, A neighbor in The Fountains off U.S. 1 described Tripoli as a nice and quiet man who played softball with other senior residents and liked to work on his car. "He has a very lovely wife," said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. "We're all sick over that."

A comment appended to this news story came from a fellow who claims to have sat through the trial. He wrote,

I was not selected for the jury either but I did sit thru testimony and it seems to me evidence was lacking. The 8 year old, who was seven at the time of the incident changed her story from the time of the first accusation to the statement made in the video to the time she was on the witness stand. Each time her statements were a little more rehearsed and I think a young mind like that could be influenced by others. She may very well have been abused but I don't think it was by this man. As a victim of child abuse myself, I do recall some things and I had alot of "issues" depression, fear, This 8 year old girl appeared to have not a care in the world and even the mother and teachers did not notice any change in her behavior. When she heard the name "Mr Tony" her face lit up like she was talking about a friend not an abuser.

I do know that all mentors, bus drivers anyone who is in contact with young children is put through a backround check, and it was testified that nothing came up on his record, not even a parking ticket. The detectives also ran a backround check and came up with nothing. "Mr Tony" had been a mentor for 4 years and no other charges came from it. Why would a man of 60 something ruin the rest of his life for this offense? Pictures were presented at the trial which showed the area where the one-on-one was going on in very public areas, the cafeteria, the copy room, all open areas where people were walking in and out all the time and noone saw anything. For almost two years this man has been under scrutiny and not a blemish.

I really would be interested to know how the jury came to their decision. I think it may have been wrong this time. I hope this young girl will have a long happy healthy life as she does appear to be having. And I hope this was the correct verdict because if it wasn't another whole family is getting messed up.

As for the person who suggests he looks like a child abuser, shame on you. You can't judge a book by its cover. Take a look in the mirror. You might think you look intelligent.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Thomas Garland called the charges against Tripoli “every man’s worst nightmare. All it takes is for one person to say something happened.” He warned of the "chilling effect" a guilty verdict would on any man who volunteers to work with children. To my great relief, after the verdict, Garland announced plans to seek a new trial.