[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=37267.75

Victim's Mother: Adult Always at Fault
Parent of girl molested by former officer Gary James gives first news interview.

Deborah Sederberg
The News-Dispatch

The mom played chess with the police officer.

"He had become a family friend," the mom said of the officer.

On the very next day, her daughter told her this Michigan City police officer, Gary James, was molesting her.

In his response to a lawsuit filed by the daughter, James blamed the victim. She should have known better, he said through his lawyer.

The mother, in her first news interview, told The News-Dispatch she is "furious" over the officer blaming her daughter.

That's the approach James is taking, according to his legal response to the lawsuit.

"The plaintiff (the victim) knew of all the risks and dangers necessarily incident to the pursuit in which the parties were engaged and did well and fully know of all the conditions which existed at the time and place of the occurrence ... any hazards, risks and dangers allegedly sustained by plaintiff ... were the result of hazards, risks and dangers which (she) did voluntarily assume and were known and incurred by (her) ..."

In common language, James, a former member of the Michigan City Police Department, says the victim - 13 at the time - knew what she was doing.

At that, her mother is furious.

Doing her best to hold back tears, the mother said, "The adult is always the responsible party."

James, 37 at the time, was sentenced Oct. 6, 2005, to spend 15 weekends in LaPorte County Jail and pay for the teen victim's ongoing medical treatment. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class D felony. The misconduct involved sexual contact, but not intercourse.

Through her attorney, Doug Bernacchi, the victim filed suit March 15, naming the Michigan City Area Schools board, individual board members, the superintendent of schools, the city of Michigan City, the chief of police and "unknown Michigan City police officers and supervisory personnel" as defendants.

On behalf of his client, who now is 18, Bernacchi is seeking in excess of $30 million in damages.

James is a former police liaison with the Michigan City Area Schools. He worked at Elston Middle School, where the victim was a student.

The suit describes occasions on which James "forced himself sexually onto the plaintiff against her will and/or acted to sexually molest the plaintiff, a minor of 13 years of age."

To prevent the plaintiff from complaining, the suit alleges James would "show his temper," intimidate her and threaten her with physical harm.

"She had to call him every morning or he would get angry," the mom said she has since learned.

The girl's mother and father divorced long ago, and the girl's father has not had much contact with her since, the mom said.

"She was looking at (James) as something of a father figure," the mom said. "She just wanted to be his friend."

His interest seemed fatherly to the mother. "He once told me my daughter smelled like smoke," the mom recalled. "I told him I'm the one who smokes. She doesn't smoke."

In the classic style of adults who abuse children, James not only groomed the girl with attention and favors, "but he gained my trust," the mom said. Her daughter sat with his children, the mom said, "and his wife would bring her home sometimes."

Both mother and daughter were shocked when James was convicted of a Class D felony, which did not require him to register as a sex offender.

"We wanted him on the sex offender list," she said.

The victim's March 15 suit alleges police officers saw James and the plaintiff holding hands, "making out ... or engaged in other inappropriate behavior near a grave site on the grounds of (Elston) and yet there was no follow-up or supervision of ... James."

The mom is proud of her daughter, a bright, attractive young woman who has a college scholarship.

Her daughter works toward academic success, the mom said. "In fact, she told Doug (Bernacchi) it was her school work and her homework that kept her sane when she was going through all of this."

Strong as she is, the mother said, her daughter still bears serious wounds to the psyche from her encounters with James.

"I'm mad," the mother said. "Nobody knows what we've been through."

[Roger Kaputnik]

The mother is correct: The adult is at fault. That is why it is a crime. If the cop's defense is as reported and works, then it is time for the revolution!