Chapter 18 - PLEA OFFERS
Victoria pleaded first.
Misdemeanor child endangerment/cruel treatment.
No jail recommendation.
Probation.
Grandparent education.
Community service.
No unsupervised contact with Leo.
No food-based punishment with any child under her care.
She resisted the wording “dehumanizing.”
Then watched video again.
Accepted.
At sentencing she said:
“I called my grandson a dog.”
No euphemism.
“I did it because I wanted to shock him out of behavior that embarrassed me.”
There.
Then:
“I was ashamed of his autism because I thought people were judging my family.”
She looked at me.
“I turned my shame into his.”
Good.
Then:
“I favored Liam because he was easier for me to understand.”
No:
better.
She had learned at least vocabulary.
Sentence:
Two years probation.
Suspended short jail term.
Programs.
No unsupervised contact.
No direct contact with Leo unless family court/parents allowed.
She lost no house automatically.
No assets confiscated.
She continued living.
Consequences not annihilation.
Then Dominic.
Plea offer:
Felony financial fraud.
Misdemeanor child endangerment.
Dismiss second financial count.
Twelve months incarceration recommendation with suspended portion, probation, restitution, parenting restrictions.
He refused felony initially.
Why?
Career.
Reputation.
Custody.
Then he offered:
Misdemeanor financial offense only.
Prosecutor refused.
Trial.
Divorce and custody hearing would follow criminal resolution partly.
May you like
The main confrontation was coming.
And for once, I was not looking forward to it.
