| OCR Text |
Show Time to let courts uncover facts in child abuse case i ,;u he nut tnppther in such a wav thot ; justified or not, is tantamount to conviction in a small CThe Lehf case is extraordinary in that it has involved so many people. That's unusual because in the initial . stages of the investigation, evidence was so tenuous that the Utah County Attorney would not file charges Now for the past year, the Utah Attorney General s office has been conducting the investigation, probing and questioning with remarkable tenacity for such a complex case until, finally, criminal charges have been filed. ... Now at last the criminal justice system will allow local residents to determine whether or not the prolonged investigation, and the subsequent turmoil it created, has produced the necessary evidence to prove that a crime was committed. If the court case proceeds through the regular channels, local residents will have a chance to examine evidence rather than rumor, testimony rather than hearsay, and the pieces of this most complex puzzle will be put together in such a way that a jury or i, can determine the guilt or innocence of the accused One of the strengths of our judicial system is th forces society to look at the facts instead of the eo and eliminates, through the rules of evidence all J?' speculation that has added fuel to the fires of susSJ over the past two years. p Cln And now it's time to let the courts do the i0h separating truth from idle talk, rather than feed? that flame which can incinerate reputations. 1 Two years is too long for such accusations to unanswered, and it is a shame that adequate evidenf was not gathered until now to bring this particular ca to trial. The consequences of that long period of to little legal action and too much speculation should be obvious to all. All involved would be wise now to step back and Pi the system determine who is guilty before presurnin the guilt of anyone. s j For two years a Lehi neighborhood has been em- : broiled in accusations and counter-accusations over alleged instances of child sexual abuse. ; The case, which started with one accusation has grown to such an extent that, at one point, over 40 1 children and 15 adults were involved in the official investigation. Prominent community members, for right or wrong, have been linked to the accusations. Homes have been destroyed, marriages dissolved and lives ruined as charges have been made and the rumor mill has ripped at the gentle fabric of this close-knit close-knit community. Sexual abuse of a child is one of the ugliest of crimes, although it is an offense that is getting more exposure now than at any other time in history. It offends our sensibilities because it involves victims who are helpless to defend themselves against acts that degrade the humanity in all of us. So emotional is the crime that an accusation, |
