|
OARMHP O HIO ASSOCIATION OF RESPONSIBLE MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICES
January 2001 A Note From Carole-- I would like to dedicate the January newsletter to Ray & Shirley Souza. They have been under house arrest since 1993 on the basis of repressed memories recovered by adults, and the repeated questioning of little children. A more thorough discussion of their case can be read in VICTIMS OF MEMORY, by Mark Pendergrast, pages 376-384 Second edition, Hinesburg, VT: Upper Access Books, 1996 Phone # 800-356-9318Ray & Shirley are lovely people. We went to their house in Lowell a couple years ago and were so impressed with their positive attitude wonderful hospitality in spite of their terrible ordeal. We have enclosed a letter written by them in March for the spring FMSF conference in White Plains, New York. Please keep them in your prayers & thoughts as they serve under house arrest for 17 more months on charges that should never have been. Meanwhile many are continuing he fight. We received word of a new family at Thanksgiving, which is the first we have had in months. The fight is not over. I have enclosed two articles from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. State senator Robert F. Spada from Parma Hts. recently sponsored a bill that would have criminalized therapist sexual misconduct. Based on articles from the PD in Dec. 1999. I sent many of you those articles. If you did not get one, let me know. So far the bill has gone no where. Maybe a call to Sen. Spada and to your own State senator of Representative would help. There are many things you can do right in your own home. Thanks for sticking with us in our fight to bring justice to the world. and help us get rid of incompetent therapists who stole our children from us. Carole Souzas sentenced to 3-½ years home confinement By ED HANNAN and LISA REDMOND Sun Staff December 12, 1998
CAMBRIDGE—Raymond and Shirley Souza, the Lowell couple convicted of child rape five years ago, will serve their nine to 15 year prison sentence in their Princeton Boulevard home and not behind bars. Middlesex Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Dolan yesterday granted a “revise and revoke” request that allows the Souzas to remain confined to their house for a total of nine years. The ruling is retroactive to their May 10, 1993, sentencing and means that they must serve another 3 ½ years, until May 2002, under house arrest. “Now, the anxiety of prison is gone,” Shirley Souza said. “I feel better tonight than last night. I can go to bed tonight without the possibility of prison. It’s another step closer to the end.” Prosecutors, who hoped to send the Souzas to prison, were disappointed with the ruling. “We had hoped their sentences would put into effect and they would be put in prison,” said Assistant District Attorney Lynn Rooney. “We hoped an appropriate punishment—incarceration—would have been imposed. We’re disappointed that is not going to happen.” Rooney said the Middlesex District Attorney’s office has not decided whether to appeal Dolan’s ruling. Last night, the mother of one of the girls the Souzas were convicted of raping said the couple is “lucky, they should have gone to prison.” Dolan presided over the 1993 jury-waived trial in which the Souzas were convicted of 14 counts of child rape and molestation charges involving two young girls—then ages 3 and 4—who were known to the couple. The Souzas were allowed to stay under house arrest pending the exhaustion of their appeals. Raymond, 67, and Shirley Souza, 66, hoped the judge would sentence them to time already served or give them a probationary sentence that would allow them to leave their house. “I was kind of disappointed,” said Raymond Souza, with his head resting on his right arm. “We never did anything. This is just wasted time and false allegations,” Raymond Souza Said. “Now, we don’t have the stigma of going to jail, but I was still bitter about it because we don’t belong here. I would like my freedom.” An appeal for a new trial is still pending before the Massachusetts Appeals Court. The Souzas said they still want to clear their name but would speak with attorney Kevin Nixon before deciding whether to continue the appeal. “We want to be acquitted and be free, really,” Raymond Souza said. “Eventually, we hope not that it would disappear, but come to a conclusion where we could go on with our lives. The couple can leave their house only to attend weekly church services or to visit a doctor. They are monitored by ankle bracelets and daily telephone calls from Department of Corrections officials. After the Souzas pursued two unsuccessful appeals to the state Appeals Court and the state Supreme Judicial Court, Rooney moved to have them imprisoned. “It’s so exhausting,” Shirley Souza said of the appeal process. “You get so tired, but you never give up. You never give up.” Dolan didn’t send the Souzas to prison; yet, Rooney didn’t look at the ruling as a complete loss. “It’s not a vindication for them in that their convictions were overturned, “ Rooney said. We felt when their appeals were denied, that was a victory for us. We didn’t get what we wanted by putting them in prison, but they’re still convicted of rape of a child. That hasn’t changed.” The case sparked national attention as part of a debate over the validity of traumatic recollections, which some experts believe adults suppress only to remember years later. The Souzas, who have vehemently maintained their innocence, claim they are the victims of “sex abuse hysteria.” The charges against the Souzas came to light through the repressed memories of the mother of one of girls. The woman had a recurring dream she had been abused by the Souzas as a child. That woman then hooked up with another woman with a connection to the Souzas. The young daughters of both women then alleged the Souzas had raped them. The prosecution presented physical evidence of the abuse. –Carole’s note—this “evidence” would not hold up today. A letter from Ray and Shirley Souza— who have been under house arrest since Mother’s Day, May 10, 1993 In early 1993, we attended our first False Memory Syndrome conference, we met many people like ourselves, who had been accused by our adult children of childhood sexual abuse. There were many at the meeting, all with stories that were different, yet still the same. Our hearts were heavy, but the people there mad a difference, helping us and helping one another. How fortunate that a few bewildered parents came together to fight the beast of false allegations of child sexual abuse. Small groups sprang up across the country and finally they too came together. There are many, fine, well-educated people who have come forward to research the phenomenon of recovered memory syndrome. During the past seven years, much has been accomplished by way of the press and media, raising public awareness and the question of quackery among therapists. We have suffered the loss of three of our five children and seven of our ten grand children. We have clung to each other and to our “family of origin,” our friends and neighbors whose support has been an asset and blessing. Our two oldest sons and tier three daughters, our grandchildren, remain active participants in our lives as do several young children whose parents were our children’s childhood friends. We are ever-mindful that our accusing children are twice victims in the horror they perceive. They are victims of false beliefs and they are the victims of “voodoo therapy.” How can we hold these children responsible? Can we forgive? I think we can. Our personal anger is directed at those who led our children astray. We are often asked about house arrest and how it works. For us, it is the loss of freedom. Not being able to leave the house for more than an hour-and-a-half a week for Sunday Mass. We feel very lucky. It could be worse, we could be in prison. We are billed $300 a month by the State of Massachusetts in addition to the expense of having two extra phone lines. And although we resent these monthly payments, we remind ourselves that it could be worse. Each of us has our own telephone line and each of the two phones is under lights and a camera. When either of the two phones ring, only the person designated for that phone can answer. Failure to answer would result in a visit form the police and a violation, which would lead to another living arrangement. Phone extensions are not allowed because we need to be viewed by the camera. In the beginning, the phone calls were frequent, 16 times within 24 hours, day or night. It would happen that one phone would ring, waking us, then as soon as we would settle down again, the other would ring. Fortunately, we are now only called twice within 24 hour, only during the day, allowing us the gift of a full night’s sleep. We expect that on May 20, 2002 our house arrest will end. In the meantime, we stay busy, exercising our bodies and our minds, with plans to make the most of our remaining years together. Shirley and Ray Souza (March 2000)
Ray & Shirley Souza OHIO ASSOCIATION OF RESPONSIBLE MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICES 440-356-4544 cdk77@webtv.net
|
