OHIO ASSOCIATION OF RESPONSIBLE MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICES

February 2001

I would like to dedicate the January newsletter to Bruce Perkins who, even though falsely accused, has been in jail seven long years. ~Carole

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." Matthew 5:11

“My Name has been Stained, but not my Honor or my Soul."

Dear Friends,

After more than seven years of incarceration, the shock which registered on my mind the day I was falsely accused has not lessened. The dream usually comes in the wee hours of the morning; I roll over in bed to put my arm around the woman I've been married to for thirty-eight years and my hand hits the steel and I awake with my mind screaming "NO!"

The nightmare of the "repressed memory fad" of the eighties has been totally discredited as "junk science" but the residual effect is that many lives were ruined as innocent people were accused and in my case imprisoned. My mentally disturbed daughter-in-law failed to get the good psychological care she needed and fell into a deeper pit when she was brainwashed into believing her Grandfather and had molested her as a child. This was expanded to her own children and she accused several other children of molesting hers when she observed innocent children playing doctor, as she had taught them when she involved them completely in her intended home birthing of her third child. She eventually convinced herself and her child that I had done something to them at my home on my birthday with over forty people in my home. The original police report said I molested a total of seven children (to include those they had already accused) in my bedroom while a houseful of guests were downstairs. I was to have coated them with cake and ice cream, licked it off, molested them, took pictures of it all and cleaned everyone up and got them downstairs with no one the wiser. Four of those children and their parents and psychologists testified at the trial that: first it did not happen, second they were not even there! One child testified, correctly, that he did not know me! Indeed! He met my family only when they moved into his neighborhood months after the alleged event!

No woman who believed that her husband had raped their grandchildren would travel four hours each way, every Sunday, for the nine months I was incarcerated in South Texas. Carol did this across the blazing heat of that area and then in the worst and most icy winter they had seen in a generation. Earlier this year, we missed the second weekend visit in all this time due to a lockdown after an escape. Since she was with me during both of the alleged instances, she knows I am innocent! There were others there as well who testified this was all false, but the jury was caught up in the hysteria of all the day care cases which were in the news and they listened to the "experts" who were in a business relationship with the prosecutor which paid them all handsomely from "victim's funds" contingent on my conviction.

My beloved wife is fighting like a tiger to set me free and has been sent help from God in the form of the giants in this field. Truly scientific studies have now shown how easy it is to get little children to say anything with incorrect and biased interviewer techniques. We have affidavits from the real doctors such as Maggie Bruck, Elizabeth Loftus, and Chris Barden in support of my latest appeal. Angels like Pam Freyd (of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation) and Publisher Eleanor Goldstein are joined by many others in doing all they can to set me free.

My attorney, Michael Charlton, is one of the best appellate lawyers in Texas and has educated himself in this field by attending meetings and seminars such as the one in Florida by Dr. Steven Ceci. He is wrapping up the writ of habeas corpus for the state level and we will be in front of the judges shortly. The wheels turn so slowly when justice has been denied. By the grace of God my wife and I have survived this madness and look forward to the victory we believe God has in store. That same God has shown me how to pass this time by seeking education and how to show my love for friends and family by painting and drawing.

Bruce Perkins TDC #647327, Wynne Unit, Huntsville, TX 77349

Bruce Perkins — The Artist

Bruce Perkins features western art in his work because of his heritage. The son of a cowboy out of the Big Bend area of Texas who became an early member of the "Cowboy's Turtle Association" and charter member of the "Rodeo Cowboy Association," he was raised amid the lore of the Old West. Many family members were ranchers and farmers and he came to know and love livestock and the folks who handle them from his earliest memories.

While he was stuck in the big city for many years, when business successes allowed, he was back in the country raising cutting bred quarter horses. This was appropriate since the uncle who raised his father was breeding "Steeldust Ponies" as early as the first decade of the 1900's. His representation of horses and cattle and western landscapes reflects the knowledge he acquired while walking the land and saddling horses. His attention to detail in showing the tack of the working cowboy or even the English rider has been hailed by customers as being very proficient.

Sadly, as with many artists, tragedy brought him to develop this work. Like Jack Favor, the good friend and hauling partner of his father, he was charged and convicted of a crime he did not commit. He has been incarcerated in a Texas prison for over seven years and he and his wife are fighting the slow and uphill battle to prove his innocence and restore his freedom.

The art developed as an outlet to prevent boredom and an avenue of mental escape fom the oppressive environment of prison. Little cartoons for his wife were the initial thrust of the drawing. These were done to find a little humor even in that madness. As he progressed to painting flowers for her and scenes to remind her of things they had done together, she sent instruction books to him and slowly the quality started to improve. Still his basic motivation is to impress the gal he has been married to for 39 years, since they were both teenagers. Her pictures are before him as he paints and draws and it is his love for her and his God which keeps him going.

He credits her with inspiring him and God for blessing his hands to a work that his experience as a manager at the phone company and business owner did not prepare him for. His greatest surprise was when people wanted to buy his work! While he is now doing pencil and watercolor work such as commissions for horse and rider portraits of friends, many pieces are done for his wife and she decides whether it is a "keeper" or goes up for sale. A recent pencil of Fred Whitfield at the N.F.R. was donated to a fund-raiser auction at a benefit rodeo for a barrel racer who was injured and resulted in a bidding war between two of Fred's oldest friends and supporters!

Thumbnail Biography by K. Bruce Perkins

Married at sixteen, two kids by age 19. Greatest achievement? Married to the same wonderful gal 39 years later...Praise God!

U.S. Army at age 17. Served in Germany during Cold War and Berlin wall going up. Honorable discharge. High School and College GED achieved in service.

Went to work for Southwestern Bell straight out of Army. 17 years there, 12 in management.

Stayed close to sons by coaching Little League baseball and football. Held almost every position on the board of the baseball league. As President had the biggest League in the U.S. and operated on a $54,000 budget (up from the previous year's $13,000 budget).

Helped build North Harris County football league from a first year enrollment of 150 to over 3,500. Served as coach and board member. Handled insurance claims for whole league on year.

Held offices in Parent Teacher Association.

Held offices in the Athletic Booster Club at son's High School, including President.

At age 33, was raised as Master Mason in the Fairbanks Lodge 1363 of Houston.

Started Commercial Landscaping company in 1982. Reached 65 employees and over $1 million of business for several years.

Second business was formed when big company failed in the oil crunch. Worked with wife Carol to rebuild landscaping and started a retail horse trailer outlet. Also resumed telephone work. Installed small business systems.

In Prison: Completed vocation course in Drafting and Electronics with "A's" in all classes. Nearing Associate Degree with a 3.9+ grade average.

Developed art skills and donated regularly to prison art auctions for kids in abused situations.

Absolutely clean disciplinary record in prison for over seven years, a record that is unheard of.

Writ of Heabeas FILED on Dec.20, 2000