Young man struggling with sex offender label to meet with private attorney
A man accused of living near a school after being convicted of having sex with a girlfriend who was one year below the legal age of consent is planning to meet with a private attorney next week.
Matthew Freeman, 23, of Pittsfield Township, who is required to register as a sex offender, is charged with a school safety zone residency violation.
Freeman said he will be meeting with Attorney David Goldstein, who has indicated a willingness to work out a payment plan with him.
“I’m really happy about it,” Freeman said. “I feel a lot better about the whole situation now.”
Goldstein confirmed today he will be meeting with Freeman next week, but had no further comment.
Freeman’s accused of living within 1,000 feet of Carpenter Elementary School. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, he faces up to a year in prison.
Freeman is currently being representing by Assistant Washtenaw County Public Defender Ronald Brown, who requested Friday that the case be adjourned until Jan. 4. Brown asked for more time to work on the case.
Freeman’s mother, Yolanda Freeman, is excited that her son will be meeting with Goldstein.
“I’m glad somebody’s willing to look at the case,” she said.
In 2003, Freeman was sentenced to probation after being convicted of having sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 17.
The two had dated for a year. Her mother, Evelyn Scott, pressed charges because she was concerned her daughter wasn’t making healthy decisions. As a result of Freeman’s conviction, he was required to register as a sex offender for 25 years. Now, Scott has written a letter on his behalf.
Comments
Basic Bob
Sun, Dec 20, 2009 : 5:36 p.m.
"I think our legal system is perfectly capable of sorting out sex offenders from normal hormonal boys" This is the root of the problem. Our criminal justice system FAILED in this case. The prosecutor, public defender's office, and judge all agreed on this plea arrangement, and they are responsible for the outcome. They have needlessly wrecked a life by categorizing this young man as a rapist. Now it will take extraordinary action to set things right. The 'concerned neighbor' who called the police is not helping to keep the Carpenter school neighborhood safe. He or she is just running off a kid with a record which does not fit the crime. I hope this person is able to sleep at night. Personally I would feel pretty bad.
ypsigirl
Sun, Dec 20, 2009 : 1:45 p.m.
How long before we see these people on Good Morning America or Oprah?
j bredell
Sun, Dec 20, 2009 : 9:43 a.m.
I have known "private attorney" David Goldstein for 25 years. David has never been motivated by money or publicity. I am sure that when he read this story, he assumed what I assumed, and that is that this result never would have happened to a young man with parents who could afford to hire an attorney for him in the first place. I think that Mr. Goldstein's "pay" will be knowing tht he did what he could to address a clear situation of injustice. I am proud to live in a community with lawyers such as David Goldstein. There is simply no way to defend a law that labels and brands for years a young man as a sex offender for having a relationship with a 15 year old girl when he is a 17 year old boy. Frankly, I would rather live next to the young man than those of you with such punitive and strident views of social justice who support the application of this sex offender law in this case. And no, I do not support sexual preadtors but I think our legal system is perfectly capable of sorting out sex offenders from normal hormonal boys from disadvantaged upbringings.
KeepingItReal
Sun, Dec 20, 2009 : 7:35 a.m.
I would like to thank Mr. Higgins for bringing this subject matter to light and Matthew and Ms. Freeman for their courage in sharing such a personal family matter with all of us. It has been educational. I would like to thank Mitch and Mr. Weider for helping me to understand the nuances of this law. In order for Mr. Freeman to avoid a prison sentence, he had to plead guilty to force and coercion to avoid a 4th degree criminal conviction even though there was no force or coercion. There is something inherently wrong when our laws force people into criminality. Although Mr. Goldstein has agreed to work out a payment plan with Matthew, Matthew and his family will need financial support for his legal expenses. I don't know what annarbor.com protocol is for bloggers to get in touch with each other but maybe for those of us who are interested, we can start a Matthew Freeman support fund.
ArgoC
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 : 7:13 p.m.
Gotta love America and the American press! Publicity >> volunteer private lawyer >> legal benefit for Matthew Freeman AND business benefit for private lawyer.
48104
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 : 6:58 p.m.
It's newsworthy because publicizing it has a chance of making a positive change, and because it shows that some of the "Ooooh, scary!" sex offenders on the registry are people who have done nothing worse than many of us did in our youths. It also shows the unintended consequences of using the law to handle your family business.
djm12652
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 : 5:29 p.m.
okay, how long must we endure the life of this kid? Granted he may not be a "bad" person, and may be the poster child for change in the RSO parameters...but please...this is not newsworthy.
KeepingItReal
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 : 4:02 p.m.
This is really good news! Perhaps a private attorney will be more aggressive in handling this case and will not be so vulnerable to the politics of it as a public defender will be. PDs depend upon state, federal and local funding and are part of the county government structure, too closely aligned with the prosecutor's office and are less willing to offend any of these entities because of how their funding is received. During the county's budget process this fall, the Chief Public Defender agreed to accept less funding from the county to defend poor folk so that the county prosecutor's office who passionately prosecute poor folk would not be severely impacted by budget reductions. This case is beginning to garner national attention and it has supreme court implications. It deserves to be handled by an attorney who is not tied into the local budget and political process.
Stephen Cain
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 : 3:58 p.m.
Certain provisions of the sex offender law clearly exist because some legislators wanted to portray themselves as tough on sex offenders, not because the provisions made any sense or would make anyone safer. A 17-year-old boy who had sex with a 15-year-old girl is not going to be any more danger to elementary school children than anyone else who lives within 1,000 feet of a school. The problem with bad laws like this is that no one gets brownie points for straightening them out. To the contrary, they risk being portrayed as "soft" on sex crimes.