"Me, it was my job. "Especially in sex cases, you always ask for inconsistent statements in the discovery phase since we have learned that these techniques can be faulty in and of themselves and, also, when abused, can produce false results," Barbuto said. The Friedmans are looking forward to a holiday together when police shatter the apparent peace of Great Neck's Piccadilly Road - conducting a raid that ultimately would put Arnold Friedman and his youngest of three sons, Jesse, then 19, behind bars. McNutt pleaded guilty to one charge of child rape; he was sentenced last month to 10 to 25 years. Arnold Friedman died in prison at age 64 and Jesse Friedman lives in Manhattan after a 2001 jail release. Imagine a man who pled guilty to serial child molestation. During this time the other kids were screaming and telling Mr. Friedman to get off me. She says documents show victims underwent hypnosis in therapy, which can trigger false accusations. And Jesse later accuses his I only understood fear.". He never saw Mr. Friedman take any kids out of the room or go upstairs. I gathered a lot of interesting material for a clown film, but the story of David's family demanded a radical change of theme.". It is as much about the peculiar Friedman family - Arnold and his wife, Elaine, and their sons David, Seth and Jesse - as it is about any "issues" at all. tumultuous time. He said he pleaded guilty because he feared that if he convicted at trial, he would have spent life in prison. However, he had already been sentenced. I've lived in Rome for the last few years, and I have an idea for a story about an Italian family. Money was scarce for the family during the Great Depression. "Let's face it, he liked pictures.". She said that the strip poker disk is sold over the counter in many stores. The case is now in the hands of Judge Richard Lapera. Boys were eventually told to drop their pants. You were children when this started. All he had were his relatives telling him, 'You were great on Candid Camera -- you were a real pip.' Still, a raft of damning things are clear, some from my reporting, others from the film. "It was brainwashing," the mother of one victim said. But I feel that you have been abused many times over in this story - whether by the Friedmans, and by this movie, and by the timing of this filmmaker-funded appeal just weeks before the selection of Academy Awards; or if the police really coerced you into telling untruths, then by the police. Once, when she asked her son what he was learning in the class, he and a classmate looked at each other with "sheepish grins on their faces" and giggled. In an interview, Panaro said several factors were involved in his client's decision, namely Arnold Friedman's guilty plea in the case in March and his subsequent 10-to-30-year prison sentence; the filing of additional charges against Jesse Friedman in the case last month; and an agreement by Ross Goldstein, a teenaged neighbor of the Friedmans also charged in the case, to cooperate with authorities. ". Filmmakers are allowed to cover their subject as they see fit " as long as the emphasis is on fact and not fiction.". A spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney's office said yesterday he had no comment, as the motion had not yet been filed. "Some people look at it and say he's trying to beat it on a technicality. When their army came marching into Samorin, they announced themselves by singing vicious anti-Semitic songs. They had learned to be suspicious of small parcels in plain brown wrappers like the one sent from Holland to Arnold Friedman, 17 Picadilly Rd., Great Neck, Long Island. All rights reserved. "He would literally beat himself, he was so guilty about what had happened," Galasso said. But in the McMartin case, the stories of abuse the children told were so implausible that the prosecution was ultimately discredited. VEHICLE 1 CAME TO FINAL REST 10-15 FEET FROM UTILTY BOX. At that time I did not understand the dynamics of human sexuality. Voting for the Academy Awards ended Tuesday, so it's unclear whether the groups' actions will have an effect on the outcome. ", By March 1987 the sting was ready. At 15, Jesse said, he was diagnosed as manic depressive. Every time we double-checked something Jesse told us, it turned out to be true. The investigation got a boost when, as part of a plea bargain, Arnold Friedman identified about 80 boys he had sexually abused, sources have said. Because of the guilty pleas, there was never any trial. In Jesse Friedman's legal motion, a parent of one computer student (Margalith Georgalis) signed a sworn affidavit stating that she regularly entered the Friedman house before, during, and after classes, and never saw anything improper. Capturing the Friedmans - Wikipedia Fourteen of the victims' relatives, many of whom have come to court each time Friedman appeared, sat together in three front rows of the courtroom. He tugged an ear and stroked the close-cropped beard grown during his first few weeks in prison. QUESTIONS FOR JESSE FRIEDMAN - The Home Horror Movie. "When these PSAs aired on other channels, calls to our hotline increased by a hundredfold. He got up in open court and tearfully claimed his father molested him. Arnold Friedman died in prison, apparently a suicide. Jarecki argues that he had to maintain balance so that the film would be taken seriously by viewers. That's where I demur: After all, Judge Abbey Boklan tells the filmmakers, "There was never a doubt in my mind as to their guilt" -- a horrendous, premature judgment for the presiding justice in the case. Why did Jarecki choose to present the Friedmans' case "evenhandedly," despite uncovering overwhelming evidence that no crimes occurred? "I guess it mostly started out with my father trying to love me." The first involved serious charges against Arnold and minor ones against Jesse. More prosaically, David Friedman's career as a party clown has not exactly flourished through association with the subject of child abuse. The film takes so many twists and turns that it constantly challenges the viewer to change their position. Police said that 140 children - ranging in age from 7 to 12 - would finally admit what they had been too shamed and afraid to tell their parents. Agents who searched his home found an extensive collection of legal adult pornography -- magazines and films but no child porn other than the order from Produit Outaouais. (4) Numerous children, ages 7-12, disclosed similar details about sexual "games" such as leap-frog and Simon says. And can he get a fair hearing now? Here's Why Capturing The Friedmans Is One Of The Most Upsetting In the film, Jarecki focuses on the idea that several of the accusers had been hypnotized or had participated in group therapy, a practice he criticizes as unreliable. But here's the problem, filmmakers say: Telling a story, any story, demands a dizzying number of difficult, subjective editorial choices. All Rights Reserved. Another extended interview with an alleged victim who still claims abuse, is even more damning for the prosecution. Then came the second breakthrough. It questions the prosecution as much as it suggests a malevolence whose name is unclear. ", This process devastated the Friedmans as a family; Jarecki's inquiry into that destruction mirrored their story. Yet the film takes a skeptical attitude toward believing children and misinforms the public about both the Friedman case and child abuse in general. In other words, the makers of Capturing the Friedmans made a studied decision to minimize the historical context of the charges for the sake of drama. They said he told them their children would have to testify in open court if the case went to trial. The Associated Press/San Francisco Chronical - January 27, 2004, 18. The Heartbreak Kid (1972 film) - Wikipedia "The book is `Joe and his Uncle,' " Arnie wrote. But that's not what he was accused of. Many of the family's other possessions had been seized by the police and the family (not Arnold) made a request to return those normal household items. That cell has to go away. 1'] and go right back into editing," he said. "We did not lie. With respect to the attorney's story about Arnold Friedman asking to move to another table, the more likely explanation is the one from Arnold Friedman, who said that it was accepted practice in prison for convicted child molesters not to sit near children in the waiting room to avoid recriminations from the children's incarcerated relatives.]. But one is at the center of a controversy over the director's take on a well-publicized case of child sexual abuse. 7. Thirteen boys testified before the grand jury. Moreover, according to Silberg, the danger to children from this film is not just theoretical, but very real, because the film has been used to raise money to promote the release of convicted sex offenders from prisons around the country. When a documentary filmmaker uncovers overwhelming evidence that the subject of his film was wrongly convicted, shouldn't he take a stand on the man's innocence? You see the results of it, yes, but you don't see me following David Harris [who at the film's end obliquely confesses to murder] around for five months afraid for my own life.". A detective is shown saying he approached children by telling them he knew the abuse had taken place and asking leading questions. That oldest son, David, was the one who told Jarecki: "If you're really going to change from the clown movie to this other movie, I should tell you: In addition to the 25 hours of home movies I gave you at the beginning, of the family kidding around, there's another 35 hours of movies I started taking after the police showed up." The filing is being made at the Nassau County Courthouse, the same Courthouse where 15 years ago, Jesse was sentenced to 6-18 years after having been charged with hundreds of counts of child sex abuse in a case similar to the late 80's mass sex abuse cases that have now largely been overturned. Bill Murray was named best actor for "Lost in Translation" and Naomi Watts was selected as best actress for "21 Grams." People Photos Purpose. Jesse Friedman is 100% guilty of sexually abusing children He asked for their support. Victims recounted being held down by one attacker and raped by another. I asked him if there was any reason for not continuing after 6th Grade and he said no, he did not think there were any classes after he left the 6th Grade. Or can we believe Elaine, Arnold's wife, whose children vilify her in "We're all for freedom of speech," Weiser emphasized, "but when a project receives the industry's highest recognition, that gives it credibility.". "Arnold knew his hands were too dirty to proclaim innocence in front of a jury," he says. . . That seems believable in the film. "I had an awfully peculiar family," says Jesse Friedman. Police first investigated him in connection with child pornography found in his home, then began interviewing his students, slowly piecing together the case for sodomy and other acts of molestation. The film, "Capturing the Friedmans," is due to be released for home sales on Jan. 27. They told him that as an abused child he had a "little monster inside" that would "rear its ugly head" unless he "gets help and admits that he was victimized." Devoted mother-in law to Lauren Sweder Friedman and adored grandmother to Sydney and Jordan. She's made several public statements on NBC's "Dateline," on "Geraldo" and elsewhere that the lawyers say cast real doubt on her objectivity. When Nassau County police were seeking people to testify against Jesse (who at that point was considering going to trial), detectives visitedJudd's house to ask him to come to the station, ostensibly to pick up his computer, which had been found at Arnold's home and contained pornographic disks. He told Gregory to relax then groped him some before reaching inside his pants. "But you don't necessarily have to buy the analysis" that he repeatedly abused children, undetected, over a period of years in his home, as charged. A peek is the last thing I wanted. Kabala, 33, of Chicago, pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual abuse. The 10-year-old's older brother, who also attended classes with Arnold Friedman, "told the same story, by the way," Galasso said. "We don't want to put these children on the stand if we can avoid it," said Andrew Maloney, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Both Arnold and Jesse Friedman pleaded guilty to dozens of counts of child molestation in 1988. According to parents of the victims, Jesse Friedman often had a camera around his neck when he greeted their children outside his home before computer classes. Jesse describes them as sweeping things under the rug. Jesse gave up drugs a year later after meeting his first girlfriend. Jarecki pointed specifically to a comment by detective Galasso in the movie, recalling "foot-high stacks" of pornographic material found in the Friedmans' living room. The film, which won the documentary grand prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was named best nonfiction film by the New York Film Critics Circle, has appeared on several critics' top 10 lists and has been mentioned as a possible Oscar nominee. Their parents would get uptight about things like that, he said, but they could talk to him about anything. Jarecki strongly defended his documentary in this statement sent by e-mail Feb. 14. . At the sentencing, Jesse revealed through his attorney, Peter Panaro, that he had been abused by his father. In 1987, Arnold Friedman, a former school teacher in Long Island, was charged with sexually abusing 10-year-old boys who had taken computer classes in the basement of his house. Still, Mr. Jarecki has submitted an affidavit on his behalf to the court. Last year, Jarecki told Newsday that he started believing Jesse Friedman because of his openness during the making of the documentary: "Many people made an effort to obfuscate in this case and in the end I found Jesse Friedman was the most open with me," Jarecki said. Only a Jew with a beard was a Jew. Bitterness resulted among parents of the some of the victims who felt that prosecutors had failed to force Jesse Friedman to lead police to the photos before allowing him to plead guilty. After uncovering such a tangled and sorrowful real-life chronicle, what does Mr. Jarecki envision as his next project? 3142(f)(1) (crimes of violence, offenses for which the sentence is life imprisonment or death, serious drug offenses, or felonies committed by certain repeat offenders), or when there is a serious risk that the defendant will flee, or obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice. Once Ross testified, no charges were ever brought against any of the other boys who had been alleged to be involved. Another's stutter has grown worse. ", Mr. Jarecki responded by e-mail: "I had no agenda in making this film other than to tell the story in a way that related it in all its complexity. Arnold Friedman, then the 56-year-old father of three boys who had recently retired from his Bayside High School teaching job, answered the requests of an investigator posing as a pedophile in 1987. Elaine Friedman has remarried and moved to the Berkshires. But you can say, from day one, that you started out with a flawed family.". Like the boys and girls who are forced to pose for pornographic photos, the McNutt kids have been robbed of their innocence. Jesse Friedman pleaded guilty Dec. 20 to 17 counts of first-degree sodomy; four counts of first-degree sexual abuse; one count of first-degree attempted sexual abuse; one count of using a child in a sexual performance and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. In "Capturing the Friedmans," director Andrew Jarecki weaves together many interviews with old 8 mm home movies and videos to tell the story of admitted pedophile Arnold Friedman and teenage son Jesse. "That is why we have courts of law. "He would not have pleaded guilty and he would have had a very, very good chance of being acquitted.". In a few cases, police found such discs in the homes of Friedman's students. He had no reason to believe that anyone was afraid of him. The Friedmans who are revealed in the amazing home videos that form the backbone of the film were clearly, as Jesse said in 1989, "an awfully peculiar family.". As they left, one told the mother that her son "was a wise guy and I didn't like his answers.". But the boy squirmed as he struggled to come to terms with his silence about what had happened during the computer classes in the Friedman house. Seeking to clear his name, a former Great Neck man filed court papers yesterday to vacate his 1988 sex abuse convictions because he claims some of the boys who said they were molested did so after they were hypnotized and others did so after they were repeatedly questioned by police. One search in Illinois uncovered a cache of 1,000 child-porn magazines; agents had to rent a truck to remove them. In both instances the defendants were charged with countless unthinkable acts, some of which strained credibility. During hours of interviews with David Friedman, Jarecki learned the family's history, and a film about kids' entertainment became one about alleged crimes against children. Soon after enrolling in the class, she said, her son's behavior changed. Their smart, intuitive investigation, their empathy for all their characters and their sure, yet open-ended, presentation catalyze discussion, rather than clamp it down. Jesse Friedman was released in 2001. As the storm brews in the courthouse, the Friedman family unit falls apart. During what may be her final Friedman family Passover Seder, Elaine says, "I just wanted you boys to call me." Even when he is fifty years old, Jesse will be the bogeyman under the bed. The entire family would attend synagogue on Sabbath and holiday mornings. They found a foot-high stack of child pornography secreted behind a piano in the living room. The signers are a 24-year-old law student and a 27-year-old businessman; their identities have been confirmed by the judge who presided over the trial, Abbey Boklan, who is now retired. Edmond J. Safra Plaza He said Arnold and Jesse made him and others play leapfrog naked. His father, an admitted pedophile who also was convicted of sending child pornography through the mail, died in prison in 1995. Andrew Jarecki, whose film about the pair has been mentioned as a possible Oscar nominee, said he supported Mr Friedman in his efforts to prove his innocence. Though it does imply an injustice has been done - that father Arnold Friedman, who died in prison in 1995, had previous sexual contact with minors but not his students, and that Jesse was probably innocent - it carefully balances opposing views. Yet, it is undisputed that Friedman is a lifelong New York resident, that he has no prior criminal record, that he has no passport or known ability to evade [*50] surveillance, that he has worked gainfully in the New York area for twenty-five years prior to his arrest, and that he is married and has three children, all of whom live in the New York area. Grandmother of Sam and David. Not the obvious, psychological bent, the clinical thing: his lust for young boys. He will return to court April 22. UPON ARRIVAL ON SCENE THE DRIVER OF VEHICLE 1 WAS ALREADY TRANSPORTED VIA GROUND BY PALM BEACH COUNTY FIRE RESCUE TO DELRAY MEDICAL CENTER (RUN #19139274).THE DRIVER OF VEHICLE 2 STATED HE WAS WESTBOUND ON YAMATO ROAD IN THE LEFT TURN LANE TO TURN SOUTH ONTO BOCA WEST DRIVE. Looking back, she said she remembers thinking it was odd that parents were never allowed inside the classroom. This is an open letter to the 13 former children: You are the invisible actors in "Capturing the Friedmans." "The film gives the impression truth is elusive and maybe the Friedmans didn't molest boys. Clearly, she's a handful, but when she speaks of Jesse could appeal.". Jesse, charged with 239 counts, pleaded guilty to 25 charges, including 17 counts of sodomy and four counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Also evident is Elaine's horror about her husband, as well as her conviction that he should plead guilty. After molesting them, he threatened their families if they told. Bradford R. Pilcher catches up with Jesse Friedman on the road to salvation. witnesses against Arnold seem. The oldest, now 12, faces the most difficult adjustment. This is bad documentary journalism, at best. Elaine Friedman - Independent Consultant: Writer, Reporter, Editor ], 8. They named "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" as the best film of 2003. Nassau County Court Judge Abbey Boklan recommended that, despite Friedman's abused childhood in a family "devoid of love," he should serve the full 18-year maximum sentence behind bars. But Jesse Friedman believes the documentary speaks for itself, and says he has received only one critical email from audience members, compared with 500 supportive ones. However, Jones said the abuse caused the boy tremendous trauma and it took that many interviews for her and Hatch to get him to open up. Both federal and state prosecutors said as a rule they always prefer to avoid taking child molesters to trial. [When Jesse Friedman pled guilty, he asked for leniency on the basis that he was a victim of his father. Working on that idea, he met Arnold Friedman's oldest son, David Friedman, a clown known on the Manhattan birthday party circuit by the stage names Silly Billy and Doctor Blood. Elaine was a long-time resident of Beachwood, Ohio and active member of Park Synagogue. Friedman also admitted ramming one young boy's head into a wall while other students watched. Or "Talking Sam" in which a male figure would expose his genitals and ask the kids questions about sex. The Friedmans are Arnold, an erstwhile pianist and orchestra leader, and retired award-winning public-school teacher; his sons, David, Seth, and Jesse, who share his sense of fun; and his wife,. Inexorably, police said, the Friedmans increased the abuse, touching and fondling and performing sex acts. "Mr. Friedman pulled my pants half-way down and he made me hold onto one of the computer table chairs . ", The style of documentary this implies - one that takes as a subject its director's own biases - is very much in vogue, and has proved wildly successful in films like Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine. He lived in a shelter for a while. "Who knew?". Gary and his brother both wrote supportive letters to Mr. Friedman while he was in jail. That it wasn't true." The McNutt children have been in foster homes since the arrests. In a recent interview with Newsday's Vctor Manuel Ramos, the filmmaker Jarecki said he did not mention Goldstein in the film because Goldstein asked not to be mentioned. A photo showed Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse handcuffed to each other, the local sheriff standing next to them. And a He refused to accept later calls from home, and for the next few weeks tried to forget developments in Great Neck. While I embrace the concept of suspects being innocent until proven guilty, this case involves people already convicted of child abuse in a court of law. Horror Fans Rank Rotten Tomatoes's Best Horror Movies Of Each Year Since 1998. But, of course, Jarecki was reading of those events years later, with an inevitably different perspective. Fifteen minutes later, government officials and Nassau police, armed with a warrant, raided the home. Independent Consultant: Writer, Reporter, Editor Self-Employed 2001 - Present22 years Greater New York City Area I provide writing, reporting and editing services, expertise and support with a. But did it involve 140 children as police charged? How can you interview two victims to say it didn't happen," said retired Judge Abbey Boklan, who heard the original case. By Chau Lam, Robin Topping contributed to this story. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. In the end, contradictory testimony about unseen events makes it impossible to fully determine just who did what to whom. "Jesse informs me he never committed any of these acts," Panaro said yesterday. Portrayed as part of a 'pedophile circus', Capturing Friedmans subject seeks retrial. The story of Jesse Friedman and his father Arnold became well known during the late '80s, when they were arrested and charged with molesting children in the basement of their Great Neck, Long.