A visually and emotionally arresting movie, it blends contemporary footage with home movies shot by family members who knew their lives were imploding as the camera rolled. More prosaically, David Friedman's career as a party clown has not exactly flourished through association with the subject of child abuse. . Elaine, Arnold's wife, never enjoyed these games. Stung by the Rice report, which called him a psychopath, Friedman filed his defamation suit against the prosecutor. But his emotional problems continued. would have had a very, very good chance of being acquitted.". That's debatable, but this is certain: It is surely one of the most controversial movies this side of "The Passion of the Christ.". ", In "The Thin Blue Line," he says, "you never see my investigation. "They really started to badger me," said Maltin. The shame at what has happened, and the fear that they won't be believed keeps them silent. The police, too, questioned potential victims in a manner that, at least as purported in the movie, was designed to elicit sworn statements that would make it easier to convict Jesse Friedman. Despite the nomination of three films that have child sexual abuse as a central theme, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is ignoring 15,000 emails, the personal pleas of 200 victims, and the recommendation of 300 organizations and health care, law enforcement, academic, mental health and sexual assault professionals who asked the Academy to allow time on their awards show to air a public service announcement that would educate the nation about the tragic reality of child sexual abuse and tell people where to turn for help. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. A case that initially focused on the family patriarch was soon expanded to include Arnold and Elaine Friedman's youngest son, Jesse, who was then a teenager. 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. In many cases, they were abused as children and pick out victims in that age group. Strange that it would be more divisive than, say, "The Fog of War," Errol Morris' Vietnam War documentary nominated in the same Oscar category, but then "Capturing the Friedmans" is that kind of film. Hours. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? He has, however, submitted an affidavit on Jesse's behalf to the Nassau County Court and is allowing Jesse to present interview footage to a judge in the hopes of reopening his case. His colleagues saw an imaginative, productive teacher whose humor, even temper and contagious enthusiasm made him respected and well liked. "I don't think that just because there were things in his life that were private and secret and shameful, that that means that the father who I knew and the things I knew about him were in any way not real. Moreover, Friedman apparently took no steps to leave the jurisdiction after federal agents executed a search warrant at his home on November 3, 1987 and after he was arrested at home on state charges three weeks later. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. "What fascinated me was how smart everyone was," Jarecki said. Charleen or How Long Has This Been Going On? Afterwards, Friedman's youngest son, Jesse, pumped Speiser's hand. Elaine, in a 1989 article, said that her normally emotionless husband was almost in tears when police took his child porn photos. Mr. Jarecki discovered his eventual subject matter while interviewing people who worked as birthday party clowns in New York City. The news had been saturated with the story and the community was up in arms over it. But Silberg and Boklan say the victims didn't undergo hypnosis until after they told their stories to police. Arnold Friedman, an admitted pedophile, pleaded guilty and went to prison, where he killed himself in 1995. At the time of the TV interview, he said, his strategy was to claim he had been abused by his father and forced to participate in the sexual abuse. "He knows the film could be bad for his career, but he did it for the right reasons. Mrs. Friedman pleaded guilty to attempted assault, second degree, and obstructing governmental administration. "I kind of broke down. Fran Galasso, head of the sex crimes squad. "It's almost like an amnesia," said Dr. Sandra Kaplan, chief of North Shore University Hospital's division of child and adolescent psychology, who is treating some of the Friedman victims. Today it is probably impossible to know for sure when and where Arnold's sexual troubles began. My brother David still has a lot of issues to work through. Tiny orange, yellow and blue molded plastic chairs were scattered about the room, which was cluttered with books, computer manuals, magazines and hundreds of computer discs. "[The victims] were children at the time, they are young adults now and I can't bear to see them victimized once again." "And you can't say these guys were railroaded from day one. Jesse was 19 when he pleaded guilty to the sex abuse charges in 1988. Arresting Images - Documentary Asks: Hysteria or Truth? The judge who presided over the original case has proven to be just as one-sided, the lawyers say. But I would also be pretty happy with a wife and two kids and a lawn to mow and decent job, a barbecue on a Saturday afternoon. The father, Arnold, is the admitted pedophile. When he pleaded guilty against his attorney's advice the following December, Jesse Friedman made a short statement admitting his guilt and saying he too was a victim of his father's abuse. "This is the constant reminder I live with every day," Gregory said, "that I was abused. The parents said they were told that all of the evidence their children provided could be suppressed by an adverse ruling. "If this film does win an Oscar," they wrote, "it will be won at the expense of silencing the plaintive voices of abused children once again, just as our own voices were silenced 16 years ago by the threats and intimidation of our tormentors, Arnold and Jesse Friedman.". Perhaps the lesson here is that the term "unbiased documentary" is an oxymoron. He told them he understood. Tom Sizemore, 'Saving Private Ryan' actor, dies after brain aneurysm. charges that Friedman and his father sexually abused children. Arnold, his wife and sons stared from a framed photograph in the hall. And if what Jesse said in court and to me in a prison visiting room in 1989 can be believed, Arnold abused him, too. The woman flew into a huff. He had no reason to believe that anyone was afraid of him. But Arnold Friedman simply didn't act like an innocent man. . Something else betrayed him when that weakness was exposed publicly: the Aristotelian thing, his pride. That kind of exposure would have been gratuitous, Morris says, because everything about the film speaks to his own preoccupations and artistic vision. Under New York law, where Brady material is withheld from the defense, reversal of a conviction is required if there is a reasonable possibility that the prosecution's failure to disclose exculpatory information contributed to the defendant's conviction. Jesse Friedman said by this point he was convinced no jury would ever believe him. "I think people were more open than I expected," he said. Many assume that child sexual abuse must leave gaping tears and telltale scars, but due to the nature of children's bodies, even when there are physical signs, most disappear in a few days. It has to do with the sins of his father, Arnold Friedman, the slippery nature of memory, and the dangers of unchecked media and community hysteria. Fortune continues to smile on his endeavors in a sobering kind of way. And in an earlier interview, Jarecki told The Associated Press that he was "very supportive" of Friedman's quest for a new trial, and that people "come away from the film thinking that Jesse was railroaded.". It was that way with Arnold Friedman, whose persona was his protection. The conviction overturned, vacated and the charges dismissed would be very nice. "Kenneth Doe specifically and categorically stated none of things attributed to him -- none of the complaints, none of the allegations -- made by him ever happened. Jesse started seeing a psychiatrist at the age of 10; he was diagnosed manic depressive. The Friedmans have denied the charges. We were never hypnotized to tell our stories." The 1989 Friedman prosecution, in which Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse were convicted of multiple charges of sodomy and sexual abuse, said to have taken place during a computer class taught by father and son, is strikingly similar to other mass sex abuse cases of the 1980s. I said, `What am I - a bad mother?'". Dear brother and brother-in-law of Eva and Joe Aron, Phyllis Block, and Anita and the late Arnold Block. Jarecki interviewed some of the children involved and ended up making a film focusing on the Friedmans.[4]. "It certainly complicates matters, because there's sort of a general prejudice," he says. He feels that Mr. Friedman was well liked by all the kids in the class. The only thing I'm hoping for is that the people in the computer classes hear the message, see the film and they come forward and tell the truth. Federal agents enter a sleazy underworld to track down kiddie-porn customers and child molesters. Arnold Friedman, an award-winning teacher who taught for 20 years at Bayside High School in Queens, pleaded yesterday to eight counts of sodomy, 28 counts of sexual abuse, four counts of attempted sexual abuse and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The smile gleaming on his tired face is captured on video by his eldest son David, who keeps fidgeting with the zoom dial. "Clearly, basic fairness and sound discretion support removing this volatile case to neutral ground," Gimpel writes. "We were going through an unbelievable experience and we wanted some kind of record.". "Had Jesse known at the time about the doubts which the prosecutor knew about, it could have been used in his defense," Nemser said. Hope Davis figured out one way to avoid anxiety on the set of "American Splendor." For some parents and children, the ordeal was exacerbated by accidental meetings with Mrs. Friedman and Jesse, who was free on bail for a long time after his indictment. At one point about 50 minutes into the proceeding he tried unsucessfully to stifle a yawn. 1 guy in New York," he recalls. At this very sensitive time, when Jesse's motion is in front of a judge in Nassau County Court, having patently inaccurate information appear on the internet can only harm his chances of succeeding in the already difficult task of overturning his conviction. . He was the son of Nathan and Sarah Friedman. "When I saw that wasn't going to change anything, I stopped saying it," he claims. ", Jarecki said he's "very supportive" of Friedman's quest for a new trial. Arnold Friedman. Efforts to reach Jarecki for comment were unsuccessful. Compulsive masturbation and fear of going to a specific place can also occur. Tags: Born in 1937 Died in 1995 Musician Parents of many of the victims say they fear that the materials featuring their children will be distributed in the child pornography netherworld. "A sentence that began `I feel' was never in his vocabulary," Mrs. Friedman said. "I also feel these issues are current for them. Galasso answered. But the haunting quality you give to that movie seems to be haunting a larger canvas now. 2" until April instead of the planned February release. From the day I was arrested, I ceased to be anonymous. Galasso said "an enormous amount of child pornography" was found in the Friedman home. To top it all, Judge Abbey Boklan who heard the case told the media that she was convinced that the accused were guilty even before the trial began. He hoped the movie would "set up an environment where people in the computer class would come forward and say, `I know I said certain things to the grand jury, but those things weren't true.' 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. ", Marco Williams, a documentarian and film professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, agrees. But Boklan said she would impose only 10 to 30 years to run concurrently with any prison time imposed by the federal court. Bardy was snared by Operation Borderline, an ambitious project of the U.S. Customs Service to stem the trade in child pornography. Mr. Marinello also said he knew of no attempt by the filmmaker to reach his clients. 3142(e), had used a number of aliases, had lived from hotel to hotel, had shown skill in avoiding surveillance, and had hidden assets. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. We help them to understand they're victims. We do make our claim that the charges are not true, but the legal basis for the motion is not strictly that Jesse's innocent." The missing pornographic materials could provide needed evidence against the two suspects, officials said. Friedman is 33 years old; he studies economics and politics at a local college, and he has been dating the same person steadily for more than a year. Oct 29, 1985 at 12:00 am. "He loves his kids like any parent. I said, 'Oh my God.'". Had I known of this information before, I would have been able to use it at trial and prove my innocence. "The victims seemed to have been arm twisted into buying into the prosecutors' theory that this was some kind of pedophile circus going on. I can't deny that. (1 hr. No physical evidence was sought, Galasso said, because the procedures would have been too invasive and "none of the parents wanted that." I hate little kids," he declared without blinking. Friedman's oeuvre appears to have been limited to approximately 300 works. 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. Arnie." Recently I found notes I took during those Friedman years. "My father," he says, "didn't really give two fucks about my life." ", The Friedmans were arrested Nov. 26 1987, and charged with counts of child sexual abuse. Friedman's attorney, Mark Gimpel of Manhattan, would not go into specifics of the case but said, "There was a series of suggestive techniques, including hypnosis, that were consistently used by law enforcement during this investigation. ", Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 12:35 a.m. In 1987, Gregory was one of the 17 boys who told Nassau law enforcement officials that they had been abused at the Friedmans' home on Piccadilly Road. This windfall allowed Mr. Jarecki to devote himself to a new career, filmmaking. Jesse Friedman emerges as the real victim. He claimed this was a strategy once suggested by his lawyer, Panaro. 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. ", Added Smerling, who lives in Irvington, "I think we both agree that we never found anything in our research that made us think that Jesse was guilty. It was a film about a family. Jesse was sentenced to 6 to 18 years and was paroled after 13 years in prison; he is now a registered sex offender who lives in Manhattan. No testimony or cross examinations. Obituary Viewed 1062 times. The effects of child sexual abuse are devastating and can last a lifetime; victims have a higher incidence of school failure and dropout and are more prone to depression, suicide substance abuse, violence and adult criminality. In a reel of new evidence compiled by Jarecki, one accuser, now an adult, said he was never raped or sodomized. . But I fully expect my accusers will come forward as adults and talk about how I never sexually molested them. When pondering the Friedmans' fate over the years, the McMartins were never far from my mind. ", The inspector, who called himself Stan, wrote back but heard nothing from Friedman for more than a year. He said Arnold and Jesse made him and others play leapfrog naked. They claim that Nassau County police coerced you and badgered you because they believed the Friedmans were at the center of the biggest child sex ring case ever. A documentarian can question such a person's credibility if he so chooses. No pediatrician noticed any scarring, tearing, bleeding to suggest any abuse. And maybe Jesse Friedman lies in his statements in the film, "Capturing the Friedmans." Jesse, for his part, has spent much of the past years amassing evidence to exonerate himself. "I saw a huge, huge amount of anger that was harbored inside his heart towards Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse, and to Ross Goldstein," said the father. In fact, most reviewers and much of the public apparently believe the film chronicles a miscarriage of justice. "He kept it deep inside. "Joyce was standing beside the camera when I was first shooting, and I just felt like I couldn't be her while she was looking at me, so I asked her not to watch," Davis said. Criminal Law & Procedure > Bail > Conditions of Release, Criminal Law & Procedure > Bail > Risk of Flight. 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. Maximum Expiration Date for Parole Supervision: 837 F.2d 48, *; 1988 U.S. App. (Arnold Friedman killed himself in prison in 1995 at age 64.) 3142(f)(2). "He would not have pleaded guilty and he would have had a very, very good chance of being acquitted.". She asked Joyce Brabner, the real-life inspiration for her role, to go away. "I know the truth. "These kind of offenders are the most prolific child molesters known to mankind," says FBI agent Kenneth Lanning. (a seeming poke at the irradiated material we handled in his college-level class, and the resulting mutations) He was a funny, inspirational, award winning teacher whose teaching techniques I model in my college classroom. Critics overwhelmingly praised his film, released last summer, as evenhanded and provocative. (Goldstein is not named in the film, but it is said in one of the DVD extras that he declined to be interviewed. The McNutt children have been in foster homes since the arrests. He has performed in the cello sections of the Dallas Opera . The children reported Arnold threatened to burn down their houses, kill parents, if they told. Files were established for each child. If on the other hand no injustice was done, you have to defend yourselves - and other victims like you - and to explain to those unfamiliar with the sexual abuse of children why the cops were right to come back, and come back, until you were able to talk. The man is a monster," Panaro said. A copy of the letter was provided to The Associated Press by Joyanna Silberg, a child psychologist and member of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, which is conducting a campaign against the movie. Jarecki strongly defended his documentary in this statement sent by e-mail Feb. 14. Yet the film takes a skeptical attitude toward believing children and misinforms the public about both the Friedman case and child abuse in general. He admitted to abusing his own brother when the brother was 8. HN4In other cases concerning risk of flight, we have required more than evidence of the commission [**6] of a serious crime and the fact of a potentially long sentence to support a finding of risk of flight. "I was faced with a horrible no-win situation," said Friedman, in an interview yesterday with WB11 News. "There were 243 charges against me," Jesse Friedman said. "To call Jarecki's work an investigation is ridiculous because he didn't speak to most victims. I was seven years old when I was in the custody of Arnold and Jesse Friedman. Harvey A. Silverglate is a Boston-based criminal-defense and civil-liberties litigator and writer. They re-enrolled in what was an elective program. Now, he's free and hoping to clear his name. As a child, Arnold witnessed his mother having sex with various men. How is all this sudden attention sitting with you? He has rebuilt his life, he said, adding that the "victims are entitled to closure.". (Indeed, by assembling so much new evidence on the DVD and in the film, Jarecki has enabled Jesse to file a motion to vacate his conviction.). And at the Great Neck screening, there were heated exchanges as well. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes. There are no such quotes in any interview in the film.]. He now says none of it was true. Irene Weiser, founder of New York City-based StopFamilyViolence.org, came across an Associated Press story late last week that raised questions about the movie's portrayal of the case. 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. To this day, there are multiple truths vying for dominance in the minds and hearts of the Friedmans. In both instances the defendants were charged with countless unthinkable acts, some of which strained credibility. Another transcript recorded by one of the children's mother shows detectives telling a boy he'll become a homosexual if he doesn't admit to being abused. Assorted pornography and erotic computer games were found at the home, according to court records. Then the rest of the story just basically pushed the David story out.". Right there in the middle of the class, out among the other students in the basement room of Arnold Friedman's Great Neck home, Gregory Doe said the abuse started when Jesse Friedman slid his hand onto his thighs and started rubbing. News stories and interviews with officials since the film's release charge that it is biased, and that Jarecki's use of the facts is misleading and selective. Ultimately, Arnold pleads guilty to the charges against him in the hope of saving his son, but in vain. Teacher Guilty of Sex Crimes - In plea bargain, admits sodomizing boys in Great Neck home. 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. "Who knew?". The practical impact of the film has been to discredit the victims, to create confusion about the conviction of the perpetrators and to generally support the mistaken view that people often are falsely convicted of child abuse. Discussing sexual-abuse therapy, Kaplan said that one objective is to help such victims learn to deal with shame and confusion about their sexuality. He never hugged the boys. ", Anthony Squeglia, a retired Nassau police detective who worked on the case with Galasso, said of Friedman's claims of coercion, "It's all garbage at this point. Some perched on the edge of the benches and others shared tissues and wiped their eyes as Friedman, 56, in a barely audible voice, admitted sodomizing, sexually touching and forcing the boys, all under age 11, to look at sexually ex-plicit videotapes and magazines for his own sexual gratification. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. And I don't wish to take any artist to task for having insights that jar or even anger me. Throughout the proceedings, Arnold and Jesse maintained their innocence but eventually agreed to guilty pleas in return for reduced sentences. "Jesse is guilty and you are going to ask me how I know," he said, according to the report. Almost 20 years later, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki stumbled onto this case and made a documentary about it: "Capturing the Friedmans." The mother of a victim said, "The kids are afraid Jesse has those pictures and when he comes out of jail he's going to be real angry and use those pictures to hurt them. Most sat impassively, but one woman bowed her head and sobbed quietly after at first glaring in Friedman's direction. He added that several people said they gave false testimony to investigators to "end the questioning. The filmmaker has even jumped on the false-accusation bandwagon and is supporting an attempt to overturn the conviction of one of the perpetrators. "I thought she was going to throw the food in my face. dick rammed up your ass for like 10 minutes. The specific nightmare scenario remains far-fetched. "Arnie's father was a strange man," Mrs. Friedman said. [Ross'] attorney Michael Cornacchia declined comment. ', "His stories all felt a little hollow, so I felt there was something that he wasn't telling us.". "After four years of this, we couldn't find anyone except for that boy on the couch who even told us that Jesse Friedman had done anything bad to them," said Jarecki over a recent lunch on the Upper East Side. Was no evidence found in the house beyond one stack of porn? "Jesse is such an unusual guy," Mr. Jarecki says. But most people, he continued, focus squarely on the case. The company went public in 1994 and was later sold to AOL for $388 million. And he and his students had converted classroom 235 into WBAY-TV, a simulated television station where they produced videotapes. dismissed, 479 U.S. 978, 107 S. Ct. 562, 93 L. Ed. That's what I always keep in my front pocket - the remembrance that we are staying true to everyone who grants us an interview. He insists he never told his therapist about the incest. He pointed out that the film's longest interview is with someone who has recollections of being abused. "I don't long to be free," Jesse said in a 1989 prison interview with Newsday reporter Alvin Bessent. The ASC also recognized Alfonso Aguilar from Los Angeles Film School, Brian Plow from Ohio University's School of Film, and Ji Yong Kim and Jitsu Toyoda from the American Film Institute. Arnold Friedman ultimately died while serving his prison sentence. "I left a lot of people in prison when I was paroled who went to trial and lost.