Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sentencing Day - A detailed account





Sentencing Day

A detailed account:










[Update 8/31/2013 - 7:30AM]: 
Several updates to body of article (I'll let you find them) also news stories added at bottom.

My opinion – let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: 

It is great vindication that ayres was found guilty, convicted, and sentenced to prison. Equally vindicating were the comments that Judge Freeman had to say to ayres (and really, to his family as well) about BOTH the criminal charges AND the dementia claims.( I’ll cover this LAST.)

Conversely: the 8 year sentence that ayres received for molesting children was a gentle smack on the wrist, and nothing more. 

You can read the details of the sentence in the post below this one. When you do the prison sentence math, IF appeals fall apart, and IF ayres isn’t released because of “overcrowding” then we’ll probably see him out on the street again before the end of 2019.

The judge gave the MAXIMUM allowed for EACH of the 8 charges, but, as she explained after McDougall asked for leniency, she WAS giving him consideration for both his age and health, and for the fact that he had not been previously convicted of any crimes. She gave this consideration, turning 64 years into 8 years by allowing the terms to be served concurrently. (Note: I think there was also an overall cap of 22 years, so really, it was probably a reduction from 22 to 8 years. I think you get my point either way...)

I’ll make quick work of this: He was not previously convicted because all of the prior reports and back-door whispers were summarily ignored by the very system from which Freeman is giving ayres the benefit of the doubt for not having prior convictions. It may not be my place, but I'm NOT OK with this line of logic.

Monday August 26, 2013 was probably the longest day of my life. 

Here’s a synopsis (leaving out large chunks):

Who was there: There were a good number of victims, families, good friends (among them victim’s advocate Victoria Balfour, jurors from the first trial, and the couple who protested against the ayres sex education video series.) I’d say the courtroom was about 70% full. They came from the far reaches of both sides of the United States. There were more reporters than I’ve ever seen by the end of the day. Maybe six or eight. Possibly more. As always, Steve Wagstaffe was there too. Just kidding! Never seen the guy there. Ever. Not once.

There were 6 people there in support of ayres, including Solveig, Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, and Robert Ayres of Chicago. The other three LOOKED like granola eating hippy-shrinks – If you have a mental problem, they’ll make it worse for only $250 an hour, but they’ll probably smoke a joint with you. (Warning: That’s just my jaded, comedic characterization of them – as we all know, opinion becomes fact, and then fact becomes law, and then law becomes pitchforks and torches. Or something.)

What happened:

Morning (first hour-ish):

Court started late; everyone was in Judge’s chambers hashing out details of Shyster McDougall’s motion.

Shyster had two motions on the table: The first was to suspend proceedings because he had “significant evidence” that ayres is suffering dementia (!). The second related to the change of plea to “no contest”: The defense was worried about the sex offender registration being listed on the plea form, with ayres’ signature indicating that he understood the ramifications, but the court record did not indicate that it had been discussed.

Motion to Suspend Proceedings:

Shyster claims that there is significant new proof that ayres is suffering dementia. As evidence, he submitted a confidential medical report prepared by Dr. Simon Tan of Stanford which Shyster alleges shows SIGNIFICANT “further” deterioration. Shyster also submitted his own observations of the deterioration (Because he’s specially trained in telling the difference between malingering and not malingering.) Also submitted was a large document: the deposition that ayres gave at one of his recent civil lawsuits. Shyster purports that the document shows how confused ayres is.

There was discussion about sealing the medical report – fine, sealed – they will discuss in general terms so that everyone didn’t have to leave the courtroom.

There was discussion about US vs Dusky, the Medina case that we have mentioned before, People vs Lawley, etc, etc, etc…  I’ll skip ahead to the Judge’s ruling:

Denied. 

Some general paraphrasing about Judge Freeman’s comments:

1) Dr. Tan’s report  was of the same character and content as the other reports submitted much earlier.  There needs to be evidence of significant degradation, and there is none. Further, in the competency hearing, the judge had commented on the nature of the reports submitted at that time; he ruled that they were inadequate, and that the reports and testimony of EACH of the doctors (even the ones claiming incompetence) were enough to convince him that ayres was competent and exaggerating or malingering. Since this new report is nothing new, it also is not adequate; it doesn't convince. Further, Judge Freeman made it clear that the law does not require proceedings to be halted simply because a doctor files a report; particularly when the matter has already been so adequately addressed, and significantly new data has not been provided.

2) The judge thanked McDougall for his diligence in reporting his own observations, and noted that the court is also allowed to take their own observation into account, and as she was the Judge on the first criminal trial, she felt comfortable in observing that she did not feel that there was any deterioration of note.

3) The civil deposition: The deposition was about 50 pages of content, and full of “ums” and “ers” which Shyster argued was indication that his memory was failing very significantly. The Judge noted that it’s always surprising how many times people use “ums” and “ers” when speaking, she said that she’s always convinced that she doesn’t do that, and is always surprised when transcripts are read back.

Then she dropped this bomb:

She counted the "ums" and "ers". 

She found that the questioning attorney used roughly the same number of ums and ers. 

Further, she read the document:

She noted situations where a complex hypothetical scenario was presented, substituting real names with aliases. Ayres was able to navigate the questioning with no apparent problems, as far as she could tell. Judge Freeman indicated that 50 pages of testimony equates to about a half day of questioning, and she also noted that McDougall stated that ayres asked to end questioning early (implicating that it was due to fatigue, I suppose) Freeman told the court that in fact the transcript indicates that they stopped because the tape ran out

She also found that his testimony (given only weeks ago) was entirely consistent with his testimony at trial in 2009.

Motion about Sex Registration:

McDougall was concerned (hopeful) that the change in plea could be invalidated because the signed form indicates that ayres understands the ramifications of sex offender registration, but in the court record, they did not DISCUSS those ramifications.

Prosecutor McKowan indicated that the forms are standard, and it’s never the procedure to discuss at length the ramifications of the charges during court. It’s the defendant’s responsibility to discuss what they’re signing with their defense attorney. If anyone failed to inform the defendant, it was the defense attorney. She explained that while it could have ramifications for McDougall if he didn’t adequately inform his client, it has nothing to do with this case.

I don’t even remember what the judge said. Probably something like: “Yeah. What she said.” The matter was closed.

Grammar aside to Jonathan McDougall: “It became apparent to myself.” is not correct grammar, and is particularly uneducated. “It became apparent to me.” is correct grammar.  Kthxbye


Victim Statements:

After the motions were dispensed with, it was time for victim impact statements. First, McDougall whined a bit about a couple of things he wanted the judge to admonish the public:

He wanted to make sure that the people giving statements were ONLY people allowed within the statue of the law.

And he wanted to make sure that we were aware that we were supposed to comport ourselves properly.

I’ll take a moment to note: I've been present for most of the court proceedings over the last 5 years or so. Never once been asked to shush by a bailiff, and in fact, if were to venture an estimate, I’d say that victims and supporters have been admonished 3 or 4 times total over that time, and family and friends of the child molester about twice that, perhaps three times that. Whatever – I’m mostly content to be very respectful in the courtroom.

There was a break while the lawyers wrangled with the list of people who wanted to make statements.

Victoria Balfour:

Victoria Balfour had the honor of being the topic of an aside motion! Balfour wanted to speak, and she had a couple of brief letters from the mothers of victims who had not reported to police. She was asked to read those letters. 

Balfour was the ONLY person on McKowan's list to whom Shyster objected. Argument passed back and forth briefly to with the prosecution, and it was hard to tell who was doing the objecting, even though the prosecution had presented the list. Neither side would state that Balfour was on their witness list, but that she WAS on the witness list for the DEFENSE in the first trial. In the end, both sides seemed to be arguing that it was the OTHER side that DIDN'T want Balfour to speak. (It makes me think of the kid's cartoon that they used to show at the beginning of the grown-up movie at the drive-in theatre, for some reason.

I think Freeman was intrigued.

Freeman jumped into the argument, stating that Balfour HAD been on the witness list, and was affected adversely last time by being barred from the courtroom. (If you've been reading the blog for a while, you’ll remember that Freeman has brought this up before – she was angry about witnesses being listed, barred, and then not even called. ) Freeman also mentioned that Balfour had actually been involved in the case directly, at the initiation of the police investigation, and at other points in the case.

Just while it was beginning to seem that BOTH prosecution and defense were objecting to Balfour speaking, the judge ruled that Balfour was allowed to give a statement.

Victoria spoke near the end of the impact statements, but I’ll cover her talk briefly right here, since I'm not going to speak at any length about any of the impact statements:

Victoria gave a very brief background about how she was involved with initiating the investigation, and she read from a letter from the mother of a victim who recently contacted Victoria. The victim does not want to report to police, but the mother wanted the letter read. Victoria also read from a letter from an inmate who was molested when he was sent to be evaluated by ayres while in juvenile detention. Victoria also mentioned many other letters that she’d received from inmates who were molested by ayres. This caused some consternation for the prosecution, but no interruptions were made. Victoria was succinct, passionate, and touched on some critical issues that the County needs to consider.

The Statements:

I've already indicated that I wasn't going to write much about what people had to say. I’m going to stick to that. Here’s my reasoning:

I was very focused on making my own statement, and yet I wanted to be able to hear every moment of what others were saying. I did not take any notes at all. I did not want to be distracted.

You’ll note that there is much press on the sentencing, with only a limited number of quotes in each of the stories. I can tell you that in most of the articles, one-liners that are presented as “quotes” are actually not entirely accurate,  often they are close, but sometimes, they are not presented in context, and are not quite as meant. Almost, but not quite. I pride myself on pretty good note-taking and pretty close regurgitation when I’m attentively taking notes. I was not taking notes, so I’m not willing to butcher anyone.

(If anyone who spoke is reading this, and wants to submit their statement, I’d be happy to post it (email me deepsounding@gmail.com) I won’t put up your name or email, or anything)

So instead, I’ll say just this:

We heard from victims, a spouse, moms and dads, Victim’s advocate Balfour, even a person who was there to represent a family friend who was a victim, and who had committed suicide. (He asked ayres to rot in hell please. – See… inaccurate quote: there was no “please,” and it wasn't really a question.)

All spoke with passion, with heart, were believable, human, in pain, and were righteous. There is nothing I can say here to transmit to you the passion and emotion. I’m very sorry that everyone reading wasn't able to be there to experience this powerful part of the day.

It was stark contrast: struggling humanity standing to defend against that which is bereft of humanity.

Finally, we heard from the defense character witnesses: Solveig Ayres, Barbara Ayres, and Robert Ayres. I DID take some notes for the defense statements.

Barbara went first. 

For some reason, I thought that she was pretty intelligent. Once she opened her mouth, she truly appeared to be a bit stunted, both with regard to maturity and intelligence. I was rather surprised.

She opened with a chuckle “This is unnerving!”  (Yeah… I kinda felt that way too! I kinda wasn’t laughing though, as you might imagine.)

She said that she felt threatened by all of us because of the hateful glares and muttered comments. (Yes, the glares ARE hateful, sweetcheeks.)

Apparently she’s not frightened by her nasty bitch mother, who makes hateful comments out loud, and who physically interceded in a conversation between a victim and a police detective, while trying to figure out who the victim was. (Fuck you Barbara. You know you have nothing to fear after all of this length of time with no one giving you a second thought outside of court. BarbaraYou're an idiot.)

Barbara spoke about her right to “Free Speech” and that we need to have a balance. (Not relevant.)

She reminds us that the “number of votes does not make it right.” And about the “Persecution of an innocent man..” She complained that it was hard to find allies when one is accused of child molestation. (Hmm... maybe so, but not relevant.)

She spent a good time talking about how she just can’t believe it, her father is a good man, he would never hurt anyone, he was such a good father, etc. (Not relevant.)

She spoke a great deal about competency. Judge Freeman had to shut her down – We’re not re-trying the competency issue… Also, NOT RELEVANT.

She said that people who were claiming to be “masturbated” by ayres were making it up or misunderstanding a medical examination – other rote child molester excuses were given. (Blame the victim all you want, hunny, you're still stupid, and your daddy diddles little boys FOR A LIVING. He masturbated and sodomized little boys so that you could eat your dinner, and live in a nice house, and go to college. I suppose it makes you feel better to keep telling yourself that the victims are lying or misunderstanding, or making things up, and are to blame for the pain that you're feeling, but it in the long term, it's not going to help you; YOU'RE a bad person for bearing false witness against all of us.)

She presented a number of things as “positive” but which are actually troubling if you’re aware of what has been written about the behavior of pedophiles and/or are just strange behavior in general:

She said that she used ayres as her own physician until she was in her 20’s. (Is Relevant!)

She said that ayres was like a “country doctor” and that he frequently went to his patients houses and that he talked to them on the phone from his home office, and that they knew they weren't to interrupt him during those times. (Is Relevant!)

Finally, she asked the judge for leniency because it “Makes no sense to take a bed [in prison] away from a younger, violent person.”  (Maybe just double up on cells, or something?)

Robert Ayres’ Testimony:

Robert pulled out his “ACT-TOR” act, and pretended to be a lawyer for much of his presentation.
He talked about how warm, and wonderful and caring and generous his father was. (Not Relevant.)

Robert told us that “Physical exams were an acceptable part of diagnosis” when ayres was trained. He told us that he understands how someone might FEEL physically aroused” by a doctor’s examination. (Good job blaming the victims there! -- Also: not correct, according to the people your daddy trained with, and blame the victim all you want, your daddy diddles little boys FOR A LIVING. He masturbated and sodomized little boys so that you could eat your dinner, and live in a nice house, and go to college.)

He told us about foreskin that must be pulled back in all of those uncircumcised boys ayres was seeing. (Perhaps Robert has a thing for foreskin? Either way, not relevant.)

“He never did one thing ever in my entire life” that resembled this kind of behavior. (Not ever? Never, never, ever?)

He regurgitated the usual False Memory Syndrome Foundation screed. (Not Relevant - recovered memories were not an issue in the trial.)

Robert began to detail victim testimony from the first trial at length, describing how the defense attorney skillfully proved inconsistencies in their testimony. Blow by blow, Robert began instructing the Judge about what Whineberg did to "disprove" their testimony.  This went on for some time, until Shyster McDougall lept up and said “I think it’s about time for a break!”

The judge eagerly agreed.

During the break, Shyster was animated but hushed in his rapid-fire instructions to Robert and Solveig.

When we came back, Robert told us that he’d been advised not to address certain things, and that he’d move on. But first, he reiterated that it was irrefutable that when subjected to the defense’s cross examination, the witness testimony fell apart.

Robert talked about Victoria Balfour, and suggested that she had bullied the police into getting a warrant, and bullied the prosecution into agreeing to prosecute.

He told us that rumors become truth, and truth becomes evidence (or something.. can’t remember) and that that becomes pitchforks and torch wielding mobs. (At this point, I nonchalantly tucked my pitchfork under the seats...)

He asked the judge to “Be a hero” and send ayres to someplace close, with a medial facility capable of treating his dementia, if not simply releasing him for "medical" treatment.

Like his sister, Robert also made some troubling statements, presented as positive witness:

Robert was very careful to make it clear that ayres spoke to children “as children” that he spoke on their level, there was no condescension. (There are aspects of pedophilia having to do with the pedophile “relating” better to children than to other adults.)

He told us that ayres often attended the sporting events in which his patients were involved. (Highly inappropriate from a medical (psychiatry) perspective, as well as just outright creepy.)

Solveig Ayres:

Solveig smiled vapidly most of the time she was on the witness stand.

When she took the stand, she seemed fascinated by the microphone. She acted a bit stoned, frankly.

She told us a story about ayres going to a restaurant, and they didn't put his coffee on the bill, so he told them to add it. (Everyone knows molesters aren't honest about their coffee bill!)

She told us an interesting story about ayres treating a boy who had a fishhook in his eye. (See He's A Doctor!)

She told us that she had oh-so many different recollections about ayres that are not consistent with pedophilia. She did not elaborate. (Not Relevant)

She told us that at some point after the first trial, ayres became aware that “something was not right with his mind.” (I’d tend to agree with that – but it ain’t Alzheimer’s, and a State Hospital and two Judges, the original team of court-appointed evaluators, and a hung competency jury all agree that it WASN'T dementia. In fact, it appears that the ONLY people who believed that story were the people in the DA's office.)

She was unhappy about some blog that was put up that had pictures of ayres with fangs. (She didn't mention the horns and little "666" on his forehead... Also, there weren't ever any fangs, She's not terribly observant. )

She mentioned that a “lady in New York wants to punish them, and that she’s rumored to be a Scientologist. (Dun, dun , DUN)  (Remember – NO SCIENTOLOGY DISCUSSION ALLOWED.)

In line with Barbara and Robert, she told us things meant to show what a great guy he was, but that make my stomach knot when I hear them:

“Kids related to him, and he to them.” (Yes, this IS creepy, if you've read APA stuff about pedos)

On more than one occasion, when walking along in public places with ayres, she would frequently lose track of him, and she’d backtrack to find him, and he'd frequently be found entertaining a child (stranger).

She said that he went to his patient’s sporting events, and that he was physically affectionate (but in a normal way.)

Earlier in the day, one of the victims recalled Solveig's often trotted out statement that ayres is a "Physician first and a psychiatrist second". The victim then proceeded to recite the Hippocratic Oath that physicians take. Here are some excerpts:

[...]Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.

If I fulfill this path and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.
And yet, in the afternoon, Solveig rolled the old thing out again. She said: "He was a physician first and a psychiatrist second."  And then she hesitated, and looked down at the bench and her family. I believe that someone may have been waving her off, but she continued: "He was a physician first because physicians are allowed to give physical examinations and psychiatrists aren't!"  

I suspect that she meant to say that psychologists can't give medical examinations, but the point that she was not intending to make was made very clearly to most in the room: He wanted to be able to use medical examinations as an excuse.

The ayres family in general: 
The ayres family complained about friends and supporters abandoning them, but they blamed the attention and amplification that was being given to the public support that these friends were showing for the child molester. The ayres clan didn't consider the possibility that witness after witness, and combined statements of shrinks who trained with ayres saying they weren't trained that way,  combined with determination of malingering, combined with ayres using a wheelchair in court, but apparently no-where else,  may have made the ayres "friends" realize that they were just the last scabby rats on the sinking sewage barge they all call home.

The ayres family all used classic "innocent until proven guilty", "mob mentality", "Torches and Pitchforks" rote protestations that every single child molester and sex offender ever has used. Blame the victims. Blame the people who support the victims.

In fact they used language similar to that used by San Diego Mayor Bob Filner just the week prior: "I've never sexually harassed anyone," Filner said, blaming a "lynch mob" -- the media and political opponents -- for his departure. He argued he "would be vindicated" if he had been given "due process."

Filner also said that in a "lynch mob mentality, rumors become allegations, allegations become facts, facts become evidence of sexual harassment which have led to demands of my resignation and recall."

Sounds familiar doesn't it? Same thing with every pervert.

It's well past time for the ayres clan to come to terms with the fact that daddy has no soul, and that he hasn't. Ever.




The Sentence:

The judge pronounced her “preliminary” sentence, then allowed some brief argument, and then made it the formal sentence. I won’t detail the conditions again, you can read them in the post below this one.

She did have some statements to ayres:

She told him that she is sentencing him to the MAXIMUM allowable for each count. Paraphrasing:

You violated the innocence of your patients, which you were sworn to uphold.
You violated the trust of the parents
You violated the confidences of the Juvenile Court
You continued to manipulate by malingering.


As the deputies tried to haul ayres off to the California Corrections department, his attorney was talking to him, and ayres roughly shoved one of the deputies away and shouted “I’m trying to listen to my attorney.” It was over with as soon as it started. There was no Taser or gunplay involved.


That's it for now folks!

If you're a victim or family/friend, etc, and you read a statement, and want it published here (whatever reasonable conditions you want) send it to me, and tell me how you want to be credited, etc... deepsounding@gmail.com.


READER COMMENTS, Letters to Editors, and Outside Content:

We've received some updates and found some letters to editor posts that we'd like to share:

1) It was mentioned that the Jury Foreman from the 2009 criminal trial attended the sentencing on Monday. This is very touching, and I'm grateful that he was there!

2) I've received this email from a regular blog follower:  "A in Northern California" sent this:

I've been following this story since the arrest in 2007, and keeping up with the news thanks to your blog.

I was a patient of Dr. Ayres for one year in the mid 1980's.  Ayres helped me to focus on my life at a time when I was struggling with school and work.  Nothing inappropriate happened, and I suspect it was because I was an adult at the time (early 20's).  I suspect that many child molesters aren't interested in harming adults.

His care for me made it all the more shocking and reprehensible for me to have learned what he did to his child patients.  I am horrified that a man who had the knowledge and skill to help his most vulnerable patients and could have used his abilities for good ... instead he took advantage of them and caused such harm.  I am horrified that one who should have been protecting people was actually a monster.  In particular I can hardly bear the thought of what evil he did just minutes or hours before my appointments in that very office.

I only hope that his conviction and incarceration provides some measure of relief to those he harmed and their friends and loved ones.

3) The San Mateo Daily Journal has this letter to the editor:

Editor,

Regarding the story, “Eight years prison for Ayres” in the Aug. 27 edition of the Daily Journal, what a travesty to justice that a person in a position of extreme trust to the public — that we entrust our children to when mental illness occurs — molests the children and attempts over the many years to walk away from any blame. He then is not incarcerated for his remaining years but gets only an eight-year sentence — and there appears to not be any monetary assistance to help people through therapy, or any other assistance offered to the victims of these horrendous acts by other psychiatrists.

Truly, “the figure of justice has her eyes covered with a blindfold — symbolic of the errors of man’s efforts to be just.”

Carol Bullock

Foster City


NEWS ARTICLES:

Mercury News (pdf)
ABC Local (pdf)
SF Gate (pdf)
San Mateo Daily News (pdf)
Novato Advance (pdf)
SF Examiner (pdf)



william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres was sentenced to 8 years in prison on August 26, 2013. ayres is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

Monday, August 26, 2013

August 26 2013 - 8 years in Prison


August 26, 2013: child molester william hamilton ayres has been sentenced to 8 years for EACH of the counts, but they are to be served CONCURRENTLY, For a total of 8 years of sentence. 8 years was the MAXIMUM allowed for each charge.

There are 432 days of credit for time served, including his time at Napa State, and other special calculations done. The papers are reporting that he's required to serve at least 85% of the time sentenced. Given the credit for time served, this means he's required to serve somewhat less than 6 years.

ayres will submit for genetic marker typing and will be required to register as a sex offender for life. ayres will pay $10K in fines to victim services, along with miscellaneous other fees and fines, some to be determined in a later restitution hearing.

They have 60 days to file for appeals and such.

McDougall brought motions regarding further dementia medical reports by Dr. Simon Tan of Stanford, but the Judge found that they really were no more informative than the existing medical reports, and further, she found that depositions taken for civil cases (submitted by the Defense as proof of further dementia) actually lend themselves better to showing very normal functioning.

McDougall's motions were denied.

Victim impact statements were heard.

The defense presented Barbara, Robert, and Solveig as character witnesses. Their testimony was more bizarre than anything else.

The place was crawling with press. There will be news articles and probably video -- I won't be posting more here until very late tonight at the EARLIEST. If you see news articles, please feel free to post the links, and I'll add them as I see them. There are probably already several articles out there.

Mercury News (pdf)
ABC Local (pdf)
SF Gate (pdf)
San Mateo Daily News (pdf)



william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres had his bail revoked on August 7th, and is in San Mateo County Jail awaiting sentencing. ayres is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

8 Yrs State Prison

8 years in prison ( with many counts running concurrently )

432 days of credit for time served.
$10K plus misc fines.

No firearms for life.

Registration as sex offender for life.

Daughter testifying.

Victims have finished.

Daughter Barbara Ayres testifying on his behalf.

She's quite stupid. Surprisingly so.

Lunch Break

Court is on break for lunch.

Spouses, victims, and parents have spoken. More will continue after lunch.

I'm not going to be going into detail about contents, but will cover the
motions in detail, possibly late tonight.

Defense Motions Denied

All defense motions have been denied. We proceed now to victim impact
statements.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Reminder - Victim Impact Statements

Reminder - Court TODAY: Mon, Aug 26, 2013.

This is a  reminder that Monday, August 26th, 2013, victim impact statements will be heard in court as part of the sentencing proceedings.

As we've noted in prior posts, sentencing was scheduled for the 26th, but the defense has indicated that they will bring motion to retract the "No Contest" plea on the story that ayres is now really, really, really, really too demented to be sentenced -- Fo' reals this time -- pinky promise!

Because of this motion, things are somewhat more up in the air than they should be.

What IS going to happen: Victim impact statements will be given. Pursuant to Marsy's law, the prosecution, and especially the court have expressed the urgency to allow the victims to give impact statement, and to allow for work time-off timing, etc, the date was picked, and so they are promising that impact statements WILL occur.

What May or May Not happen: We don't know for sure about the rest.

The defense motion MAY or MAY NOT be heard, and depending on the outcome of that motion, sentencing MAY or MAY NOT  happen tomorrow. It's also possible that those things may happen at a later date. We will post updates as we learn more.

TIME TO BE THERE:

Victims and families and friends of  victims should be there to show support and impact. Court is in session at 9am Pacific time, Monday August 26, 2013. 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA.

There will be time for victims, family, and friends to assemble just after 8am, prior to the hearing.




william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres had his bail revoked on August 7th, and is in San Mateo County Jail awaiting sentencing. ayres is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

More Shenanigans

Well, we knew Shyster McDougall would wait until the 11th hour:

According to the San Mateo Daily Journal (pdf), ayres is now attempting to withdraw his plea (as was indicated on the 7th), claiming that now he Really, really, really, REALLY has dementia.

The judge set aside time on Monday and (I think) Tuesday for sentencing and anything from McDougall, and there are NO hearings scheduled between now and Monday, so no change to schedule. If we hear otherwise, we'll update. 

In any case, victim statements are still slated for Monday, as previously scheduled.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that victim statements will take place on Monday August 26th, as scheduled. It is possible that Shyster McDougall's motion will be heard on Monday as well. Sentencing proceedings will be decided based on outcome of the motion, but victim statements will be definitely be heard.

Here's video of ayres having lunch with two shrinks who are psychiatrists, one of whom (Larry Lurie) has written papers on Alzheimer's and its symptoms:



And here's video of ayres "back seat" driving for his wife just this past April, taken by private investigators at Moser and Associates:

Monday, August 19, 2013

Sentencing Update - No Change So Far

Wednesday, August 21st - No Change So Far

I just wanted to let everyone know that as of today, there still is no change to the publicly posted schedule. According to the clerk, the sentencing is still scheduled for August 26th, at 9am. There are currently no hearings scheduled for this week. I'll post here if there are any changes.

I can't guarantee that I'll check every day, but when I DO check, I always update the "Date Last Checked" line on the "ayres' Court Dates" tab above. I normally check right around noon.

If anyone hears otherwise, please email or comment here, so that we can check and post an update.



william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres had his bail revoked on August 7th, and is in San Mateo County Jail awaiting sentencing. ayres is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Child Molester ayres Jailed Today - Detail (finally)

August 7, 2013 child molester william ayres was jailed today.
Sentencing is now scheduled for August 26th, 2013. There may be motions brought by defense in the interim.

The posts below this one have links to articles in the paper with quotes from Wagstaffe (who was NOT present to hear the "emotional" statements that victims made -- They were emotional, but he's being a dink by making it sound like he's moved or something.) I'm not going to link to any of the news articles in this post, at least for the moment, but they're in the post below this one already.

First off: There were MANY supporters, friends, victims,  and families present today. This was a GODSEND. Thank each and every one of you for being there, and for those of us who were NOT able to be there -- and for those unknown, who have been quietly struggling -- Many of these supporters specifically mentioned that they were there to represent YOU too. I will speak more of this in a moment.

Frequently, I imagine my life with a soundtrack. In my "real life" I like to make silly little videos. Sadly, the legal and justice system have really become a bit of a farce to me, and probably will always be that way for me now. Frankly, as this has gone on, and on,
And on,

And on,



And on -- This whole thing has become a morbidly comical little video in my mind.

We got to court early this morning, and as the crowd gathered, I decided to record some video.

When I got home and looked at it, "Serious" went in, and "Vaudeville" came out. Without further ado, I give you my mentally warped soundtrack for today. NOTE: I updated the video: now you can be offended even if you're on iOS.

(Not All That Safe for Work, and entirely inappropriate for the serious nature of today's proceedings.) Turn up the sound! Pop it out, and watch it on YouTube! :




If you are a victim, PLEASE don't take my morbidly manic levity with offense; we're unfortunately about to delve deeply into some pretty serious human shit:

Not necessarily in chronological order, but mostly so, here are some vignettes from today:

General events inside the courtroom:

Child molester ayres was present, as were his wife Solveig, and daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento. Son Robert Ayres was NOT present today. There were also two women present with the family. No idea who they were, but they looked like well-worn hippies, probably shrink-types.

Victoria Balfour was present, as was County Supervisor Dave Pine, along with advocate and frequently present supporter Michael Stogner, one of the original jurors from the first criminal trial was there, along with many people; some of whom I'll mention specifically, and some I will not: all were greatly appreciated.

Melissa McKowan was the sole prosecutor for the People today, although Karen Guidotti was in the courtroom (looking taxed...) Wagstaffe was also there -- just kidding -- he wasn't there, but he acts like he was for the reporters who weren't there (Hellooo? San Mateo Daily Journal??? - Didn't see you there, but I'm expecting a pretty good article...)

Some things that happened before the hearing got underway:

Someone was taking photos inside the courtroom, and Solveig and Barbara raised a holy-living-stink. (Fine -- there is a sign specifying electronics off inside the courtroom.) When the judge came in, she admonished everyone that that kind of thing was strictly forbidden, and that she expected to see people MOVING to turn off devices. Both bailiffs looked right a me. (WTF cop dudes??? I'm all business inside the courtroom... )

Also significant: one of the friends of a victim (Jonathan Huddleston, who spoke at the recission of ayres' lifetime achievement award) was present, and noticed that ayres' wheelchair looked totally unused. Either it's brand-new, or it's just another prop. (Guess which I think it is?)

Both the defense attorney and prosecutor went into chambers before things got underway, to discuss the mechanics of who would be allowed to speak, if at all. It was decided that victims and families who wished to make a statement, who would NOT be able to be present on the 26th would be allowed to make a victim impact statement. (There were two.) Or, they'd be allowed to record and submit a statement for use at the sentencing. (The two there wanted to speak today) And then people who wished to make a statement regarding the decision on whether or not to incarcerate ayres TODAY were allowed to make statement pertaining to the urgency of containment. (I believe there were 5 total -- press is reporting 6 including the two impact statements, but I think the total count is 7.)

Where are we at?
As I've mentioned before, there is a report that needs to be submitted, and it took them awhile to find a non-biased shrink to make the report, so the report will be late. The judge doesn't want to sentence before that report is completed. So there were two major items on today's agenda:
-Move the sentencing date.
-Determine if ayres will be jailed prior to sentencing (today.)

McKowan argued that she had largely cleared the August 26th date with many of the people who would make an impact statement, and that due to Marsy's Law requirements, their ability to be adequately prepared (time off work, etc...) was paramount, and that moving the already discussed date would be an effort.

McDougall argued that another attorney would be potentially making motions (to withdraw his no-contest plea) and that he had since "learned" that the attorney would not be available until September. He wanted to modify the date accordingly. The judge said No, also siting Marsy's Law. Sentencing will be August 26th. (But there may be other motions in the interim relating to the plea withdrawal that "might be" filed.

McDougall seemed definitely "done" with the case this morning, and while he protested some things said, he mostly kept to himself, not even looking at victims who were standing to speak. Normally, he aggressively blusters poorly thought out, illogical verbal constructions to try to distract and confuse. None of that today.

My theory is this: Much as McDougall immediately attacked prior attorney Weinberg for flawed defense, the goal is to have the new incoming attorney attack McDougall for some flaw in his performance; providing a window of opportunity for ayres to "undo" his plea. If ayres is successful in undoing his plea, will the prosecutor march ahead with trial? The will be gambling that they won't, and at the very least, they'd get years more delay. Nevertheless, McDougall appeared ridden hard, and put away wet.

Victim Statements:
I'm not going to to into great detail with statements that were made, as I was mostly experiencing the day, not taking notes on it. I will have some brief highlights. This is not meant in any way to slight the people who made statements -- Quite the contrary -- Many of the things that were said were touching, personal, and I won't do them justice without my normal copious notes.

Prior to the start of impact statements, McDougall stipulated that the people speaking must address THE COURT and not any "specific" people. The judge reaffirmed this. To some extent, this went out the window, almost immediately; The judge was very patient with the crowd today.

Victim Impact Statements:
In statute victim Orion B. from the first trial, and his parents will not be able to make the August 26 date, and they were allowed to speak about the impact that this has had on their lives.

Orion: There is some commentary on what he had to say in the papers, so make sure to check that too.. His contribution was well prepared, thoughtful, poignant, gut-wrenching... more. He clearly wanted to speak for those who can't or won't speak up in this matter. He opened by stating that he was one of the first in-statute victims involved, and he hoped with his statement to "Pave the path of hope" for other victims of ayres.  He spoke about the horrible impact on family and life, and about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Orion's father: Also spoke eloquently about the impact that this had had on the family from the perspective of a parent -- not knowing the horrible truth until much later, and having to struggle with trying to understand the hurt in the interim. He also acknowledged Victoria Balfour for her hard work on the case.

I hope to be able to post some more on their statements at a later time, but for now, impression is what you get -- not verbiage.


Statements About Immediate Remand Into Custody:
Next up, two victims, two parents of a victim, and one friend of the family of a victim stood to speak about the urgency of immediate custody.

Common themes were: 
Dangerousness - Mentioned were items such as the long history of manipulation that ayres has practiced, the "grooming" behavior that was reported by staff at Napa State in the competency hearings. The extent of the damage that this does to victims and their families, and the urgency that we all feel to prevent this from continuing. Extreme loss of faith in the justice system, and difficulty with authority were also common themes... And so on....

Several times it was mentioned that ayres was an "admitted" child molester McDougall later objected to these statements. (A no-contest plea is not an "admission of guilt" but rather an admission that at trial one will be found guilty based on the evidence, but without actually admitting to culpability. -- Whatever... none of us gives a rip, as you're still found guilty under the law.)

McDougall also strongly objected to the reference to the grooming incident at Napa, as he didn't think it was factually relevant. (I can't remember his blather specifically) Prosecutor McKowan blasted the snot out of him at this point: "It was stated in the report, on the record, and testified to under oath by staff, in public court, in front of many of the people present in the courtroom today." etc... the little bit of vindication was welcomed by all.

Some specific statements that stood out in my mind: 
Jonathan Huddleston talked about his friend who was a victim of ayres, and who had struggled with severe depression and alcohol use, and whose 50th birthday would have been yesterday, had he not committed suicide two years ago to the day. (Two years ago, the competency trial had just hung, and the DA was preparing to concede that ayres was indeed suffering from Alzheimer's - if this adds some unfortunate perspective.) If you didn't already see his statement in front of the Board of Supervisors, go have a look at it. It mirrors what he said today. Today he put a fine point on the fact that from OUR perspective, this was MURDER.)

One of the victims specifically recalled being told repeatedly by ayres: "You know the drill" meaning that he was supposed to undress for his molestation. He then told the judge: "You know the drill: lock him up."

The Judge's Reaction:
Judge Freeman appeared genuinely distressed by what she was hearing from the victims and their families. When suicides were mentioned, either it was the first she'd heard of it (feasible, given the way she's clearly worked to remain impartial, especially with respect to outside sources of information.) Or ayres was making some kind of inappropriate gesture or something, because when it was first mentioned by the mother of a victim, Freeman shot ayres a look that was nothing short of murderous. I'm surprised I don't have near fatal shrapnel wounds from being seated in the general direction that the glare was focused. WOW.

She was clearly moved by what she was hearing.

More on Victim Statements and supporters:
Again, I've not touched on everything, and please don't feel left out, it's been a long, weird day. Hopefully others who were there will help fill in important details that I've missed.


Legal Wrangling:
After statements were made, there were some legal machinations:
The court wants an estimate of how many people are expected to make statements. Freeman is leaving a whole day open. McKowan expects to not need the WHOLE day. But again, in interest of Marsy's Law, the judge will not reject anyone who is allowed to make a statement, but hopes to have it planned.

McDougall then suggested that he might need more time after that (but maybe not immediately after that...) in order to make whatever arguments he needs to make... it seemed like vague-ish delay maneuvering room is what he was really asking for.

There was back and forth discussion on what the law says about locking up a convicted felon AFTER conviction, but before sentencing. McDougall admitted that in 9.5 out of 10 cases, the convict is IMMEDIATELY remanded into custody, but in this case, ayres has never missed a day, etc, AND according to McDougall, the probation report currently indicates that ayres is a LOW RISK OFFENDER, and therefore he should be allowed to stay out on bail. AND he's out on a LARGE amount of bail, AND all of the people who spoke were victims OVER 15 YEARS AGO, (etc...)

McKowan argued about flight risk -- She talked about ayres' statement about going into hiding and changing their names -- but also about duty to serve justice that is long overdue the victims, and about the severity of the impact on the victims and families.

After McDougall and McKowan finished their arguments, the judge IMMEDIATELY issued her ruling, without much discussion:

Judge Freeman said that bail is revoked, and ayres was to be remanded into custody immediately.

The two bailiffs jumped to their feet. 

Moderate applause broke out, and the judge reminded everyone to not do that... Judge Freeman explained that she was not concerned about flight but rather the number of victims and severity of damage done.

The bailiffs positioned themselves to block access to the child molester.

Solveig asked if she could go get ayres' wristwatch. The bailiff made her back off.

The bailiff took the watch from ayres, and remanded it into Solveig's custody -- Time has all wound-out, pal.

The child molester was wheeled out of court through the back entrance and off to the Redwood City County Jail. 

Enjoy the cavity search, billy!


c'est ça -- no proofreading tonight. Comment on errors if you wish!


UPDATE (8/8/2013): Some links to newspaper stories:

Mercury News Article (pdf)
CBS Local Article (pdf)
San Mateo Daily Journal Article (pdf)

Channel 7 video was there yesterday, but I haven't seen video online yet.




william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres is on bail awaiting sentencing, and is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

News article update:

There is an article in the Merc News.

Also, Chanel 7 news was video taping outside the court. Will post links as I find them.

I will post a detailed update, but will be later tonight, as it will take some time for me to work through it all.


Update - 7PM PST:

Here's a link to the KTVU News Story.

Sorry it's taking long for my post. It will be some time yet... Diligently working on parts of it!

Update 11pm PST: 
Still working... almost there.

ayres locked up

ayres remanded into custody. Wheeled out under armed guard.

More to follow.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Sentencing Held Over - Update: Bread and Circuses

As indicated last week, convicted child molester william hamilton ayres' sentencing date came and went without a sentence being issued.

If you're not yet up to speed, read last week's post; we're all waiting for a report from a shrink before sentencing can be completed.

It's important for victims and their supporters to show up in court TODAY, Wednesday, August 7th at 9am. (It doesn't hurt to show up a bit early.) The sentencing date will "Officially" be moved to August 26 (as is our current understanding) but the prosecution will also argue that the child molester be remanded into custody (hopefully in jail...) in the interim between now and sentencing.

Update of today's court appearance:

Today, the child molester was required to appear before a stand-in judge to officially hold the date over until tomorrow.  The way the dates are reported by the clerk caused some confusion with people who showed up expecting to see sentencing today. Unfortunately, the dates on the 7th and the 26th are not "officially" on the court calendar, so prior to today, when you called the court, they reported that sentencing was 8/6/2013, and showed no other dates. The dates don't get publicly updated until they become "official." More on this confusion in a moment...

Today's Circus:
As court started, child molester william ayres was nowhere to be seen. Shyster McDougall reported that he would be in the courtroom shortly; he was having difficulties with his "wheelchair."

Of course we all know that this means that he has forgotten how to unfold it for use and safely lock everything in place, as it's very likely that he never uses the damned thing. ayres spent three years making fools of the DA and the Court with his fake dementia gambit, and there's no doubt that he's going for the "medically incapable of handling incarceration" sympathy ploy to avoid serving any sentence.

The child molester is sure to show up before sentencing with doctor's reports stating how hard it would be for him to survive the ordeal of serving out his just sentence. Tomorrow should be a good indicator of how soft his landing is going to be.

Finally, the molester was wheeled into court by his pathetic son Robert Ayres of Chicago, a generally poorly reviewed off-off-off-off-Broadway stage actor and director. (Apparently he's a lousy piano bar player too.) One observer described him as disheveled and boozed-up looking, although he was attentively nagging Shyster McDougall about all manner of "what happens next" questions. (McDougall was discussing probation reports and Stanford reports.)

Our observer reported that the child molester himself looked disheveled, pale, and gaunt again; I believe that he's falling back into that sympathy-lie mode, hoping for leniency from the judge and sympathy from the press and public. I'll get a look at him tomorrow, and contrast with what I've seen very recently.

Also with the child molester were his brood of whore-supporters including his vapid wife Solveig and two other pathetic sluts who were not immediately identified by our observers. One of the little whores spent some time grimacing at a parent of a victim. Too bad there's apparently no parental figure in her life to smack some respect into her. Whore-supporter in absentia: the molester's daughter and conservator, Barbara Ayres of Sacramento did not appear to be present this time.

Solveig Ayres was observed frequently gently touching the malingering child molester's hands and generally being loving of the evil pervert.

Of note:
Because of the way the court clerks report the schedule, there were people who made quite an effort coming some distance today to support the victims in what was listed as the day ayres was to be sentenced.

In fact they're victim supporters of some note:

In the late sixties, ayres was pushing his child molesting grooming agenda through a sex education series called "Time of Your Life" that was used extensively in the Bay Area, and broadcast on public television.

There were a number of protesters of the series at the time, and in fact several people filed lawsuits to have the oddly explicit series removed from being used to "educate" young children. Two of these people, Alice and Al Vipiana were active protesters at the time, and wanted to be in court for the sentencing today. They are now in their 80s, and they drove at least two hours to get to court today, only to find out that the whole thing had changed without public notice.

At the very least, it is certainly touching when such members of the public come forward in support of the victims and their families. Even though I was not there today, I certainly appreciate their presence. I hope they get the opportunity to come back when the sentencing does occur.

IMPORTANT: If you can be at court (TODAY) in support of the prosecution motion to remand ayres into custody, it would be good of you to do so.

August 7, 2013 9AM PST or earlier.  400 County Center, Redwood City, CA, Go through the main doors, (metal detectors) look at the video screens for william ayres, and then go to the courtroom listed -- almost always up the escalator.





william hamilton ayres was arrested on April 5, 2007 on charges relating to his molestation of many young boys while he was alleging to provide psychiatric care to private patients as well as referrals for evaluation from the juvenile court system in San Mateo County. After years of  playing demented for the courts, ayres plead "No Contest" and was found guilty of all charges against him on May 16, 2013. ayres is on bail awaiting sentencing, and is currently under the conservatorship of his daughter Barbara Ayres of Sacramento, CA

ayres has had significant interaction over the years with local politicians on boards like the "Children and Families First Commission,"  including the DA who was serving when prosecution began Jim Fox and Assemblyman Rich Gordon. In fact, Gordon nominated ayres for a lifetime achievement award for his "Tireless effort to improve the lives of children." ayres has also been vocally supported during his criminal trial by local head-shrinkers like Bart BlinderEtta BryantMel BlausteinHarry CorenTom CieslaRobert KimmichLarry LurieMaria LymberisRichard ShadoanCaptane Thomson, and Harold Wallach.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Surprise! Another Pedophile Child Shrink.

John Visher - Capitola Child Shrink
I just recently learned about yet another child shrink who has been accused of molesting children (and possessing a large-ish collection of child porn.)  He has stated that he served "high-risk" youth and treated "sexual problems." Practically a hunting license, if you ask me... Read about the John William Visher case in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (pdf)

This one likes little 8-9 year old girls, and possibly even younger boys apparently. It's been practicing "psychology" for around three decades. Imagine the destruction, if allegations are true.

As seems to be usual, the accused has a sizeable gaggle of daft family and friends supporting him in court.

This case seems like it should be fairly high profile, given the quantity of accusations and child porn collected, along with the duration of practice of the alleged shrink. But apparently, it's been rather back-burner even in the press, much has been the situation with the william hamilton ayres child molestation case.

We'll try to keep our eye on this case as well.

REMINDER: Sentencing in the ayres case is CHANGING - See the post immediately below this one!