Judge Orders Convicted Long Island Sex Offender To Be Retried Or Released
A judge has ordered that a Long Island sex offender be retried in court or set free. Thomas, Green, 66, of Selden, was convicted in 2008 and has served five years of a 35-year prison term. He was accused of abusing neighborhood children and one of his own relatives.
During the 2008 trial, prosecutors said Green molested five girls between 1998 and 2003. Green argued that he didn’t know one of the seven year old girls who raised the claim that he sexually abused her. U.S. District Judge Arthur D. Spatt agreed on Monday that the jury should have seen evidence backing up Green’s testimony.
According to court documents a girl claimed to have slept at Green’s house everyday during the Summer of 1998 while she was seven. One night after watching a scary movie with Green and another girl, the two ended up sleeping in his bed because they were scared by the movie. The girl says she woke up to Green sexually abusing her in the middle of the night. She also says Green forced her to perform sexual acts on him.
At the trial the girl said she and her friend made a pinky promise to tell someone when they were older. The other girl who was said to be in bed with Green denied the abuse and even knowing the girl she allegedly made a pinky promise with. Despite her claims a photo of the two together was marked “Coney Island 6/98.” Defense attorneys argue though that the film used in the picture wasn’t manufactured yet.
Judge Spatt says Green’s trial attorney, Paul Gianelli, should’ve challenged the physical evidence by prosecutors a little more closely. His defense attorney, Ron Kuby, is filing for Green’s release. He argues that Green needs to be home after suffering two heart attacks. A spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney says they’ll be deciding whether he should have a retrial within the next 90 days.
[Source: CBS]