Folks may remember this post about the NY AG kicking ALL NY registrants off "gaming systems (XBox type)" because of a crime committed by a 19-yr-old (not a registered sex offender) who the AG referred to as a Predator. Now we find out more about the 19-yr-old who is professionally diagnosed as having the social mind of a 10-11-yr-old. You must read the story below! Now, what is your opinion of the NY AG's actions?4-13-2012 New York:
Greece, N.Y. --- For more than a year the criminal case against Richard Kretovic has garnered local, state, and even some national headlines. Kretovic’s arrest last March stemmed from an investigation that revealed he had sexual encounters with a twelve year-old boy he met while playing Xbox Live online.
Now, Kretovic’s mom reveals a secret that few people ever knew about her son. A secret that, for some, changes the conversation and debate that has surrounded this case since Kretovic was arrested.
"Every case is not a cookie-cutter case,” Karen Kretovic, Richard’s mom said in an exclusive interview with 13WHAM News. “Every case has a story."
For Karen Kretovic her son’s story begins when he was first diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at the age of five. The disorder specifically affects one’s social skills and puts Kretovic on the autism spectrum. Most describe those with Asperger’s as being high-functioning autistic.
"Chronologically he's 19, academically he is way beyond his years, but socially and emotionally he's about ten, eleven years old," Kretovic’s mom said about her son, who just turned 20 last week.
April is Autism Awareness month and later this month, on April 26th, Kretovic will stand before a judge to be sentenced. Last month he pled guilty to one D-level felony charge. His plea agreement includes a six month jail sentence, ten years probation, and registration as a sex offender in New York State.
The original 19-count indictment accused Kretovic of Sexual Abuse 2nd Degree (9-counts, misdemeanor), Criminal Sexual Act 1st Degree (9-counts, felony), and Endangering the Welfare of a Child (misdemeanor.) A conviction to any of the felony-level charges exposed Kretovic to a possible 5-to-25 year prison sentence.
Kretovic’s Asperger’s
The diagnosis came when he was five years old and it has remained a lifelong struggle for Kretovic and his family, according to his mom. She says her son also suffers from Tourette’s syndrome and provided letters and documents dating back more than a decade to substantiate her claim.
In a rare circumstance, Kretovic also waived patient privacy rights and allowed a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been counseling him for the last four months to speak publicly on his behalf.
"I certainly would never want a true predator to go free, I would want a true predator to be caught but that's not Ricky and that's what's disturbing to me," Kitty Moran Wolfsong said of Kretovic. "Socially I would say that Ricky is somewhere between the age of ten and twelve."
Both Kretovic’s mom and Wolfsong describe him as being very intelligent with a clear idea of what’s right and what’s wrong, but they also say he’s socially naïve and unable to comprehend various social interactions. Kretovic’s mom says that the encounter her son had with this 12 year-old victim was his first sexual experience.
"This invisible disability needs to be recognized by law enforcement, by government,” Kretovic’s mother said.
Kretovic’s Criminal Case
In March 2011, the victim’s parents reported the sexual abuse to Greece Police and a criminal investigation led right to Kretovic’s front door. Court and police paperwork (attached) indicates the challenges police had in even convincing Kretovic to open the door for officers.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kretovic said over the phone to an officer standing outside his home trying to convince him to come to the door. “I’d rather not, I’m sorry, I don’t want to go to jail.”
Kretovic’s mom returned home later that evening and says she immediately filed a missing person’s report on behalf of her son because she could not locate him and was unaware that he was at the police station speaking to investigators.
"He would never, ever leave the house without calling me or writing me a note or anything and I came home from work and he was gone,” Karen said of that day.
Police interviewed Kretovic for some time and according to the police report he appeared to admit to multiple sexual encounters with the victim. While Miranda warnings were issued according to police, we asked Kretovic’s mom if she thinks her son had a full understanding of his legal rights at the time of this questioning.
“No absolutely not, absolutely not; he was just doing as he was told, that is what he was doing,” according to Kretovic’s mom. "I know that they had to interrogate him to the point where he just cracked, I mean there's no doubt in my mind that he just cried and gave up and was curled up in a ball in the fetal position.”
A Greece Police Spokesman confirmed for 13WHAM News prior to this report that investigators did include in their police report what information they could gather concerning Kretovic’s autism.
Just last week, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman specifically pointed to Kretovic’s case as a reason why his office rushed to broker an agreement with the manufacturers of these online gaming systems.
"Operation: Game Over in fact took on an added urgency after a recent event in Greece, New York…" A.G. Schneiderman said at a press conference in New York City last Thursday. The agreement involved the removal of all registered sex offenders in the State of New York from the online databases of these gaming systems.
A spokeswoman for A.G. Schneiderman’s Office refused to comment for this report and when asked if the office was aware of Kretovic’s Asperger’s.
"He's being vilified in the news as a predator who went out looking, trolling for some younger person (and) that's just not how it was,” Wolfsong said. “He was on a gaming site looking for friends because he doesn't have many friends, because he's not good at making friends.”
Kretovic’s Punishment
By most accounts the plea deal Kretovic received is a more than favorable one. Yet for those who know Kretovic the best, there is passionate concern that his having to go to county jail will set him back years in his development.
“That is the piece that I'm most disturbed about because it truly is like putting an innocent ten or eleven-year-old in with adults who are street smart; it is absolutely not an appropriate punishment,” Wolfsong said. “Ricky will be destroyed in jail, it terrifies me what jail is going to do to him. Best case scenario he'll come out damaged and need years of therapy to deal with it, worst case scenario he will be turned into a predator…It is not going to correct anything."
Kretovic’s mom said she understands her son must be punished for what he’s done.
"Rick broke the law, knowingly or unknowingly he broke the law, I'm not saying that he should not be punished for his crime,” she said. “But not as severely as this."
Kretovic’s mom said the victim in this case was a large twelve year-old boy the size of her own son. She said she remembers him at her home on three occasions and never once does she recall any signs or signals that would suggest he was being victimized. Karen Kretovic said the victim said certain things that suggested he was much older than twelve. She added that she was never introduced to the boy’s parents despite at least one attempt by her to invite them inside for coffee.
13WHAM News was unable to substantiate or corroborate those claims as the victim remains anonymous.
"I regret that I had to wait this long, and had to suffer this long, and my son had to suffer this long before I came forward,” Karen Kretovic said through tears. “Because I'm glad I did and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I can keep my son home with me."
Kretovic is due to be sentenced on April 26th in front of Monroe County Judge Victoria Argento. ..Source.. by Sean Carroll
No comments:
Post a Comment