“Hey, what’s that about?” I said, “You can talk to me, I’m with the good guys.”
Shawn said, “There is a man that gives us treats and money if we go into the woods with him.”
I asked, “What do you do in the woods?”
“Sometimes he takes all his clothes off and puts the candy and money on his body and tells us we can keep whatever we take off him.”
“I’ve never done that,” said Axel, “I’ve only watched him.”
“Has he ever tried to touch any of you?” I asked.
“No. Sometimes he puts the money really close to his... you know…thing.”
“Have you guys told your parents about this?”
“No,” they all said together.
“Shawn said, “My dad would kill me. He’d never let me go into the woods again.”
“I don’t think he would hurt or even yell at you. He would only want you to be safe. This man is bad and he should not be doing these things.”
I called out on my radio my location and that I was taking a report of an exposure. I started to get a description of the male involved, about six foot two or three, a few inches taller than me. He was very heavy, as Shawn put it, “The fattest man he ever saw.” He had short, balding hair, light in color, no facial hair. He usually wore shorts and sandals.
“Is there anything else that if I looked at this man would make me know it would be him?” I asked.
Shawn said, “He has a very small thing for such a fat man.” This made everyone laugh, including me. As I started to get the boys names and addresses Axel said, “There he is.”
“Who?” I asked.
“The fat man.”
I looked over to the path coming from the woods and there walked the suspect. He had not seen the boys or me yet. I told the boys to go over to the pool area. I called out on the radio I had a suspect of the exposure in sight. I then started his way.
He first saw the boys running towards the pool. He called to them once. He then saw me. He turned and started to run back into the woods. I chased behind him.
I heard on the police radio a bunch of traffic about my exact location. I knew I was in the woods, but just precisely where in the woods, I didn’t know. I replied to the approaching cars, “I went into the woods by my car.”
Once in the woods I started to gain on him. As I caught up to him he looked even bigger than they described. “Stop or I’ll shoot,” I shouted. Of course I never even had my gun out of its holster.
I’m not sure if it was the words or if he just got tired but he began to slow down.
When this mountain of a man turned towards me my mind was saying, “Oh shit.” I stood in front of him and told him he was under arrest.
“I’m sorry. I never hurt any of the kids.” He blurted out.
I had him put his arms behind his back to handcuff them. Problem was he could not get his arms behind his back. His body was too big. So I cuffed him in front. I walked him out of the woods. As I tried to get him into my back seat of the police car he was too large. We are taught never to take the handcuffs off of anyone as they can use the handcuffs as a weapon against you. But in this case, I had no choice. I took the handcuffs off and left them off during the ride to the station. But I did have another police car follow me.
I had another officer gather the information from the boys by the pool. I asked them to come to the police department to positively identify the suspect.
Shawn arrived with his father, Joseph MacIntire. They stood in a room with one-way glass. His father was very upset. He wanted to get at the suspect anyway he could. As he left the room he noticed an officer walking out of the suspect’s room. He pushed his way inside and got in two blows before anyone could stop him.
“Mr. MacIntire, stop it. Get off him.” I called out. “Get him out of here.” The other officer took him into another room.
“I want him arrested,” said the suspect.
“I should have let him have you.” I said back. “After what you did with his son…”
I knew I had to stop talking so no lawsuits would be coming my way. I wish I could have let him go, but that could not happen.
After the victims and their families left the department, we had all the identification that we needed. I went into the interrogation room and told the suspect he was under arrest for exposing himself to children. I then read him his Miranda rights. He stated he understood. I already had his basic information, like age thirty-two, address, phone number, and name. His name was Richard Morris. I asked him if I could call him Rich. He said that’s his name.
“Did you only do this to this group of boys?” I asked.
“There was never anyone else. And besides, they wanted me to do it so they could make money their parents wouldn’t give them,” he answered with a tone of sarcasm.
“What is it that you would do so they could make money?”
“I would give them candy. They always asked me for the money.”
“Did they touch you?”
“Sometimes we’d play a game that if they would find where on my body I would hide the candy they could keep it.”
“Then if they found it, they would pick it off you?”
“Yeah, sort of. But remember they wanted to play.”
“I understand. I’m just trying to get your side of it. How would they let you know they wanted the money and candy?”
“They would ask me to lie down and they would go into my pockets for the candy.”
“Oh, your pockets? I thought sometimes you didn’t have a shirt on. So that would mean they went into your pant’s pockets?”
“Sometimes.”
“Some of the kids said there were times when you were totally naked. Is this true?”
“That only happened when they asked me to get undressed. I didn’t want to.”
“Do you know how old these kids are?”
He didn’t answer right away this time. This time he thought it through. “I’m not sure, around seventeen, I’m guessing.”
“Certainly you can tell the difference between eight and seventeen, right Rich?”
“I guess.” His voice turned soft, somewhat defeated.
“You know you were wrong, don’t you?”
“Yes. But they seemed to be having fun and so was I. Probably at different levels, but I meant no harm. I’m sorry I got them involved.”
More like you’re sorry you got caught, I thought. “You do see the trauma you can cause them, don’t you?”
“Not really. They laughed and had fun. They liked looking at my body.”
I felt I had enough evidence. “Why would they like that? You hurt them and manipulated them. You are nothing but a pervert.”
“I did nothing wrong. No one was hurt.”
“That’s why I’m taking you off the street. You honestly believe what you did was okay. You’re a sick son of a bitch.”
I then received a page over the intercom that Richard’s parents were up in the lobby. They were here to bail him out. I walked up to meet with them.
“Is our baby okay?” said his mother.
“He’s fine. He is being charged with exposing himself to children,” I told both of them.
“Can we take him home now?” his father asked.
“Do you understand what I just said?”
“We will talk to him about it, not you. I’m sure the kids played some kind of trick on him.”
“He’s a pervert.” I said, the irritation flowing from my lips.
“Don’t you dare say something like that,” his mother said. “Can he go now?”
“Soon as you post his bail.” I said.
Watching the three of them leave the police department I had to say to myself, “I don’t think the apple fell too far from the tree.”
Chapter 18
Everyone seemed in a hurry, as we got ready to drive to the church for Tony’s baptism. For Godparents we chose Sue, Stephanie’s sister-in-law, and Jeffrey Motter. They both w
ere quite anxious to be his sponsors.
Jeff drove with us to the church. During the ride he told us how his parents never did anything with him as a family and was happy we allowed him into our family.
Tony was baptized in the Living Jesus Lutheran Church with Pastor Michael Bemmis presiding. Pastor Michael has known me since he confirmed me many years ago. He baptized all my children and to have him baptize our last child was truly an honor for us.
We met in the office area of the church before the ceremony. This would normally have been done before this time but schedules just were not working with us.
“Very good to see you again Timmy,” said Pastor Michael.
“Great to be here,” I said as I introduced the godparents to him. “Pastor Michael, this is Stephanie’s sister-in-law Sue and this is one of my best friends, Jeffrey Motter.
“Well Sue and Jeffrey, you both know the importance of being Tony’s godparents and sponsors correct?”
They both answered that they did understand. “Have you Sue accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?”
“Yes,” Sue replied.
“And you Jeffrey, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?”
“I have.” Jeffrey answered.
“One of the things you will be required to do, in the event something happens to Stephanie and Timmy, is to make sure Tony is brought up with religion in his life. You are also stating you will make sure no harm will come to him, when he is under your supervision,” Pastor Michael advised them.
After about thirty more minutes of questions and answers, we were ready for the baptism service. We walked into the church from the office. The church was a beautiful, old, neighborhood church. Looking around at the stained glass windows with the sun shining through, the old oak pews and the booming organ music just sent a chill through me. Not in a bad way, but as if I could speak right to God as if He was sitting next to me. Yes, I know he was but this was something special.
Sue was a great girl, very religious, which I thought would make up for Jeffrey’s lack of religion. But where he is deficient in that aspect he was a well rounded, inspiring entrepreneur that certainly could help if anything ever did happen to Stephanie and me. I was grateful to have both of them. Tony would have a well-formed upbringing if anything did happen to us.
Jeffrey held Tony as Pastor Michael anointed Tony in the baptism. Tony only whimpered for a very short time. It seemed he already trusted Jeffrey. It was a great day.
We left the church and headed back to our house. We were offering a pasta dinner for all that attended the service. It would be a small group, and everyone seemed like family. We certainly were blessed to have such decent friends.
The dinner was perfect, as always, that Stephanie was cooking. She put a lot of thought into it. What flavors would go best with different foods. The salad, which had the right amount of sweetness with the right amount of bitter kale, was constantly a favorite. The bread that you smelled baking a long time before you actually had the chance to taste it.
Stephanie had to think about what foods for each person too. Some of us liked red meat, some only ate fowl, and some were vegetarians. She put it all together and it came out spectacularly. As we sat down for the feast that was in front of us Stephanie said a small prayer. I then raised my glass for a toast to Tony. It could not get much better than this, friends and family had become one.
Chapter 19
Jeffrey was always a wonderful godfather to Tony. He never forgot a birthday or any special occasion. As the first few years progressed he would purchase Tony anything he needed. If we could not afford it he would come through. He never asked for anything in return.
His business was taking off like gangbusters. He worked seven days a week. Whenever he could he would have Sammy Bowlinger helping him out. Sammy would say he wanted to be an electrician so he could make a lot of money. Which for a child, he was making more than some adults were making at fast food restaurants
Jeffrey said he would always have a job available for my two boys, Douglas and Tony when they were old enough.
As I was leaving work one Saturday after the seven to three shift, I stopped by Jeff’s house. He was in the yard playing with his yellow Labrador retriever. Sammy was over and came running up when he saw it was me. “Officer Timmy, Jeffrey is taking me to Disney World and we are going to stay at his place on the ocean,” Sammy said all smiles.
“That’s sounds great. Who else is going with you?”
“Just us. My parents can’t go now, but they will go another time.” Sammy was walking next to me keeping an eye on Jeffrey and his dog, Yeller.
“What are you guys talking about?” Jeffery asked as he walked up, his eyes on Sammy then looking up at me. A smile was on his lips, but not in his eye. Sammy made what seemed to be a hesitation move, somewhat of a stutter step, and then started to laugh. He went up to Jeffrey and grabbed Yeller’s toy and threw it. Yeller barked and ran after it, retrieved it, and returned with it.
“Will Goofy be as much fun?” asked Sammy.
“Even more,” said Jeff. “We’ll get up early and stay up late. Just so we get to see it all.”
“What’s it like at your condo?” Sammy asked with all the wonderment only a child can have.
“We’ll be right on the ocean. We can go searching for seashells. Then go out into the water to body surf in the waves. They have soda and ice cream right on the beach. The only rule will be no walking through the condo with a dripping bathing suit,” warned Jeff.
“Don’t worry, mom said I better be good or you wouldn’t take me again.”
“Oh, you’ll be just fine. You’re a good boy. I know you’ll be good.”
“How long you staying for?” I asked with a little jealousy in my thoughts.
“His parents said a couple of days but that’s hardly worth it. We’ll stay maybe a week,” Jeff said.
“Aren’t you afraid they’ll get mad?”
“Who cares? Once I’m there they’ll have no control. When we get back I’ll have gifts, their son will be happy, and everything back to normal.”
Not the way I’d want to get along with people but that’s just me. Besides, he is probably just talking. He was just trying to be a big shot in front of Sammy. “Well you guys have fun. I’ll be thinking of you.” It sure would be nice to get away but…
I guess I’ll have to wait for vacation. Boy, this sucks.
Chapter 20
Sometimes I live for police work. Sometimes I hate it. While most fathers can be home with their children on their birthdays, here I am working three to eleven while the party gets started at one. At least I’m there for the start of it. I get to see everyone arrive, thank them for coming, kiss Stephanie good-bye, and go to work.
Since I change into my uniform at work I’m in my regular clothes. I help Stephanie put out the appetizers and the ice coolers with soda and beer. I keep asking if there’s anything else to do. This is because Stephanie is the party thrower. If it were left to me we would have chips and beer. Everyone else, fend for yourself. Of course she has about twenty things for me to do.
The guests start arriving for Tony’s seventh birthday. There are grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends of ours. Many of the friends have known Tony since birth. The one Tony hangs around with a lot is Jeffrey. Probably the size of the box he has brought as Tony’s present has a lot to do with that. It’s the size of a small car. Plus Tony knows Jeff, being the Godfather, always gave good presents.
I was speaking with Jeff for a while when he asked, “When are you guys coming back to Florida?”
“I’m not sure.”
“I’m thinking of going in maybe two or three weeks.”
“I’m certain I can’t get off on such short notice.”
“Well, just a thought.”
It was at this time Tony jumped up onto my lap and asked if he could open Jeff’s present. I told him not yet.
“You know,” said Jeff, “you will be leaving
soon and I’d like you to see what it is. It’s okay with me if he opens it now.”
“Please daddy, pleeease.” Tony was all hugs and kisses; I think he had already figured me out. Well, I always wanted the best for him. All my kids really, but he was the baby, the last one. We had made sure of that. No more kids for Stephanie and me. We wanted to give them the best that we could and three were as many children that we could care for comfortably. “So what do you say daddy?”
“Okay. Let’s go open it.”
It turned out to be a motorized truck. I was only kidding about it being the size of a car, but as it turns out, I was not too far off. Stephanie came into the den area where we opened the present.
“What are you doing Timmy? We haven’t started opening presents yet.” I could tell by her look that I was only saved from her anger due to the guests being there. But I also knew, they would not be there when I got home and there would be hell to pay.
“Tony asked if he could open Jeff’s present before I left. I didn’t see any harm in…” Before I could finish Stephanie was turned and heading out of the room. I guess I was wrong on that kiss good-bye.
I stayed for a little while longer said good-bye and thanks to many of the guests, then drove into work.
***
When I arrived at work I told everyone it was Tony’s birthday. They all said that they would work any over time for me tonight so I could get right home. I told them thanks but I wasn’t sure I was in a hurry to see Stephanie again. I knew she was pretty mad when I left.
Another slow night until nine twenty-five, when I received a radio call of a disturbance at Duncan Apartments, number two nineteen.
When I arrived with Officer Evan Tonka we went to the second floor, room two-nineteen. There was no answer but we could hear a radio or television going from behind the door. As we looked down the hallway we noticed someone or something down at the end of the hallway hiding in the shadows.
I thought it could be someone involved in the criminal damage to property that had escalated the past two months. We started down the hall. When we reached the end we found a female bent over low in a doorway. It was like she slid down the wall to a sitting position with her feet under her.
She was dressed in a brown silk robe. She did not have much on, if anything underneath it. Her hair had been tossed, as if she had just got out of bed. She had on just the right amount of makeup, just enough that it complimented her natural beauty. It all looked perfect except for her eye makeup, which was runny due to crying.