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After being charged with molesting a 12 year old female student, a Fairfax County VA man must now try to put his life back together...

A Fairfax County jury needed only 47 minutes Thursday to find a popular schoolteacher not guilty of molesting a 12-year-old girl in their school gym this year.

Sean Lanigan, 43, smiled and tears flowed among his dozens of supporters in the courtroom as the verdicts were read clearing Lanigan of charges of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The case against him hinged on the testimony of two sixth-grade girls at Centre Ridge Elementary School in Centreville, who said Lanigan had scooped up one of the girls in the middle of the school gym, carried her into an equipment room, laid her down on a mat and massaged her shoulders, groping her in the process.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... rc=nl_buzz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When the charges were first filed, it was front page on the Post...in all the local TV news broadcasts...

His picture was published and broadcast...

AND HE"S INNOCENT!!! How does he get his life back???

#1 Theres truth to every rumor. (Such as the 'Soggy Donut' at UMass)
#2 Move to California.

He needs a cash settlement.

On one hand "not guilty" does not mean "proven innocent." It simply means the jury felt there was not sufficient evidence to conclude the defendant was guilty beyong a reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, it's true that when it comes to child molestation there is a "guilty until proven innocent" atmosphere in this country. Once someone is accused of abuse of minors whether they are really guilty or not really doesn't matter in terms of public perception. When someone is accused their life is pretty much ruined.

When the charges were first filed, it was front page on the Post...in all the local TV news broadcasts...

His picture was published and broadcast...

That bears upon something that has bothered me for some time....though I don't now what we could do about it. To me, ideally, the news media would not report anything about somebody accused of a crime unless and until they are convicted. Of course that's not possible...especially for high profile cases. But it does bother me that a person who is innocent can have their arrest and accusation published in the media so that the perception stays even if they are cleared.

Col Hogan wrote:After being charged with molesting a 12 year old female student, a Fairfax County VA man must now try to put his life back together...

A Fairfax County jury needed only 47 minutes Thursday to find a popular schoolteacher not guilty of molesting a 12-year-old girl in their school gym this year.

Sean Lanigan, 43, smiled and tears flowed among his dozens of supporters in the courtroom as the verdicts were read clearing Lanigan of charges of aggravated sexual battery and abduction. The case against him hinged on the testimony of two sixth-grade girls at Centre Ridge Elementary School in Centreville, who said Lanigan had scooped up one of the girls in the middle of the school gym, carried her into an equipment room, laid her down on a mat and massaged her shoulders, groping her in the process.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... rc=nl_buzz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

When the charges were first filed, it was front page on the Post...in all the local TV news broadcasts...

His picture was published and broadcast...

AND HE"S INNOCENT!!! How does he get his life back???

Hes screwed. It will take a strong person to give thi man a second chance.

JohnStOnge wrote:

When the charges were first filed, it was front page on the Post...in all the local TV news broadcasts...

His picture was published and broadcast...

That bears upon something that has bothered me for some time....though I don't now what we could do about it. To me, ideally, the news media would not report anything about somebody accused of a crime unless and until they are convicted. Of course that's not possible...especially for high profile cases. But it does bother me that a person who is innocent can have their arrest and accusation published in the media so that the perception stays even if they are cleared.

The media should be required to give as much coverage to the verdict as they did to the charges.

JohnStOnge wrote:On one hand "not guilty" does not mean "proven innocent." It simply means the jury felt there was not sufficient evidence to conclude the defendant was guilty beyong a reasonable doubt.

On the other hand, it's true that when it comes to child molestation there is a "guilty until proven innocent" atmosphere in this country. Once someone is accused of abuse of minors whether they are really guilty or not really doesn't matter in terms of public perception. When someone is accused their life is pretty much ruined.

I might have the country wrong but I believe it is Scotland where a verdict of "not proven" can be reached.

Sexual abuse of kids is a terrible thing, but too many people tend to lose all rational thought when it comes to the subject. The guy's life has probably been a living hell and being acquitted won't be good enough for some people.

He doesn't...not in the USA at least. If he wants a "normal life" he needs to move to Europe or Australia and never mention it to any of his new friends in those countries.


Sadly, in cases like this there is no true "innocent" verdict.

I think Hempdawg is correct. The FCC should mandate that media, in all FAIRNESS, provide equal coverage (time) to broadcasting and discussing the man's innocence. Nancy Grace should be required to dedicate 207 half hour segments repeating his innocence over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

...just as she does when she convicts folks in the public eye of media, often before they're even charged.

As for any punitive settlement...

...since the REAL culprits in these over-hyped witch hunts are the numbskulls who buy and watch the tabloid media, I suggest the cable companies and neilsen turn over their records of home viewership of the programs (Grace, NBC, etc...) who profit from the witch-hunt voyeurs, and the amounts be equitably divided amongst viewers/tabloids...

...just add the expense to next month's cable bill.

More pathetic are the people who lack integrity to acknowledge innocence in the absence of guilt. Black Falkin's oft quoted remark "There's truth to every rumor", is the type of medieval ignorance embraced by demagogues and social engineers whose attempts to manipulate opinion away from ethos and fact rely on the existence of a populace segment that routinely ignores common sense and rule of law.

(...then again, it IS Black Falkin... )

houndawg wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
That bears upon something that has bothered me for some time....though I don't now what we could do about it. To me, ideally, the news media would not report anything about somebody accused of a crime unless and until they are convicted. Of course that's not possible...especially for high profile cases. But it does bother me that a person who is innocent can have their arrest and accusation published in the media so that the perception stays even if they are cleared.

The media should be required to give as much coverage to the verdict as they did to the charges.

+1000

dbackjon wrote:He needs a cash settlement.

Absolutely. He's finished as a teacher. And suppose that kid's father had gone after him and killed him or carved him up.

travelinman67 wrote:I think Hempdawg is correct. The FCC should mandate that media, in all FAIRNESS, provide equal coverage (time) to broadcasting and discussing the man's innocence. Nancy Grace should be required to dedicate 207 half hour segments repeating his innocence over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

...just as she does when she convicts folks in the public eye of media, often before they're even charged.

As for any punitive settlement...

...since the REAL culprits in these over-hyped witch hunts are the numbskulls who buy and watch the tabloid media, I suggest the cable companies and neilsen turn over their records of home viewership of the programs (Grace, NBC, etc...) who profit from the witch-hunt voyeurs, and the amounts be equitably divided amongst viewers/tabloids...

...just add the expense to next month's cable bill.

More pathetic are the people who lack integrity to acknowledge innocence in the absence of guilt. Black Falkin's oft quoted remark "There's truth to every rumor", is the type of medieval ignorance embraced by demagogues and social engineers whose attempts to manipulate opinion away from ethos and fact rely on the existence of a populace segment that routinely ignores common sense and rule of law.

(...then again, it IS Black Falkin... )

99.9% ARE guilty. But I agree with much of this post. You may have a cookie TeaBag.

BlackFalkin wrote:#1 Theres truth to every rumor. (Such as the 'Soggy Donut' at UMass)
#2 Move to California.

Is that what you did?

99.9% ARE guilty.

Now how do you know that? Seriously, D, I do not have as much confidence in our legal system as you apparently do. I think it releases a lot of people that are guilty and also convicts a lot of people that are innocent. Admittedly, I don't know that. But it's my impression.

One thing that always gets me is when people say we have the best legal system in the world. I really don't know what the basis for that statement is. To me, our legal system is crap. If it's the best in the world, the world has serious problems.