My BF has been in prison...

[Stubborn9ts]

(sorry if this is long)
My BF of 4 Months has recently told me that when he was a teenager he went to prison for several years for rape against a 19 year old! this happened whilst he was in the Army. He is now 30. He was given a life sentence not so much for the crime itself(even though very serious) but due to a inaccurate pre-sentence report by a psychiatrist, this has since been ruled inadmissible by the courts. He had a number of trials that were dismissed or stopped for various legal reasons.

He says he never did it and was pressured into pleading guilty by his legal team to avoid a life sentence, which he still got!!, He says he pleaded guilty out of fear as he was scared and wasn't able to get his solicitor to do his job so had to cut his losses and go in to damage limitation mode. He had to continue pretending to admit and show remorse for this throughout his prison sentence to get his release. It seems that his legal aid solicitor didn't do much work on the case or go through with the forensic testing he should have done. He has tried recently to get advice - unsuccessfully with a barrister to withdraw his guilty plea.
My BF has a DNA report that shows he is not the person responsible but due to the court of appeal rules this was deemed as available at the trial and can not now be used in appeals. His solicitor never told him about this report! He cannot afford any more legal challenges, financially or emotionally.

He is now on licence in the community and has to carry on as if he did it, as he fears that if he tells probation/police the truth and launches any sort of appeal they might recall him back to prison on a life sentence. His family and small circle of friends are all open and honest about this and very supportive of him. He has moved on and now runs his own successful metal business. It has taken its toll on him, he is cautious in trusting people now and it has left him slightly suspicious of people.

As a result he is automatically on Sex Offenders Register and he has to tell partners about his past, something to do with public protection it seems and something called MAPPA????
I have met his police liason officer who confirmed that i knew why he had been in prison, the police bloke tbh just asked if i knew and didnt go into much depth. Again they just accept he did it as he pleaded guilty without asking themselves if there is more to this or not. He sees probation once a month for all of ten minutes at most, they leave him alone as hes not considered a high risk.

The issue though is on the one hand this very intelligent, thoughtful, nice, quite guy has been to prison for a very serious crime, yet i actually really love him, Some of my friends think i am mad for staying with him. But at the same time he has never hurt me, treated me badly or done anything to cause me to worry. Long term i think we have a future.

What do others make of this? Has anybody else experience of a situation when they find out that a BF has a serious criminal record or been to prison for a sex offence?

His tariff was 4 years 10 months so that means the minimum he should serve yes?
But he did 8 years?
If he was innocent then surely in those 8 years when he could get legal help he would have fought tooth and nail?
I would even question the authenticity of the paperwork he is showing you, ask the police.
His family and friends won't want to believe someone the care/love is guilty of such a horrific crime so don't put to much faith in their belief that he didn't do it.

So with all of this overwhelming evidence exonerating him the criminal justice would consider sending him back to prison? And are presumably happy that the real perpetrator is walking around free? What a load of rubbish. I hope you don't already have children who you are exposing to this man.

I have no legal experience so won't comment in that side of it.

However no one likes to think that someone they know and trust could be capable of something heinous.
I worked in a children's home a long time ago. One of the senior managers there was convicted of rape and grooming of an underage resident.

every coworker thought he was innocent

He was also an upstanding pillar of the church. They believed he was innocent too. According to the local community the 17yo slut had made it all up.

But like others the conviction rates are so low interest first place for these crimes that I find it hard to believe it was a miscarriage of justice.

my point is that people don't want to believe this. So I wouldn't believe his family and friends. They are sacking you in. You need to run for the hills.

You 'love' him and want to believe him so I doubt anyone will change your mind here.

If you accept his truth and commit to a relationship with him you will need to be prepared for all that comes with being on the sex offenders register, this will never leave him, you should think carefully before having children with him, you may not think he's a risk to children but I can assure you, a convicted violent rapist will not be viewed favourably by children's services.

I'll shout leave too but I suspect your mind is made up.

OP there was no 'first trial'. There has never been a trial. No evidence has been ruled inadmissable because there was nothing for it to be admitted into. He pled guilty. Cases only go to trial if they plead not guilty.

Also the victim would have been very, very aware if he is telling you that she said it wasn't him that in fact they were charging HIM, the him who she said was not her attacker.
OP really come on, a woman viscously raped isn't going to let an innocent man go to prison, get real it wouldn't happen!

OP what was the evidence that led to him being found guilty? And does anyone know who the actual supposed rapist is and has this man ever been arrested?

If you truly believe him and believe that all the documents etc he's shown you are genuine, what is it you are posting for? What were you hoping to hear?

OP you are asking us to believe that he confessed to something that he didn't do. You have to ask yourself why.

You are telling us that there was no evidence against him and that the victim said it wasn't him.

So why did he confess?

He was convicted for raping someone at knifepoint. Omfg. Please end it.

He pleaded guilty to avoid a life sentence but got one anyway.
Cos that's what innocent people do...they plead guilty even though they have DNA evidence that they didn't do it, even though 90% of rape trials end in a not guilty plea yada yada

Op will not listen to anyone on here so no,doubt will see her back when she has a baby and is on child protection watch or baby gets taken away etc. social services tske a dim view of women who won't believe their partners are guilty because they won't manage the risk as they believe there is none.

x post

So he pled not guilty and was found guilty by the jury?

It is Sooo difficult to convict someone of rape. So many rapists walk away because of lack of evidence. The burden of proof is so high in our legal system that the chance of someone innocent being convicted are very slim. He even confessed, what else do you want!!

It sounds a bit desperate op- you must be able to find someone better. Anyone!!

Whatever you do, don't have kids with him. It's one thing putting yourself in this situation, quite another bringing kids to this. He may not be identified as a sex offender but who wants a rapist for a dad.

Please don't say you already have your own children and you let him around them. That would be very irresponsible.

For the sake of argument let's say that he is telling the truth and it was all a horrible mistake and he is innocent - but as things stand at the moment he is still a convicted rapist.

So if you stay with him are you prepared to accept how other people will feel about him and about you for being with him? If you went on to have kids together are you prepared for them to get upset when their friends aren't allowed over to your house? It may be wrong but these kind of things get out and people can be nasty. Is he worth it?

Has he contacted the Innocence Project? If he's telling the truth and the matter is as clear as he says, they may be prepared to help.

Even with a guilty plea and 8 years in prison people don't want to believe a man they know is a rapist. No wonder conviction rates are so low.

Op - don't take this the wrong way but are you otherwise mentally fit? Would you consider yourself vulnerable in some way asen like that often prey on vulnerable people who may not have a lot of support around them. What does your family think of him.

• as men like that...

How many trials were there? If he plead guilty why was there a trial?

He has lied & lied. Absolute bullshit from start to end. What do your family & friends think?

Actually it's not a quirk of the justice system. His barrister could easily prove that his solicitor was shit and didn't use the evidence that would have cleared his name. You only need new evidence if the original evidence was presented and he was still found guilty.

Since you met his barrister you would know this?

Why have you posted op, you have made your mind up. Poor bf is a victim and you will stick by him.

You really think social services won't want to know when you have kids ?

Also if he raped a colleague all his section will know every detail so you could ask one of them.

But they won't be around any more, because he raped one of them

3 trials, none ever concluded, cps asked for trial to be stopped in 2 as they felt couldn't get fair trial or messed up procedure wise. after 3rd trial started as solicitor said he will be found guilty regardless of case he puts up as the emotional and seriousness of it wll turn jury against him, was told if he pled guilty he would get max 10 years, he had done 20 months on remand by this stage. the dna report only came to light a year after sentencing when he tried appealing, his solicitor had it but never passed it to the barrister so was never used.

Why was there a trial if he pled guilty?

OP, you've been a partner of his for four months (even though you say you've known him longer) and this offence was at least 11 years ago and you've met his barrister?

Doubtful.

I did some work with offenders. Most said either they didn't do it, or it wasn't "real" rape i.e. in their heads, it wasn't a crime. They didn't see themselves as forcing sexual contact. Deluded. And in many ways, they had convinced themselves they were right, so could be quite persuasive to others.

As has been said previously, rape convictions are disproportionate to charges (and safe to assume charges are only a fraction of actual incidents). There must have been some pretty strong evidence to advise a guilty plea. And you'll never really know as it was never tested in court because your BF pled guilty.

This will affect your whole life with him. A life sentence is never spent. He will be unable to participate in any school or children's club activities if you have a family with him.

Run run run.