Derek's Story When Derek was 18, he had just moved out and was living on his own. A friend had introduced him to the prospect of selling books on the internet. Derek was making a pretty good living. He was chatting on the internet with a 13 year old girl and I am sure it was not his first time. The 13 year old turned out to be a 45 year old undercover cop. They agreed to meet in a town about an hour away from where he lived. When Derek arrived at the meeting place and got out of the car, he was swarmed and arrested. They took him to the police station, got his statement, booked him, and a search warrant was issued for his apartment. He was arrested and stayed in jail for 3 days.. He called and told me that he had been arrested for aggravated sexual assault of a child and his bond was set at $25,000. This was in July. We, being ignorant of the laws, did not realize the serious nature of this crime. Therefore, Derek hired an inexpensive lawyer and in February, his case went to court. We were in for a shock. The District Attorney from Garland, Texas portrayed him as a monster. It was horrible. She wanted to give him 10 years in prison. They gave him 5 years deferred adjudication. I thought this was harsh since there was no real victim, but at least a sentence he could live with. What I didn't realize was that Derek would be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years. That was when the nightmare began… I wish I could say that Derek did everything he was supposed to do, but that wouldn't be the truth. He couldn't get a job, and had no money due to the fact that internet usage was a probation violation. Two years later, he was at a party where he probably shouldn't have been. There was a 14 year old girl there who came to have a good time. She had sex with three guys that night, one which was my son. This was on a Friday night. The following Sunday, at church, the girl was bragging to her friend that she " got laid by three different guys". Her friend told her mom, who in turn told the girl's mom, who coincidentally worked at the police station. The mother went to the police station and filed a report. Derek was arrested, and since he was on probation, he was denied bond. I was going to let him be represented by a public defender because I thought he had to learn a lesson. The police department said that the D.A. wanted to give him 40 years. When I heard this, 40 years, I couldn't risk it. I hired the best lawyer I could afford, one that I thought would give him a better chance. Now here is the tricky part…my son kept saying that he was innocent. I don't know why he wouldn't tell his lawyer the truth, maybe he was scared, maybe he thought that I wouldn't help him if I knew that he really did do it, I don't really know. Anyway, after 9 months he went to court. Our lawyers told us that if we took it to court, he would lose. Derek could get life. We both were scared. I know that a lot of people say they would take that chance, but we couldn't do it. I really regret it now. Maybe a jury wouldn't have been so hard, but like they say, hindsight is 20/20. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been punished. We all know there are rules that we have to abide by everyday, but I think that 40 years is an excessive punishment. My son is a good kid, not the monster they portrayed him to be. I couldn't ask for a better son, he is an all around good kid.