"Capturing the Friedmans," Andrew Jarecki's documentary about a Long Island family caught in a firestorm of sexual abuse allegations, came out in 2003, and the intervening years have not been kind to one of its subjects."I spent five years on parole," said Jesse Friedman, who pleaded guilty to charges of sexual abuse of minors in order to avoid a life sentence for crimes he says he did not commit. He told Salon: "Parole was living life every day with the threat of being sent back to prison." He had served 13 years, beginning at age 19, and had not been able to find steady employment since his 2001 release, working for a time as an electrician's apprentice. He now supports himself by selling books online, and writes in a statement that his sex-offender status has made it difficult to find a home for him and his wife (Friedman married in 2007), and impossible to imagine having a child. Megan's Law, he writes, "is social exile."Friedman's conviction could very well be overturned -- and very soon, some observers believe. And if it is, it may be largely because of the work of Jarecki, who has helped Friedman's defense team with critical new information, including original accusers' recanting their earlier claims. And it has been motivated in part, he says, by the impression left by his film.Continue Reading... … Read More
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