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ReyRey

Location: In a world of $#!t

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:38 pm   Reply with quote         


This is from the front page of the newspaper.
Quote:
WATERTOWN [--] It was an evening in late March, and 42-year-old Rey Michaud, gripping a pair of binoculars, was waiting in his car with a private investigator across from a Morris pizza shop.
After about a half an hour into the stakeout, a Ford pulled in with a familiar license plate.
“He pulled up in a pickup truck with the same license plate he's always had, the same license plate that he had on the van that he molested me in,” Michaud said. “I saw him get out of the car with a young boy and I said, 'Oh my God, he's still doing this.'”
So began a monthlong quest that culminated Tuesday with the arrest of David G. Stanco, 57, of Thomaston, on charges he sexually abused a 15-year-old boy for more than a year.
In a series of interviews with the Republican-American, Michaud [JUMP]explained Stanco sexually abused him more than a hundred times between the ages of 12 and 16. He went to police with his story in March, but his allegations of abuse were 26 years old and outside the statute of limitations, said Lt. Mark Raimo, spokesman for Watertown police.
So Michaud decided he'd do his own police work.
He said he first met Stanco about 30 years ago when he moved from Waterbury to Watertown and happened into a music store near Straits Turnpike to buy a harmonica, according to his sworn affidavit with the Watertown Police Department.
“I didn't have enough money, but (Stanco) said we have broken ones in the back, and if you can play a song on it, I'll give you one,” Michaud said. He said he fixed the harmonica, played a song and left.
Soon afterward, Michaud said, he discovered Stanco lived in his neighborhood. He usually had a group of boys around, Michaud said, and sent a few over to invite him down to the home to hang out.

Father figure needed
Michaud was 12 at the time, and said he was going through a rough patch: His parents had divorced and he was rebelling against his stepfather.
He said it didn't take long for Stanco, who was in his mid- to late-20s, to become the father figure he thought he needed.
“He'd buy you that baseball glove nobody would buy you. He'd let you drive his van when you were 12 years old. He'd buy you alcohol. He'd buy you porn,” he said. “He'd take you camping. You know, every little boy's dream.”
But the friendship quickly went downhill.
One day, he said, Stanco invited him to go swimming with some of the other boys from the neighborhood. But because he had just moved to town, Michaud said, his swimming trunks were in a box somewhere. So Stanco offered to buy him new ones. Once he did, Michaud said, Stanco had him put them on in a back room of the music store. Michaud said that was where he was first touched him inappropriately.
“I felt embarrassed and I felt stupid,” he said. <t-1>”I wasn't sure if this is what tough guys do in the locker room, I didn't know.”
<t$>Michaud never told anyone. As time went on, he said, a pattern formed.
Either in the van, in a bedroom at his home or in a trailer behind the house, Michaud said, it happened the same way. First they would watch pornography, then Stanco would make a move, he said. Sometimes, Michaud said, Stanco would even pick him up from the bus stop on his way to school.
“He'd park down at Echo Lake Road. He always had a mover's blanket that he kept over the piano or organ when he moved it. He would lay that out in the back of the van,” Michaud said.
When he turned 16, Michaud said, he gained some independence and was able to get out of the situation.
He said he began to understand what had happened as he grew older. At the age of 19, he went to Stanco's home to beat him up but “chickened out” after Stanco answered the door.
Another time, he said, he was shopping for a television when he saw Stanco standing behind him in the reflection of a screen.
“I saw him staring at the back of my head, like he was waiting for me to turn around. I didn't want to turn around, I didn't know what to do ... I was shaken,” he said. Finally, Stanco walked away.

Memories never faded
Michaud said the memories of what happened never faded, but life went on.
He was married, and now has two children. He works as a graphic artist in advertising. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with leukemia. With medication, he has been able to contain the cancer, he said.
“When you think you're going to die, you lose a lot of fear,” he said. “I always thought about finding him, but had no idea where he was.”
Then, about a month ago, his past resurfaced. A friend told him Stanco was playing piano at a local pizza restaurant, and lived in town. After seeing Stanco and the boy at the pizza restaurant, Michaud said, he was on a mission.
“I started doing some searching on the (Internet). I found out he was playing organ and teaching choir and a member of youth groups in churches in Thomaston and Watertown,” he said.
“I went to those churches and talked to the priests and pastors and told them my story [--] how he lured me in, how he met me, how it began.”
He said he found a Facebook page for Stanco, and began writing down the names of all his friends, many of whom, he said, were boys. The page has since been taken down.
Using the list he was able to find a boy who said he had been molested by Stanco. Michaud said he convinced him to come forward to police by sharing his own story. Thomaston Police Lt. James Campbell confirmed Wednesday that Michaud initiated the complaint that led Stanco's arrest.
With Stanco held on $300,000 bond, Michaud has found some measure of peace, but said he won't rest until Stanco goes to trial. He said he believes there are others like him who were victimized by Stanco as children, but are too afraid to come forward.
He said he hopes making his own experience public will help other victims find the courage to go to police.
Police in Watertown and Thomaston have encouraged the Republican-American to publish Michaud's story with the same hope.
For Michaud, a taste of redemption after 26 years of looking over his shoulder has been cathartic.
“Ever since I've been doing this I feel re-energized. I feel something good coming into my life. I just feel like I'm doing something right,” he said. “This is the closest I have come to closure in a long time, and I know what it can do for other people to know that he's not doing it any more ... I know that it's haunted me forever.”

http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/479466.txt
http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/479464.txt




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Splodge..you rock!! Wherever you are.
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supak0ma

Location: Photoshop Nation

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:46 pm   Reply with quote         


read it this morning...i was shocked rey, glad the bastard was caught. For you , well, i got no words, there are no words for such monstruosities... happy to see it helped you Sad




Tawiskaro

Location: New York

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:49 pm   Reply with quote         


Excellent, Rey. Just excellent. It takes grit to publicy expose a painful personal history in order to do the right thing. Most people wouldn't even consider it. Thanks to your persistence, it seems there is a good possibility this joker will enter his own painful personal history. I sure hope so.

Good for you.

--twk


.




Alex

Location: Montreal

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:52 pm   Reply with quote         


Wow.
Unbelievable.
So sorry to read that.




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kittie

Location: Florida

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:54 pm   Reply with quote         


Horrible. I'm glad you were able to be strong and to do what you did.




Tesore

Location: On the way to Utopia!

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:54 pm   Reply with quote         


I'm proud on you and you can be proud on your strength! Thanks for sharing.
Bless you Hug




Trann

Location: Canadian Prairies, eh?

Post Thu May 06, 2010 12:55 pm   Reply with quote         


Honoured to know you, Rey.




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Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:00 pm   Reply with quote         


Rey,

I have known for quite a while that you were a great person.. But honestly, what I just read blew me out of the water!

You deserve two standing ovations for #1 facing your fears and taking on that guy and #2 having the guts to go public with your story for the safety of other kids that might have been hurt (or surely would be hurt in the future).

I applaud you!!
cheers




rockyjob

Location: Anywhere but where I am.

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:05 pm   Reply with quote         


This is much more important than the H2H.
You did something really good Rey, Really really really good. You've done something 99.99% of the people wouldn't do.You should be proud of it. Thanks for contributing to make the world a better place.




the202
Site Moderator

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:08 pm   Reply with quote         


This explains a lot...

I admire your courage, you're a righteous Man.




Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:19 pm   Reply with quote         


Rey, it's so good to know there are those as brave as you to speak up and fight these evil predators. Glad to see you are finally finding some closure.




TheShaman

Location: Peaksville, Southeast of Disorder

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:20 pm   Reply with quote         


ditto to all the above statements.
Hug
Cheers ReyHey you know you're loved here.




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j58roldan

Location: New Jersey

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:32 pm   Reply with quote         


It takes great courage to do what you did. Thanks for your honesty and for getting a scumbag like that. You just saved a lot of kids. Thank you.




MamaBallistic

Location: Behind you!

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:47 pm   Reply with quote         


Wow! Well done Rey, I'm pleased to hear something is finally going to happen to that bas*ard!!

I have to admit that reading this was extremely hard for both Mark & I & we're in complete shock at the revelation that something like this had happened to you & others!

I had something happen at 15 y.o that I've never reported & I'm not sure will ever have the strength to report so all I can say now is well done to you... I know it must have taken a hell of a lot for you to make it known & I have the upmost respect for you (not that I didn't already) that you have decided to make it publically known on PSC too.

Proud to know you - I don't think I know anyone else with this sort of courage. I know a lot of people think it's just a case of stepping forward but reliving what happened whilst telling the authorities what happened is probably the hardest part.

Hopefully this will put life in perspective for a lot of people! Good Luck with the trial & you know where we are if you want to chat Smile

x




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rett435

Location: Tennessee

Post Thu May 06, 2010 1:51 pm   Reply with quote         


study Crying or Very sad Hug

Thanks Rey, for everything you do. Hopefully, others will feel some hope and comfort from the incredible thing you just did. I know they will.




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Photoshop Contest Forum Index - General Discussion - Why I am not in the H2H. What I've been doing - Reply to topic

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