Cop interrogation costs taxslaves $1.8-million

This is why The Dragonater always records all conversations (interrogations) with police.

Watch police video of 13-year-old autistic boy's interrogation by scumbag copsters

This article was first posted on Freep.com on March 16, 2008. We're rerunning it with updates to reflect today's developments.

On Dec. 4, 2007, without notice to a legal guardian appointed to represent the boy, West Bloomfield Police Detective Joseph Brousseau interrogated a 13-year-old witness about allegations of sexual abuse against his father.

Prosecutors later dropped criminal charges against the parents and agreed to reunite them with their son and daughter, who had been living in separate foster homes for more than three months.

Today, the Free Press reported that the family will get $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit against the police which arose after the Free Press' 2008 articles.

In the video excerpts, which can be viewed below in chronological order, the Free Press has blurred the boy's face to help obscure his identity and that of his sister.

The Wendrows' attorney, Deborah Gordon, said today the Wendrows want the taped interrogation available to Free Press readers.

“They want people to see what exactly went on here,” Gordon said.

Their son is now 16, doing well in school and hopes to someday go to college, Gordon said, but still struggles with the memories.

The Free Press is withholding his name.

Legal experts find violation of rules in taped interrogation

The 13-year-old's interrogation was an attempt to corroborate allegations of abuse his autistic sister had typed with the physical assistance of a paraprofessional facilitator. The accuracy and authorship of the allegations have both been questioned by experts in facilitated communication, who say the accusations may reflect only the facilitator's unconscious suspicions.

Legal experts say the video record of the boy's interrogation reveals numerous violations of rules that are supposed to protect minors who may have witnessed sexual abuse and to minimize false allegations of abuse.

One called Brousseau's tactics, which included deception, threats and repeated insinuations that the boy was lying, "reprehensible." A therapist who treated the boy for Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, said the detective may have misinterpreted symptoms of the boy's condition as evidence of evasion or guilt.

A spokesman for the West Bloomfield police said at the time: "The bottom line here is that the detective wanted to get the truth. I don't know whether he went over the line or not."

During the two-hour interview, Brousseau repeatedly tells the boy that police have uncovered new evidence supporting his autistic sister's allegations against their father. As the interrogation progresses, the detective stuns the boy by suggesting that videotapes recovered from the boy's home depict him in sexually compromising situations.

After steadfastly denying any knowledge of sexual abuse, the boy ultimately concedes that the unseen evidence may prove his involvement, although he can't recall any sexual contact with his father or sister. Weeping, he tells Brousseau that the detective's revelations have shattered his confidence in his father.

In fact, prosecutors now concede, evidence to which Brousseau makes repeated references during the interrogation does not exist.

A closer look at the videos

Early in the two-hour interrogation, Detective Brousseau tells the13-year-old that police have uncovered other evidence supporting his autistic sister's allegations of sexual abuse. The detective never explains what evidence he is referring to.

Brousseau tells the 13-year-old that the boy's body language suggests he knows more than he's saying about his sister's allegations. Experts who have reviewed the video say the detective may have misinterpretied symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome, a condition for which the boy was treated for 10 years, as evidence of guilt or evasion.

The 13-year-old witness says that what Brousseau has told him makes him question his father's innocence.

As the boy continues to insist he has never had sexual contact with his father, Brousseau says that police have discovered evidence of sexual contact between the boy and his sister. Prosecutors now concede that there is no such evidence.

Brousseau returns to the interrogation room after a 10-minute absence to report that crime lab technicians have uncovered new, unspecified evidence that points to the boy's own involvement in sexual abuse. Prosecutors now concede no such evidence exists.

Pressed to remember situations when his father and sister have been together, the boy tells Brousseau he has seen his father help his disabled sister shower while his father was naked. A psychologist who treated the girl for many years said she was aware of the father's actions and not alarmed by them, because the autistic girl frequently became "frozen" and required her parents' assistance to bathe.

As the boy continues to deny any knowledge of sexual abuse in his home, Brousseau expresses doubts about his honesty.

The boy asks to take a lie detector test; Brousseau tells him the father has refused to submit to a polygraph himself. The father's lawyer says he vetoed the polygraph when he learned his father had volunteered to take the test.

Brousseau insists the boy has firsthand knowledge of sexual abuse in his parents' home.

Brousseau hints that videotapes recovered in a search of the parents' house depict the boy in sexual situations with family members, and warns that "it's going to come out." In fact, no such videos were found. You will hear a tone where the Free Press has removed a name from this clip.

The boy tells Brousseau he no longer sees his father as trustworthy. The detective insists that the father forfeited his son's trust "a long time ago."

---

Here's how copsters do interrogations in Tennessee -- Gitmo Style...