My husband and I are the parents of one child who today (8/23/15) is 23 years old. He is an extremely bright and quite gifted young man who has been incarcerated for the last 4 years. He has been in a prison in Florida for the last two years and prior to that was in their jail system waiting to determine his fate. We live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Joshua went to Florida to try a new start, but after living with one roommate, he was left homeless. Joshua has been diagnosed as having bi-polar disorder and when he left he was not taking medication. He is also ADHD. This has been documented for years and after several suicide attempts that landed him in the hospital originating from toxic relationships. While homeless, he met a young girl with whom Joshua found a friend. Both the girl, who as it turned out was not quite 16, he was 19, and he found each other to be good company. Her mother told my son one day, " you are over here every day anyway and you don't have anywhere to live, so stay here, & YOU CAN SLEEP IN MY DAUGHTER'S BED!" She could have offered for him to sleep on the couch, in her son's room, but she didn't! This mother not only allowed it, but condoned it. After several months, the mother took a job as a home health nurse living in the home with the patient. She left the home and did NOT return for 6-7 months. She literally farmed out all of her own responsibilities so that she could stay drunk on the patient's alcohol all day. This mother was an alcoholic, coke addict, and crack addict and had been witnessed partying with all these substances in the presence of all of her children and their friends and allowed them to partake. She also had been given over 20 Baker Acts some involving weapons used against her children. When the patient's family fired her, which meant my son lost his job as well, this angry mother returned home. At that point she began a battle against Joshua. She threw him out one night and immediately burned all of his clothing and personal items. She brainwashed her daughter and convinced her to go to the police and make a recorded phone call getting him to admit they had consensual sex. Immediately after, they took out a warrant for his arrest with 3 counts. Florida gives you 15 years for each count. We did not have money for a private attorney so he had to take a deal. Every man in jail on the same charge even older than him were getting a year in county or a year in prison. The district attorney was unbelievably viscious comparing him to a "45 year old man luring a little girl into a van with a puppy". She went on to say that if he was not on his medications, then he needed to be locked up! The worse part was my own recovering alcoholic brother parent of a heroin addicted daughter whom I have cared for and loved, wrote a letter to the prosecution that was completely inaccurate, and just full of half truths and total lies that colored my testimony for my son in a very negative light. Lastly, the mother admitted in court that "she had allowed many, many, many other boys sleep with her daughter before my son. So then the Judge ruled. Joshua got 12 1/2 years with 4 1/2 years probation. On entry into the Florida processing center, their Social worker told him he was NOT bi-polar and our psychologist (who has a PHD) is just taking our money. Of course the state of Florida had paid to have an independent psychologist test him whose results matched perfectly. That was a result of charges falsely brought against him in Brevard County because his roommate stole his ID, did a B & E, and pawned the merchandise in my son's name. No prints, no eyewitness, no camera in the pawn shop, nothing credible to charge him but since they didn't have his roommate they charged my son. Then they gave him the deal that he could have the charges adjudicated if he went to a facility when he got done for one year. Now they won't let him run that one year time concurrent with the time he is serving because a law was passed that you had to appeal 30 days after. Well how the heck could he do that because he was in another county jail for nearly a year waiting to see that outcome. This has been a tremendous hardship on our family. I have Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Hi blood pressure, COPD, Reynaud's disease, Chronic Bronchitis, Chronic Asthma, & borderline type 11 diabetes as well as chronic musculoskeletal pain. My husband is a school teacher which in this state does not pay much. Neither of our cars are in good condition so when we want to visit our son, we have to rent a car which costs quite a bit and then pay for a hotel and then after driving 2 days we can only afford to see him for the one weekend. It would cost us close to $2000 or more depending on rates to stay and see him 2 weekends. He has no other family there or friends. This has been killing my family. Joshua's grandmother is 93 and his heart breaks every day that she will die before he sees her again. Joshua doesn't belong in prison for this. This law needs to be changed. By all accounts, this girl was sexually active long before my son and with boys just as old. Now I have heard from the rumor mill that she has regretted her actions against my son every day since and that her mother made her lie! If anyone needs to be held accountable, it should be this mother! Please sign my petition and forward it to others! My son will be 30 when he gets out as a sexual offender. We need that title dropped!!! Help us please!!!! God Bless you, Rick and Jill Douglas