Please Support the Passage of #BaileysLaw
We cannot allow criminals to get away with the death of their victims, especially our disabled loved ones.
1-30-19 Update: The court went forward last night with the golden plea deal for Teator- reduced charges, 3 years probation, $216 restitution to the bank, and the gift of wiping out her completely unrelated charges in a totally separate court. No community service and the Ulster County DA filed a motion to prohibit restitution to my family to reimburse for mental health costs, classifying us a “third party”- so family restitution was denied. I’m outraged! This is NOT JUSTICE or a deterrent for INTENTIONALLY victimizing an autistic 19 year old whereby the crime directly led to his death. The case for the second defendant hasn’t even begun yet. Please, please, help me fix this- Bailey’s story is NOT the first and won’t be the last unless we fix this by passing Bailey’s Law.
10-7-19 Update: We are having a really tough time and need calls to your state lawmakers to get the bills passed! Bailey’s Law NYS Assembly Bill # A6509; Expansion of Office of Victim Services benefits to family survivors of criminally victimized suicide deaths NYS Assembly Bill #A06845; and we also need to push lawmakers to include 1st degree (intent) endangering a disabled/vulnerable/elderly person to the hate crimes statute to open this for possible additional charges when our vulnerable loved ones are intentionally targeted. Please, please call your lawmakers today!
OUR STORY
On 7-31-17 my 19 year old dependent autistic son, Bailey, resorted to suicide 7 days after being victimized in a financial scam, 4 days after I realized he was victimized, and less than 5 hours after being asked by police to ID one of the perpetrators- it was my birthday of all days. After nearly 20 years of complete family devotion and cultivating our lives in support, contemplation and preparation of his each new life phase, new stage, new challenge, and new triumph our lives were completely and irrevocably upended in the span of 8 minutes. There are no words for how devastating this experience is, still.
Bailey had many friends. He was kind, funny, caring, generous, gentle, down to earth, and creative. He was an artist, a lover of history, and had compassion for all living things. He was a teacher his whole life as much as he was a student of it. Bailey made me stronger, made me determined, made me timely, made me adjustable, made me more understanding...and it was Bailey that made me an advocate for kids with special needs for all these years. Of course, his 3 siblings also helped make me, and him, over the years...we all made each other. Our family has always been very tight. Being a single mom the last 16 years enabled me to make my children my world, and show them we are a team. I’ve tried to give them everything I am and everything I have within me, with intention. But despite everything I’d, we’d, put in over the years my son, their brother, is gone...less then 8 minutes after leaving my side.
Bailey resorted to suicide 7 days after being a victim of a financial crime, 4 days after I realized he was victimized, and less than 5 hours of being asked to ID one of the perpetrators. He was preyed upon, betrayed, and taken advantage of by a girl he knew for years and had recently befriended him. This girl connected her male friend to my son under the guise of helping them cash a check. From what I’ve been told by State Police, Bailey was hesitant to help them, unsure of whether or not the request was legitimate, and she assured my son that the request was fine and then promised him, I believe, $200 from the proceeds for his assistance. I suspect Bailey provided them with his bank card and his PIN number. On 7-24-17 the male deposited a $1675.00 fraudulent check at an atm in Highland, NY and then immediately withdrew $200 (the amount fronted with a check hold); this was caught on atm bank video. I realized there was a problem on Thursday the 27th when I noted on our joint account both the deposit and withdrawal as well as the $200 withdrawal ultimately being pulled from my separate account. Bailey was learning banking and I would transfer his disability money to the joint account so he would learn about money management, budgeting, grocery shopping, etc. Bailey was devastated over the loss. We connected with local police on the 27th, who then directed us to the nearest state troopers on the 28th, who in turn directed us to State Troopers in Highland on 7-29-17 where we filed a complaint. Later on that Saturday, my youngest son told me he overheard his brother Bailey on the phone after hearing of the banking problem on Thursday, extremely upset over the financial loss and insisting on the return of funds. On Monday, 7-31-17 the investigator came to our house at 12:30 to see if Bailey could ID the male in the bank video. Bailey claimed he did not know the person and by his reaction I believe he didn’t. At 5:16pm he left our home stating he was going for a walk to draw; this was not unlike him as his executive processing speed is slower than many and he’d use walks or drawing to manage stresses. By 5:30 I heard the emergency response sirens and ran down our street, because I never wanted my kids around the chaos when EMS was in the area, and of course I wanted to count the safety of my chicks. The area they were responding to is a nuisance area that has had more than it’s fair share of fires....but there was no fire truck, only medical response. My son had hung himself in the woods less than a block from our home. The next day I was presented with a note he’d written; he clearly believed he’d done something very wrong in trusting the wrong person.
No law enforcement involved in this case believes that Bailey had the faculty to understand what was happening, or the complexities that he was a victim, and neither does any of his family nor his longstanding therapist. There is no doubt in my mind that he merely thought he was helping someone.
Both accused, at this point, will only be charged minimally; one with grand larceny 4th and the other with Endangering a disabled person 1st, both class E non violent felonies. Theoretically they could each get probation. They have each since been arrested for other crimes; her on drug charges in October 2017 and him for killing a 16 year old with his car after an argument in Yonkers in December 2017. The male is being held without bail in Westchester and has yet to be charged for our case. The female was arrested and arraigned for this case but was granted release on $2000 cash/$4000 bond.
I am sickened over what may be obvious to you at this point, that the charges do not reflect their role in the death of my son.
People with disabilities, including autism, are among our most vulnerable community members. It seems so unjust that a charge of endangering specifically relates to affecting the mental well-being of a vulnerable person yet they are not charged with the actual consequences of this criminal action.
I’m currently working with our local representatives to start the process of pushing for new legislation in the state to hold perpetrators fully accountable for the consequences of their actions.
The law for Endangering in NY currently states: “Under our law, a person is guilty of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree when he or she knowingly acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a person who is unable to care for himself or herself because of physical disability, mental disease or defect. The term "knowingly” has its own special meaning in our law. I will now give you the meaning of that term. A person KNOWINGLY acts in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a person who is unable to care for himself or herself because of physical disability, mental disease or defect when that person is aware that he or she is acting in such manner. Actual harm to the incompetent or physically disabled person need not result.”
Currently under our criminal laws culpability for a persons suicide rests on the aspect of “aiding and abetting”, or, in practical terms, specifically aiding, directing or encouraging the suicide.
This MUST change. Those that would intentionally cultivate an environment and/or circumstances specifically to use people with disabilities to commit a crime, need to be held accountable for the full range of actual damages they cause, including the death of their victim. We need #BaileysLaw to firmly establish...
If a defendant is charged with endangering in the first degree, or another crime related and/or connected to a charge of endangering in the first degree (as in coconspirators/codefendant), whereby the events result in the victim’s suicide within reasonable proximity of the crime, defendants should be criminally charged for the victim’s death.
This area of law, as it specifically relates to endangering, also needs to be updated to incorporate the disability standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Social Security Administration in trials. As it stands, the question of a successful trial seems tied to whether or not the victim has an IQ over 40, and can dress and feed oneself. This is an extremely low threshold for a successful trial against a perpetrator charged with endangering and is not in line with current state and federal laws to protect the disabled. There are an enormous number of people with autism, and other disabilities, who have a high IQ and can feed and clothe themselves but cannot fully meet their own needs in a manner that could be characterized as independent living. Bailey’s Law should protect anyone that can be considered a vulnerable person by including the state and federal standards of disability.
I urge you to support Bailey’s Law. It will not help my family but it will help many others.
PLEASE, sign this petition to help me get it passed!
To view or VOTE YES on the #BaileysLaw bill (NY S.8541) you can visit https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/s8541 - there is a link at this location for the identical Assembly version as well.
To learn more about my beloved Bailey you can visit the guestbook at https://m.legacy.com/obituaries/poughkeepsiejournal/obituary.aspx?n=&pid=186269333&referrer=0&preview=True
To follow our journey, visit https://www.facebook.com/BaileysBridges/ https://m.facebook.com/DearBaileyLoveMom/ & http://BaileysBridges.org/baileyslaw/
Sincerely,
Gae Marie Cannon, Poughkeepsie, NY
*6-17-18 Update: Our bill for Bailey’s Law passed in the NY Senate on 6-11-18 with a vote of 44/17. The bill is now in the NY Assembly (A.10874) and I’m pushing to have it passed before the end of the legislative session on 6-20-18.
The Ulster County Court has declined to take on the female’s case (the facilitator of this crime), and referred it back to the Town Court. This means that HER CHARGES WILL BE REDUCED from felony to misdemeanor or less- because Town Courts CANNOT process felonies. It is looking more and more like she will get 3 years of probation... To put this into context- a DWI, WITHOUT LOSS OF LIFE, can result in 3 years probation, over $1000 fine and revocation of drivers license...
I am disgusted.... these people KNEW they were committing a crime. KNEW they were targeting someone with a disability, and their actions resulted in the DEATH of their victim......
Please, please share our petition... This is just not right.. Targeting our vulnerable loved ones breaks a sacred social contract in our society and we must prevent this from happening to someone else...
8-15-18 Update: Our bill for Bailey’s Law is currently stuck in the Codes Committee of the Assembly but I am pushing forward with public support signatures as well as organizational and legislator support. Our bill now has 4 Assembly sponsors: Didi Barrett, Christine Pellegrino, Angelo Santabarbara, and David McDonough. This is immensely helpful but until this bill passes in the Assembly and is signed by Andrew Cuomo, we cannot stop pushing for more bill support.
Our next court hearing for the female’s case is on August 28th. It’s expected she will be offered a plea bargain of a reduced charge (felony Endangering in the 1st to misdemeanor Endangering) with a sentence of 3 years probation. THIS IS NOT JUSTICE FOR AN INTENTIONAL CRIME THAT RESULTED IN DEATH.
The male has not yet been brought up to our county for arraignment; he is still pending trial for Murder 2 in Westchester County in an unrelated case.
9-21-18 Update: Our last court appearance for Teator did not go as expected, thankfully. But know I have no idea what’s going to happen. Our next court date is Tuesday, 9-25-18. See update for more details.
12-5-18 Update: The court is moving forward with the golden plea deal for Teator- reduced charges, 3 years probation, and the gift of wiping out her completely unrelated charges in a totally separate court. The Thompson case has not started yet... I’m outraged. This is NOT JUSTICE or a deterrent for INTENTIONALLY victimizing an autistic 19 year old whereby the crime directly led to his death. Please, please, help me fix this so our story doesn’t become someone else’s.
1-30-19 Update: The court went forward last night with the golden plea deal for Teator- reduced charges, 3 years probation, $216 restitution to the bank, and the gift of wiping out her completely unrelated charges in a totally separate court. No community service and the Ulster County DA filed a motion to prohibit restitution to my family to reimburse for mental health costs, classifying us a “third party”- so family restitution was denied. I’m outraged! This is NOT JUSTICE or a deterrent for INTENTIONALLY victimizing an autistic 19 year old whereby the crime directly led to his death. The case for the second defendant hasn’t even begun yet. Please, please, help me fix this- Bailey’s story is NOT the first and won’t be the last unless we fix this by passing Bailey’s Law.
2-10-19 Update: 9 days after the plea bargain was signed and ordered in our case, Teator was arraigned in another local court on similar misdemeanor charges. Ulster County had access to know these additional charges were pending and gave her that ridiculous plea deal anyway.
10-7-19 Update: We are having trouble getting our bills through the Assembly Codes Committee and need YOU to call lawmakers to urge their active support of these bills. As for our cases, the Thompson case has yet to be even arraigned yet as he is facing murder charges in another county and that trial has been pushed to November 2019. The Teator case for us is considered done though she is facing additional similar charges for another case committed during our court case and is currently being detained for failure to comply with the probation sentence given for our case. The court for her second case is talking about another plea bargain which would again reduce her charges.
What you can do to help:1. SHARE the petition and Bailey’s story, in person and online2. Go to our website and print free flyers for local venues and local bulletin boards in your town, and deliver them to all the neighbors on your street 3. Call agencies that support the disabled and/or elderly and ask them to join our coalition of support. You can give them the website address as a contact. 4. Call your representatives, wherever you live, and tell them we need #BaileysLaw.5. Stay informed. The blood and guts of this journey is on our Facebook page Dear Bailey.
Thank you so much for your support, your caring messages (yes, I read them all), and I hope you’ll stay with me through this process of fixing the law.
With gratitude, Gae Marie
