DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit man imprisoned for nearly 30 years after being accused of child molestation has been released on bond after the two accusers recanted.
A Wayne County judge last week vacated the 1989 conviction of Bernard Young, 58, who was charged with criminal sexual conduct after two boys levied the accusations. Young has long maintained his innocence.
Court records said two boys told investigators that Young, a neighbor, sexually abused them a year earlier while babysitting them when they were about 5 and 6 years old. Then in interviews before Young’s trial, the boys accused their mother’s then-boyfriend, William Clark, of the abuse - but the new information wasn’t given to Young or his attorney.
“It exceeds all bounds of decency to not give a defendant information that he’s entitled to. It’s inexcusable,” Young’s attorney Solomon Radner said. “This is the type of information that could have cast a serious doubt on the testimony that ultimately convicted him.”
Radner asked for a new trial in May 2016, after the two accusers signed affidavits saying Clark was the perpetrator. Clark pleaded guilty to charges of child abuse in 2008 and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Prosecutors have requested a retrial for Young, and it’s scheduled for this spring. The prosecutor’s office also said it would also appeal a previously denied request to have Young transported to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department until he was fitted for a GPS tether.
“He’s been such a positive person and his faith has been so strong that he would someday be released,” said Claudia Whitman, director of nonprofit National Capital Crime Assistance Network “He’s just so happy to be back with his family.”
The network, which helped prove Clark was the real suspect, was initially contacted by Young’s sister about five years ago as part of her effort to free her brother.
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Information from: The Detroit News, https://detnews.com/
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