My 14-year-old Son Beat His Stepmother Unconscious At Her Own Wedding. My Entire Family Disowned Him Until He Showed Us What Was On His Phone. Now She Is Trying To Frame Me For A Felony To Keep Us Quiet?
Family Fissures
3 days later a letter showed up from Fen with shaky handwriting saying she was sorry for not believing my son. Potter sent a text saying he wasn’t picking sides but needed space from the whole situation. Conrad’s parents completely stopped answering calls or messages like we didn’t exist anymore. The family was splitting apart with everyone choosing their own way to handle the guilt.
CPS came to my friend’s house that week with paperwork about Tommy’s placement. They said he needed to stay in therapeutic foster care, and my friend’s family qualified since they had the right training. Tommy would get to stay where he felt safe while getting help for what happened to him. The social worker brought toys and books to help him feel more at home. My friend’s kids were being really gentle with him and teaching him card games.
Two weeks passed before Lauren’s lawyer filed papers trying to get my son’s photos thrown out as evidence. She claimed they were illegally obtained and couldn’t be used in court. The motion meant my son might have to testify about how he got the photos. Casey immediately started preparing counterarguments about why the evidence should stay. The hearing got scheduled for the following month with everyone required to appear.
Meanwhile, my son had to go to juvenile court for the assault charges. The judge looked at all the evidence and offered him a diversion program instead of regular prosecution. He’d have to do therapy twice a week and 60 hours of community service at the animal shelter. If he completed everything successfully, his record would stay clean. My son nodded and signed the papers without saying anything.
The military called me that same week about an administrative board hearing. They said the negative publicity from the case was affecting unit morale and base security. My security clearance was under review and they were questioning my humanitarian leave status.
Why did Lauren wait until she was locked in the bathroom to install that spoofing app? That timing seems way too convenient, like she already had a backup plan ready to go just in case things went bad at the wedding.
The Suppression Hearing
I had to submit pages of documentation explaining everything that happened. The hearing got scheduled for three weeks out with my career hanging in the balance.
During the suppression hearing, the judge kept asking Lauren’s lawyer to explain technical problems with her phone evidence against me. Cory had found timestamps that didn’t match and metadata showing files were created after she went to the bathroom. The lawyer kept stumbling over his words trying to explain the inconsistencies.
The judge frowned and took notes while Lauren sat there looking nervous. Her bruises had faded but she kept touching her face like they still hurt. After 3 hours of testimony, the judge said he’d rule within 2 weeks.
CPS finished their investigation and officially found that Lauren had abused both boys. They also found Conrad guilty of failure to protect his children from a known threat. He got mandated to take parenting classes every week for 6 months. The safety plan got extended another six months with surprise home visits included.
Conrad started showing up to the required classes without complaining. He sat in the back taking notes and asking questions about warning signs he’d missed. His anger was shifting away from us and toward Lauren as more evidence came out. He started sending short emails asking how Tommy was doing.
