Sneddon Won’t Prosecute Real Molester,Goes after Jackson Instead

[b]Commentary: All the little voices deserve equal attention[/b] by Steve Corbett / Times Columnist Saturday, January 17, 2004 While the world watches Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon prepare to make his case against superstar Michael Jackson on charges of child molestation, the Santa Maria parents of another alleged molestation victim wonder why Sneddon abandoned them in their search for truth. [b]David Bruce Danielson retired last year from the [u]Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department[/u][/b], where he worked as a detective until his July 20, 2002, arrest on suspicion of child molestation. In August 2002, Sneddon decided not to prosecute Danielson, of Orcutt, who was then 49, married and a veteran forensic investigator who had worked on some of the county’s most serious criminal cases… Danielson received full pay during the time he did not work and applied that time to his pension, McCammon said. Danielson did not return to partial duty because of the seriousness of the child molestation allegations, she said. [b]The completed internal investigation did not exonerate Danielson[/b], Sheriff Jim Anderson said Monday… But the district attorney has previously said that Danielson’s lack of provable criminal intent figured prominently into the decision to release the detective… [b]But [u]Danielson admitted[/u] only to accidentally fondling the then 14-year-old child in a one-time occurrence, according to Sneddon, who said in an August 2002 interview that the deputy admitted touching the girl “in areas people would consider inappropriate.”[/b]… “He touched (the child) a few places (and) by what he was touching realized it wasn’t his wife,” Sneddon said. “He said, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and jumped out of bed.” Sneddon said the subsequent investigation into the girl’s claims did not provide the required evidence necessary to file a formal charge and prepare for court… The child’s father said last week that the Jackson case seems to depend on the word of a child who, like his daughter, cooperated with Santa Barbara County law enforcement officials. But Sneddon didn’t take his daughter’s statements seriously enough to go to court… [b]Despite Danielson’s [u]shocking admission[/u] to several people, Sneddon judged the evidence to be weak[/b]… :nav[url=http://forum.mjeol.com/index.php?showtopic=13153]Read FULL Article >>[/url]