|
|
|
|
Bridle Ridge 113 Appaloosa, 1999, 3/2, 1809 sq. ft., $147, 000. Relocating. Must sell. Call 361-212-0393.
3/1.5, 2 LA, with large shop/storage, new driveway & landscaping, $95,000, see pics at or leave message at 655-9898
The man, who accused the former sheriff of forcing him to have sexual relations with him when he was a teen, got an early dose of disappointment a month ago when special prosecutor Terry McDonald and Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. John Schlinger met with him about the plea.
The man, who the Advocate is not identifying because he was a minor when the case started and it involved a sexual assault, said he was not consulted on the plea but was told what was going to happen.
Why the plea? One reason, he was told, was “for the sake of Victoria.”
The accuser, who is now 25, was further told a plea would avoid prolonged court proceedings, which may have made him look worse or humiliate him.
“I’m not humiliated because of something someone else did,” he said. “It further goes to show the good ol’ boy system in Victoria,” he said.
The only thing he could do was write a letter expressing his anger and frustration with how things were done.
“It’s nothing I didn’t expect from Victoria,” he said. “The message of today: It’s OK to do these types of things.”
The accuser is currently in a correctional facility near San Antonio for violating his probation on a drug charge. He was on furlough from the center to attend Thursday’s proceedings.
He admitted to leading a lawless lifestyle but said he is paying for his crimes, unlike Ratcliff.
“I’ve paid costs. I feel like he got treated differently,” he said.
The court proceeding was the first time he had seen Ratcliff in about four years, he said. He sat in the back of the courtroom with employees of Hope of South Texas, whom he credits with helping him and standing by his side throughout the investigation and court ordeal.
The man said it is time for him to move on with his life.
“I am able to put it behind me, no more nightmares and stress,” he said.
He’s not sure what he will do for a job once he gets out of the corrections center in about five months, but said he has no intention of going back in.
“But I have to focus on getting the help I need where I am at,” he said. “I am taking it a day at a time, trying to live sober and clean.”
If there was any good out of Thursday’s proceedings, he said, it was gaining some respect for the sheriff’s office he lost after the events of 1997.
“The deputies were nice and told me they were glad I was standing up,” he said before the proceedings. “And they escorted me out the back to not get swarmed by everyone out front.”
If there was any fear that came from the proceedings, it was the possibility of not getting a chance to speak at sentencing because Ratcliff was not pleading to a sexual assault offense.
“I am hoping I still can do that,” he said. “So I can tell him in the right way that he messed up my life.”
Bj Lewis is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6535 or bjlewis@vicad.com.