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(Director: Nonny de la Peña, 89 min, Rating: unrated)
This documentary discusses the 10-year ordeal of a Michigan family that included accusations of sexual abuse, imprisonment, incompetent lawyers, numerous appeals, and forever changed the lives of 3 generations. Before it all started, Stephen Matthews and his girlfriend, Danette, were high-school sweethearts. They got pregnant and got married; Stephen came to terms with his homosexuality, got divorced, and left Michigan, but returned on occasion to be with his son. The boy spent a great deal of time with his grandparents. When the child was 5, they noticed a black eye and accused Danette's live-in boyfriend (a self-proclaimed homophobe) of causing the bruise - this may have started the friction, but Stephen's sexuality added fuel to the fire.
Danette took her son to see a therapist to deal with his inappropriate
acting out, from this came accusations that the grandparents and the father
were sexually abusing and torturing the boy with a machete. Charges against
the grandmother were eventually dropped, but Stephen and Melvin Matthews
were tried, convicted, and sentenced to 19 to 35 years, largely due to
a chlamydia test that was never supposed to be used in sexual abuse cases.
The examining physician also testified that there were no physical signs
of abuse, but the testimony of the little boy was too shocking for the
jury to hear anything else, especially knowing the accused was gay. The
evidence about the test came to light, but it wasn't until after 4 years
in prison that the men were released, only to discover the prosecutors
were planning on putting them back on trial. Before the second trial, the
cases were dropped for lack of evidence. By this time, Stephen and Melvin
had been labeled with the stigma of accused pedophiles and the child believes
he was molested and tortured. In the aftermath, the prosecutors still think
Stephen and Melvin are guilty, they just can't prove it. What a horrible experience for all of them.
One of the psychologists explained how children can be counseled and prompted
into believing they have suffered all manner of horrors and once they become
convinced, it's next to impossible to un-convince them. Listening to the
boy's initial statements and his testimony during the trial after a year
of counseling are rather chilling, especially when you think about the
trauma this kid has suffered through and the scars he's going to have thinking
he's been mistreated.
The emotional grabber comes when Stephen is listening to his son's recorded message that states he has memories of the abuse, hates his father, his grandfather, and gay people.
The documentary presents both sides of the story and comes across as presenting
a fair assessment of the situation. The one complaint has to be the extra
footage of "human interest" stories about some of the key players
- the stuff about the bait shop, the Barry Manilow concerts, and the raccoons
is thrown in to give these people some personality, but all it achieves
is taking focus away from the story. Fluff pieces may work for the news,
but they're distracting in a documentary.
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