Alan Truex: Heimlich may be getting a bum rap as a child molester
The New York Post never bores me with its headlines. But this one seemed brazen even for a Manhattan tabloid — or a supermarket tabloid:
“One bad inning sinks convicted child molester at College World Series.”
OK, Post, you got my attention. So who is this guy?
Luke Heimlich, National Pitcher of the Year, 6-foot, 190-pound lefty. He was 16-3 with a 2.90 ERA as a senior for Oregon State. A 4-run 5th inning cost him a loss to Arkansas, but the Beavers won the next two games in Omaha to win the Series.
Heimlich is 22, throws 94 mph with surgical control (159 strikeouts to 28 walks) and has the credentials of a first-rounder in the baseball draft. But he was taken nowhere in the 40 rounds of last year’s draft or the one that ended earlier this month. He seems to be pigeon-holed as a lefthanded child molester.
When he was 16 and living near Seattle he pleaded guilty to a felony, molesting his 6-year-old niece a year earlier. His conviction of a Level 1 sex offense (the least serious category) at 15 and having undergone therapy means there’s less than 3% probability he will offend again. He’s no more risky than the population at large.
Still, righteous media voices are berating anyone interested in hiring him now.
Dayton Moore, general manager of the Kansas City Royals, is an avid Christian, outspoken against pornography, which he believes (as do some psychologists) can lead to aggressive sexual behavior by adolescent boys. So now Moore is widely castigated as a hypocrite. As if Jesus never recommended mercy or forgiveness.
Moore points to Heimlich’s excellent academic record and no tangles with the law for six years and says, “I believe in giving players second chances.”
But many do not. SB Nation calls Moore “irresponsible and infuriating.” Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports, says his Heimlich maneuver “stinks to high heavens.”
Sports Illustrated finds “no moral justification for the Royals or any team to sign Luke Heimlich.” Jon Tayler, SI.com, could not be more emphatic: “There is no debate on this matter, no gray areas or ethical soft spots or moral compromises. “
Actually, there’s much debate, particularly in Oregon and Kansas City. And if you study the facts of this case, there are acres of gray areas. Also some ethical soft spots, one being Tayler and cohorts condemning before researching. And there are, almost certainly, some moral compromises here.
Heimlich maintained innocence from the second an older brother accused him of pulling down the underpants of a 6-year-old girl in his bedroom. He never touched her, the pitcher told The New York Times, but “in a court of law we didn’t think I stood a fair chance.”
One court where he didn’t stand a fair chance is the one of public opinion. Few may understand why he plea-bargained, at the behest of his parents who wanted to spare their granddaughter the trauma of cross-examination. Heimlich told the Portland Tribune he did what “me and my parents thought was the best option to move forward as a family.”
He agreed to deferred adjudication, which allowed him to avoid jail time and have his record expunged of alleged wrongdoing if he completed two years of probation without further violations, which he did. So there’s no felony on his record.
He also agreed to bi-weekly psychological counseling. And he agreed to hand-write a letter of apology to his niece, even though he claimed, repeatedly and consistently, that her accusations are totally false.
He took several lie-detector tests and passed them all. But because of his temporary guilty plea and his apology letter, he is, in the eyes of SI and SB, a two-faced liar.
One of the moral compromises here is that Heimlich signed on, literally, to a story the state of Washington required him to tell and that his parents wanted him to tell, for the sake of the family. He complains of poor legal advice. But who’s to say he’d have done better in trial?
This subject – adolescent boys charged with molesting younger girls – is an area of law filled with ambiguity, abject ignorance and outright horror. I’m devoting a chapter to it in a book I’m writing, Blowhards and Other Lawyers.
In research for the book I questioned a much-respected (non-blowhard) Houston lawyer, Brian A. Benken, about defending accused child molesters. “I hate to bring these cases to trial,” he said. “It’s difficult to win on evidence. You can have a psychologist testify that he’s a young man of fine character. But juries don’t believe in psychology.”
On the other hand, when little girls are called to the stand, Benken said, “they’re always well coached, and they’re usually convincing.”
Policewomen who counsel the young witnesses (using dolls to demonstrate anatomy and behavior) assured me “the girls are very truthful.” Wisdom from “the mouths of babes,” the Bible tells us.
But I’ll never forget my niece, Sarah, telling me when she was 6 that “a green man” entered her room through its second-story window and “climbed into bed with me.”
Can we be so sure that 6-year-olds, unlike adolescents and adults, do not lie about bedroom activity? Do they understand the consequence of such lies? Do they ever confuse dreams with reality? Do the cops ever put words into their mouths?
In my semi-educated opinion, Heimlich would have faced extreme risk from his day in court even if he’s innocent.
And here’s the elephant-in-the-room: In prisons, as well as in juvy detention centers, child molesters are at the bottom of the hierarchy, just below cockroaches. Heimlich could have spent five years peering through iron grating and wondering who might shiv him between the ribs or make him a victim of sexual assault. He would be housed with some boys older, larger, stronger than he.
And is it possible he could have been in a real penitentiary? In America it’s common for juveniles to be tried as adults if the crime is heinous enough. How’s that for logic? Committing the most evil acts shows maturity?
In the land of the free and the overly imprisoned, the legal system is not as advanced as in Holland and Scandinavia. Our police and prosecutors are more devoted to getting a conviction than getting it right. District attorneys are re-elected for their conviction rate. Justice hardly matters, but that’s another chapter.
Heimlich’s case, which was supposed to be sealed from public view, became known because he failed to update his whereabouts for Oregon’s registry of sex offenders. That led to a police citation (subsequently dismissed) that tipped off newspaper reporters to the larger issue.
Had he been drafted in the first round, a team would have paid more than $2 million to sign him. He’d take $2,000 now. Hell, he’d take a minor-league deal, $2,000 a month or less, which is what the Royals probably will offer.
Luke Heimlich just wants a chance to make a living as a baseball pitcher. “If they boo, they boo,” he said. But many will get over it as they have more time to think about it. Perhaps in time more journalists will realize that being convicted of a crime doesn’t necessarily mean you committed it.