A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and he chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday.
After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with what appeared to be clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said.
“I looked over and noticed him drinking,” Howard said. “His hand was shaking. At the time, I thought it was shaking because of the verdict. Then he kept drinking and drinking.”
This local article is much more informative on this man’s tragic situation:
Apparently the man answered an adult ad on Craiglist, had a sexual encounter, and then found out the girl was 14 afterwards. From the world’s point of view, his life was ruined before he even realized it. I’m not sure if the outcome of his case would have been much different if he had stopped communicating with her after learning of her age, but this highlights how anyone can have their life destroyed by something like this.
Sad that he apparently banked all his hope on winning in court. Facing up to 100 years, I could see why he may have seen no hope after being convicted. Still, I believe that faith can carry a person through even the darkest valley. Wish he could have seen that.
My message to others in the same position is this: No person is beyond hope.
No doubt he was fearful of what life was waiting ahead of him the moment he did prison time.
ONCE AGAIN – another sexual assault on a child slipped under the radar of the Registry since he was not a Registrant. If it weren’t for the Registry’s misdirection perhaps the child’s family would’ve seen the signs and intervened.
Kind of surprised he waited that long into his trial. If he had done this prior to verdict, then his name would have been cleared of any charges. You can’t prosecute a dead person. Others have done the same. Sadly, that is the only option many feel is left for them. It also goes to the mental state of the person. Someone that couldn’t admit what they had done was wrong would not have done something like this. His actions proved he was suffering because of his offense. Isn’t that partly what the Justices’ idea of rehabilitation is all about? To admit to yourself that what you did was wrong. He was way further along towards that than most gang members that repeatedly kill others, or DUI defendants that hurt children while driving.
This was deliberate. He just brought the poison in a water bottle and decided to kill himself via ingestion once the verdict was rendered. Pretty clever but so unfortunate at the same time. When will this madness end?
South Park said it best. This is exactly the way homosexuals were made to feel in the 50s and 60s. “We’re just evil and nothing can change us. We have to kill ourselves.”
The “justice” system is evil. And contrary to what that “judge” said, the jury is absolutely responsible. Blood is on their hands. May Karma come their way.
I don’t blame him, there is no life after Megan’s law.
New people placed on Registry, it’ll probably take about 10/15 years before you realize you’ve been living in total isolation cut off from society.
For teenagers placed on the registry at age’s 17-19 mostly likely still live at home with there parents and have not accumulate anything in life, so they have nothing to fall back on alot of them don’t make it past 25 without being sent to prison under the California 3 strike law
your family my stand by you for your first 3 or 5 years of probation but after that people start treating like your just making up excuses on why you can’t function like everyone else.
when I took my deal FTR was a misdemeanor and every home didn’t have internet access, now days my face is blasted all over the internet, if I would of known what I know now I would of asked the judge for life in prison or the death penalty, because that’s what the registry is a death sentence.
This isn’t the first time something like this happened while in court. Years ago, I recall another incident with anthrax in a bottle, but can’t remember what the charges were.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year: they don’t hate us because we’re dangerous, they hate us because we’re sitting ducks. When was the last
time you saw a serial killer commit suicide? They’re remorseless. Sex
offenders, typically, are not remorseless. We feel guilt for the people we’ve betrayed or hurt, and that’s why so few sex offenders re-offend. But the sociopaths in society weaponize that guilt against us, use our unwillingness to defend ourselves as evidence to our depravity and see it as a weakness. We are completely open goals, there isn’t a single thing a sex offender can do to defend his or herself in political rhetoric, and very little legally. But that’s THEIR problem, not line. I’m not going to become a Trump figure, denying I’ve ever done anything wrong just to try to impress some bullies. I’m a deeply flawed sinner and despite that everyone I know in real life has accepted me. Augustine said it was pride that turned the angels into devils, and I can think of no better gift from God for handling the sin of pride than being on a registry.
Wow, these guys are really desperate to avoid a Price Club membership.
☹️ A similar situation:
Doctor who sexually abused patients dies by apparent suicide in New York jail
Incarcerated Sex offenders Statistical estimates suggested those convicted of a sexual offence were up to 24 times more likely to commit suicide than people without an offending history (Pritchard & Bagley, 2001) and approximately 5 times more likely to commit suicide compared to the general offender population (King et al., 2015).
also
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Their Banking on it.
The effects of an over reaching sex offender registry compels suicide on people do to the no reception nature of being listed of life-term registry. A teen moons his friend and is told he’ll be on the sex registry…in his mind his life is already over…suicide is his only path so he hangs himself. The evil is in the effects of the the registry…