Chapter 23 - My own apology
I had one to make too.
Not equivalent.
Still mine.
The neighborhood post identifying Evan.
Months later, I learned his teenage son had received threats after strangers found their address.
Evan had committed a serious crime.
His child had not.
My post was not the only source.
Still, it accelerated identification publicly before police were ready.
I wrote no letter to Evan.
That would have been inappropriate.
Through the prosecutor’s victim-services office, I submitted a statement acknowledging that I regretted posting the image and never intended harassment of his family.
No request for response.
Then I told Lily.
Because she had heard me complain that people online were interfering with the case.
“I did something like that too.”
“What?”
“I posted his picture because I wanted people to tell me who he was.”
“Did they?”
“Yes.”
“So it worked.”
“Partly.”
She looked confused.
“Then why bad?”
“Because strangers started going after his family too.”
“His family didn’t come in our house.”
“No.”
She nodded.
Simple.
May you like
Again.
Children understand responsibility when adults stop turning it into teams.
