Legal system ‘undignified’ for crime victims

FRANKLIN, Ky.  – Anger, frustration and fear weigh heavily on the mind of a Franklin woman who has waited years for justice to take its course against a family member accused of raping her daughters when they were young children.

In two separate cases in Simpson Circuit Court, James Bridges, 43, of Franklin, is charged with two counts of incest,  three counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of promoting sex performance by a minor.

Bridges is accused of forcing the children to perform a sex act with each other.

WNKY does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault and is withholding the mother’s name to protect the identities of the alleged victims.

She is upset that the case took years before it was investigated and then within months of Bridges’ indictments, he was released from jail on what she considers a low bond.

Simpson Circuit Court records show that Bridges’ original bond was set at $250,000 and lowered by Simpson Circuit Judge Janet Crocker until he was permitted to post 10 percent of a $50,000 bond for release from the Simpson County Detention Center.

“He had a high bond at first and then they lowered it to where he could get out with $5,000 cash, and my youngest daughter was in Rivendell, has been four times over this. That third time she was scared to get out because he was out of jail. She didn’t want to leave. She was terrified,” the mother said.

Rivendell Behavioral Health Hospital is a psychiatric facility in Bowling Green.

“I wasn’t happy with it at all. I don’t understand how they can let somebody out  that low of a bond just for them to go out here and possibly do it again,” she said.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron has seen crime victims grapple with frustration over cases. Cohron is not prosecuting this case.

“Speaking in general, in regards to the criminal justice system, the criminal justice system is not set up to punish pre-adjudication on cases,” he said. “The criminal justice system is set up where all offenses a defendant is entitled to a fair and reasonable bail unless it’s a capital offense and the evidence is great against that defendant. So all defendants are going to be entitled to a fair and reasonable bond in the eyes of the court in each case before it.”

“Every jurisdiction is different in how they handle bond,” he said.

“I say this many times, the criminal justice system is a very undignified system. Victims are frustrated, as they should be. They’re by and large going through the worst thing that they’ve ever gone through, and the frustration level rises as time goes on.

“But I think it’s incumbent on everybody in the criminal justice system to look at a more victim-oriented approach. We hear all the time now about criminal justice reform. That’s a big, key buzzword we see all the time. I think we need to worry less about criminal justice reform and more about victim input … and having their rights enforced,” Cohron said.

For the mother of the two alleged victims in the case against Bridges, the ordeal has been fraught with emotion, she said.

“It’s my daughter,” she said holding back tears. “I deal every day with her, her being, you know, depressed, suicidal. I can’t even go to work without worrying what she is going to do to herself.

“My oldest daughter it’s affected her in many ways. I mean, it’s affected my whole family.

“It happened over a period of time,” she said. “But it started happening, my youngest daughter was about six years old, and my oldest daughter was about 10. It happened for a few years.”

“They will both need counseling for the rest of their lives. It affects their every day life,” she said.

A hearing is set in Bridges’ case Aug. 12 in Simpson Circuit Court.