[The following press release went out to 10,000 media outlets today. – PE]
PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Teri Stoddard: 301-801-0608
tstoddard@saveservices.org
Maine Prosecutor Coddles Known Child Abuser
In Pursuit of False Rape Claim
WASHINGTON, March 30 / P.R. Newswire / Victim advocacy group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) has filed a Grievance Complaint with the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, requesting the disbarment of assistant district attorney Mary Kellett. The Complaint can be seen here: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/COMPLA1.pdf
“Thanks to prosecutor Kellett, proven child abusers in Maine know they can get a free pass by making a claim of rape,” explains Philip W. Cook, SAVE spokesman. “Mary Kellett has prosecuted many innocent citizens on allegations of domestic violence and rape. The Board of Overseers of the Bar needs to disbar prosecutor Kellett immediately.”
The case arose from the accusations of Ligia Filler, a proven child abuser with a previous criminal charge history. “The children were victims of violence from their mother,” including hitting her oldest daughter with spatulas and spoons, according to a December 3, 2009 Ellsworth (Maine) District Court ruling. One son said that his mother “would hit everyone in the house. She was a terror to everybody.”
After Ligia’s husband Vladek indicated his plan to leave the marital home for the safety of the children, Ms. Filler had an apparent mental break-down, running through the streets partially clothed, screaming death threats at police officers on the scene.
Ligia made an allegation of marital rape, and within few days prosecutor Mary Kellett filed charges. No forensic, medical, or other physical evidence of sexual assault was presented during the trial. Assistant district attorney Kellett repeatedly sought to bar the introduction of key evidence that would serve to exonerate the defendant.
Court-appointed attorney Neil Fishman later commented the proceeding was so flawed that it resembled a “Salem Witch Trial.” On September 9, 2010 the Maine Supreme Court issued a ruling that found Kellett had “improperly encouraged the jury to use the absence of evidence regarding the marriage ending and a child custody dispute…as a reason to reject Filler’s defense.” The case was remanded for a retrial in May.
More information on the case can be seen at http://www.saveservices.org/abuse-hysteria-campaign.
