How do you feel about Becky's current situation?

It bothers me terrible that people see the condition that my daughter lives in. This is heartbreaking. It bothers me, it upsets me. There’s not a whole lot I can do about it I try to help her and the kids as much as I can. I chip in, I buy their school clothes. If Becky needs something I try to do what I can - with just myself.

When my husband was alive you know we were both there and we’d offer her as much support emotionally as we could. And Mark was fantastic and he’s been the father that Becky really needed. But it bothers me to see the conditions that she has to live in. If her husband was here he would be earning an income. They wouldn’t have to live like this.

They had a nice little house right up the street and things were better then. But now Becky has emotional problems and she has things that she needs to deal with. She has two handicapped children that she’s trying to raise – very, very stressful and it’s just not right. It’s not right that that there is no way out until the issue with Alan is resolved.

It’s really, really sad when the only contact they have with their father is over the telephone and there’s not even enough money to finance a trip up to New Hampshire to see him. If he could be here in the state of Georgia. It would be easier for her and the kids to see him. To maintain a marriage of some semblance to… for the kids to watch their father and have their father watch them grow. Becky wouldn’t be living like this if her husband was here to help her financially and emotionally. As a man helps his wife through life. It’s just… it’s heartbreaking. It really, really is.

Describe your daughter's life with Alan?

Alan has been in Becky’s life since Joshua my youngest grandson was born. He took on the job. He’s a young man that had never been married, never had children of is own. Never really had responsibilities in his life. And he took on the responsibility of two handicapped children and a wife that isn’t always the easiest person to understand. She has a lot of issues from her past that she has dealt with.

He’s been a very - from what I can see - stable force in their lives. He’s always been a hard worker, always. He never begrudged my daughter or the children anything. They were his children as far as he was concerned. He worked every day. He handed over his paycheck. It was a good life for them. They had a nice little home up in New Hampshire.

The reason they were moving to Georgia was to be closer to me. I had married and moved down here. And because his wife wanted to be near her mother, he left his job and his family behind and came down here. I’d never had any qualms about Alan. When I was told that he had been arrested I could not believe that this man was accused of the crime that he was. It was not in his nature. He’s a very quite man. A man who has never been in trouble with the police before.

How did you feel when you heard about Alan's crime?

When all the particulars of the case came to my knowledge - first I was very angry that he would betray my daughter in this fashion and then I was very angry with Alan and he knew that I was angry.

But then I had to look beyond the surface which is what most people are not doing. I had to look beyond the surface and I had to see the individual involved. I had to remember the man that had been raising these children as his own. The man that had been treating my daughter with nothing but respect and love and concern. This is the man that is now incarcerated. And it’s not right. It’s not right. He’s not a hardened criminal. He was a first time offender. And he was not given any leniency. He was not given any understanding. He was not even given adequate legal counsel as far as I was concerned.

I traveled from my home in Georgia at my husband’s expense al the way to New Hampshire to talk with Alan’s lawyer because Alan really isn’t able to explain and defend himself. He’s a nice young man but he is a little intellectually and emotionally immature. And he didn’t understand his legal rights when they were explained to him.

So I wanted to make sure that someone would be able to help him. So I talked to the lawyer. The lawyer promised this and the lawyer promised that but as soon as I left the picture the lawyer did absolutely nothing to defend his client. He just wanted to be rid of this case. I think it was because it was a state appointed case and there was no money involved. All these things have led up to a situation.

All these things have led up to a situation where a man is in New Hampshire when he should have been offered some sort of alternative sentencing. He’s not getting any type of therapy while he is incarcerated. The plea bargain that he entered into is in no way being honored by the state of New Hampshire. He should have been in and out of incarceration.

And as of yet he hasn’t even been offered psychological counseling. All the state of New Hampshire is doing is housing a man that shouldn’t be there. He should be out getting help for his alcoholism and for understanding the nature of his crime and why it was wrong. He should be out in order to support his family so that the state of Georgia doesn’t have to participate in their support.

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