His story: 'A little girl told a lie'

I believe this guy and I think the woman is a lair. People got screwed over all the time back then and pleaded guilty cause it was easier than than trying to beat a system that was hell bent on getting you. Remember the County Attorneys who were fired many many years ago for coaching chidren and ruining dozens of lives of innocent people? If this guy ws that type of perswon he would have done it again and he hasn't. The Pioneer Press should be ashamed of itself for even publishing this.

Ok "Bill"

You bet I was coached. They told me if I didn't take the stand, Gary would go on to hurt other little girls. The responsibility to protect other children was put on me at age 8. That is why I am speaking out today. Apparently, a felony conviction means NOTHING if background checks are not run on people who WORK WITH CHILDREN. I stand by my words, and have nothing to be ashamed of. I hope others have the courage to come forward when victimized and remain undaunted by those who may not believe.

Rehabilitation is a myth. Period. It's just a cop out to cover our failure to provide justice and punishment because of the cost of incarceration. In the long run though, re-offenders are a much bigger burden and drain on society. Imagine how you would feel if your child was raped or murdered and the offender was released on someones idea of what "rehabilitated" is and they "DON'T THINK" he will offend again.

Is there a chance that it was a family member and you were grilled to the point where they convinced you it was him? They are very good at getting young children to have "memories" that are not always the way they were. When your grandmother saw someone going into your room, maybe this was a quick way to get someone to pay and he was an easy target to put the blame somewhere. It would have been interesting if the males in the family had been tested for the virus.---------

I use to work corrections and have heard all the same excuses used by Mr. Vadnais to explain his conviction.
I don't know how many times I heard it was the victims fault, or that they lied. A biased judge and jury is a very common excuse too. What really kills me is the way, most convicted molesters, try and turn the tables and make themselves out to be the victims.
All that being said, I have to agree with Dr. Thompson. The law is the law and he has served his time and paid his debt to society. We have to live within the system we've developed. We've made our own bed, so I guess we have to sleep in it.
Or maybe we need to change the sheets.

If we are going to have a society where once you pay your debt through incarceration,(punishment) and eventually released back into it with insurmountable sigmatizing conditions that don't allow integration, than what chance do you think anyone convicted has in becoming part of community? None. It's stupid and illogical, we call it American justice and it isn't working!
Gary paid his price and has done nothing criminal since, Laura R needs to get on with her life and find something to contribute instead of reliving her nightmare over and over.

Maybe this guy hasn't done anything since....maybe.
But someone who states that everyone involved was out to get him, is obviously lying. Laura R. did the right thing. He should never have been around any children all these years.

If I read the story - and some of your comments - correctly, it is 'okay' for our society to ban Mr Vadnais from Senior housing, but 'out of line' to keep him away from children. Disgusting. It is my hope that this is the end of the story. Too many times, child molestation goes unreported. Occasionally, one person comes forward and an avalanche of other victims follow. Let us all pray that is not the case in this instance.

Laura R wrote:

Ok "Bill"
You bet I was coached. They told me if I didn't take the stand, Gary would go on to hurt other little girls. The responsibility to protect other children was put on me at age 8. That is why I am speaking out today. Apparently, a felony conviction means NOTHING if background checks are not run on people who WORK WITH CHILDREN. I stand by my words, and have nothing to be ashamed of. I hope others have the courage to come forward when victimized and remain undaunted by those who may not believe.

If you truly are the actual Laura R., do you not realize that after this man served his time and probation that there is no state (Minnesota) law prohibiting him from having contact with children? After his served his time does he not have the right to re-enter society?

Ann wrote:

Maybe this guy hasn't done anything since....maybe.
But someone who states that everyone involved was out to get him, is obviously lying. Laura R. did the right thing. He should never have been around any children all these years.

Ann for one minute, put yourself in his shoes! Wouldn't you have felt the same way? That is if your honest with yourself.

"Vadnais finds himself thrust into an uncomfortable spotlight 22 years after his conviction."

He was convicted. He paid a heavy price. Public humiliation, ostracized by everyone who knew him, show up for a probation meeting for two hours every two weeks - explain that one to your employer - etc. I'm sure many feel that wasn't enough, but that's what the LAW demanded. He did it.
He also went through a treatment program. I'm sick and tired of hearing armchair experts, including "corrections" workers and other officials who declare that treatment doesn't work. If that is indeed true, why do we have County Attorneys, Judges, and paid psychological experts sending people to years of treatment - many times on our dimes ($80 -$120 per week)- if this NEVER works.
He paid the price society demanded of him. We put him through the ringer for what he did. I'm sorry for what happened to Laura R. But, if we're not satisfied with his punishment and are going after him to inflict more, who's the predator?

The idea that a child molestor can be "rehabilitated" has been debunked time and time again. It is inconceivable that Laura was this guy's only victim. The idea that he has not broken the law in MN since 1985 is statistically highly unlikely. It is also highly unlikely that he was unfairly convicted.
We have a guy, a convicted child molestor, working with kids who says he is innocent and an 8-year-old lied. Then we have a victim who reads about this guy 22 years later with details about "teaching children" chess. Red flags go off in her head and she notifies people, and now some of you have the audacity to question it?? God help us.

He's probably one of those leftwingers too. They molest our children and try to bring communism to the world. Let's support our government. They know what they're doing.

Any adult that works around children should be held to the same scrutiny. That is the only way we are going to prevent this kind of stuff. Anyone that works with children needs to be transparent and have other adults around. The idea that a sex offender will be wearing a scarlet "S" is insane. The fact is that for every offender caught there are probably 7 more that are not caught. The people you trust the most could be one. To think that everyone has a "sense" of this is just crazy.

Always follow safety guideliness for caring for and working around children for everyone. This man's biggest mistake was that he didn't do that even after his conviction. I don't think it should have taken a conviction. Whether he was guilty or not, he was alone with somebody elses child. That alone should have given him a more guarded approach to working around children.

I dont know how I feel about this series. I trust that Mr Rosario is saving the best for last and that this doesnt end here.
This fellow was at a minimum, a fool for living his life around children. Even if his proclamations that he is not guilty are true, he was convicted. He even had a jury trial, today very few accused do. He knew the risk that any allegation would put him in jail until the allegation was investigated, and yet something within him kept him around other children.

There is a way to get close to the truth of an allegation. There are pretty effective tools to measure any persons honesty. The most common tool is a Polygraph. All offenders must pass the Polygraph as part of all Treatment programs in Mn. If the offender has other victims, or if the offender has been dishonest it will come out in the polygraph.
It is not 100%, nothing is. But it is required by Law. It is also used by the Federal Govt as an investigative tool in the various security agencies, and within the Military.

Maybe this tool can be used on the front side of an investigation, not as a legal device to judge guilt in a courtroom, but as an invesigative tool to determine the validity of either parties claims.

Almost all crime is he said/she said...she said/she said...he said/he said. And because this type of offense gets right down to the core of our disgust, we should want to be fairly certain as to what the truth is before an allegation is accepted as truth.

In any case...this fellow set himself up to face the situation he now finds hmself in...he knew, and he chose.

To all of the non-believers.
It makes me sad to read some of these posts. Do people honsetly believe that a child would just make this up out of the blue? "Ma Kettle" has posted, more than once, that it could have been a family member. If that is the case then it seems funny to me that Laura R. wasn't molested after Vadnais was removed from the household.
This man has a sickness and he should not be allowed to be in the company of children. Yes, he has a right to re-enter society but wouldn't you want to know if there was a child molester living next door to you and your family or perhaps the scoutmaster of your sons troop?
I think that if a situation like this were to present itself into your life you would think the same and you know it.

Which ever way you people spin this, 2 peoples lives were changed. One by no fault of her own and the other from a poor choice of behavior. Each has to live with what happened until the day they die.
I have to admire the courage it took for Laura to bring this out in the open again.

St Paul wrote:

The idea that a child molestor can be "rehabilitated" has been debunked time and time again. It is inconceivable that Laura was this guy's only victim. The idea that he has not broken the law in MN since 1985 is statistically highly unlikely. It is also highly unlikely that he was unfairly convicted.
We have a guy, a convicted child molestor, working with kids who says he is innocent and an 8-year-old lied. Then we have a victim who reads about this guy 22 years later with details about "teaching children" chess. Red flags go off in her head and she notifies people, and now some of you have the audacity to question it?? God help us.

Hey St. Paul,
Where your proof?! You must be that type of person that believes a person is guilt until proven innocent. You might want to thank your lucky stars that you haven't wound up in court.

Sad wrote:

To all of the non-believers.
It makes me sad to read some of these posts. Do people honsetly believe that a child would just make this up out of the blue? "Ma Kettle" has posted, more than once, that it could have been a family member. If that is the case then it seems funny to me that Laura R. wasn't molested after Vadnais was removed from the household.
This man has a sickness and he should not be allowed to be in the company of children. Yes, he has a right to re-enter society but wouldn't you want to know if there was a child molester living next door to you and your family or perhaps the scoutmaster of your sons troop?
I think that if a situation like this were to present itself into your life you would think the same and you know it.

Do people honsetly believe that a child would just make this up out of the blue? YES, its happened many times in the past. If you have children then you know that they can, and will lie at many time during their childhood. I'm not saying that this actually happened in this case, but don't be foolish to think it couldn't! Think about it?!

The facts of this case speak volumes. First you have a 50 year old male who wants to spend time with a 7 year old girl. Nothing inherently wrong with this, but why? Then this man who says everyone was out to get him and that a 7 year old is lying, does his time, but spends the rest of his life volunteering around young children. Why? He says he has the gift of teaching. Hum....