North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Brawley requested a lesser sentence for a convicted child molester whom he calls his friend.
John Thomas Patterson Jr., 68, was sentenced to life plus 260 years for sexually assaulting fourth-grade boys from his class at the former Mount Mourne Elementary School during the 1970s and 1980s, the Charlotte-Observer reported.
An email sent by former State Representative Brawley on Sept. 11, 2014 to the director of governmental affairs for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Ryan Combs, called Patterson “a friend” and “a great teacher.”
“Can we find a way to help him? Either moving him closer to Mooresville, where his family is or reducing his sentence?” the email, obtained by the Observer, read.
Combs responded eight days later citing the seriousness of Patterson’s offenses and shared that the victims and their families requested he be kept away.
Brawley replied by saying, “My objective is to keep families together as much as possible. But I respect your decision as best, for all involved and perhaps I was a bit thoughtless not to think about the possible affects (sic) on the victims family.”
“Tommy was a friend growing up and we have mutual friends who would like to help but the victims family should receive first consideration,” he added.
The lead investigator on the case questioned why Brawley thought the molester should get a break.
“Me personally, as a citizen of Mooresville, I can’t imagine why anybody would want to have a predator move closer to our neighborhood,” Iredell County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Amy Dyson told the Observer.
Brawley told the Observer that he didn’t regret the email and was only responding to a request for public service from Patterson’s family.
He defended the request in a statement saying it’s standard practice for him to make an inquiry in order to respond to the public appropriately.
“At the time of the inquiry, I was unaware of all the details of this case. After learning of horrific details I ended my involvement,” he added.
In 2013, Patterson was charged with inappropriately touching four students. Just two weeks later, at least 20 victims came to light with more than 110 charges, the Iradell Sheriff’s Office said.
Brawley is facing incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory in the March primary. The emails were shared by a victim once they feared Brawley would pardon Patterson if elected governor.
However, Brawley claimed he would never pardon someone unless requested by law enforcement, the Observer reported.
One of Patterson’s victims, Derwin Long, 50, said he has known Brawley for a while and that the politician made a bad judgement call, the paper reported.
“The email is just disappointing,” he said.
Another victim, G.C. Campbell, 49, said nothing could be gained by moving Patterson closer to their town.
“In my mind, he does not deserve any other benefits in life,” Campbell told the Observer.
The county sheriff also weighed in on Brawley’s email.
“When it comes to child molesters, I want to stop them, find them, convict them and get them as far away from my community as I can,” Sheriff Darren Campbell said.
“The victims are our No. 1 priority, not the child molester.”
