"The Cavalry" - Teenage Mormon Stormtroopers attack RFM/Consig

[Shulem]

I can't quote A.I, for obvious reasons but a quick check proves that RFM was in violation of Washington State laws. It doesn't matter that the door was left open! I've had a conversation with Gemini-god and RFM really screwed up. Entering the home was not justified and was a violation of state law.

He could be charged.

1. Criminal Trespass RCW 9A.52.025
2. Residential Burglary RCW 9A.52.090

Criminal Trespass in the First Degree, which is a gross misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

[I Have Questions]

Rev, if you were to role-play this with your daughter, what would you expect her to do, and what do you hope she would do? If there's a difference in these two answers, would you try to bridge the gap?

Good questions, malkie. I regularly tell her to avoid risks. I hope that she would call the police, and I would advise her to do so. My daughter is 20 years old and lives in on-campus student housing.

Say one of the adult male tutors, twice her age, has become friendly with her. One night that tutor notices your daughter’s accommodation door is open, and outside is a pumpkin with a spider on it. He goes inside your daughters accommodation “to check” that there’s nothing untoward happening, realises it’s a case of an unlocked door so, without further checking or calling campus police, he decides to take the pumpkin and put it inside the house in the hopes of giving your daughter a fright. He exits the accommodation, shuts the door behind him, and takes no action. Not only that, after that, but he goes online and boasts about his prank.

What happens to that tutor? How do you feel about that invasion of your daughters private accommodation by an older man and his subsequent gloating about it online?

Which is I believe the gist of the question malkie asked you, and which you’ve avoided answering directly.

[Shulem]

I can't quote A.I, for obvious reasons but a quick check proves that RFM was in violation of Washington State laws. It doesn't matter that the door was left open! I've had a conversation with Gemini-god and RFM really screwed up. Entering the home was not justified and was a violation of state law.

He could be charged.

1. Criminal Trespass RCW 9A.52.025
2. Residential Burglary RCW 9A.52.090

Criminal Trespass in the First Degree, which is a gross misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

RFM's worst legal problems could be around the corner and the Church could intervene and assist the missionary in perusing legal action against RFM.

PS. RFM, you need to review your actions and get advice on how to proceed in case this does blow up in your face. You dummy! Why did you do that? You know better.

[I Have Questions]

I can't quote A.I, for obvious reasons but a quick check proves that RFM was in violation of Washington State laws. It doesn't matter that the door was left open! I've had a conversation with Gemini-god and RFM really screwed up. Entering the home was not justified and was a violation of state law.

He could be charged.

1. Criminal Trespass RCW 9A.52.025
2. Residential Burglary RCW 9A.52.090

Criminal Trespass in the First Degree, which is a gross misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

RFM's worst legal problems could be around the corner and the Church could intervene and assist the missionary in perusing legal action against RFM.

PS. RFM, you need to review your actions and get advice on how to proceed in case this does blow up in your face. You dummy! Why did you do that? You know better.

The other wrinkle is that the property RFM entered was rented by the Church not by the sister missionaries. Given that the Church says that they put missionary safety first, they could…arguably should…take a very dim view of what RFM stupidly did.

[Shulem]

RFM's worst legal problems could be around the corner and the Church could intervene and assist the missionary in perusing legal action against RFM.

PS. RFM, you need to review your actions and get advice on how to proceed in case this does blow up in your face. You dummy! Why did you do that? You know better.

The other wrinkle is that the property RFM entered was rented by the Church not by the sister missionaries. Given that the Church says that they put missionary safety first, they could…arguably should…take a very dim view of what RFM stupidly did.

RFM could be in very serious trouble. He should seek legal counsel right away without delay. The Church could come after him and apprise his local leaders to investigate his membership worthiness status.

[Shulem]

He exits the accommodation, shuts the door behind him, and takes no action. Not only that, after that, but he goes online and boasts about his prank.

And the latter will kill his chances of prevailing in court and walking away unscathed. I would not want to be in RFM's shoes right now.

But then again, the whole thing may just blow away and amount to nothing. But on the other hand, it could blow up in his face.

[Dwight]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_287tmWUvU?t=2315 this will take you to 38:35 where Kolby Reddish, a lawyer and RFM's friend, explores the legal statute in Washington and jury instructions.

Burglary requires intent to commit a crime. and placing their property inside the home to prank the occupants would most likely fail unless it was in furtherance of him stealing said pumpkin later. That he first entered to ascertain safety considerations is really going to undercut anything on the criminal trespass, even if it was boneheaded to place the pumpkin inside as a prank. Especially since he boasted of it by sharing text messages from the time of the incident when another woman who is an exmo also instructed him, not just Wendy, to make sure everything was alright.

[Shulem]

criminal trespass

He is technically on the hook for entering the dwelling without authorization and if those offended seek to charge him, they CAN!

1-64 days in jail is possible, or none.

Just saying.

Time will tell what comes of it all.

[Dwight]

The prosecutor would have to be convinced to try a case they would likely lose. While it does not excuse or give permission the text from the sisters to their mission leadership laughing and saying they didn’t really notice would also heavily support a reasonable expectation of it being okay defense.

Plus the church would have to provide the sister missionaries for the trial. There are incidents they don’t want missionaries to testify to brutal crimes just for PR reasons and disruption to missionary work.

[malkie]

Rev, if you were to role-play this with your daughter, what would you expect her to do, and what do you hope she would do? If there's a difference in these two answers, would you try to bridge the gap?

Good questions, malkie. I regularly tell her to avoid risks. I hope that she would call the police, and I would advise her to do so. My daughter is 20 years old and lives in on-campus student housing.

When my daughter was about that age, and living in on-campus student housing, she was active in the campus patrol program which I believe was run by the student union. Amongst other services, the program involved escorting students around the campus - usually female students, and usually at night. Apart from the fact that she was doing a good thing, she learned some useful practices from her training for the program.

Added, in case it wasn't obvious - she was a trained escort for other students.