Release Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009 2 p.m.
Harvey Bryant, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Virginia Beach, addressed the guilty pleas of Stephen McPherson and his wife Melina McPherson to sexual abuse of children in their care nine years ago in Virginia Beach in a statement today.
The abuse was first brought to the attention of law enforcement in 2007 when one of Steve McPherson’s victims was taken to the Chesapeake Police Department by her brother to make a report. For two years prior to that, all three sisters, each of whom is now married with children of their own, were confronting the McPhersons and other McPherson relatives with the facts that they had been sexually abused while in their care. From the beginning, all three victims were reluctant to go to the police or to have criminal prosecutions initiated at all. Each victim has stressed with police and prosecutors in both Chesapeake and Virginia Beach their concerns about Stephen and Melina McPherson being prosecuted, and especially their concerns about them being incarcerated. Those concerns stem from their strong Christian beliefs, and from their own experiences in having grown up without the care of natural parents. Each victim was therefore uncomfortable with being the cause of the two young McPherson children having to be cared for by someone other than natural parents.
Each victim wrote letters in January of 2009, prior to indictments being returned by a grand jury in Virginia Beach for the charges here and after charges had already been filed in Chesapeake, asking that all charges against Steve and Melina McPherson be “dropped” in Virginia Beach and that Stephen McPherson be allowed to plead guilty to just one felony charge of indecent liberties in Chesapeake. That would have limited his sentence there to a maximum of five years. One of Stephen McPherson’s victims explained her position in part as follows:
“When I first decided to press charges I thought that in order for me to move on with my life that Steve needed to pay for what he did by spending a long time in jail. I no longer believe this to be the case. Through the support of my family and my faith in Jesus Christ I believe that Steve’s admission of guilt coupled with my personal forgiveness of his actions is enough for me to move on from this a stronger person both in my life and my faith. I neither need, nor want, him to spend time in jail.”
At another point in the letter, this victim wrote:
“The stress of the happenings until now have affected me and my immediate family, (i.e. son and husband) extremely negatively. I no longer wish this to be a factor in our lives. The emotional strain involved in this will only get larger as the trial begins and in all honesty I really just do not want to put myself or my family through that. I do not believe it would be at all beneficial to me and my family regardless of the outcome.
Steve McPherson’s other victim also wrote in January, 2009, in part, as follows:
“Lastly I would like to say that I am ready to move on with my life and not have one more day consumed with this situation. God has blessed me with a beautiful family and I would like to be able to spend my days enjoying them instead of being constantly reminded of the past. Therefore, I am asking that all charges be dropped against Stephen McPherson in Virginia Beach. . . “
That victim also wrote:
“I am also concerned with how this situation has affected Stephen’s immediate and extended family. Until this was brought to light I always considered them a part of my family. I feel they have been negatively affected by this and going to trial would prolong their suffering.”
The sister who was abused by Melina McPherson is the oldest of the three. Her letter also dated mid-January, 2009 begins by explaining that she was encouraged to bring criminal charges against Melina McPherson, believed it was the right thing at the time but no longer believes it’s the best decision. Her two-page typed letter then lists four reasons why she is asking for a dismissal of pending charges in Virginia Beach against Melina McPherson.
“The stress and anxiety that this causes me has negatively affected my relationship with my husband and children. I am unable to move on with life because it is always on the forefront of our conversations and decisions.”
“I personally have a great deal of concern for how this has affected Stephen and Melina’s extended family. Although time and events have greatly strained our relationships, I care about them very much. I feel a great deal of guilt for what they are experiencing and this also hinders my healing.”
“While I understand that I will never have full control of my life I also have faith in Jesus Christ that He works all things out for His good. I do not want to waste another day dealing with this issue and instead be able to focus on giving my children a safe and stable home. I also know how devastated I was when I was removed from my mother’s care. I feel an incredible sadness when I think about Melina and Stephen’s children. I know the pain of losing family and want desperately to spare them of this pain.”
That position is a far cry from a newspaper report that “the victims weren’t pushing for jail time”. The truth is that the victims were pushing for no prosecution at all in Virginia Beach.
The letters that were written in January, 2009 by all three victims to authorities in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach were fully disclosed to the grand jury that indicted Stephen and Melina McPherson in Virginia Beach. These letters were also provided to the defense attorneys representing Stephen and Melina McPherson in Virginia Beach. A copy of the letter from the victim of Melina McPherson was given to the judge in court at yesterday’s guilty plea.
Melina McPherson appeared in Circuit Court fully prepared and expecting to go to jail to begin serving her sentence yesterday. Therefore, the Court’s act of “revoking her bond” should have come as no shock to anyone in the courtroom and was certainly not a shock to Melina McPherson or her attorney because she was prepared to go into custody yesterday.
For reasons that are unclear, without the request of her defense attorney or myself, the judge in this case advised this morning that he is re-instating her bond and ordering that Melina McPherson be released from jail today pending her next court date of October 7, 2009.
“Criminal cases do not come in cookie-cutter shape,” Bryant said. “Each one has its own variations in strengths and weaknesses, and variations in available, admissible, evidence, all of which affects the ability of prosecutors all over the country to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt. My goal and that of my office is to prosecute the criminal cases brought to us by our police department to the best of our ability and seek appropriate sentences as allowed by the law and imposed by judges and juries. However, our primary concern must always be the victims. To re-victimize a reluctant and unwilling witness by forcing them to go forward in cases they do not wish to pursue would be grossly unfair and cruel. At no point prior to the guilty pleas did the MePhersons ever admit any criminal conduct involving these victims. In this particular case, as has happened in other cases, I did insist on pursuing at least felony convictions for each of these defendants despite the clear, express wishes of the victims. I have met with them personally on several occasions. I was in Chesapeake on the day that Stephen McPherson pled guilty and was again in Chesapeake on the day that he was sentenced to a total of 64 years in prison with all but 16 years suspended. On each of those occasions two of the three victims had to come great distances from out of state, with their husbands, making arrangements for their children, etc. I advised them that I understood their wishes to drop the cases in Virginia Beach but I would not do that. I did tell them that I would make every effort to see that these matters were resolved so that they no longer felt that an injustice was being done to the two small McPherson children as a result of the prosecution in Virginia Beach,“ Bryant concluded.
Please contact Julie Pickell if additional information is desired.
Similar Press Releases: Harvey Bryant, sexual abuse
