Chapter 9 - The First Verdict
Guilty.
Felony child abuse causing injury.
Guilty.
Unlawful restraint/endangerment related to binding Mia’s wrists.
Guilty.
Obstruction/witness tampering related to instructing Mia to falsely describe the cause of her injury while a child-protection inquiry was pending.
The bottle assault count?
Not guilty.
The jury found he possessed and raised the bottle but was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt that he intended an unlawful imminent strike rather than defensive display during chaotic confrontation.
I disagreed emotionally.
Legally, verdict stood.
The system did not owe me every count.
Then sentencing was postponed because financial trial remained.
Judge could sentence child counts independently, but prosecutor asked coordination.
Julian remained on bond? After felony conviction, judge remanded due severity and risk. He entered custody pending sentencing.
Mia asked:
“Where is Dad?”
“Jail.”
“For how long?”
“We don’t know.”
“Because I told?”
“No.”
She stared.
“Then why?”
“Because of what he did.”
Children carry causation like guilt.
We repeated.
Then dependency case.
Criminal conviction changed evidence.
CPS changed permanency goal from reunification to guardianship/adoption? Parental rights termination considered.
But Julian was sole surviving legal parent.
Termination is serious.
State filed petition alleging:
Severe abuse.
Failure to protect.
Lack of meaningful progress.
Criminal conviction.
Mia’s fear.
Continued minimization.
Julian contested.
He wanted eventual reunification after prison.
Could the court terminate based on one abusive episode plus pattern? Maybe, depending jurisdiction. We need grounded. Instead of full termination, court might grant permanent guardianship to Evelyn while preserving parental status. This avoids automatic termination.
Judge Foster considered:
Mia’s wishes.
Age.
Relationship with Evelyn.
Julian’s projected incarceration.
Risk.
Potential future therapeutic contact.
The court chose permanent guardianship with Evelyn rather than immediate termination of parental rights.
Why?
It gave Mia stability.
Avoided unnecessary legal severance while Julian’s long-term rehabilitation unknown.
Allowed future court-reviewed contact without reopening custody ownership.
I became permanent guardian.
Not adoptive parent.
Mia remained Julian’s legal daughter.
I held day-to-day parental authority under guardianship.
Pioneer remained trustee.
First County remained custodial-account fiduciary until financial resolution.
Julian had no direct decision-making while order in place.
No visits until therapist/court.
Then financial trial.
Before it began, Julian changed strategy.
He offered plea.
Counts centered:
Misappropriation of custodial property.
Falsifying accounting/business records.
Attempted obstruction related CFO instruction.
State had:
Bank trail.
UTMA title.
Company books.
Cameron testimony.
Audio.
Altered reimbursement invoices.
Julian’s defense:
He believed expenditures benefited Mia or household.
He intended repay company transfer.
Some uses mixed/ambiguous.
Criminal intent not uniform.
Prosecutors agreed to narrow.
Plea:
One felony count of misappropriation of custodial property for the $120,000 company transfer and clearly personal expenses.
One count falsifying business/accounting record or attempted obstruction for instructing Cameron to misstate source.
Dismiss overlapping counts.
Restitution based final accounting with civil credits.
Julian admitted:
He knew UTMA belonged to Mia.
He transferred $120,000 to company without legal authority.
He knew it was not his own loan.
He later asked CFO to characterize it as owner loan.
He used some custodial funds for expenses primarily benefiting himself.
He disputed but accepted final restitution $126,700.
Then:
Had he stolen entire $186,000?
No.
Had he touched Pioneer’s $1.18m?
No.
Attempted inflated reimbursement requests were denied.
No money lost there beyond administrative fees.
They were evidence of intent/pattern but not completed theft.
Then sentencing.
Child convictions + financial plea.
Judge Harold Weston reviewed:
No prior criminal record.
Sole parent status before removal.
Premeditated concealment.
Physical injury.
Restraint.
Use of child’s money.
Attempts to shape witness story.
Public confrontation.
Acceptance only after first trial.
Mia’s victim-impact statement was written with therapist.
She did not have to read live.
I want Dad to stop saying I made him angry. I want him to say he was angry and he chose what he did.
Then:
I don’t want him dead. I don’t want him homeless. I want him to learn that being my dad did not mean he could hurt me.
My heart broke.
Then my statement:
Julian is my son. Mia is my granddaughter. I refuse to choose love for one as an excuse to abandon the other. Sentence what he did, not what I feel.
Judge imposed:
Child abuse/unlawful restraint/obstruction combined effective active sentence of five years.
Financial offenses additional but partly concurrent/partly consecutive.
Total effective active incarceration:
six years and six months.
Followed by three years supervised release.
No contact with Mia during incarceration except if therapist and guardianship court later specifically authorize written communication.
Restitution:
$126,700 to Mia’s UTMA successor account, with credits for any civil/company repayment.
Medical/therapy direct costs as appropriate.
No restitution for $1.18m Pioneer trust because it was never taken.
No confiscation of company.
Then company repayment.
Vale Signature Events agreed civilly to repay the $85,000 remaining from original transfer plus interest, because company had received benefit regardless of Julian’s personal criminal liability.
Corporate liability and Julian restitution coordinated to prevent double recovery.
If company paid, Julian got credit.
Good.
Then Julian’s ownership.
Still 100%.
Incarceration did not make Evelyn owner.
Cameron continued interim management under a court-approved proxy arrangement Julian signed as part of civil settlement to preserve company value and satisfy repayment.
He could sell.
May you like
Eventually he did.
Continue to the next chapter: Julian received six and a half years of active incarceration, Mia gained permanent guardianship with Evelyn, and the next battle was purely financial—how to repay Mia without destroying the company whose employees had nothing to do with Julian’s crimes.
