March 5, 2018

 

                                RE:   Boe Braccio / Human Trafficking 

Dear Sir/Madam:

 

My name is Zonald Spinks and I am the advocate and attorney for Mr. Boe Braccio.  My client, has indicated that you would like a synopsis of any criminal allegations against him. While the details are most likely breathtaking, please be advised that my client has never been convicted of any crime of dishonestly, deceit or fraud. The only crime he has committed is being a victim of human trafficking which is more detailed below. 

Mr. Braccio was first sexually abused by his catholic priest, Robert Schaeufele, in the early 1990’s as an adolescent. During the time Mr. Braccio was sexually abused, the abuse would often happen in the Church’s production room where several video cameras and still cameras were present.  The priest would threaten Mr. Braccio that “bad things” would happen if he ever told anyone of their secret.  This abuse went on for over two years until Mr. Braccio finally stopped attending church.   

After leaving the church, Mr. Braccio as directed by the priest, never disclosed his secret.  Mr. Braccio had no contact with the priest until November 2000.  On November 20, 2000, Mr. Braccio’s father passed away.  Mr. Braccio was mortified when his abuser, Robert Schaeufele, appeared at his father’s home to administer the last rights to his father. Mr. Braccio was stricken with the guilt and shame that his father was given his last rights by this horrible man. However, Mr. Braccio kept his secret.  

On November 19, 2002 formal criminal charges for sexual abuse were brought against Robert Schaeufele.  Over 20 victims came forward and he was arrested at the end of 2002.  In March of 2003, Mr. Braccio was informed by one of his employees that she was on the jury for a high profile sexual abuse case against a Cathloic priest. The priest on trial was his abuser,

Robert Schaeufele. She indicated that she was being shown disturbing pictures during the trial.  

 

 

Mr. Braccio was stunned but retained his secret as he did not want anything to affect the outcome of the trial.  Mr. Braccio was very concerned that his employee would see pictures of him and his secret would be out. Mr. Braccio continued to be worried about pictures or videos of him being abused circulating on the internet and repeatedly contacted Missing and Exploited Children in an effort to remove pictures from the internet to no avail. In fact we have learned that in 2003, Missing and Exploited Children had no process in place at all to handle a case like my client’s.  

After multiple failed attempts for assistance from Missing and Exploited Children, in 2003 Mr. Braccio took it upon himself to discover if there were any pictures of him being abused on the internet. He began an internet search with his own name in the search. After viewing images for a period of time that day, he was disturbed by the content and never viewed it again. Mr. Braccio was contacted by law enforcement in December 2005 due to his online activity. He admitted to law enforcement that he was searching for pictures of himself, but did in fact view child pornography. Mr. Braccio cooperated with authorities and admitted to his actions and his past abuse for the first time. His secret was now out.

Since his secret was now out, in 2006 Mr. Braccio retained a law firm to file a civil lawsuit against the Catholic Church that employed the abuser. Within 90 days of filing suit in Pinellas County, FL, the Church settled the lawsuit in March 2007, awarding Mr. Braccio the second largest settlement issued by the Diocese of St. Petersburg and recognizing him as one of the many childhood sexual abuse victims at the hands of the Diocese’s Catholic priests.   

On May 23, 2007, an arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Braccio, and he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of computer pornography and possession of child pornography.  Unfortunately, jury selection rules do not allow the above facts to be presented in a court for these types of criminal offences during trial. On May 22, 2008, Mr. Braccio plead No Contest to the charges and received a sentence of 4 years of probation. However, due to the circumstances, there were no restrictions on being around children. Mr. Braccio was released from probation after serving two years.  

Sadly, Mr. Braccio is not the only person to be charged with computer child pornography crimes when in fact they were victims of childhood abuse and pornography.  In 2016 the Florida Legislature passed two bills, 1325 and 1327 to assist victims of human trafficking and past coerced sexual abuse. HB1325 and HB1327 provide trafficking victims with the opportunity to petition courts to vacate convictions for offenses committed under coercion and provides exemption from public records requirements for criminal history records of victims of human trafficking. Our team feels Mr. Braccio is a victim of human trafficking and deserves to have his record expunged. My client is currently seeing an expert in human trafficking as defined in Florida Statutes 787.06. to enable us to expunge these records from his past. 

            As you may understand the details of this letter are extremely personal and confidential.  Should you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to me anytime. 

 

                                                                                                Very Truly Yours, 

 

 

                                                                                                Zonald E. Spinks, Esq.