My Crimes

For part of my career of 30 years, I have been disabled with bipolar disorder. It is not my desire to be a burden on society. I would much rather be working and living a productive life. In 2016 I had just moved to Penn Yan. I unfortunately went off my medication and became manic and confused. I believed that the movies told the truth about reality and I had watched some scary movies such as Silence of the lambs. In 2012 a friend had been over to my house and he picked up my grandson and bit at his leg playfully like many people do with little ones. When I became manic, I believed he was actually a cannibal. This was four years later. I wrote my daughter and said “watch out for Eric. He could be a cannibal”. For this letter She called the police, and she requested and order of protection. I was very lonely in my new community, it was a sort of solitary confinement. At one point I did not leave my home for six weeks. I did however on Oct 7 2016 drive to Clifton springs to pray the rosary in the cemetery (a little strange I’ll admit). I passed by my daughters home and stopped in traffic for the school bus, where my grandkids were boarding the bus. My son in law believed I had violated the order of protection. I subsequently was told by the judge later that I was allowed to drive by the house and that’s why I thought I only had one crime. In addition to the fact that the courthouse only gave me one paper with the crime listed so that’s all I reported to the state board of nursing. In response to my irresponsibility with my illness, the board nursing put me on two years probation and stayed suspension. I was allowed to work as a nurse but the wording “stayed “ is not understood by people to mean what it means. I worked as a cashier for a year and a half. In Jan of 2017 I went back on my medication and have been stable and appropriate for seven and a half years. My legal counsel said not to clarify anything about the second crime -driving by the daughters house (criminal contempt) as my probation period was over. Aggravated harassment in the second degree crime was for the bizarre letter to my daughter. When I pled guilty it was out of fear- fear that I would lose my home if incarcerated. I know when some one sees these crimes they must think that I am aggressive, irrational and irritable. That is not my nature at all. I am calm and cooperative. I am grateful to Flacra that I have been able to prove to myself and everyone that I am a competent and caring nurse. I am proud to be working and be off disability. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I understand your hesitation and I hope this explanation helps.