27 Years Later, Detroit Man Freed From Prison After Accusers Recant
DETROIT (WWJ) -- A lot has changed in 27 years, but Bernard Young isn't complaining.
The Detroit native lived his first day as a free man in nearly three decades on Thursday after a judge ordered a new trial in the case of the sexual abuse of two young boys.
Court records say the two boys told investigators that Young, a neighbor, sexually abused them while babysitting them, on Hendricks Street in Detroit, when they were about 5 and 6 years old.
But interviews before Young's trial show the boys accused their mother's then-boyfriend, William Clark, of the abuse. But that information wasn't given to Young.
"I don't hold hatred in my heart for no one," Young said on Thursday. "No one can never make up for 30 years of your life, you know, you just going to have to be strong and move on -- keep moving."
Young's attorney asked for a new trial in May 2016, after the accusers signed affidavits saying Clark was the perpetrator. Clark was sentenced to three years' probation.
Young's attorney, Soloman Radnor, said Young's wife died while he was in prison.
A spokesperson for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy says she plans to appeal and her argument will be in the brief filed with the court.
"If they call the victims to testify, the victims are going to say, 'that man is innocent,' just like they said several months ago in court," Radnor said, "and they signed their affidavits. They got the wrong guy."
