CASE CHRONOLOGY

CASE CHRONOLOGY

For the Court’s convenience, this chronology sets forth many of the most important events in this case.

July 1984 U.S. Customs agents at JFK Airport seize a child pornography magazine addressed to Arnold Friedman. They inform United States Postal Inspector John McDermott.

November 23, 1984 -

February 6, 1986 For a year and a half, an undercover postal inspector, posing as a collector of child pornography, engages in a correspondence with Arnold Friedman, trying to persuade Friedman to send a piece of child pornography by mail.

February 8, 1986 Arnold Friedman sends the undercover postal inspector a magazine that contains child pornography.

November 3, 1987 After continued correspondence with the postal inspector, over another year and a half, in which Arnold Friedman repeatedly requests the return of the magazine, Postal Inspector John McDermott, posing as a mailman, returns the magazine to Arnold Friedman at his home in Great Neck in a “controlled delivery.”

McDermott and other federal agents execute a search of the Friedman home, pursuant to a warrant, for “materials related to the manufacturing and distributing of child pornography.” They find approximately twenty magazines, alleged to contain child pornography, in Arnold Friedman’s private office, but no evidence of self-produced pornography. They also find a list of names of students who had attended Arnold Friedman’s after-school computer classes over the prior several years.

November 4, 1987 Informed of the search by federal agents, Detective Sergeant Fran Galasso of the Nassau County Police Department initiates an investigation into possible child sexual abuse in Arnold Friedman’s computer classes. There have been no complaints of abuse from children and no parent has reported physical or psychological symptoms of abuse. Two-detective teams begin interviewing students on the list.

November 25, 1987 Nassau County detectives execute a search of the Friedman house and arrest Arnold and Jesse Friedman on charges of child sexual abuse.

December 9, 1987 Arnold and Jesse Friedman are arraigned on Indictment 67104, which contains fifty-two counts of child sexual abuse against five children.

February 8, 1988 Arnold Friedman pleads guilty in federal court to one count of mailing child pornography.

February 9, 1988 Arnold and Jesse Friedman are arraigned on Indictment 67430, which contains ninety-one counts of sexual abuse against eight children. The arraignment is covered in court by television cameras and photographers. This is the first time a judge has ever permitted cameras inside a Nassau County courtroom. Judge Boklan will continue to routinely grant such requests throughout the proceedings.

March 25, 1988 Arnold Friedman pleads guilty before Judge Boklan to all felony counts in Indictments 67104 and 67430 in exchange for a promised sentence of ten to thirty years, to run concurrently with any sentence imposed in federal court. Faced with the prospect of being re-arrested and prosecuted based on the allegations of other children, he provides a lengthy “closeout” statement to detectives, confessing to acts of molestation against every child whose name is raised by the police. Detectives will use this statement in subsequent visits to children’s houses.

March 28, 1988 Arnold Friedman is sentenced to ten years in federal prison.

April 11,1988 Douglas Krieger, Esq., serves a demand for discovery, which includes a specific Brady request.

May 13, 1988 Arnold Friedman is sentenced to ten to thirty years in prison on the state charges.

June 22, 1988 Ross Goldstein is arrested based on a felony complaint alleging 18 counts of child sexual abuse committed in the Friedmans’ computer classes. Detective Galasso tells the press and Jesse’s attorney, Peter Panaro, that there might be as many as four additional suspects arrested.

June 23, 1988 Jesse Friedman, who has surrendered at the demand of Nassau County police, is arraigned on a felony complaint charging thirty-seven new counts of sexual abuse.

September 8, 1988 Ross Goldstein signs a plea agreement in which he promises to testify against Jesse Friedman. Goldstein is promised a sentence of six months in the county jail, five years probation, and a youthful offender adjudication.

In or about Summer/

Fall 1988 Attorney Panaro, having viewed and transcribed the tape of the Interview of Gary Meyers, specifically requests Brady evidence of similar suggestive and intimidating questioning of other children by detectives. None is disclosed.

November 15, 1988 Jesse Friedman and Ross Goldstein are arraigned on Indictment 69783, which contains 302 counts of child sexual abuse against seven children.

December 20, 1988 Jesse Friedman pleads guilty before Judge Boklan to twenty-four counts in full satisfaction of the three indictments against him in exchange for a promised sentence of six to eighteen years.

January 24, 1989 Jesse Friedman is sentenced by Judge Boklan to six to eighteen years.

March 22, 1989 Ross Goldstein pleads guilty to three counts of sodomy in the first degree, and one count of use of a child in a sexual performance.

May 3, 1989 Ross Goldstein is sentenced to two to six years by Judge Boklan, contrary to Goldstein’s cooperation agreement. Thirteen months later, the Second Department reverses Judge Boklan and orders that she re-sentences Goldstein to the originally promised term of six months.

Fall 2000 Andrew Jarecki begins production of a documentary about children’s birthday party entertainers, which eventually becomes “Capturing the Friedmans.” He first contacts Jesse Friedman about the project in March 2001.

December 7, 2001 Jesse Friedman is released from prison after serving thirteen years of his sentence.

January 2002 Jesse Friedman sits for on-camera interview with Andrew Jarecki for his film.

January 2003 Jesse Friedman sees a rough-cut of “Capturing the Friedmans”.

January 2004 Fulfilling 16 years of hope, Jesse Friedman files an appeal of his conviction in Nassau County.