nothing of what it was putting Eli through?
“Who’s the other man?” Sawyer asked.
“Carl Ramsay. Up to three years ago worked for Child Services. Now is a business associate of Caffrey’s and has shares in various properties.”
Lin changed the screen to a picture of a Latin American man.
“Caffrey owns and operates six self-storage facilities in the Orlando area, and six months ago bought out a company who own another four in Tampa. He recently had someone who rented a lockup at one of his Orlando locations prosecuted for distributing pornography. He argues obviously that he doesn’t inspect what is stored. One of his managers for the Tampa locations is a man called—”
“Rafael Cruz,” Eli supplied woodenly, staring at the screen.
Lin looked uncomfortable again but nodded.
“And who’s Rafael Cruz?” Gael asked.
“He was a local handyman for Caffrey when he fostered minors,” Lin explained. “Caffrey had quite a large yard and rented it to people with boats, motor homes, a few storage trailers and the like. Cruz used to do minor repairs on the interiors. Ten years ago Rafael Cruz was sentenced to eight years for possession of images of minors engaged in sexual acts.”
“Did you ever come across Ramsay?” Talon looked at Eli.
Eli nodded. A jerky little motion, but Daniel had a feeling the explanation was a lot longer.
“And where is Cruz now?” Jake asked.
“He is living in a shared apartment in Ybor arranged by the Michael Bennett Foundation,” Agent Wright said.
“Which is?” Jake prodded.
“Michael Bennett was an eighteen-year-old who had sex with his seventeen-year-old girlfriend the day before her eighteenth birthday,” Finn told them. “Her parents came home unexpectedly and found them. He was repeatedly raped while in prison, and when released he was put on the sexual offender’s registry. He was forced to move three times because of the restrictions on where he could live, including his parents’ home because of its proximity to a day care center, and after being given notice the third time jumped out of the window of his grandad’s apartment to his death. His grandad lived on the fourteenth floor.”
“Fuck,” Gael said eloquently.
“What happened to the Romeo and Juliet law?” Jake asked.
“The what?” Adam queried.
“It’s still statutory rape in Florida, but the so-called Romeo and Juliet law removes the requirement for registration if certain conditions are met,” Daniel explained. “Consent, no more than a four-year age gap, first offense.” He looked at Finn. “It sounds like all those apply.”
Finn nodded. “Except Michael Bennett was convicted pre-2007 when it was enacted. The judge he got to review this after it came in was too hardline and against the law in the first place. Different judge and it would have been removed.”
“So, they can petition to have their names removed now if the offence happened earlier, but it’s up to the judge?” Sawyer clarified.
“Florida is one of the toughest states for sex crimes, and the foundation argues that sex offenders are the only people that are still punished for their crime even after they have served their full sentence.” Finn held his hand up when Jake opened his mouth. “Whatever you’re about to say, I agree. But the fact is that the law doesn’t differentiate between the bastards that should be castrated and the Michael Bennetts of this world. The Bennett Foundation have argued strongly for this and provide short-term accommodation, counselling, and employment assistance.”
The whole system was broken.
“And Samantha Bennett,” Finn carried on, “Michael’s mom—was stabbed to death four years ago by the father of a ten-year-old that was raped and strangled by a sex offender that cleaned the offices where he worked. His wife used to bring their daughter by sometimes if he was late home, and she would stay with him for a short while when his wife went to work her shift at the local hospital. It didn’t happen often, but dad got caught up on a phone call with a client. By the time he realized she wasn’t in the office break room where he had left her watching TV, half an hour had gone by. The man responsible got the job through the Bennett Foundation.”
Everyone was quiet as they absorbed all that. Daniel glanced at Eli, who was still staring at the screen. “I have files on Cruz, Ramsay, and Caffrey I am sending to your emails,” Lin said.
“So, let me get this straight,” Jake said. “You have a guy who has never been prosecuted for any criminal offense who owns a storage facility where his manager got prosecuted for distributing