Open Letter: District Attorney Sim Gill

This week, we joined Ty and Bryn's Army in issuing a call to action. Judge Derek Pullan Issued a stay on the writ while the district attorney completes the investigation and determines whether they will file charges. A fellow advocate shared a powerful letter she wrote to District Attorney Sim Gill, and has given me permission to share: 

District Attorney Gill, Chiefs of the Justice, Child Abuse, and Sexual Assault Divisions:

I have followed the case regarding minor victims Ty and Brynlee Larson, since their first viral Tik Tok pleading for help and protection.  I recently read the ProPublica investigation documenting the inexplicable, horrific injustice these two children have suffered at the hands of their father, family court Judge Pullan, and the for-profit reunification/parental alienation players in this case who have no support for their financially lucrative scam among their own peers in the psychology community.  This case is exemplary of a series of systems failures that have culminated in badly needed nationwide attention not just for these children, but likely many more.  The exposes, articles, and interviews that are inevitable 1 month, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now, will name names and be brutal to the careers  and reputations of everyone who helped facilitate and perpetuate the insidious harm to these children.   

Child abuse and sexual assault cases are understandably challenging to prove, usually because of the lack of independent corroboration and the victims are usually too young to articulate what their abuser did to them in a cohesive, linear, and credible way to meet the burden of proof.  In this case, you have two older, articulate children who are capable and willing to testify, and there are at least two other known children who have accused this suspect of molestation and/or sexual assault, whose testimony can be revived to show a pattern of conduct by this suspect. There is likely a pattern of conduct this predator engages in that will span across all 4 victims' accounts, the connective tissue for their credibility and corroboration of their abuse.  

Ty and Brynlee present well and are credible witnesses, who will be able to withstand the expected brutal cross-examination by the defense. I have no doubt they are ready for it and will be successful on the stand.  They can handle it after what they have been willing to endure for their own safety.  No child will go through the extremes they have gone to, just to exact bratty, childish revenge or as an extension of parental brainwashing.  It defies belief that they are willing to eat poorly, miss out on friendships, activities, schooling, their future collegiate prospects that will impact their financial future as adults and parents---just to lie about being abused. These children will do an excellent job making a jury understand why they went to the lengths they did, and telling their story of abuse in a credible and heartbreaking way to a jury.

A failure to charge this case will be viewed publicly and nationally as an additional inexcusable, negligent failure of duty to the safety of these children and will be seen and publicized as collusion between the family and criminal courts, as well as the family court players who financially benefit from trafficking children against their will to their private "reunification camps".  Bigger picture thinking is needed here.  These camps are facing growing class action lawsuits by parents and children, similar to the civil lawsuits against the "troubled teen" camp industry, one of which has come under scrutiny recently in Provo, Utah. The discovery in these lawsuits are going to expose a horrific pattern of corruption, negligence, and criminality within these family court cases that have used these self-proclaimed reunification experts and their camps.  The District Attorney's Office will be dragged into not just the discovery in these cases, but the articles, journalistic investigations, and bombshell interviews that are inevitable.  

A failure to charge this case will have rippling repercussions to the credibility of the District Attorney's office in its investigations and charging decisions regarding child victims, and be the subject of every election cycle.  This case is not going away.  

The District Attorney's Office needs to distance itself from the stench surrounding the actions of Judge Pullan, Linda Gottlieb, Michelle Jones, and Daniel Eyre.  The District Attorney's Office must be seen as the one part of this interconnected system that will not fail these brave children.  

I have no doubt that you have enough facts to meet the burden of proof to ethically charge the case.  The question is whether you have the will to put a seasoned prosecutor in front of this case, whether your office can be as brave as these children. You will undoubtedly have public support in charging this case, no matter the verdict.  

Thank you for considering this letter in support of criminal charges against Mr. Larson.

Sincerely,

Kia Harris-Birdsong

San Diego Resident

Mother of two teens

Attorney