Help a wrongfully convicted man rebuild his life

My name is Bob Chatelle and I have been a close friend and supporter of Joseph Allen for over 20 years. Joseph needs your help to establish his new life after many years of wrongful imprisonment.

In 1993, a bus driver named Nancy Smith was falsely accused of taking pre-school children to the home of a man named Joseph, where they were horribly sexually abused. The police investigated and decided there was no basis for the accusation. That didn’t stop the accusing mother, who went to the media and created a moral panic directed at these two innocent people.

Under pressure from the DA, the case was reopened. Eventually Joseph Allen – an uneducated working-class Black man – was identified as “Joseph” and arrested. Smith, a white woman, and Allen had never met.

In 1994, Nancy Smith was sentenced to 30-94 years, and Joseph Allen to five consecutive life terms.

In 2009, Smith and Allen were called back to court to correct a sentencing error. The judge, however, reinvestigated the case, realized they were innocent, and acquitted them. The DA was unrepentant and took the case to the Ohio Supreme Court, which, to their shame, reinstated the convictions. Nancy was resentenced to time served but Joseph was sent back to prison in 2013, where he remained until last December.

In 2020, Lorain, Ohio, elected a new prosecutor, who reinvestigated the case and supported the effort to overturn the convictions. The ex-husband and son of the original accusing mother came forward and signed affidavits explaining how she had carefully trained her daughter to make the accusation. Her objective: money, lots of it, which she received.

The new prosecutor dropped all charges and apologized to Smith and Allen in open court—the first time Smith and Allen had ever met each other was in the courtroom in the underlying case.

While Nancy Smith has been able to reestablish her life, with the help of family and friends, Joseph has almost no income outside of Social Security. Although Ohio law entitles them to compensation for their wrongful convictions, the Ohio Attorney General is trying to prevent this. Another long and needless legal battle is underway.

Joseph is tired of being a burden to his brother and his family. He needs a place of his own. He needs at least a part-time job. And he needs transportation. His goal now is to put at least $6,500 down on a used car; he expects to handle the rest of the car’s cost through monthly payments.

This wretched injustice has gone on far too long. A sweet, kind man needs and deserves our help. If you know others who might wish to contribute, please share this information with them.

To learn more about this case, please visit this link .