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OK now that Ed Kramer’s trial is over and he has pleaded guilty however an Alford Plea which is where one pleads guilty without admitting actually wrong doing, I am going to speak about the whole messy matter.
A few things you need to know before you read this.
I have known Ed since we were both at Emory University. I was an undergraduate and he was in the grad school. I went out on a couple of dates with Ed but just didn’t feel right about it so we agreed that we were friends and went on our merry ways.
I have been to Dragon*Con since about the third one I think. I have been the tech director of Dragon*Con back in the 90s. I still go to Dragon Con. I have lots of friends involved in Dragon Con. I have known Pat Henry for just about as long as I have known Ed. So Dragon Con is close and dear to my heart.
When I heard that Ed was accused of child molestation, I had a hard time believing it. I knew Ed. I couldn’t see it. But that is the way of sociopaths that they can make themselves look innocent and normal in the eyes of everyone else.
But as the years went on and various things came out, I came to the conclusion that I was as bamboozled as everyone else who thought that they knew him. The more he fought going to trial, the more I realized what I though I knew about him was false.
And that is hard to swallow. You think you know someone and then you discover that you didn’t really.
Dragon*Con has become Dragon Con and removed Ed from the equation entirely. Because of Georgia Contract law, this was a lot harder to do than it would have been in other states. I can’t tell you everything I know here because I have been told in confidence but I can say that the board of Dragon Con has been working for several years to separate Ed from the convention. They couldn’t say anything one way or the other because then Ed would have sued them yet again and start the whole process over of trying to separate Ed again. Georgia law has a provision that no company can be dissolved while there are suits against said company. You can do the math.
So after 13 years he pled guilty and was sentenced to three years house arrest. There is a lot of uproar about the fact that he has house arrest. May I remind you that if he is under house arrest then all his medical expenses (which are apparently myriad) are his own not the state. And you know that they are going to be watching him like a hawk. He crosses the line and his butt is in jail for the next 25 years.
He can never go to a convention again since he is now a registered sex offender. They are probably going to be monitoring his calls and computer activity if he has any. He is in a box and will be there for the next three years. After that his activities will be monitored since he is basically on probation for the rest of his life. He has to pay restitution to his victims, which will cut into any money he has left along with his lawyer bills, which are massive by this point. And it leaves him open to any and all civil suits against him, which will cost him dearly one way or another.
This story is not over for him but it is for Dragon Con which is now 100% Ed free.
Personally I feel a bit used and dirty from the whole thing. I keep trying to see what I missed. How I didn’t know what he was at the time. I go over it in my mind and try to figure out what I could have done which is in all honesty nothing. And that is the scary thing, I didn’t know and couldn’t see what was going on. It makes me question so many things.
I am grateful that this whole mess has had some form of a conclusion. I hope that the victims get one as well.
A few things you need to know before you read this.
I have known Ed since we were both at Emory University. I was an undergraduate and he was in the grad school. I went out on a couple of dates with Ed but just didn’t feel right about it so we agreed that we were friends and went on our merry ways.
I have been to Dragon*Con since about the third one I think. I have been the tech director of Dragon*Con back in the 90s. I still go to Dragon Con. I have lots of friends involved in Dragon Con. I have known Pat Henry for just about as long as I have known Ed. So Dragon Con is close and dear to my heart.
When I heard that Ed was accused of child molestation, I had a hard time believing it. I knew Ed. I couldn’t see it. But that is the way of sociopaths that they can make themselves look innocent and normal in the eyes of everyone else.
But as the years went on and various things came out, I came to the conclusion that I was as bamboozled as everyone else who thought that they knew him. The more he fought going to trial, the more I realized what I though I knew about him was false.
And that is hard to swallow. You think you know someone and then you discover that you didn’t really.
Dragon*Con has become Dragon Con and removed Ed from the equation entirely. Because of Georgia Contract law, this was a lot harder to do than it would have been in other states. I can’t tell you everything I know here because I have been told in confidence but I can say that the board of Dragon Con has been working for several years to separate Ed from the convention. They couldn’t say anything one way or the other because then Ed would have sued them yet again and start the whole process over of trying to separate Ed again. Georgia law has a provision that no company can be dissolved while there are suits against said company. You can do the math.
So after 13 years he pled guilty and was sentenced to three years house arrest. There is a lot of uproar about the fact that he has house arrest. May I remind you that if he is under house arrest then all his medical expenses (which are apparently myriad) are his own not the state. And you know that they are going to be watching him like a hawk. He crosses the line and his butt is in jail for the next 25 years.
He can never go to a convention again since he is now a registered sex offender. They are probably going to be monitoring his calls and computer activity if he has any. He is in a box and will be there for the next three years. After that his activities will be monitored since he is basically on probation for the rest of his life. He has to pay restitution to his victims, which will cut into any money he has left along with his lawyer bills, which are massive by this point. And it leaves him open to any and all civil suits against him, which will cost him dearly one way or another.
This story is not over for him but it is for Dragon Con which is now 100% Ed free.
Personally I feel a bit used and dirty from the whole thing. I keep trying to see what I missed. How I didn’t know what he was at the time. I go over it in my mind and try to figure out what I could have done which is in all honesty nothing. And that is the scary thing, I didn’t know and couldn’t see what was going on. It makes me question so many things.
I am grateful that this whole mess has had some form of a conclusion. I hope that the victims get one as well.
