Grady Judd must write his own public apology letter to Taylor Cadle

Judd's ongoing tolerance and fake "discipline" of Det. Melissa Turnage, after her years of multiple failures, should force his buddy Ron DeSantis to remove him now for incompetence and cowardice.

You’ve just read the apology letter Polk County law enforcement forced Lakeland teenager Taylor Cadle to write to her serial incest rapist uncle-turned-adoptive father in 2017.

Polk County law enforcement forced Taylor Cadle to write this letter after Polk County law enforcement charged her with a crime for reporting the serial incest rapes to Grady Judd’s failed Polk Sheriff’s Office as a vulnerable 13-year-old in 2016.

Contrary to Taylor Cadle’s coerced vow, “this” did, in fact, “happen again.”

The law enforcement leaders of Polk County sent Taylor Cadle right back to her incest rapist “dad” to be incest raped again; and the extraordinarily brave and self-possessed Cadle caught her incest rapist “dad”s exposed penis on camera just before her raped her with it — again.

That was enough to finally get Grady Judd to do his job, sort of. But it has never been enough to get Judd, or State Attorneys Brian Haas or Jerry Hill, or Det. Melissa Turnage to write their own apology letters to Cadle.

The only person in this case who ever issued an official, public apology to anyone is young teen (at the time) Taylor Cadle — to her serial incest rapist “dad,” who is now in prison, no thanks to Grady Judd and Brian Haas.

If a coerced apology was good enough for Taylor Cadle in as young teenager in 2017, well …

Look at this extraordinary young woman; compare and contrast

Look at her.

Read the full astonishing story from reporters Rachel De Leon and Julia Lurie. Link here. You really just have to read it.

But I love this part, especially the part in bold. I’m thinking about this character trait a lot these days — how to build it and sustain it and reward it, especially for women.

Now 21 years old, Taylor has the same long hair and slight frame that she had when she was 12, but she no longer holds herself like she’s trying to make herself small. When we first met her in person, at an Airbnb for an interview in front of cameras and lights, she walked in as if she did this all the time, deftly setting her then-8-month-old daughter up for a nap in the bedroom before speaking, for nearly five hours straight, with the self-assurance and confidence of someone much older. She has a tattoo of the birthday of her son, who is 3 years old, in roman numerals on her left forearm, a nose ring, and dyed black hair—all decisions, she notes with a trace of pride, that she made despite Lisa’s disapproval soon after she turned 18.

But perhaps the biggest act of defiance is that she has decided to speak publicly about what happened to her when she was 12. Asked if she wanted to use a pseudonym or just part of her name, she said no—she wants to use her full name, and she wants to share her whole story. 

I’ve used this Faulkner quote a lot recently:

What sets a man writhing sleepless in bed at night is not having injured his fellow so much as having been wrong; the mere injury he can efface by destroying the victim and the witness but the mistake is his and that is one of his cats which he always prefers to choke to death with butter.

Taylor Cadle is refusing the effacement by refusing to be destroyed — and in fact, seemingly, taking deep affirming pride in what she triumphed over. God bless her.

Here are a couple other things to highlight.

Det. Melissa Turnage is a menace to public safety; Judd’s ongoing tolerance of her is grounds for immediate removal

Melissa Turnage, the sheriff’s detective who most belligerently failed Taylor Cadle and forced her to apologize to her rapist, has been a problem detective for a long time. Excerpts from the article here. Note the parts in bold:

But mistakes quickly followed. In November 2015, during an interview with a man suspected of sexually assaulting a child, Turnage failed to read the suspect a key part of his Miranda rights—an omission that resulted in the suppression of the suspect’s confession. Turnage was suspended for eight hours, according to department records. 

The following month, Turnage interviewed children who alleged their father was raping them, and then left for Christmas vacation without bringing the suspect in for questioning or updating her supervisors on the status of the case. While she was away, her colleagues found out about the seriousness of the accusations and immediately arrested the suspect. “Your decision to not complete this investigation or advise me of the interview results is inexcusable,” her supervisor wrote in a letter that year. “Disclosures made by children in this case must be acted upon immediately if the investigation allows for it.” …

… Remarkably, the same day Turnage filed the affidavit accusing Taylor of lying, she received a disciplinary letter from a lieutenant regarding another case. After investigating the sexual assault of a minor, Turnage had arrested the wrong person. A video of the assault showed the suspect had visible tattoos, but the man she detained had none. “It is imperative that as a detective you look at the totality of the circumstances and all evidence present in developing probable cause to make an arrest,” the letter read. It concluded, “You are a valued member of this agency and I am confident this will not recur.”

The absence of any apology and the presence of Melissa Turnage means this scandal is ongoing and contemporary.

Doubt me?

Does Grady have any leadership role in his own agency? Who is in charge?

This is the most pathetic, passive aggressive admission of guilt by a leaderless agency I have ever seen. Read this:

In a letter to Book last month, Polk County Captain Dina Russell defended Turnage’s "thorough investigation” and doubled down on the same concerns with Taylor that Turnage had back in 2016: Taylor had said she didn’t like going on rides with Henry, but family members said otherwise. Henry wasn’t on the surveillance video buying condoms. Taylor was texting during the abuse, but, Russell wrote, “made no mention in her texts she was being abused.” 

But after listening to a recording of an interview from the case, Russell acknowledged that Turnage’s approach didn’t meet the department’s standards. She sent Turnage a “letter of retraining” last month. 

“Several of your questions and comments were inappropriate,” Russell wrote. “While your intent may have been to elicit the truth and gather essential information, referencing personal circumstances such as foster care or financial hardships can create an environment of discomfort, fear, mistrust is simply unacceptable.” The letter made no mention of the ramifications of these failures for Taylor, or the fact that Taylor was later deemed to be telling the truth.

The captain’s demands of Turnage were minimal: Within a week, she was required to complete an online course on interview and interrogation techniques. The captain’s conclusion echoed the disciplinary letter Turnage received in 2016, when she arrested the wrong suspect: “I am confident you will take the appropriate steps to prevent any similar events in the future.” 

Turnage is still a detective, though she’s no longer in the special victims unit. Her latest performance review noted that she’s on track to become a sergeant.

How many other Taylor Cadles are there in soft on crime-against-kids Polk County?

Finally, take this in:

This is what it looks like to be soft on child sex crime. Are kids in Polk County multiples more likely to lie about abuse — or are incompetent, belligerent, badly led detectives multiples more likely to believe serial incest rapist “dads?”

I note what they report; you decide.