You know, many people came up to me during this time when the few articles [on Baran’s case] came out and said, “We know you are innocent; we believe in you.” I’ve had therapists say the same thing, you know, you don’t have the signs of pedophilia. You know, not talking to anybody. Being alone, not being social. And I’ve had people come up at work, guards, as well as everybody else. And I think that was what was so powerful about that. Because, you know, my character and the way I was, which was just being me — I wasn’t trying to impress them. I would say the only difference between me and Dennis in that area is that Dennis would want to tell people. Would want to tell everybody, the guards and this and that. Where I didn’t. That wasn’t my route to walk up to them and say, “Well, I’m an innocent man, don’t treat me like that.” You know, it was my fight, my struggle.
CT: Why do you think there was a difference; why did you choose to go about it that way?
Well I think he had an outer need to do it. You know, to … maybe gain a little strength and a little support. And I had it more inner. You know, I felt like the only one I could depend on — in there — was me. I had to live it, so I had to get there.
CT: You’ve touched on this a couple of times: how did you keep going, spiritually? You’ve referred to the love and support of the people outside, but it sounds like you also drew from inner resources.
Well, let me just say that I didn’t have all this support at one time. There was a long period of time when it was just me, my mom, and my family. … I come from a family with strong women. All the women in my family worked, they all had families. With my mom, it was okay to cry. You know, you didn’t get that “Oh, don’t cry”, you know, like a lot of fathers do to their sons. I got that it was okay to cry, talk about it. So, I think that, in coming out so young, and being discriminated against, and picked on — I think that all those things together combined for me.
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