Memoirs of A Healer/Clinical Social Worker: Autobiography of Bruce Whealton

Chapter 60: On The Run: My Trauma And Treatment

My First Experience of Injustice

After I had lost everything, I was moving from place to place in Wilmington. I was living in Southport when I received a criminal summons. It was absurd. John Freifeld had gone to a magistrate and without any evidence claimed that I placed five harassing phone calls to him on a Friday and a Monday in September of 2000. I had not spoken to him in months since we had a falling out.  

He also claimed that I was cyberstalking him. It's a sufficiently vague law that prohibits one from making any statements online that might embarrass or harass a person. I was not aware of anything that would amount to anything regarding my online activities.

I was absolutely certain that I had nothing to worry about regarding the harassing phone calls. Why? Well, wouldn't you need some evidence? A recording on the phone, or some phone records? Since it never happened - I had not contacted him, I had nothing to worry about or so I assumed.

Unfortunately, he is very charismatic, and my lawyer and I underestimated that. He represented himself in the matter. My lawyer demonstrated inept legal counsel by going to trial right away. I wasn't thinking until after the trial that he should have gotten the phone records.

Since this never happened, obviously Freifeld had no recording to present as evidence. The judge found me not guilty of the cyberstalking - the judge threw that claim out. However, just on the word of Freifeld, he found me guilty of the harassing phone calls.

I was livid as I left the courtroom. My lawyer asked, "do you want me to appeal this? Do you want me to get the phone records?"

I was thinking, "now you are thinking of that?" I answered, "yes, appeal it. And, yes, get the phone records. This did not happen!"

It was a matter of principle. It was wrong!

Moving Away

I had been working as a paraprofessional again as I had before I got my degree or my license. Freifeld cost me that job as well. I have no idea why he was obsessed with me months after I had no contact at all with him. He called my employer and told them about the matters related to my license and the grievances. Despite the fact that nothing had been determined yet (I had not signed the Consent Decree surrendering my license until a few months later) and despite the fact that the work did not require a license, I was not able to work with the agency.

Having no options as to how or where I could live in Wilmington, I left for Durham to live with the people who offered me a place to stay for a little while for free. David and Ruth were their names. Ruth had been hurt by John Freifeld, and they both followed the news about what was happening to me, what John was doing. Freifeld seemed to want to brag online about what he was doing to me.

I started going to the mental health center in Durham for therapy. It was all that I could afford.

Like other victims, I felt wretched and ashamed. I felt like I didn't deserve to exist. I had nothing to offer the world, I thought.

I needed some support from my family because I couldn't stay with Ruth and David long. So, I asked Ruth to explain the situation to my parents. She tried desperately to explain to my mother the cruelty of John and how he is able to convince people to do bad things. She said, "there was a time when if John said the sky was pink, I would believe it and see the sky pink."

It didn't matter, my parents didn't care at all.

I moved into the homeless shelter at some point after leaving David and Ruth's home. They asked me to leave as I had stayed long enough. That sense of isolation and loneliness, of being discarded and worthless was pervasive and traumatic.