My family are about to be put through hell. How can I prepare

Well, without a major relocation it's probably going to blow up in your face and there won't be much you can do about it. Maybe take an extended vacation so the press can't get their claws into you, or actually get out ahead of this and disown that family member outright in the media, and if you come from money set up a charity / donate to an existing one for victims of the same crimes. It's either radio silence or over the top positive optics that will keep the shit storm turned down a bit, but it will be a shit storm regardless.

May I ask what the crime was?

Also, it seems like scandals are a dime a dozen nowadays. It's actually good fortune that this is going to drop during an election (assuming you are in the USA), as it could get buried on page 10 and at least keep out of most national news.

>>17525474
>>17525465
It's been my intention to relocate for a while and obviously that seems more tempting than ever right now, but (for a variety of reasons, including the age of my younger siblings) I don't think the other family members are planning to relocate, and I think I need to be here to support them, at least in the next 6 months whilst the shit storm rages. If it does make national news (and this might depend on whether the case goes to trial and what the outcome of that trial is) then I think it will only be a small story so I'm not too worried about that (although obviously it's very unpleasant), I'm more worried about the fact that it will be a big story in the local news, and my family name will be dragged through the dirt and the people we've been friends with all our lives turn their back on us.

I don't want to talk about any specifics with respect to the incident, but it's probably fairly easy to guess the nature of the alleged crime from my posts. The reason I can't be specific is that the police were tracking the IP address of my wifi. I don't know if they're still doing it (and I'm now using a VPN, which might make me properly anonymous, I don't know), but I think it's certainly possible that my internet activity now could be retrieved at a later date and used in a trial, if it were relevant. Therefore I don't want to say anything that could possibly me misconstrued and be used as evidence against this family member.

>>17525465
Also, I don't want to disown the family member. There may be a split in my family here as other members are understandably still very angry. Obviously I'm pretty devastated, but as far as I'm concerned the family member is still more or less the same person as before, and is not a bad person. It's maybe also worth mentioning that, as far as I understand it, the incident in question doesn't have any direct victims (ie he or she didn't directly do anything to another person).

>>17525519
Also, sorry to keep replying to my own thread, but I should add that I have no idea whether this person is guilty or not. This post reflects my initial reaction to the arrest, but if it later transpires that he or she is not guilty, then obviously I want to be there to support them and help them to clear their name.

File: image.jpg (24KB, 342x418px) Image search: [Google]

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How long until it goes public?

>>17525581
I'm not sure to be honest. The arrest happened in the last few days. The person has been bailed, but is not allowed to stay at home. In approximately two months he or she will have to return to the police station, and I assume that's when we will find out if the police have enough evidence for the case to go to trial. In that scenario, I guess the court proceedings would take a few months at the very least, before any verdict is returned.

At what point of that would the press be made aware of what's happening? I'm not sure - I think that if they knew already they would be allowed to report it, so I'm guessing they're not aware yet. I'm not sure how the press get this sort of information anyway, whether the police release press statements or if they get it some other way. Like I say though, this person is a public figure locally, and his/her absence is public life will be noticed and questioned before too long.

tl;dr I don't know, but probably in the next month or two

>>17525546
so kiddy porn?

Hold your head high and maintain a stoic demeanor. Just don't let the things people say get to you. Cliche advice but should work

>>17526022
Do you think I should go about my normal life? Right now I'm thinking that I should hide away as much as possible, even though that feels cowardly and might make people think I have something to hide. At the moment I work in a job where I deal with lots of members of the local public, and I don't know if I can bear that so I think I'm going to leave. I also think I'm going to delete all of my social media accounts, at least for a few months after it goes public. Then, if and when the dust settles and I'm convinced that things might finally start to be getting better for family members, maybe I'll look at relocating somewhere and starting anew alone. Not sure if that's the right thing to do though, because I don't want to abandon family members who are more vulnerable than I am, or indeed the family member who was arrested and could potentially face prison time.

Was it the federal government that came for him? If so, then he's almost certainly going to prison. The feds have a 97%+ conviction rate.

Go about your normal life, OP. You did nothing wrong; you have nothing to be ashamed of. Just stick close with your family and keep tight. It's these kinds of situations that family is here for.

My brother in law went trough a similar story. His dad was a very rich, influental and widely known guy. He was dealing with weapons the big way. One day they did a razia at their home and whilst they arrested all the adults upstairs, the uncle tried to kill himself in the basement because he knew that everything that will follow will be horrible. Came out he was involved with the russian mafia and also sold weapons to coubtries that he definitely shouldn't have. He went to jail and his kids weren't allowed to see him anymore for years. My brother in law was about 16 at that age and he had suffered severe bullying after that incident. One teacher refused to teach him in his class and everyone wanted nothing to do with him as soon as they heard his name. People would change to the other side of the street and immature shit like that. However, he webt to a very good psychiatrist that helped him stand strong and keep his head up high during all this and he's now one of the best guys i have ever know in all my live. He had to grow up and face reality pretty fast and harshly but it made him a very good person. Basically, yes, it will be hell, but get yourself help and you won't have to fear for the future of your family. Time will heal all wounds.

>>17526372
I'm not in the States, and the family member was arrested by local/regional police rather than some sort of national force. If I've understood it correctly (although I may well be wrong), on the basis of current evidence and if a guilty verdict is found, the current sentencing guidelines can range from community service to a small prison sentence. However it's possible that more evidence could come to light during the police investigation which would increase the seriousness of the offence and the consequent punishment. Like you say, I'm innocent, so I have no idea what's likely to happen.

I know I have nothing to be ashamed of personally, and yet my family will be shamed in a very public and humiliating way. That's why I'm currently leaning towards disappearing from public life as much as possible, at least in the next six months or so.

>>17526399
Yeah that doesn't sound nice, and I think it could be even worse for my family. Again, I won't go into details, but the crime my family member is accused of is a different sort of crime. I'm sure that most people agree that selling weapons is pretty despicable, but it's also maybe pretty 'badass', or something like that. In my situation, no one thinks the crime is badass - it's pretty much universally despised and derided. People will either hate my family or laugh at them or both.

Maybe time will heal this wound too, but being right at the beginning of this process is difficult. I'll never get back the family I had last week either - even if the person is found not guilty or the case doesn't go to trial, I don't think my family will ever be united and loving again. It's hard to stay positive when you know what the future holds and none of it is happy.

>>17526439
Now I really want to know what the crime is. Still, my advice remains the same. If you want to decrease the amount of time you go out then do so, but just stay supportive of your family and get through it together. This type of shit is 99% of the reason why families are their to begin with.