Jury Convicted Him Of Molesting 6 Kids; Technicality Let Him Walk

GRAND JUNCTION, CO — Jurors in 2015 convicted Michael McFadden of sexually assaulting six children. The Colorado man befriended people with young kids and then placed himself into situations where he could get access to them, prosecutors told The Daily Sentinel.

McFadden, 46, was sentenced to more than 300 years in prison — a life sentence that would prevent him from ever touching another child ever again.

On Tuesday, he walked out of the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility a free man.

McFadden appealed his conviction, saying he was denied his right to a speedy trial. His trial was delayed because his own attorneys tried to include provisions in the juror questionnaire to help them choose members. The defense also agreed — twice — to waive speedy-trial trial requirements, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein told Patch in an emailed statement.

A Colorado statute says defendants must be tried within six months and a state appeals court in June ruled that statute was violated. The court tossed his conviction and ruled he couldn't be retried again.

Rubenstein told Patch he was "appalled" by the decision.

"I am appalled that our justice system, in which a jury of the defendant's peers which the defendant helped choose, unanimously found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of sexually offending against 6 innocent victims, yet the court of appeals vacated the convictions after finding that the trial courts efforts to protect the defendant's constitutional rights to a fair trial violate an arbitrary statutory right that the defendant had waived on two prior occasions."

The state Supreme Court then declined to hear the case, allowing McFadden to walk away a free man.

Rubenstein told media outlets McFadden doesn't have to register as a sex offender either.

He says he has contacted Sen. Ray Scott, Rep. Dan Thurlow, and Rep. Yeulin Willett to change the statute.

Photo credit: Colorado Department of Corrections