A judge in Aberdeen Thursday dismissed all charges filed in a witness tampering case that came about from a child sex abuse case. Brandon Taliaferro and Shirley Schwab were were accused in a case in which prosecutors say a sexual abuse victim was influenced to give false testimony. Beadle County States Attorney Mike Moore was asked to prosecute the case for Brown County…
Mike Butler, the lawyer for Taliaferro said what happened to his client was a tragedy, Moore called that statement a joke…
Schwab’s attorney Stephanie Amiotte said she was appalled the state attempted to prosecute Schwab, who was as court-appointed special advocate at the time. She also said a quote “travesty of justice” had been remedied by the judge, Gene Kean. Moore disagrees….
Moore says Kean thought he should have made the victim of the sex abuse case testify in the case against Taliaferro and Schwab, which were some of the reasons given in the judgement for aquittal. It was a move Moore refused to make.
The criminal case against Taliaferro and Schwab is now over. Moore is unable to appeal the judges decision.