It doesn’t make sense that after 35 years as a mental health professional Dr. Foad Afshar would risk his career, his reputation and his freedom to touch the privates of a 12-year-old boy.
Not a single other client came out of the woodwork to accuse him. On the contrary, several clients and clients’ parents sat in the courtroom to support him during the trial. Those allowed to testify said he saved their lives or the lives of their children.
Colleagues testified that they would send clients to Dr. Afshar because he had a track record of helping young people. So why did the jury find him guilty with not a single shred of evidence except the word of a child? Why was a child with a record of getting into trouble with the law more believable than a man who has dedicated his life to helping others, to teaching young adults at a local college, to giving?
With the boy’s father sitting 15 feet away in a waiting room, would a mental health professional touch a boy’s privates? It doesn’t make sense.
Dr. Afshar and his wife have three beautiful children, a solid and loving family unit. This past Sunday, Dr. Afshar spent Father’s Day at a prison facility away from his family. His friends and colleagues cannot fathom that this gentle and kind and generous man who has gone out of his way to help others could be accused and convicted of such a “grotesque” crime.
It just doesn’t make sense.
DONNA MONTENEGRO
Claremont