After being kidnapped and raped twice by her kidnapper, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend at the time Aaron Quinn not only were disbelieved by the local police, the FBI agreed with the police and considered charging Huskins and Quinn with committing several crimes. Huskins and Quinn’s story became a harrowing example of what can happen when the justice system fails the victims of a crime. We were alerted to these types of offical mistakes by Victor Hugo in his novel Les Miserables where the hero is relentlesly pursued by Inspecter Javert.
Denise Huskins was eventually released 400 miles away from Vallejo, near the Huntington Beach neighborhood where she grew up—without any ransom being paid. She then made her way to her father’s home, where she was let inside a neighbor’s house after discovering her dad wasn’t home. The same day she was freed, Vallejo Police announced that her abduction appeared to be an “orchestrated event and not a kidnapping,” and Huskins was forced to hire her own lawyer, defense attorney Doug Rappaport. Thanks to another very alert police officer who noticed a single blond hair on a pair of taped-over googles the kidnapper/rapist was eventually caught, tried, convicted and is now in prison.
In March 2016, Huskins and Quinn filed a defamation lawsuit against the City of Vallejo and its police department in which they accused Vallejo officers of “a vicious and shocking attack” that “unfairly destroyed their reputations through an outrageous and wholly unfounded campaign of disparagement.”
They settled out of court for $2.5 million, but continued to advocate against the department’s actions. In a 2021 op-ed for Open Vallejo, Quinn argued that Vallejo Police should be disbanded for its officers’ misconduct…. Agreed… What about the FBI? They also went after Trump and have committed other outrageous acts. They need to be held more to account than simply firing James Comey. In addition there are the anti-Trump investigations and trials.
Banc to Huskins and Quinn: “Six years ago, my wife Denise Huskins and I were subjected to the department’s malice after she was kidnapped from my home,” he wrote. “Without evidence, Detective Mat Mustard and others falsely accused me of murder while ignoring leads that would have led them to Denise. When she was released alive, we were immediately accused of fabricating her kidnapping and sexual assaults.”
In a 2021 statement, Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams, who was appointed chief in 2019 before resigning in 2022, said that what happened to Huskins and Quinn was “horrific and evil.”
“I am committed to making sure survivors are given compassionate service with dignity and respect,” the statement read. “Although I was not chief in 2015 when this incident occurred, I would like to extend my deepest apology to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn for how they were treated during this ordeal.”
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