Love with an Improper Stranger

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A weeping Marita Riethmiller testified that "Stephanie and Roe spent a lot of time by themselves, and I saw them holding hands, but my daughter never said anything to me about a sexual relationship, and I was unaware of it." Roe's lawyer claimed that the daughter had been a willing sex partner.

At week's end, the jury found Patrick innocent of all charges, Goss not guilty of assault and Roe not guilty of either assault or sexual battery. The jury was split on whether Goss and Roe were guilty of abduction. A retrial of the two seems unlikely. Said Judge Gilbert Bettman: "The whole deprogramming situation is a very complex problem. There is a basic social conflict on what is right and wrong."

Stephanie Riethmiller, who tried living with her parents after the abduction, is once more sharing quarters with Patty Thiemann.