If this little bastard had been chemically castrated when he RAPED and SODOMIZED a 4 YEAR OLD GIRL then we wouldn't be having this debate, if that had been my baby girl he would not have lived through it to even be accused of rape again. His cocky little butt just thought he could get away with it, obviously you must have rapist children to say this could be anyone's kids because I promise you he could not be mine. Hopefully the good Lord will see fit to handle this boy while he's in prison, the other inmates don't take to kindly to offenders of this magnitude and they are all looking for some "lovin'". The Devil sends his minions in all shapes and sizes maybe this one will be RAPED to death while he rots behind bars where he belongs.

P.S. Don't drop the soap!

With all due respect, you have no idea what you're talking about. This article doesn't deal with the details of the previous case and as such, you should refrain from attacking a young man based on something you think may have happened. Yes, he plead guilty to the charges before, being told that doing so would avoid a trial and the necessity of more funds. In light of that, the DA and the family had to both set forth and accept the plea. Do you really believe if this young man had committed some heinous act against their child that the parents would settle on the plea deal he was granted? Or that a judge would have sentenced him in the manner he did?

Assumptions don't help anyone, and neither do your hateful remarks based on them.The good Lord will take care of his own and will judge all of us, so it is unecessary for you to do so.

Ahavah

"Despite treason after treason, and sabatoge after sabatoge, God's empire of light never falls into total eclipse. Satan wages a futile war."

Do you know the details of the child molestation thing? They have been requested by several people on this blog. To my knowledge, without answer. So at this point I think it is safe to say no one on this blog knows the answer to the child molestation question.

My point:
You don't know what you're talking about. None of the Zach supporters do. How do you know your friend isn't a monster? What did he do to that kid?

he, most likely, sunk himself this time around. A plea is a statement of fact. It is an affirmative statement that you did x,y, and z. It doesn't matter how he got to that point, he just did for a myriad of reasons. He became an admitted sexual predator in the official record of the law. He should have been ultra sensitive to any other circumstances that he put himself into. That includes any sexual liaisons. It is a tough pill, but he put himself in this situation with his previous conviction.

matt.barnes,

I do know what i'm talking about, unfortunately. do you think i would have accused someone of speaking of what they didn't know if i were guilty of the same offense? and i will not divulge what i know, because it is not my place to do so, nor is it anyone on this blog's place. i know that sounds like the easy way out, but i won't hurt an already grieving family by sharing information that is not mine to share. Bottom line: he plead guilty and served time for the earlier offense.

Wedge,
I agree completely with your statement. He could have been completely innocent the first time, but when he plead guilty, that put him in a precarious position for the rest of his life and he did not behave in a manner that should have stemmed from that. Someone else on here put it rather succinctly: had he practiced abstinence, he would be in this situation.

Ahavah

"Despite treason after treason, and sabatoge after sabatoge, God's empire of light never falls into total eclipse. Satan wages a futile war."

"Also all you people that are upset with this, remember it next election!"

--Amen...best comment yet.

Can we recall the DA.If so how?

The DA is a good man...now u and ur buds stoop to trying to discredit him? Please...give us a break...and it a rest.

If you think trying a case not based on evidence but on the past history of a 14 year old child is being a good man,then you belong in Mr Ballards Bible study Group with his friend,Jeffrey Allen,who he was a character witnes for.

Did you molest children, rape, & sodomize them when you were 14 and then grow up to be who you are today?

-NO-

I didn't think so, when a child commits crimes like this you don't think it is a valid discussion for his future "rape" cases? The real questions is how many other children and young girls did he brutalize that we don't know about?

Maybe you belong in that infamous " Black House" in CA with Anton Levay's followers chanting "Hail Satan"

in a trial to win the case and get punishment for the accused and justice for the accuser. It is called a trial. Obviously, the accuser/victim was more credible than the defendant to at least the Prosecution and the jury. Crimes of sexual deviancy have a large and proven recidivism rate. It is standard and acceptable practice to bring proven and adjudicated previous crimes in cases where these previous crimes may possibly predict future behavior. Obviously, this defendant pled guilty to sexual crimes on a 4 year old. This was a known and adjudicated fact. Attested to in court and sworn to by the defendant. It would have been prosecutorial misconduct to not bring in previous sexual crimes in this circumstance.

Be mad at the defense. If it was such a no-brainer, it would have swung the other way. Wrap yourself in indignation, but it is a wrap that does not to help or comfort you.

Scott Ballard did his job, and did it well, to convict a case on this little evidence. It's not in doing that that I find fault in him-it's the means to the end. Ballard got scared last election when they called him soft of these types of issues and used this a platform to prove otherwise to his constituents. If he's not consistent and objective in his views and in what he pursues,then I don't want him as the DA in my county.

Ahavah

"Despite treason after treason, and sabatoge after sabatoge, God's empire of light never falls into total eclipse. Satan wages a futile war."

I am not well read in this case, but if the DA put on a case before a jury, and the defense put on a defense, and the jury found for the DA, then it sounds like the DA did a better job than the defense. How can you demonstate that the DA didn't do their job, if the defendant was found guilty?

Your rape was a family friend, but it was still rape. And, you did NOT go through a trial so I would like to point out that although you are trying to be empathetic, you are lacking an essential piece of the equation. Although it is not unlikely to happen, it is far easier to pass accusations around than it is to get a CONVICTION. Our system is not without fault and I plead not on behalf of any party, but on behalf of EVERY party -- because it sucks on both sides. All the things you say have been said before. I was merely trying to give a unique, and hopefully insightful, perspective. I do NOT know the facts of the case and I do NOT claim to know what happened in that room. I just wanted you to stop and think about what you type and what you say and the judgments you pass. By the way, you must keep yourself in good company if you have friends that have cried false rape!!

I do not have good things to say about my attacker. BUT, I know that my relationship with him was not the relationship he had with other people. He did not rape every person he met. He was not involved in drugs or any other illegal activity. He was an otherwise upstanding citizen. However, I am not naive in my anger and my pain and I do not expect others to understand my feelings of shame and bitterness. He took a part of me away that I will never have back. He created a blackness in my world that will NEVER go away. But, that you understand, I think. What you don't understand is the evasiveness of a public trial. Of the people around you passing judgment. Unless you sat in that courtroom or you were in the room when the offense took place then I don't understand how you can stand on your pedestal. We are human and humans are capable of great evil, even of making false accusations. I have pity for those who come forward with false accusations because it is already SO difficult. But, it is also VERY easy to ACCUSE someone of making a false accusation. As a matter of fact, it seems to be a COMMON defense technique for any promising young person to make when he finds himself confronted with such accusations. On the other hand, if this victim has gone THIS far to make these accusations then she will be judged some day by either our courts or a higher court. However, you should understand, it is a long and tedious job to convict a rapist. You do not merely show up and "perform". You claim that the jurors are human and could make errors in judgment?? -- well, here is news for you, ma'am -- SO COULD YOU and every other person on this blog, including myself.

There is no textbook for the actions of rape victims. I am glad that the person that attacked you was such scum that he was put away on other charges -- I guess his character didn't leave much to be admirable about. Not all rapists fall in that category and not all victims are like you -- So, please refrain from qualifying yourself as a person of great insight. And, please refrain from crying false charges because the victim was susceptible to high school dramas -- that hardly makes her less able to be a victim of rape.

Finally, as for the evidence of the prior case -- I highly DOUBT that as a 13 year old he made the decision to plead guilty on his own. I am sure that parents and lawyers were involved. As for why I believe that it was admissible in court for THIS case -- I do believe the victim was 16 and, therefore, a minor. I could be mistaken, but I think the accused was 17 and that might fall in the Statutory rape category even if it was consensual. Please don't hound me if I error in my statement, they are JUST MY THOUGHTS and the best insight I have to offer.

Prior to my rape, my rapist was the vice president of a hugh company, a prominent member of church, and well-known and loved by everyone in the community. Just because he ended up getting put in jail AFTER doesn't mean that before he showed any signs of being scum. Anyway, the people who I stated were "friends" are obviously not people I associate myself with anymore.They were misguided teenage girls who wanted attention. I'm not saying that this is the case with this girl, but like I said, it could be POSSIBLE. Please refrain from trying to say something about MY character because I happened to know people who lie. If you're going to use that to say something about my character than you should examine the victims character. I'm not "hounding" you about anything. But I'm saying don't just assume she's innocent because you were a rape victim as well. I'm trying to look at the whole case, and regardless of how you feel about him/her/anything, you should be able to tell that this case is incredibly flawed. Also, in GA, the age of consent was 16 so that does not apply. To GA, they were both old enough to consent. Anyway, it is awful for both parties and both families. I just hope that for the sake of keeping our justice system fair that he gets another trial with actual EVIDENCE. If he's guilty, then the courts can again find him guilty based on PROOF.

LetItBe - I can respect the fact that you believe her - but you didn't come forth. I am one of "the so called 'friends'" that you mentioned. I never claimed to be best friends with her, but I definitely was good friends with her during this time. We hung out in the same friend group and did swim team together. She was one of my two best friends on the team, and we saw eachother at least 4 times a week during that time period. So I don't think it's fair to call me a gossiper because I decided to stand up and witness to what I think is the right thing. I am not friends with Zach, and have no reason to be involved except I knew I couldn't sleep at night unless I told what I know. I would feel guilty forever if I let someone that I know is innocent go to jail and I did not do anything to stop it. So I DID do something, and now the girl is the one who will think about this every day of her life. Every single day. So in the end, Zach is still a better person than this girl, because at least he can look himself in the mirror and know that he told the truth. She will never live a day that she doesn't feel guilty, so in the end, that's all that matters.

If you went to school with the "victim" then you know me. you know i'm not a liar nor am i a friend of zach, as mentioned several times in previous posts. i have NEVER heard her brag about the incident, but i have heard her say that that wasn't the first time the zach was at her house. they were more than just friends/coworkers, they had a relationship. thats why i don't think that zach did it (among other things between me and his lawyer). she got caught and messed up once. its too late, sadly i think that this is over. whats done is done. right now the only thing we can do is pray and wish the "victim" decides to step up and tell the truth.

Sam Oxford NREMT

as harsh as this sounds, and i am trying to say this as nice as i can, its kinda like the generic rape excuse we see every week on Law and Order. she would have had a heck of alot more support if she would have come out with this, say i dunno, 3.5 years ago???

Sam Oxford NREMT

The support isn't just for Zach and against the girl. It's support for his innocence. Remember, it's not just Zach's friends that are in an outcry. Some of the girl's own friends testified on behalf of Zach and have been in an outcry on this board. Many people who have had poor opinions of Zach have been up in arms against his conviction.

The people on these boards aren't just standing up for a friend. They're standing up for justice, or lack thereof.

Perhaps if his friends and family weren't joined by people who admittedly don't even like him in protesting his innocence,then convincing supporters of his guilt would be plausible. As it stands, her own friends testified for his side and even an ex-boyfriend, with whom she parted amicably, asserts Zach's innocence, what motivation do supporters have to believe that he is the liar?

Ahavah

"Despite treason after treason, and sabatoge after sabatoge, God's empire of light never falls into total eclipse. Satan wages a futile war."

you said you weren't commenting past your last post. ??

I said I wasn't commenting about the case on my blog, as I specifically stated in my blog that it was not a place to discuss the case, only Zach.

This, however, is a place to discuss the case. I have kept my comments few and far between, but when I read something that contains a fundamental inaccuracy, I'm compelled to make a comment.

Are we curtailing free speech as well now?

ugadawg87 - wrote
Mistakes
Submitted by ugadawg87 on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 10:18pm.
I don't think it is prudent of me to continue to post on this article as I am so close to the individual, but I will leave you with one more statement.

Again I point out that you know only what you have been made to believe about either of these cases. It sounds to me you have much faith in the purity and sanctity of the American justice system. Unfortunately, it would be naive to believe that everything they tell you is "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." This is not the way things always go unfortunately. This is a prime example of why we as American citizens must perform our roles as watchdogs of the political establishment. This is not the end of the case, and you will eventually know the truth.

Also, she had many ways of knowing about the previous case as it was not entirely a secret.

I hope that you stand by your claim to admit when you make a mistake and admit you are making a mistake now in believing this man is guilty when the truth comes out.

end ugadawg87 writing

This and your blog is really useless energy for helping your friend. Use your time as a positive way to make a difference. This is just an avenue to make YOU fell like you are helping Zach. You are not getting any closer spending time here. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to attach you, but if it were my best friend, guilty or not, I would be more pro-active.

I appreciate the advice...but clearly you are so far from the case that it is really senseless rhetoric. There are some people who can help legally and there are some people who can help preserve his good name. Just because some of us cannot offer help that can be held up in a court of law does not mean that we can't offer help that can be held up in a court of public opinion.

Being pro-active does not only include gathering evidence or contacting lawyers, it includes fighting the persecution that he is getting for something that he did not do. I'm sorry you don't think that these things matter, but if it was your friend, your brother, your son...I'm sure you would have a different opinion. A man's reputation is one of the most important things he can have. As Shakespeare said:

" Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed"

Zach has had his name brought through mud--and it is our job to fight against this.

As a final note, you also don't know what goes on away from these message boards, what else I have done, nor what anybody is doing for that matter. It is extremely presumptuous and rather insulting of you to say that we aren't doing anything.

Sorry Dawg but you missed my point. I certainly was not trying to insult you or anyone. Proactive - Go out and make a difference for your friend. Preserving his name? Why now? He didn't before today and he can't from where he sits. You can work on preserving his name if he is innocent and you can get him home. That's the time for that.

I do understand proactive, and I am not close to the case. But I do know that if you have the 500 or so friends that think he is innocent, raise the money to get the right defense team for him. I'm sure a defense fund would be appreciated by him and his family. Do the math, if the 500 friends gave or raised $100 each, it would be a good start. Then imagine the power in those numbers if it's 200, 300, or more. That's real proactivity for your friend.

I'm sure that you are doing more for your friend than just blogging. I didn't mean that you weren't. I meant that the time blogging could be wiser spent else where.

Shakespeare? Please spare us. Not even needed. He gave his good name up. Remember?

One more thing. You seem to be a leader or want to lead this group to help your friend, so ask your friends to be Zach positive and not to ridicule the victim at this time. Remember, his was convicted of this crime, so he now needs to be proven not guilty.

Good day.

Not a Shakespeare fan eh? To each their own...

Listen, I'm not going to argue with you. It's impossible for you to grasp this situation and as such impossible, and pointless, to argue about.

You present a very pie-in-the-sky idea as if it's just as simple as it can be. Things aren't that easy.

I appreciate your concern though, however misguided it may be.

you speak out of both sides of your mouth...
isn't there a bulldog game on you can watch?

you speak out of both sides of your mouth...
isn't there a bulldog game on you can watch?

So what you are essentially advocating is double-jeopardy...which has been determined unconstitutional. Am I correct and coming to that conclusion based on your statements.

Interesting. Interesting that so many Americans are willing to do away with the freedoms set forth by the framers of the Constitution. What has this country become...

I'm all for punishing criminals to the fullest extent of the law but A) Zach served his time for the previous charge and B) to convict him of a crime he DID NOT commit and sentence him to, in essence, a life in prison because of a previous conviction that he already served time for is double jeopardy and is grave injustice.

Ahavah

"Despite treason after treason, and sabatoge after sabatoge, God's empire of light never falls into total eclipse. Satan wages a futile war."

I spoke to one of the jury members, they we "shocked" at the sentence and based their decision on the prior incident according to this person.

Not sure how you figure this. No evidence was brought forth to support this charge. Only inflammatory language about his history. If you advocate a case of double-jeopardy, which is unconstitutional, then perhaps you MIGHT make a case. Otherwise, Zach is a victim of an overzealous justice system.

Ballard wasn't the prosecutor for the Allen case. He has to recuse himself because he personally knew the defendant (that being said, he shouldn't have even participated in the case).

You did say what Jeffery's outcome was? Did he get off?

You are right this discussion should be about facts. Its not a popularity contest. It shouldn't matter if poeple think this girl is a tramp. And likewise it shouldn't matter that Zack seems to be everybody's BFF.

All this "Zack is a great guy" crap is actually making me think he did do it. Because Zack seems to have an incredible ability to con every person he meets into blindly loving and following him. Which is exactly the kind of personality trait that aids a date rapist or a child molester to be sucessful. I mean come on. This guy is a convicted child molester yet he is held in the highest reqaurds by everyone he meets. He is a child molest and "a leading member of the church youth group". How does that happen? How do you go from being a convected child molester to being the leader of you youth group two years later?

All the finger pointing will not do your friend Zach any good. I do understand the shock and disbelief of what has transpired. But he is a convicted Sexual Predator as of this week. He is an admitted Sexual Predator as of several years ago. Did he commit this recent crime? His many friends say no, his accuser says yes, and the jury, yes the jury agreed with the victim. What is amazing to me is that the jury is a group of 12 individuals that all decided rather quickly that the crime occurred. I would think that will weigh heavy in any appeals. My heart goes out to all involved. I hope that the victim will be able to move forward and I hope that Zach truly does see justice. If he is falsely imprisoned, may he get it reversed. But regardless, he will always be a Sexual Predator. I do think it will be very difficult to find a jury and/or a judge that will reverse this verdict without substantial evidence on Zach's behalf. That goes far beyond friends saying she's not a nice person, or former boyfriends that don't like the predator, but decided to speak up. For the judges and jurors who don't know Zach like his friends claim, they simpy will be unwilling to risk freeing a two time predator. I'm sorry, but that is my opinion.

So......If you all would like to help Zach, stop the finger pointing on this useless blog and go raise the money that "soproud" mentioned earlier. You are all young people who are creative, and can come up with ways to raise money.

Please....If you spend your time standing on a corner collecting money instead of trolling this blog, let the kind donators know what he is convicted of.

May justice be served if it hasn't already been!

Her supporters are at home, taking quiet pride in the strength and determination of this brave woman to keep others safe. The fact of the matter is that Zach Higgins is a multiple sex offender. I have no doubt that there are other victims beyond the two that are mentioned in this article (rape is the most under reported crime in America). Maybe those other girls didn't want to face the shameless ridicule and vile slander that you cowardly maggots are so quick to dish out on the internet. Maybe their cases did not have enough evidence to prosecute but this one did. All of the evidence, by law, must have gone through multiple judicial revisions including one by a grand jury before the case ever went to trial. In each review the evidence was deemed sufficient, go figure. Where are her supporters? We're at home living our lives while a disgusting piece of subhuman filth cries in a prison cell, with that deep fear in his heart that he'll never taste freedom again (he won't btw, no Appeals court will ever throw out the original verdict, plus if there's a group of people that inmates hate it's child molesters so he's gonna be fair game for every sexually repressed convict in there). We're at home, getting over this while his mentally deficient friends scream about justice and throw online temper-tantrums like spoiled brats whose mommies won't buy them a toy (Nice facebook group children, now let's see you raise 100 grand for his legal fees. Good work Zack, not only did you sexually assault young women but you also bankrupted your family, your parents must be so thrilled) Most importantly, we are thankful that this woman came forward, and stopped pretending like everything is ok so that a sick and degenerate serial rapist would never find another victim nor a moment of happiness. For that, we keep our heads up high and we hope that she will too.

Also: For the love of God people, enough with the high school rumors. Is everything that people believed about you in high school true? Let's hope not. Do a little research, many rape victims initially try to hide what happened to them because they fear their "friends" will turn on them, as you all have so eloquently demonstrated here. Google it, morons.

These are not high school rumors.The alleged victim is a liar.That is a fact.Fact 1 She told at least 4 people that the sex was consensual.Fact 2 She told the jury it was not.Put that in your fact book.

You are right, soproud, we are here. Arguments to your post (or this one for that matter) will not change that.

I hope and pray that this girl and her parents know how couragous we think she is.

well, your either a close friend or family member of the "victim," in which case your biased opinion doesn't really matter. i dated the victim a short time after this happened (about a month later)i heard the rumors at school so i asked her about it...she told me what happened and said it was consensual. to be honest i really dont like zach. i have nothing against the victim. her and i were not on bad terms when we broke up YEARS ago. i would have come out with this sooner if i would have known this court case was going on. trial is over and i wish i could of spoken up sooner...maybe could have saved an innocent mans life...

Let me go ahead and state my bias: I hate rape and I hate rapists even more. I have absolutely nothing to do with this case, but I do know what rape can do to people, I know how people react to these cases. Oh yeah, girls love telling their boyfriends about being violated. Sweet Mary, I pity you. One day you'll realize this when you have your own kids. Although let's hope for the sake of the gene pool you don't. And finally, my opinion may be biased but an opinion doesn't matter one iota, especially yours. Do a little reading on the mindset of a rape victim, then do some research on whether or not sex offenders can be rehabilitated. Children need to learn before running their mouths.

This guy is an EMT.He is a public servant working for low pay to help others.You soproud are an A-- Hole for telling him "One day you'll realize this when you have your own kids. Although let's hope for the sake of the gene pool you don't."We see what kind of friends the victim has.

cheap shot... that just shows maturity on your part making assumptions about people you dont know. you may hate rapists as every person should. but you dont know the people involved in the case like i do. do you really know the whole story? there is much much more here than what is being told in the article above. i was just shareing my side of the story...what she told me. ask the "victim"...you know her better than me at this point.

No no son, the cheap shot is your betrayal of someone you supposedly dated in favor of a convicted child molester. Take a look in the mirror if you want a lack of maturity. Ask yourself is this the person you really want to be? And if I ever meet the victim, then I'll say she did the right thing to protect her community, and that people like you, Sam, are cowards.

And yes, I know he's a rapist. He admitted it in an earlier case, and then 12 unbiased people confirmed it in this one. So yeah, I'm pretty darn sure he did it.

now your making this a personal vendetta towards me...you know nothing about me. i held a dying 3 year old child in my arms last night attempting to save her life as she took her last breath as her mom watched. i'm an EMT. i have to deal with this everyday of my life. i know how precious life is, when uninformed people like you try to force your biased opinion upon others thats a coward. go back to your desk push some papers and lets get back on the facts...and stop the personal attacks.

What bothered me about the discussion going on here was that no one was talking about the facts, including you. I read this article and said to myself, "Good for her", then I saw everyone who claimed to know her saying terrible things about this girl, and I felt like I had to say something. A few years ago, I did some volunteer work for a sexual assault victim's advocacy group in the South West that dealt primarily with Hispanic women. Many of these women barely spoke English, almost none knew anything about the legal system, but every single one of them was terrified: that people would find out and that they wouldn't believe them or that they'd think it was there fault. Many of these women just wanted to forget about it and move on, try to hold it all inside, but no woman can do that forever. Sometimes it takes a while, but these profound feelings of anger, frustration, guilt, and terror always come to the surface. Sadly when that happens, it's often too late for these women to get the justice that I feel they deserve. Most women are raped by someone they know. If it's a boss or superior, they fear they'll lose their jobs; if it's a family member, they worry that no one will believe them; if it's a classmate, they think their friends will turn on them. And in the vast majority of cases, their fears are confirmed. This is known as the "Second Rape", many of the women I talked to said it was more painful than the actual assault. My beef with you Sam, is that you're taking part in this. You were not there on the night of the incident, so as a matter of FACT, you don't know what happened. You are making judgments based on a limited set of information, as I am. However, I tend to see good reason in putting one's faith in the American legal system, the most open and just set of laws on planet Earth by far. I may be biased against the defendant, but he is an admitted child molester, and these people don't change. What appalls me is the way in which you have turned on someone it sounds like you once cared about. I'm out, finished, I don't have anything more to say to you or anyone else on this issue. Just take a moment to think about all the things that you don't know, the jury convicted this man for a reason. No woman subjects herself to the kind of scorn that this girl has received just because. I commend you for being an EMT, but if you really care about victims, you've got a lot to learn.

"You don't know Zack like I know Zack", "Zack is a great Guy", Zack can walk on water, etc....

These are the sort of comments that are bothering me most about this story and this thread.

Before the Zack groupies get all pissy and tell me this site is for people for care about Zack let me start by saying I am on Zack's side. Not because I think he is and awesome dude or an outstanding member of our community. I am on his side because I don't think he was given a fair trial. His jury was not fair and they were not impartial. An angry torch carrying mob would have been more fair than this jury. What bothers me about a lot of these post is that most of these have completly missed the point. A fair trail is fudamentaly one our most important rights iin this country and Zack wasn't given that. I understand what "Soproud" is saying above. There are thousands of girls and women around our country who do get raped in situations very similar to this one and the rapists very often get away with it. While that is very frustrating and sad, it does not make mean that every guy that has a finger pointed at him is guilty.

Does Mr. Harris represent the upstanding citizens of this county?
I think not.

Let me educate you myself, in this country we all have the right to free speech. Thus we can and often do on this site post our opinions, and points of view.. You and no one has the right to tell anyone to shut their mouths, sorry in a free country we're all free to agree or disagree, its called a republic for a reason.

No matter what, everyones opinions matters, thats the American Way, seems a few of you didn't learn that in school about our great system.

For the record, no one has opened their mouths, they have used the pen, or in this case the keyboard, again our/ your right to offer an opinion. To be taken seriously , ones must repect others opinion, even if it is different that yours. As was once said,

" I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. "

I understand this hightly emotional issue, but lets some sort of decorum, this isn't Myspace or Facebook.

Essentially, if one's ideas are appropriately embodied and presented (thereby observing decorum), then one's speech will be effective.

Thank you...

I'm assuming you are either a friend of Mr. Higgins or a family member because you are concealing information about his earlier conviction.

If you were present during the trial you would have heard the ENTIRE story and what all was done to that 4 year old.

Zach Higgins was found guilty of TWO charges of child molestation. One of those charges was AGGRAVATED child molestation.

The story about the child walking in on him was only how it began, there was MUCH more that happened later.

First off, I'm NOT a member of the family. I'm an unbiased bystander.

The jury didn't "prove" anything. Using Zach's previous conviction in the trial was a calculated defensive tactic used to manipulate the jury into sentencing him to jail BECAUSE THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO DO SO OTHERWISE. You KNEW you didn't have a case, and knew that bringing up his prior conviction would put him in jail by manipulating the jury's emotions. You are here to defend a weak conviction based on irrelevant information. You can say that it was technically within the bounds of the law, but the point was obviously to distract the jury from the complete lack of evidence. So therefore, he didn't get convicted based on this "crime" and this case, it was heavily influenced by the prior conviction. Zach admitted that a sexual act took place because it did. As for it being without the "victim's" consent, there was literally no proof, only the words that she wrote down on that piece of paper. You say that I'm concealing information and then imply that there is much more to the story, but you choose not to elaborate. You also don't argue with the fact that there was no evidence that he did ANYTHING to the 4 year old girl because you know there isn't any. You are able to say that there is "much more" to the story because you feel it holds water due to the fact that Zach pled guilty to those charges. Whether or not he really did it, or did this, is irrelevant to you.

You are essentially implying that based on technicalities, you have no moral qualms with the fact that it is extremely likely that Zach is in prison for something he didn't do. There is a moral issue here and you know it. And guess what - it matters to some people. That is why Zach has hundreds of people within days willing to defend him. So where is everybody to defend your lying little scamp? Nowhere, because everyone knows you pulled of a hack job and that there is a strong injustice being committed. Stop trying to demoralize people- whether you're one of the incompetents involved with the prosecution or a biased parent trying to cover the fact that your daughter is a conniving, lying, poor excuse for a human with no concept of right or wrong.

some more of those details with us. You don't have to mention names. You keep bringing it up as establishing a pattern, give us details so we aren't all in the dark. If you aren't willing to share..the just SHUT UP about it already!

Things aren't always what they seem to be. I have a friend who refers to himself as a drug dealer...in reality he is a Pharmaceutical salesman. A huge difference. Just labeling someone a Child Molester does not make it so!

How do I keep bringing it up to establish a pattern?

I've never said that before on here.

Whar are the details of the child molestation story? You commented that they were given during the trial you were at but the article didn't say much and neither has anyone else. Everyone on this post below the age of 25 seems to have been at this trial but nobody seems to have any comments or opinions beyond what a great guy ZAck is. You seem like a objective person. What are the facts?

Those details SHOULD be disclosed, everything else certainly has been! The people that attended this trial have SO much to say about the victim's reputation and Zach's character, but are amazingly mute about the details of his past offense. Were the "details" actually disclosed at the trial? And if so, why the silence? If the details of his prior offense determined the jury's decision, they should be published so that people will finally understand why a seemingly 'wonderful' young man has been convicted of rape. The details must come out if people (especially his friends) are to understand and finally accept the jury's decision.

is that in our court system there is no longer a presumption of innocence. Once arrested, you are guilty unless proven otherwise. This case is typical of that it seems, if not, then there is no way he should have been convicted. No physical evidence, just She Said, He Said so it would seem that it was incumbent upon Zacks lawyer to prove his innocence rather than the prosecution prove his guilt.

Everyone that has a teenage son should sit up and take notice of this case. Your son could be next!

Just because you get raped by someone you once had a crush on doesn't make it legal.

Did you know that in Georgia (and most other states in the country) the courts have ruled that a husband can rape his wife?

I bet at one point that wife said some nice things about her husband and maybe even had loved him. It still doesn't make things any different.

Maybe if Georgia had tougher child molestation laws and sterilized Zack then he wouldn't be in this sticky situation.

This jury would make the O J Simpson jury look intelligent.The jury chose to believe the alleged victim over 4 witnesses whom she had bragged to that this was cosensual.The D.A.{and you can let that stand for what ever you want]was so biased and overzealous that Zach never had a chance.I am ashamed that I live in a county where a young persons life is thrown away for political gain.I hope that everyone who has heard the alleged victim brag about this affair will contact Zach's attorney.
If we the people re-elect this judge or prosecuter we are just as wrong as they are.
One day we all will be judged,I would not want to be in the false accusers shoes and I hope God has no mercy on her as she deserves none.

a jury is pretty much group of just there opinions. In this case it is just based on hearsay so really what did they have to go on. All they had was his past which is not even a bad one. What about her past? I am sure the jury was a group of soccer moms that have 10 kids at home. I feel like they should have when more in to this. I am not saying he didn't do this is a good friend. I feel has if he did get a rightful trial. I feel like there should be more to go on. but then again who wants to look any to any thing a jury just wants to get back home.

Then after her direct testimony is vetted by the defence it becomes evidence.

Hearsay would what the girl's girlfriend heard her say about the rape.

Do the crime, then do the time.