Man Says He Received Different 'Juvenile Justice' From Judge
TARRANT COUNTY (CBS 11 NEWS) - Connor McCreight's ankle monitor is a daily reminder of his past.
"When I go out I have to take this off the dock," he explained, pointing to a GPS monitor. "It's like your own prison. Still locked behind these walls all the time."
McCreight is still serving punishment for a charge that dates back eight years, a crime committed when he was just 14-year-old. "I'm still dealing with this till this day," he said. "It's just been stressful."
According to McCreight, he was going through a rough time as a young teen and back then was frequently fighting with his father.
One night he says he grabbed a knife after his father charged him. During the struggle he stabbed his father who would recover, but McCreight was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and had a date with Judge Jean Boyd. "I was scared. I didn't know what to do. I was young, I didn't know," he remembered.
Judge Boyd initially sentenced McCreight to six years probation. But after being sent to an alternative school he says he fell in with the wrong crowd.
Then, after testing positive for marijuana when he was 17-year-old Judge Boyd sentenced him to six years behind bars.
"I don't understand what rehabilitation she thought I was going to get out of it," McCreight said.
There is a little more than a year left on McCreight's parole. Even though he got his GED he says his criminal status makes finding a good job next to impossible.
The now 22-year-old said he was stunned when he learned about Ethan Couch's sentence of 10 years probation, after he admitted driving drunk and causing a crash that killed four people.
"It just crazy he got four more years of probation than me and he killed four more people than I did. I didn't kill anyone. That's crazy."
McCreight feels he didn't receive anywhere near the same leniency. Both he and his parents think their limited income played a major role in his sentencing.
"If I would have had money like this she wouldn't have sent me to TYC," McCreight claimed. "I think she would have sent me to rehab and I would never had to do prison time or anything."
While compared to Couch McCreight thinks his sentencing was harsh he says he can't take back what happened, because it saved his father's life. While McCreight's father was being treated for his stab wounds doctors discovered a tumor and immediately treated him.
CBS 11's Arezow Doost tried to talk to Judge jean Boyd about the McCreight case and Ethan Couch's case, but requests for an interview have not been returned.
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