John,

I’m Rodney, and I’m currently a reentry coach at the Innocence Project. Every day, I work with people who’ve been released from prison after years of wrongful incarceration, which I find incredibly rewarding because I know exactly what it’s like to be in their shoes.

In 1996, I was arrested following an argument with a friend in Newark, New Jersey. What I thought would be a simple assault charge, quickly turned into something much larger. I was held for several days and then told I was being transferred to the Essex County jail, but I didn’t understand why. Then, my public defender attorney told me I had been charged with the kidnapping and rape of a 17-year-old girl.

I was in shock — I knew I hadn’t committed this crime. At this point in my life, I was in school and had just gotten a great job as a salesman and was making enough money to get a new apartment for my son and me. I had enrolled him in a good school and was really living my life as an adult, trying to build a comfortable life for us. But all of that came crashing down when I heard about these charges. I never knew injustices like this could happen, but now I hear stories like mine every day working at the Innocence Project — and it reaffirms just how important our work is.

That’s why I’m emailing you today: I’m asking you to make a donation for Father’s Day in honor of fathers like me, who were taken away from their kids for crimes they didn’t commit. We need groups like the Innocence Project out there fighting for us.

Even though I knew I was innocent, the thought of potentially being convicted and having my son ripped away from me is what hurt the most. So, on the advice of my attorney, I pleaded guilty to a crime I didn’t commit to get back to my son as soon as possible. I was sentenced to seven years, but I ended up spending almost two decades incarcerated.

This happens a lot more than you might think. Lawyers may convince you that pleading guilty — even to something you didn’t do — is the best option because going to trial could result in a harsher sentence. Unfortunately for me, I still ended up spending 18 years in custody before I was exonerated and released in 2014 based on DNA evidence that excluded me as the person who had committed the crime.

Finally being free and being able to hug my son was an incredible feeling, but I’ll never get back all of those moments that I missed out on and that can make it hard to move forward. But that’s why I love being a reentry coach and why I’m so passionate about the work we do at the Innocence Project to make sure this doesn’t happen to another person.

So today, for this Father’s Day, please help innocent fathers just like me get the justice and the freedom they deserve in order to be reunited with their kids — make a donation to the Innocence Project right now.

Thank you for your support,

Rodney Roberts
Reentry Coach
Innocence Project