The thief who changed his life by denouncing the child pornography he found in a safe | Matthew Hahn USA

When a thief opened a safe he had stolen from a house, he found something that served to send another man to prison. But in an extraordinary turn, he also saved the bandit from receiving a life sentence.

_______________________________________

In his early teenage years, Matthew Hahn began using marijuana and then went on to methamphetamines.

He dropped out of high school and resorted to theft to pay for his drug use.

In 2001 he was released from prison for the second time after serving a five-year sentence.

►USA: At least four dead in a plane crash in California

►United States: a 14-year-old girl uses Snapchat to alert her kidnapping

►Father dies with his three children in a fire caused by the Christmas tree

He had already been convicted of two serious crimes under the “Law of the Three Strikes” from California, which sends people who commit violent crimes for a third time to life imprisonment.

That is, if he was arrested again, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Hahn He says he did very well for several years: he had a good job, he went to school, he went to university.

“But then a personal tragedy happened and my inability to face it led me to relapse,” account.

Safe

One of his closest childhood friends took his own life, which he says Hahn, I take it to “Binge drugs and steal.”

So, one night in Los Gatos, CaliforniaIn 2005, he stole the safe that would save his life.

The first thing he took out of the box was a set of dirty diapers, which were “a surreal experience.”

“There were a number of things in the safe: a gun, photographs, personal documentation of the owner, and finally, a memory card from a digital camera. When I put it on my computer, it showed photographs of the owner of the safe abusing a baby or a child ”, details Hahn.

At first he didn’t realize what he was seeing.

“The first picture I saw was strange, and I knew there was something weird there, but I wasn’t sure what it was. And it was not until I saw the subsequent photographs that I realized that I was seeing an adult and a child ”, remember.

It was not an option for him to go to the police and simply say that he had entered the homes of others and found evidence of a crime.

He knew he had to do something, but he also knew that any conviction for a felony could result in life imprisonment.

Third strike

So Hahn He put the camera card in a purse and wrote a note with the name of the owner and the address of the house where he had stolen it.

“Please, remove this animal from the streets”, he added, and sent everything to the police.

John “Robbie” Robertson Aitken, owner of the safe, had reported the theft of it.

When the police received the photos, he called Aitken on the pretext of meeting him to talk about his complaint.

Hahn He thinks it was then that the man confessed.

For Hahn, that was not the end. He continued to steal houses and ended up in custody after authorities tracked the serial number of a stolen item he sold on eBay.

Then he faced his third “Strike.”

“What happened to you if you were doing so well?” asked the officer who arrested him and knew him from previous arrests.

“Well, at least I gave Aitken“, said Hahn, explaining how he had sent the photos.

Reduced penalty

While Hahn He was in jail awaiting trial, the district attorney prosecuting Aitken asked him if he would be willing to testify that he had stolen the safe.

Because Hahn was accused of multiple serious crimes and because he already had two Strikes was facing “400 years in prison.”

But he decided to testify about his crime, “At the expense of his ability to present his own defense”, he assures.

Once he confessed that he had stolen the safe, he could no longer present a viable defense for his own case, he says.

Aitken he faced at least 25 years in prison for his crimes, and the discrepancy in his sentence and that of Hahn led to the emergence of requests for support for Hahn and an offer of a plea agreement by the district attorney.

In the end he was sent to prison for 14 years and four months, but he turned seven.

New house

While in prison, Hahn He decided that this would be the last time he would experience jail.

He began recovering from his drug addiction, in addition to studying the books that the victim’s mother gave him. Aitken and to meditate.

After prison he graduated from the University of California in Berkeley. Because of his medical record, he found it difficult to find work, so he became an electrician.

“I have a great job,” He says, and tells the BBC that he and his wife just bought a house. “Amazing things are happening in my life today. I have definitely passed the prison ”.

“But don’t get me wrong. The first thing I thought when they accepted the offer of the house was ‘just 10 years ago I lived in a cell and now I will have my own house.

Hahn He says his greatest regret is the damage he caused to unknown people. I wish I could remedy it.

“I think the best thing I can do is pay restitution for crimes, something I already did. And I try my best to tell my story [y] help other people who are struggling with addiction not to follow the same path”, He points out.

– .