Official Statement of TarValon.Net Regarding Riley Robinson

[Ajailyn Morrivinna]

I understand and respect that, thank you for taking note of my request.

 

[Hammar O'Justice]

I would have expected RAFO

More seriously, thanks for those informations, Hammar and Mother :bow

RAFO is a registered trademark of Bandersnatch Group, Inc. For me to use it without permission would incur toh.

 

[Kitan Tataru]

I personally feel that this theft needs to be prosecuted. I am not sure about my legal rights as a member if the board does not act in a manner I am happy with, but if prosecution does not happen, this doesn't go on his record anywhere. Background checks won't show this.. I honestly don't think he should not have this someplace. A police record needs to be filed even if the Board does not decide to press charges on behalf of the site.

This action is a serious and grave action. And while yes we consider ourselves family and close friends, and many feel that this is what he stole from, he stole a great amount of money that he was in trusted to handle for us. I personally feel that with at least a police report, or something this would show on any background report and allows employers and other creditors the right to make choices based on full disclosure of his past actions.

I completely agree with Ajailyn for this reason (which I believe is incredibly significant):

Riley is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (therapist). As a therapist, Riley is an explicitly trusted person. He works with people who are disabled, mentally ill, disadvantaged, physically/verbally/sexually/emotionally abused, neglected, children, elderly...as a therapist, he works with just about every type of vulnerable person. He listens to these people's deepest secrets and most traumatizing moments. His patients become even more vulnerable to him, personally, than they are to the general public because of what they share with him.

Riley's patients and his patients' loved ones trust Riley to help put their lives back together. Riley can recommend to his superiors that children be taken from their parents into protective custody, that patients be put in the mental hospital against their will for safety reasons, he can report patients to law enforcement, etc. I don't know how binding his recommendations are because I'm not familiar with state law in New Mexico...but my point is:

The fact that Riley embezzled probably over $10,000 means that he should not be working with vulnerable people.

The fact that no one saw this coming makes his position, in my opinion, even more dangerous.

So I fully believe that there needs to be SOME kind of legal ramification that his superiors will be aware of, preferably prosecution. If he's convicted of embezzlement, or maybe even if he's charged with it, he'll almost certainly be called before the board that issued his license. And that NEEDS to happen.

So, for what it's worth, as a member of this community, I request that TarValon.net take legal action against Riley that will be made known to the board that issued Riley's license as a Mental Health Counselor. I would prefer prosecution, but I personally will consider any type of legal action that is made known to his board in a timely manner to be sufficient.

Thank you, Hammar, Mother, and our administration, for everything you do. :curtsey

 

[Vallah al'Dera]

Kitan has a very good point

 

[Eli Soljourn]

I get what you're all saying. I really do. I get that you're afraid that Riley's future actions will hurt someone else as much as we've been hurt, and we all want to avoid that happening. However, the legal counsel and the administration have said they're working on things. I think we should all let them do that and stay out of it. If, and this is a big if, in the future we find we want to individually do something different or in addition to the Tower, we can worry about it then. It doesn't do us, Hammar, Viv, or the rest of the administration to fret over things that very well may never happen. Just have faith and try to be patient.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

RAFO is a registered trademark of Bandersnatch Group, Inc. For me to use it without permission would incur toh.

:rofl

And I have to say, I love your username.

 

[Martele d'Acre]

I completely agree with Ajailyn for this reason (which I believe is incredibly significant):

Yeah there are good reasons for thinking that way. I actually agree with them.

Prosecution though is up to the State, and charges up to the inflicted party. We are all inflicted. I really dislike saying that. It brought a bit of bile into my throat. However, it's true. What else is true is that the whole membership CANNOT make a decision on this. The board must decide if we are inflicted. I will abide by their decision. I will not decent from that decision.

I mean this in no disrespect Ajailyn or Kitan. I just don't want the mob to hang a robber, when I would support hanging a murderer.

Marty

 

[Hammar O'Justice]

So, for what it's worth, as a member of this community, I request that TarValon.net take legal action against Riley that will be made known to the board that issued Riley's license as a Mental Health Counselor. I would prefer prosecution, but I personally will consider any type of legal action that is made known to his board in a timely manner to be sufficient.

Again:

This request is so noted.

As per my OP in this thread, neither I nor the Leadership will comment further on requests of this type for the reasons stated above.

 

[Hammar O'Justice]

I get what you're all saying. I really do. I get that you're afraid that Riley's future actions will hurt someone else as much as we've been hurt, and we all want to avoid that happening. However, the legal counsel and the administration have said they're working on things. I think we should all let them do that and stay out of it. If, and this is a big if, in the future we find we want to individually do something different or in addition to the Tower, we can worry about it then. It doesn't do us, Hammar, Viv, or the rest of the administration to fret over things that very well may never happen. Just have faith and try to be patient.

DISCLAIMER: Again I repeat that I am in no way indicating whether or what actions have been taken, are under consideration, or have been ruled out by the Board.

With that out of the way:

Eli's post suggests that there may be a desire among certain elements of the community to take individual action. I urge in the strongest possible terms that this not occur. The reasons are manifold.

When things like this occur, the impulse to take action is often very strong. That is not a character flaw. Whether it's a sense of justice, a desire to preserve others from harm, or the need to know that Something Is Being Done About This, or some other motivation, usually it boils down to a simple truth: good people don't like it when bad things happen. We want the good guy to win, evil to be punished, and Timmy to be rescued from the well.

That impulse makes humanity great. Its existence permits a world worth building for our children. However it must be channeled properly.

Legal action, by which I mean anything from filing a civil lawsuit, or reporting this to law enforcement, or alerting the licensing board, or all manner of other avenues requires facts. Right now the community has enough facts to know that Bad Things Happened and not enough facts to be of much help in a legal proceeding. The Board is much better informed and that difference in knowledge is enough to hamper, perhaps fatally, any attempt to bring about the kind of result you want. Every plausible route to justice, or preservation from harm, or any other positive outcome must be rooted in the evidence that the Leadership has marshaled. The Leadership has a fuller picture of the scope, manner, and methods of Riley's activities. This knowledge, which is known in full only by the Leadership, must be evaluated in its totality in the context of several legal issues at play.

"Let's go tell somebody" is very appealing because it seems justified, feasible, and blessedly simple. That appeal is deceptive. Please accept my assurances that while the Board may, may not, or may already have taken such actions, the Board's path will be that which brings about the best overall result allowed by the circumstances. When that path can be revealed, it will be.

If ever there have been times in the history of this community that patience, restraint, gritted teeth, and deference to the Board were justified, this situation is surely numbered among them.

I have skirted close to violating the "No Comment" policy. I will go into no further specifics regarding Riley. The purpose of this post is to address the possible actions of the community, *not* the chosen (or available) actions of the Board.

 

[Natalya Laragan]

Now, if you can't comment, that's fine. But I was wondering if the RJ memorial scholarship funds we've been giving out are gone as well.

 

[Hammar O'Justice]

Now, if you can't comment, that's fine. But I was wondering if the RJ memorial scholarship funds we've been giving out are gone as well.

Because this question touches on the nature of the evidence and/or extent of claims the Leadership has, I will respond with No Comment.

 

[Natalya Laragan]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[Tazren Talamar]

I get what you're all saying. I really do. I get that you're afraid that Riley's future actions will hurt someone else as much as we've been hurt, and we all want to avoid that happening. However, the legal counsel and the administration have said they're working on things. I think we should all let them do that and stay out of it. If, and this is a big if, in the future we find we want to individually do something different or in addition to the Tower, we can worry about it then. It doesn't do us, Hammar, Viv, or the rest of the administration to fret over things that very well may never happen. Just have faith and try to be patient.

I understand what you are saying, and I agree with you (and what Hammar said) that we shouldn't directly interfer with the process that's taking place. But I do believe that it is very valid for people to express what they wish would happen, given what they know, whether it's prosecution or forgiveness, or anything in-between. Even though the leadership cannot comment on it, I think it's important that people who feel strongly about it know that they're opinions are being noted, at least.

 

[Imzadi Hopewind]

Thank you for the information, Mother and Hammar :horsey

 

[Kitan Tataru]

Eli's post suggests that there may be a desire among certain elements of the community to take individual action. I urge in the strongest possible terms that this not occur. The reasons are manifold.

When things like this occur, the impulse to take action is often very strong. That is not a character flaw. Whether it's a sense of justice, a desire to preserve others from harm, or the need to know that Something Is Being Done About This, or some other motivation, usually it boils down to a simple truth: good people don't like it when bad things happen. We want the good guy to win, evil to be punished, and Timmy to be rescued from the well.

That impulse makes humanity great. Its existence permits a world worth building for our children. However it must be channeled properly.

Legal action, by which I mean anything from filing a civil lawsuit, or reporting this to law enforcement, or alerting the licensing board, or all manner of other avenues requires facts. Right now the community has enough facts to know that Bad Things Happened and not enough facts to be of much help in a legal proceeding. The Board is much better informed and that difference in knowledge is enough to hamper, perhaps fatally, any attempt to bring about the kind of result you want. Every plausible route to justice, or preservation from harm, or any other positive outcome must be rooted in the evidence that the Leadership has marshaled. The Leadership has a fuller picture of the scope, manner, and methods of Riley's activities. This knowledge, which is known in full only by the Leadership, must be evaluated in its totality in the context of several legal issues at play.

"Let's go tell somebody" is very appealing because it seems justified, feasible, and blessedly simple. That appeal is deceptive. Please accept my assurances that while the Board may, may not, or may already have taken such actions, the Board's path will be that which brings about the best overall result allowed by the circumstances. When that path can be revealed, it will be.

I'd like to make clear that in my earlier post where I talked about Riley's license as a mental health counselor, I was expressing my opinion and I have absolutely NO personal desire or intention to take any kind of action personally.

I will never do anything to interfere with leadership's pursuit, or non-pursuit, of any action against Riley. This isn't my battle - it's everyone's, and my only personal role is to support leadership in whatever decision is made and to express my opinion.

The reason I made that post is because I have not seen anyone else mention Riley's position as a mental health counselor, and I believe that position is extremely relevant, given the situation, for the reasons I stated in my original post.

In my post I only wanted to make my opinion extremely clear and noted by our leadership and counsel. I see that my opinion was clear and that it has been noted by counsel, which was my goal, so I will not mention his license in public again.

I completely understand that no more information can be released at this time, and possibly for a long time, for legal reasons.

I am sorry if I have offended anyone or if my original post seemed to imply that I would take individual action (I won't).

 

[Leese Sulan]

I for one like that Ajailyn and Kitan brought forth their comments, and feel satisfied with Hammar's responses.

 

[Riveille Anjeytal]

I for one like that Ajailyn and Kitan brought forth their comments, and feel satisfied with Hammar's responses.

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Barmacral Tigana]

I for one like that Ajailyn and Kitan brought forth their comments, and feel satisfied with Hammar's responses.

Yeah, I agree with this.

 

[Emerald ní Róhan]

I'm actually sort of curious as to what obligation there is to the membership of the site. In general, I mean. Membership has so many different levels and contexts as it pertains to this site. I have never personally been able to donate money to the site, so there is no financial obligation to me. But I certainly like to think of myself as part of the Membership.

Aside from the checks and balances that get put into place, I think that legal membership levels and definitions should be provided. As it stand right now, while I am immensely grateful for the responsiveness of the Board and our legal counsel, I think it is extra amazing because the don't *have* to tell me anything at all. There is ZERO obligation for them to inform me of anything at all. The fact they have chosen to do so is a lovely thing, and is being so well done.

But because of the unique nature of this organization, I think that actual, legal memberships may be needed in the future. Something that will build recorded ties with the Tower and offer legal protections and obligations. I am rather ill today, but hope that I am making sense.

 

[Xylianna Paladina]

I for one like that Ajailyn and Kitan brought forth their comments, and feel satisfied with Hammar's responses.

+1

Entirely agreed with Ajailyn and Kitan, that someone who is in the position to counsel others, should have that known by his licensing board and/or clients.
There should absolutely be consquences to such actions.

That's all I'll say about it since it's all RAFO. Thanks Hammar for the continued responses.