WEST CHESTER TWP. — If freedom comes with a price, Steve Fletcher is stuck with the bill.

        He told the Enquirer on Wednesday that when he walked out of the Warren County Jail Monday night, he figured his troubles were over. He had just been acquitted of charges after waving a dart pistol at boys who were bullying his son, a case that drew widespread attention.

Steve Fletcher is trying to rebuild the life he lost after he went to jail for four months. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Then he opened the mail that had piled up for four months.

        He found that he was being sued for back rent for the Lebanon apartment he lost while he was jailed.

        He discovered he was charged with contempt of court for falling behind on child support for a 6-year-old daughter after he was arrested and lost his job as an exterminator because of it.

        He also received a notice that his driver's license was suspended by a Mason judge because he didn't pay a fine for an alleged seat belt violation that he can't remember.

        Even though he was acquitted of felonious assault, he had two bills from Lebanon Municipal Court saying he owed nearly $1,200 for his four-month stay at the Warren County Jail.

        The court clerk decided he didn't owe the money after the Enquirer discovered the bill was the result of a records foul-up between the court and the sheriff's office.

        “This is unbelievable,” Mr. Fletcher said in his first interview since he left jail. “This is the system that decides who goes to jail and who doesn't. I always taught my sons to respect the system. I don't have any respect for it anymore.”

        But he's taking his misfortune in stride.

        “God don't promise you an easy life; just a life,” Mr. Fletcher said.

        While he turns down calls for interviews and at least one invitation to appear on a nationally syndicated television talk show, Mr. Fletcher said he is enjoying freedom and trying to rebuild his life.

        “It may take me a while. That's what I told the kids,” said the 42-year-old single dad, who temporarily lost custody of his three sons because of the November arrest.

        Tuesday night, he spoke with his sons for the first time in months by phone. He hopes to visit with them over the weekend.

        “First thing, I've got to get my license back. I'm going to try to get the kids back in summer. I don't want to disrupt their school life right now,” said Mr. Fletcher. He is living at the homes of his brothers in West Chester and is jobless because he can't drive to look for work.

        For now, he's enjoying the little things. For the first time in a long time, he was able to take a two-mile walk to a convenience store, just to enjoy the outdoors — and to buy a Diet Coke.

        And, he's found that he has a lot of support from a community that he thought had abandoned him.

        His attorney Konrad Kircher said a group of patrons at the public library in Lebanon, where Mr. Fletcher had his sons enrolled in a summer reading program for years, are raising money to help Mr. Fletcher out of his financial jam.

        Mr. Kircher said he also received about 20 calls from people who expressed support for Mr. Fletcher.

        “That's amazing, especially coming from that town,” Mr. Fletcher said. “Nothing good has come out of that town for me in months.”

        Mr. Fletcher admitted at his trial that threatening the boys with a dart gun at a school bus stop on Franklin Road Nov. 6 was wrong. But he said he felt he had to do something to protect his 11-year-old son from being bullied because the school was doing little to stop it.

        Wednesday, he said he should have handled it differently.

        “I should have just moved. I should have just left Lebanon when they wouldn't do anything,” Mr. Fletcher said.

        “But, I didn't want to disrupt the kids. I tried to give the kids some stability.”
       

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