ARLINGTON — A leader in a Mexican border town says he is trying to quickly resolve the case of an 88-year-old Arlington man locked up in a Mexican prison.
Hector Guzman is a municipal delegate for the town of Algodones. That’s where Edward Chrisman was arrested Jan. 8 after a trip to the dentist with his grandson. On Monday, Guzman met with family of the Arlington man.
“We don’t want to taint the image (of Algodones),” Guzman said in Spanish. “We are searching for what happened. If they are not guilty, we will help in any way we can.”
The Chrisman family has been fighting to get Edward Chrisman and his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr., released from what they say are trumped-up charges from Mexican officials intent on shaking the family down for cash. The men have been held for nearly three weeks.
The stress is taking a toll on Edward Chrisman. Deep coughs wrack his body and he appears to be suffering from pneumonia, son Gary Chrisman Sr. said. His once healthy father now cannot walk without help.
“He’s afraid he’s going to die in there,” Chrisman said. “There seems to be no hope.”
The jailed men’s family spent two hours with Guzman on Monday in Algodones.
“He said they’d been illegally charged and illegally held and he was going to demand their release,” Chrisman said, adding the official told him the men could be released in three or four days.
In an interview, Guzman denied making any comments about guilt, innocence or potential corruption in Mexico.
“We act according with the law,” he said.
Algodones is just across the border from Yuma, Ariz., and it’s known for cut-rate dental and medical services. American retirees, spending the winter in the desert sun, flock across the border daily.
As a delegate, Guzman said his role is to represent the interests of his town to the mayor of Mexicali, where the men are being held in prison.
Guzman said he has no role in deciding the case, but he can explain the Mexican legal system to the family. He said he’s seen the file on the Chrismans and it contains 28 photos, none of which appeared pornographic to him.
The charges against Edward Chrisman and Gary Chrisman Jr. have “changed from attempt of child pornography to corrupting a minor,” he said.
The legal issue is what Gary Chrisman Jr. said to two girls in a convenience store, Guzman said. Police have heard two versions of the story, but both include an offer of money for photos, he said.
According to a police document, written in Spanish, the Chrismans are accused of approaching a 13-year-old girl in her mother’s business on Jan. 8 and asking to take pictures of her naked. The girl’s mother reported the incident to police. Both men reportedly were in the store at the time.
Another employee of the store told police she accepted money three days earlier from the same men who paid her to pose fully clothed for photographs, according to the document.
The woman said the younger Chrisman took the photographs and also gave her the money. She also said he offered her money if she would pose nude, but she declined, and he left a phone number, the document said.
“We are looking for the parents of the girls so everything can be cleared up,” Guzman said.
The family of Edward Chrisman and Gary Chrisman Jr. say that story is bogus.
Edward Chrisman, a longtime resident of Arlington, was wintering in Yuma when he decided to take a trip across the border with his grandson, Gary Chrisman Jr. Gary Chrisman had been traveling across the border for the previous few days for dental work. Mexican police arrested both men the same day, Jan. 8.
The family said Gary Chrisman Jr. stopped at a convenience store for a soda and, while there, asked a mother if he could take photos of her daughters. He’d been taking photos of Mexican culture all day with a new camera. The mother granted permission and he gave her $25. He snapped headshots of the two fully-clothed girls and left the store. Edward Chrisman never even went into the store.
The family said it’s common for people in Mexico to demand money if their photo is taken.
Today the family released black-and-white photocopies of photographs from Gary Chrisman Jr.’s camera. The family’s lawyer obtained the photos from the police file.
The photos are grainy and difficult to see, but none appear pornographic. The photos include street scenes, a man working in a restaurant and headshots of two smiling women in front of a dental office sign.
The Chrisman family doesn’t know who or what to believe.
They’re afraid if they say too much or say the wrong thing, it could mean the worst for their loved ones, said Gary Chrisman Sr.
“I’m afraid for their safety,” he said. “I was warned not to say anything about the system or corruption.”
Meanwhile, Edward Chrisman continues to grow weaker in prison. His granddaughter, Shannon Perkins, joined Gary Chrisman Sr. in visiting Saturday.
“Grandpa doesn’t look good at all,” Perkins said. “He seems more frail. The stress is taking a toll on him.”
Edward Chrisman has been moved to a section of the jail for the elderly, where he’s treated better. Edward Chrisman told family he shares a room with four other man, sleeps on a mattress and can take warm showers.
“He’s in a little better area now,” Gary Chrisman Sr. said. “He just wants out. He’s discouraged and dispirited. He doesn’t understand why he’s in there.”
Gary Chrisman Jr. sleeps in a 10-by-10-foot room on a concrete floor with about 25 other men. Physically, he’s holding up fine, his father said.
A Mount Vernon woman who traveled to Algodones for dental work said she bumped into the Chrismans at the Sani Dental Group in Algodones. Janet Graafstra struck up a conversation with the men sitting in the waiting room. Like them, she was traveling over the border multiple days to get her teeth worked on.
On Jan. 8, Gary Chrisman Jr. offered to give her a ride across the border when his dental work was through. She’d walked into Mexico.
“He said I’ll pick you up on the way out,” she said. “And they never showed.”
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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