Seattle man imprisoned for 5 years in Philippines is acquitted

After being imprisoned for more than five years in the Philippines, Scott McMahon, originally from the Seattle area, was acquitted of all charges Monday night by a judge in Manila.

According to legal experts, McMahon was the longest-imprisoned U.S. citizen in any foreign country who had not been convicted of a crime.

Moments after the judge read the verdict in his brief trial, McMahon's mother was allowed to take a single photograph of herself, her overjoyed son and their Filipino attorney.

"More than anything, to see that look in his eyes when he heard those words, I can't even tell you because there's been so much pain in his eyes recently,” said McMahon’s mother, Shelley Campanella, who was in the courtroom when the verdict was read. “Every part of his body loosened, like he was able to finally take a deep breath."

Campanella, who spoke to KIRO 7 by phone from the Philippines, said the judge ruled that the woman who accused McMahon of rape in 2010 was not telling the truth.

According to court documents, the case was based solely on the woman’s accusations, and McMahon was jailed without hard evidence against him.

In 2010, Scott McMahon had been settled in the Philippines for seven years, with a fianceé and two children.

According to his family, he became a successful builder. Early that year, McMahon pressed charges against a neighbor after she threatened his children.

According to attorneys at the David House Agency, the woman accused McMahon of raping her months earlier.

McMahon’s attorneys showed proof that he was far away from the neighbor at the time of the alleged rape. Legal experts who wrote opinions on the case concluded that she made up the story and demanded cash to drop the charges.

Campanella, who fought for her son’s release for five years, said her son’s prison conditions were so filthy that inmates died around him.

“There are more than a hundred grown men packed into an 800-square-foot prison,” she said. "People were dying in there of things we’re vaccinated for.”

She launched websites and social media with details on his case to draw the attention of officials in the U.S. and the Philippines.

Attorneys from the David House Agency, the California Innocence Project and the United Nations expressed opinions and sent letters to the Philippine courts and government, saying that McMahon was being falsely accused.

Now McMahon’s mother wants to bring him home.

"I’m really mentally and physically exhausted right now,” she said. “But if this makes any sense, it’s in such a good way, such an amazing way."

Pages of support for Scott McMahon:

• https://www.facebook.com/freescottmcmahon/
• https://www.facebook.com/pages/Freedom-for-Scott-Mcmahon/459928147436194

Here are previous KIRO 7 reports:

• Legal groups demand release of Seattle man imprisoned in Philippines

• On Christmas Day, family focused on freeing man imprisoned in Philippines

• 5-years and counting: UN questions why Seattle man is imprisoned in Philippines without trial

Cox Media Group