Arnold Friedman
We meet Arnold as the father of two grown sons, and the husband of wife Elaine, with whom he appears to have a solid, if argumentative, relationship. Arnold is a collector of child pornography which he purchases from Europe. It is one such magazine that leads to his arrest when it is intercepted by the postal service on its way from the Netherlands.
Arnold seems to be a self-absorbed character who is more interested in recording the effect the experience of being arrested and preparing for trial has been like for him than he is in considering the affect that sexual abuse might have on his victims. He consistently seems to believe that he has done nothing wrong.
Later in the film, Arnold confesses to molesting his younger brother, Howard, when both were children. He also admits that he has sexually abused both of his sons, Jesse and David. He denies molesting any of his computer students. He claims that he pleads guilty to all charges in an attempt to prevent Jesse from having to serve jail time. He commits suicide in prison, leaving his insurance settlement to Jesse.
Jesse Friedman
Jesse likes to present himself as a victim, which would certainly be explained by a psychologist's diagnosis of him as a narcissist. Nothing is ever Jesse's fault. He was sexually molested by his father when a young boy - a claim that his father admits is true. This seems to be his excuse for perpetuating the abuse that he suffered; he maintains that as an abuse victim, abuse of children was all that he saw and therefore he does not know any better. A psychologist who was actually on his side in the trial analyzed him on behalf of his defense and concluded that he was without principle, and that he would do anything to anyone if it meant that he might extricate himself from a difficult situation.
Jesse never stopped maintaining his innocence of the crimes he was imprisoned for. He had many supporters, including the film's director who funded his defense; however, when the case was re-studied it was seen that there was more than enough evidence to find him guilty.
David Friedman
Children's party performer Silly Billy is the catalyst for the making of this film; one of the main subjects of a short film about clowns, Friedman held a deep, dark secret that was revealed after the director began doing some research about all of his main characters. David features prominently in the movie and gave Jarecki the old family home movies that were filmed when his father and brother were awaiting trial. His stories of their childhood and of living with his father seem to validate the prosecution's case against him.
Elaine Friedman
Elaine is a harried and put-upon women in the context of the film. It is apparent that she is not sure of her husband's innocence, and open to believe in his guilt, which leads us to think she might have had her own suspicions about his sexual offenses before the pornography collection came to light. She clearly does not trust him and is on edge throughout the film.
Elaine is a protective mother and wants her husband to plead guilty to the charges, and to make it plain that he was the only offender, so that Jesse will not have to serve any prison time. Her objective throughout is protecting her three children, although it is suggested in the film that it is this protection and defense at all costs tendency that has enabled Jesse to get away with things his entire life. Elaine divorces Arnold quite quickly after he is charged with his offenses.
