Zacks Future News Today

There we go. >> this is zack. hes cute, friendly, athletic, and a member of his high school varsity cheerleading squad. but hes also facing life as a convicted felon for something teenagers across the country are probably doing right now. how much prison or jail time is he facing? >> up to 40 years in prison and lifetime registry on the sex offender list. its scary. its maddening. its outrageous. they had him wearing shackles when they brought him in. >> how did it feel to see your son like that...

As far as youve been able to tell? >> right now hes suffering inside. he wont tell me, but i know he is. ive gotten calls from the school. hell break down. hell want to come home from school. he doesnt want to go to school. i want to tell zack that everythings going to be fine, you know, that youre going to be able to go into the military. youre going to be able to go into school. youre going to be able to fulfill all your dreams. you know, youre going to have a family someday. but i have absolu...

Another town. >> if zachary has to move, im going to go with him. i dont know where wed go. i dont want that to happen, but hes my son. >> how do you think hell take it if hes convicted? >> honestly, im afraid hell do something to harm himself. i dont think hell be able to handle it. his best way out, in his eyes, i think would be hed -- he doesnt want to live then. im not saying zack should be, you know, totally off the hook for this at all. put him on probation. you know, if a year is too shor...

>> how much prison or jail time is he facing, potentially? >> it could be up to 40 years in prison and lifetime registry on the sex offender list. never in my wildest dreams did i think this would ever happen to one of my kids. >> for much of zacks life, carrie raised him as a single mom. as a kid, zack struggled with bullying and depression. but things started looking up two years ago when he changed schools, joined the cheer team, and started dating. did you know that zack was sexually active?...

>> is it fair to say you had a crush on him? >> maybe. plus he was popular. i wanted to get into that group. >> was there any talk what you were going to do while you were spending time together? >> he wanted to have sexual intercourse, and i said i didnt know if i wanted that because something bad could happen or somebody could find out. >> did you want to have sex? >> i told him i did, but i really didnt. >> who brought up sex? >> he did. he kept talking about it, telling me its going to be fi...

>> at her aunts house. >> during the time that you were with [ bleep ] that day, were you violent to her? >> no, i was not. >> were you mean to her? >> no, i was not. >> did you force her to do anything? >> no, i didnt. >> did you pressure her to do anything? >> did row you pressure her to do anything? >> no, i did not. >> according to the law whether the victim agreed to have sex does not matter. all the prosecutor had to prove whether zack was 17 when he had sex with someone under the age of 1...

>> so what have you been charged with? >> second-degree sexual assault of a child. >> and when you heard that, how did you feel? >> my heart dropped. i still think that this is all just a nightmare. >> when police came knocking, zack was home alone and waived his right to an attorney. an officer questioned him for ten minutes before booking him into milwaukees county jail where zack was finally allowed to call his mother, carrie. >> tell me about how you found out about the incident. >> my husba...

Zack was 17 when she had sex with a 14-year-old, but the real question is does the punishment fit the crime? >> our system will allow you to go back into that deliberation room and go in with the understanding youre going to evaluate this case with your mind and with your heart and do what you think is the right thing to do, and you will have proven really that our system works and it works quite well. that you are all the conscience of milwaukee county, a conscience that can be used to prevent ...

State has to prove, and thats that there was sexual intercourse, and that the girl was under the age of 16. people under the age of 16 cannot legally consent to sexual contact or sexual intercourse, and the law is there to protect our kids. but i think as young as the girl is in this case -- and shes very young -- zacks really young too, even though hes treated as an adult because hes 17 years old. >> the prosecution is arguing that zack took advantage of his age and popularity to pressure a you...

Felony to a misdemeanor. but the state prosecutor refused. the night before zacks case goes to trial, travis prepares zack and his mother, carrie, for what to expect. >> probably the first or second question the prosecutor is going to ask you is, zack, you had sex with [ bleep ], didnt you? and what is your answer to that? >> yes. >> and because thats the truth, right? >> yes. >> remember one of the things that we talked about that might help you with relaxing and being more calm up on the witne...