Dodged a Bullet

So I was feeling kind of bad that I didn't help my cousin out when she needed to bail her son out of jail a few days ago.  Our rules for loaning money (never do this), giving money (only if we have extra to give), and never paying bail for anyone (a hard and fast rule), have in this case, paid off in spades.

The last I heard from my cousin was that she bailed her kid out of jail and it was no big deal, some sort of misunderstanding.  I figured that a lawyer would get everything figured out and her and her son would be fine.  Then last night I Googled around to see what came up using her kid's name and I found an entire article about his arrest, complete with the most horrific details of child porn and possible "hands on" victims that I had ever read in a family newspaper.  OMG.  While these are still allegations and there has been no trial yet, just reading about all of the charges and evidence that was recovered was enough to make me want to throw up.  If I would have broke our money rules because I felt sorry for the tough spot my cousin was in, and then found out what he was arrested for after having helped him get out of jail, I would have been utterly freaking out right now.  If the allegations are true, he should definitely not be walking around in public right now, and if he is found guilty I doubt that he will see the outside of a prison for a good 15 to 20 years!  I am so irked with my cousin I never want to speak to her again for making this entire situation sound like no big deal when it is A VERY BIG DEAL.  Ugh.