Aug 19, 2008

A 19-year old Missouri woman walked up to the front door of the man who sexually abuser her as a child and confronted him, leading to a confession and conviction. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Danni Conway was seven when Eric Letford sexually assaulted her in his mother's in-home day care center. "To this day, I am still confused," says Conway. "And while I no longer feel pain physically, it is in my heart, my head and always constant." Letford initially denied Conway's charges, screaming and "denying her claim as she walked back to her car." But he later confessed to police. The day care center, still operating, was shut down.

In contrast to young Conway's bravery was the behavior of a preacher and a judge. The paper reports that Barrie Ivie, the senior pastor at Letford's St. Charles River Church, rushed to take the predator's side, calling him a "model parishoner" who "never posed a threat to the children at his church." Judge Jucy Rauch gave Letford a sweetheart sentence of four months in jail, speculating that "the fact that we haven't had any other victims come forward makes me think this is an isolated case."

Aug 18, 2008

Last week, the Newswire reported that the Los Angeles Times examined the lucrative new market in sex offender evaluations in California, thanks to passage of Jessica's Law (see Aug. 15). The paper also takes a critical look at the results of releasing sex offenders into the community with GPS gadgets, virtually no real surveillance or restrictions and a ban on living within 2,000 feet of parks and schools.

A state sex offender panel says "the number of offenders listing themselves as transient rose by 44% to nearly 2,900 in the first year after Jessica's Law passed," reports the Times. "'We were prepared' for increased transience among sex offenders," says Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster), author of the ballot initative. "That's why we require GPS."

But the Times questions that. "'I'm not aware of any sheriff in the state doing GPS,' said Jim Denney, director of the California Sheriffs Assn. 'There is no local funding tied to Jessica's Law.'"

Aug 15, 2008

A single California psychologist raked in over $1.5 million last year performing civil commitment evaluations on sex offenders, and 13 others received over $500,000, enough taxpayer money to enable the state's desperately-underfunded child exploitation task forces to locate and arrest thousands of active sexual predators.

A new report in the Los Angeles Times. found that 14 psychologists and psychiatrists "billed California taxpayers last year for a half a million dollars or more each" under a provision of Jessica's Law designed to commit sexual predators to mental hospitals. The paper says that recommendations for civil commitment have increased threefold since the law was approved by voters, but "the actual number of commitments has remained essentially the same."

The paper says there were "41 [civil commitments] in the 18 months before the law was passed, 42 in the 18 months afterward."

Aug 14, 2008

The adult daughter of a couple charged with terrorizing their children for years has written to an Oregon judge asking that he not release her parents on bail. Anya Warde, 22, and two siblings were removed from the custody of Graydon and Robyn Drown by California authorities when she four. But the couple reportedly fled the state and went on to have nine more children, inflicting a harsh and violent self-styled "religious" discipline on the children. Now the nine minors have been placed in foster care and the Drowns are facing multiple charges of assault.

Robyn Drown, 42, now claims she is a victim of Graydon Drown herself. "She's been through 22 years of hell," says her attorney Brooke Holstedt. But Anya Warde isn't buying it. "I do not know if she is completely controlled by my father or not," Warde wrote the judge. "However, if she is, I believe her fully capable of saying things that would make her children feel guilty about testifying against both herself and their father. If she has not been controlled this whole time, then she is as responsible as her husband in all of this, and she should not be allowed near them for the same reasons my father should not be."

Aug 13, 2008

A bill to increase penalties for possession, distribution and manufacture of child pornography is on North Carolina Governor Mike Easley's desk to be signed into law this week. PROTECT executive director Grier Weeks tells the Asheville Citizen-Times in an article today that the new law will make the difference between probation and jail time for those who possess movies and images of children being sexually assaulted.

Aug 11, 2008

"OJP's human trafficking grant programs have built significant capacities to serve victims, but have not identified and served significant numbers of victims." Full report here.

Aug 08, 2008

A Virginia couple has been charged for serious injuries to their young child, just months after prosecutors dropped charges for a previous incident. The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star reports that the couple, aged 32 and 28, were charged with child abuse in April, "stemming from a... 2005 incident involving their then 10-week old son..." Now authorities say the child has been taken to VCU Medical Center with skull fractures, retinal hemorrhaging and a broken collarbone. Prosecutor Eric Olsen says the original charges were dropped because the investigating officer was away at law enforcement training and delays would have violated the suspects' right to a "speedy trial."

Aug 07, 2008

Here is a sampling of child pornography cases in the news right now: Special Ed teacher arrested at Riverside Elementary (FL), Charges of production at day care (ND), Elementary teacher arrested for movies of assaults on children (CT), Ex-teacher's aide indicted for possession and distribution (NJ), Campus day care worker goes to trial on 300 counts (PA), Cell phone trafficking gets kitchen helper at large day care center (MO), Former principal, summer camp worker on bond for possession (MA), Boy Scout leader busted (NC), Former cop, day care worker convicted (GA), Camp counselor, youth volunteer indicted for production (AR), Long-time counselor at all-girl "Harvard of summer camps" charged with possession (ME,UK), Canadian teacher caught trying to lure U.S. boy (VA), Ex-substitute teacher sentenced for rape, production (PA), Foster parent charged with possession (OK), Accusations against coach bolstered by possession (CA), Minister and substitute teacher found fit for trial on federal possession (IL)

Aug 06, 2008

From the New York Times :
"State labor investigators have identified 57 under-age workers who were employed at a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and have asked the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the company for child labor violations, Dave Neil, the Iowa Labor Commissioner, said on Tuesday.

“The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” Mr. Neil said in a statement announcing the results of a seven-month investigation at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat plant.

In a raid in May, 389 illegal immigrant workers were detained there in the largest immigration enforcement operation ever at a single workplace."

Aug 03, 2008

Middle school teacher Aaron Mohanlal sexually assaulted, threatened and then publicly humiliated one of his seventh grade students, but the Florida judge in his case still gave him a rare sweetheart deal to stay out of prison (background here) . In a move that legal experts say is highly unusual and shocking, Fort Lauderdale area Circuit Court Judge Marc H. Gold allowed Mohanlal to go home and resume his normal life while he appealed his conviction. Only when the case hit the national spotlight, causing a storm of criticism, did prosecutors and the Judge scramble to find an excuse to get Mohanlal back into a jail cell.

Gold's Warchest
So you'd hate to be Judge Gold's campaign manager, right? Not exactly. Because while Marc Gold is, in fact, running for reelection this fall, he's running unopposed. And although there is no doubt a small courtroom full of attorneys kicking themselves for not filing to run against the new poster boy for soft judges, none bothered to look carefully at Gold's record before the media did their homework for them... or had the guts to risk running and losing. That's what happens when there's no sunlight or accountability in the justice system.

If you've got 30 seconds and want to see the list of attorneys, law firms and courtroom "experts" who gave cash to unopposed incumbent Judge Marc Gold's campaign, it's three quick clicks: (1) click here , (2) click on the "Campaign Finance Activity" button and (3) click on the "Submit Query Now" button (make sure "Contributions" for "All Dates" is selected). Presto, it's easy, and if you don't cry, you'll laugh.

Think they're getting their money's worth?