Cyberpaths is a website which exposes, pans and denounces sexual predators of adults, which can be found on online dating sites and anywhere there are vulnerable people. They give the signs below that adult sexual predators use to groom and control their victims:
-- controlling a persons time and environment, leaving no time for thought (sweeping you off your feet??)
-- creating a sense of powerlessness, fear and dependency ("need")
-- manipulating rewards and punishments to suppress former social behavior ("if you... then I will")
-- manipulating rewards and punishments to elicit the desired behavior (disappearing offline without warning or when you have trouble and need them the most? all TALK no actions to back it up?)
-- creating a closed system of logic which makes dissenters feel as if something was wrong with them (making you feel guilty or that you don't 'love' or 'care for' them if you go against the cyberpath's wishes?)
-- keeping recruits unaware about any agenda to control or change them (comments like: "I would never hurt you, I would never lie to you, I can't believe you think I am lying/ using you...." etc)
(sounds like abuse..... doesn't it?)
Cyberpaths then goes on to say that all of these are signs of grooming, not dating, and gives this warning.
Just keep all this in mind when dealing with a cyberpath or anyone online. And realize that while we don't believe in or espouse not taking responsibility - but how can anyone be themselves or make informed decisions when they are being coercively controlled & manipulated? - Remember this next time you say "I was so stupid to fall for it" or wonder what red flags you missed or didn't see. Like slight of hand - these predators are good at getting you sucked in before you know what hit you.
If that's the case, then perhaps the script should be flipped - adult sexual abusers are actually the over 18 versions of child and adolesent sexual abusers. It's the people who claim true love, and then strike that are imitating those who seduce adolescents, not vice-versa.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
What I've learned in 11 months of blogging against predators
Basic premises that I’ve had about relationships have been questioned ever since I’ve started the blog last 9-26. I no longer can count on the maturity or morality of peers when it comes to romantic/sexual relationships, and understand that there are subtle, non-criminal ways that sexual predation occur – ways which can’t be criminalized unless there is a fiduciary relationship.
Parental influence is the only thing which has been constant for me, whether as a child, or now. Others come and go, but my father (and mother) was always there. Even when I didn’t want it.
Parental influence is the only thing which has been constant for me, whether as a child, or now. Others come and go, but my father (and mother) was always there. Even when I didn’t want it.
A blogger said about child abusers:
It isn't a "mistake" when a grown adult has sex contact with a child any more than it is a "mistake" when someone robs a bank. These are not acts of stupidity but deliberate violations of law.
It isn’t a mistake when date rape, domestic violence, or other issues I write about occur. I have a link, You Are A Target, stating that domestic abusers target their victims, and I believe that when a marriage or a “relationship” features sexual abuse, there is adult grooming, NOT a real relationship.
From the aformentioned blogger's comment about teacher sexual abusers:
It is a known fact that predators groom their victims over time....predators take the time to find and prepare victims so that they won't see themselves as victims.
This explains why many women with “partners” accused of domestic violence/sexual assault stand by them. When you are led to believe that someone loves you, regardless of age, that belief makes you defend someone who should not be defended. This is why prosecutors press on with DV charges even when the victim doesn’t want to cooperate. This is also why in California, a DV victim can be forced to take the stand and found in contempt if she doesn’t. If DV offenders and boyfriend/husband rapists are seen as predators targeting someone’s daughter, the parallels are obvious.
Parents should talk to their minor teens about date rape and domestic violence because the main cause of violence against women is DV by “partners,” and people need to learn about this as kids because it may be too late when you are being groomed by a "lover" into a one-sided relationship.
I’m still exploring the predator angle when it comes to sexual manipulation (using sex to gain power) and sexual coercion (using power to gain unwanted sex from an adult using non-criminal methods). In a moral sense, these characters are also sexual offenders, though not in a legal sense.
If a husband uses pressure to gain sex from his wife, what differentiates him from the molester is the age and relationship to his victim. Like most molesters of kids, date, acquaintance, and "partner" rapists select their victims beforehand, groom them so the victim believes there is a real relationship, then strike.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Doctors fail to report rape of developmentally disabled Australian woman
Julia Medew
August 28, 2008
Page 1 of 2 Single Page View
A MELBOURNE abortion specialist was one of several health professionals who did not report the rape of a severely intellectually disabled woman when the perpetrator was insisting on the termination of her pregnancy, a tribunal has heard.
Dr Patricia Moore, an expert called into review the case of a late-term abortion performed without legal consent, yesterday expressed shock that so many people who assessed the woman's pregnancy did not act on the fact she had been raped.
"There was obviously evidence of sexual abuse that was not investigated by many people before the final episode," she said. "I started to wonder if a special procedure had not been performed if any of the professionals would have addressed the issue of sexual assault."
Dr Moore made the comments at a Medical Practitioners Board hearing into alleged professional misconduct by Mark Schulberg, the doctor who did the disabled woman's abortion in March 2005.
It is alleged Dr Schulberg performed the termination at 25 weeks without gaining legal consent through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, a legal requirement for an adult who is intellectually disabled.
It is alleged he did not contact police about the pregnancy when he should have known she was incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. The woman's father, who helped organise the abortion, was convicted of the rape this year and sentenced to a minimum of seven years' jail.
The board heard the woman's father met at least one other doctor and social workers to discuss the termination of her pregnancy before he met Dr Schulberg at his Croydon clinic.
None of the health professionals took any action to find out who had raped the woman, despite some of them acknowledging that she was unable to consent to sexual intercourse, the board heard.
"All of the people who came into contact with the family gave emotive descriptions about her parents and how lovely they were," Dr Moore said.
"If a risk assessment was performed, there would have been quite a bit of concern about the possible perpetrator, given that one might be concerned that that person consenting (to the abortion) had a vested interest in lying."
Dr Moore said although it was difficult to make an "absolute judgement" of Dr Schulberg's actions, she believed his peers and the general community would expect him to know the laws surrounding consent for such a procedure.
Aside from this ignorance, she believed Dr Schulberg acted in good faith and upheld professional standards by gaining the consent of the woman's parents.
When asked if Dr Schulberg should have been wondering about the credibility of the woman's parents, Dr Moore said it was a big leap for any practitioner to think incest had occurred.
She said a practitioner must form the view a person purporting to give consent was the appropriate person before a procedure was done.
In a statement to the board, Dr Schulberg said he planned on contacting the police, but the board heard the police contacted him first after hearing the allegations from another person.
On the basis of this statement, Dr Moore said she was satisfied Dr Schulberg was going to act professionally in his management of the crime.
Dr Moore said if the case had have gone to VCAT and she was asked to give medical evidence about whether the abortion should have proceeded, she would have recommended it go ahead.
Dr Schulberg will give evidence at the hearing, which has been adjourned.
August 28, 2008
Page 1 of 2 Single Page View
A MELBOURNE abortion specialist was one of several health professionals who did not report the rape of a severely intellectually disabled woman when the perpetrator was insisting on the termination of her pregnancy, a tribunal has heard.
Dr Patricia Moore, an expert called into review the case of a late-term abortion performed without legal consent, yesterday expressed shock that so many people who assessed the woman's pregnancy did not act on the fact she had been raped.
"There was obviously evidence of sexual abuse that was not investigated by many people before the final episode," she said. "I started to wonder if a special procedure had not been performed if any of the professionals would have addressed the issue of sexual assault."
Dr Moore made the comments at a Medical Practitioners Board hearing into alleged professional misconduct by Mark Schulberg, the doctor who did the disabled woman's abortion in March 2005.
It is alleged Dr Schulberg performed the termination at 25 weeks without gaining legal consent through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, a legal requirement for an adult who is intellectually disabled.
It is alleged he did not contact police about the pregnancy when he should have known she was incapable of consenting to sexual intercourse. The woman's father, who helped organise the abortion, was convicted of the rape this year and sentenced to a minimum of seven years' jail.
The board heard the woman's father met at least one other doctor and social workers to discuss the termination of her pregnancy before he met Dr Schulberg at his Croydon clinic.
None of the health professionals took any action to find out who had raped the woman, despite some of them acknowledging that she was unable to consent to sexual intercourse, the board heard.
"All of the people who came into contact with the family gave emotive descriptions about her parents and how lovely they were," Dr Moore said.
"If a risk assessment was performed, there would have been quite a bit of concern about the possible perpetrator, given that one might be concerned that that person consenting (to the abortion) had a vested interest in lying."
Dr Moore said although it was difficult to make an "absolute judgement" of Dr Schulberg's actions, she believed his peers and the general community would expect him to know the laws surrounding consent for such a procedure.
Aside from this ignorance, she believed Dr Schulberg acted in good faith and upheld professional standards by gaining the consent of the woman's parents.
When asked if Dr Schulberg should have been wondering about the credibility of the woman's parents, Dr Moore said it was a big leap for any practitioner to think incest had occurred.
She said a practitioner must form the view a person purporting to give consent was the appropriate person before a procedure was done.
In a statement to the board, Dr Schulberg said he planned on contacting the police, but the board heard the police contacted him first after hearing the allegations from another person.
On the basis of this statement, Dr Moore said she was satisfied Dr Schulberg was going to act professionally in his management of the crime.
Dr Moore said if the case had have gone to VCAT and she was asked to give medical evidence about whether the abortion should have proceeded, she would have recommended it go ahead.
Dr Schulberg will give evidence at the hearing, which has been adjourned.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
"Boyfriend" charged with physically assaulting woman - sex assault charges next
Michael Patnode, 46, was arrested for allegedly beating and raping his girlfriend. This is the second time that police arrested him for assault. According to police, the 1st arrest took place after a May incident where Patnode took her clothes, dragged her down stairs and slammed her head against concrete. He was found guilty of unlawful restraint for that incident and received probation on July 9.
State police found the 45-year-old woman walking north on Route 61 north of Route 6 around 4 a.m. She told police she and Patnode were drinking earlier and smoking crack cocaine at her Hickory Lane home. Patnode, formerly of Perry's Cove, Fla., came to Bethlehem in April to stay with the woman, she said.
When she told Patnode she wanted to break up with him he "threw her around the house", according to a police report. She got in his truck with him because she was afraid he would hurt her, she told police.Patnode drove down Route 61, turned onto Route 6 and took the first turn down a dirt road to a field, according to the warrant. After Patnode reportedly sexually assaulted the woman, he tried to run her over while she was laying in the field, police said. The victim told police she threw a Schaffer beer can in the grass to prove she was in the field.
Bantam Superior Court Judge Paul Matasavage set a $75,000 bond after Patnode plead not guilty to 3rd degree assault, 2nd degree unlawful restraint, and disorderly conduct.
"He does deny those allegations and denies any alleged threat made to the victim," Patnode's attorney Paul Summers said during the arraignment hearing.
More assault charges are expected after Western District Major Crime Squad complete their investigation in the field where the victim allegedly was raped and where Patnode tried to run over her with his car. Prior convictions include 3 DUI’s, patronizing a prostitute, 3rd degree burglary, and criminal trespass.
State police found the 45-year-old woman walking north on Route 61 north of Route 6 around 4 a.m. She told police she and Patnode were drinking earlier and smoking crack cocaine at her Hickory Lane home. Patnode, formerly of Perry's Cove, Fla., came to Bethlehem in April to stay with the woman, she said.
When she told Patnode she wanted to break up with him he "threw her around the house", according to a police report. She got in his truck with him because she was afraid he would hurt her, she told police.Patnode drove down Route 61, turned onto Route 6 and took the first turn down a dirt road to a field, according to the warrant. After Patnode reportedly sexually assaulted the woman, he tried to run her over while she was laying in the field, police said. The victim told police she threw a Schaffer beer can in the grass to prove she was in the field.
Bantam Superior Court Judge Paul Matasavage set a $75,000 bond after Patnode plead not guilty to 3rd degree assault, 2nd degree unlawful restraint, and disorderly conduct.
"He does deny those allegations and denies any alleged threat made to the victim," Patnode's attorney Paul Summers said during the arraignment hearing.
More assault charges are expected after Western District Major Crime Squad complete their investigation in the field where the victim allegedly was raped and where Patnode tried to run over her with his car. Prior convictions include 3 DUI’s, patronizing a prostitute, 3rd degree burglary, and criminal trespass.
Milwaukee teacher sentenced to 25 DAYS in jail, 2 years probation
Kelly Marie Sweet, 27, a former St. Francis, WI math teacher, was sentenced to 25 days in the Milwaukee County jail and 2 years probation by Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Patricia McMahon yesterday. She also has to register as a SO for the duration of her probation, and her teaching certificate was permanently revoked. Judge McMahon admonished Sweet, saying, “You were in position to protect and guide, to keep your students safe.”
Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffin told McMahon that Sweet and the victim became friendly after the boy broke his foot. He spent extra time in her classroom. With his parents’ permission, they had dinner together. Twice they went to her downtown Milwaukee condominium to watch movies.
The second time they went to her apartment — March 9 — Sweet joined the boy on her couch. They kissed. As the situation grew more sexual, the boy asked to be taken home. Sweet complied. [Note – the apartment is in the former Blatz brewery building, now converted to condoes and apartments. It is 3 blocks north of where I work.]
Both the victim’s grandmother and father spoke during the hearing while the boy’s mother, her face bright red, sat in the back of the courtroom and wept.
The boy, an eighth-grader, was forced to switch schools in the final months of the school year, they said, leaving behind not only friends, but also academic and athletic awards he had earned. They said that has been followed by whispers and innuendo. They said the once outgoing boy is now withdrawn, mistrustful and too embarrassed to leave his house.
The grandmother asked, “He wonders how to go on with the rest of his life - Why did you forever change our lives?” Her son, the boy’s father, said, “What she did is take our son’s innocence away.”
The plea deal that Sweet made lived up to her name, because the original charge was 2nd degree sexual assault of a child, punishable by up to 40 years in prison. Her final charge was 4th degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor. Perhaps her current status as a paralegal at her father’s law firm has something to do with it.
Her attorney, Robert J. Lerner, told McMahon stated that the assault had worse of an impact on his client that the victim, a statement which stunned the boy’s family. The condo where the assault occurred is still owned by Sweet, but she lives in Jefferson County, between Milwaukee and Madison.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Tiffin told McMahon that Sweet and the victim became friendly after the boy broke his foot. He spent extra time in her classroom. With his parents’ permission, they had dinner together. Twice they went to her downtown Milwaukee condominium to watch movies.
The second time they went to her apartment — March 9 — Sweet joined the boy on her couch. They kissed. As the situation grew more sexual, the boy asked to be taken home. Sweet complied. [Note – the apartment is in the former Blatz brewery building, now converted to condoes and apartments. It is 3 blocks north of where I work.]
Both the victim’s grandmother and father spoke during the hearing while the boy’s mother, her face bright red, sat in the back of the courtroom and wept.
The boy, an eighth-grader, was forced to switch schools in the final months of the school year, they said, leaving behind not only friends, but also academic and athletic awards he had earned. They said that has been followed by whispers and innuendo. They said the once outgoing boy is now withdrawn, mistrustful and too embarrassed to leave his house.
The grandmother asked, “He wonders how to go on with the rest of his life - Why did you forever change our lives?” Her son, the boy’s father, said, “What she did is take our son’s innocence away.”
The plea deal that Sweet made lived up to her name, because the original charge was 2nd degree sexual assault of a child, punishable by up to 40 years in prison. Her final charge was 4th degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor. Perhaps her current status as a paralegal at her father’s law firm has something to do with it.
Her attorney, Robert J. Lerner, told McMahon stated that the assault had worse of an impact on his client that the victim, a statement which stunned the boy’s family. The condo where the assault occurred is still owned by Sweet, but she lives in Jefferson County, between Milwaukee and Madison.
Darien, CT probationary firefighter convicted of sex assault at headquarters
(Original Post 6-24-08)
Marcus Velez, 18, of Darien, CT, pleaded guilty to 3rd degree sexual assault after admitting raping a 18 year old woman at the Stamford, CT fire department headquarters Thursday, June 19. He will serve 15 days in jail and spared himself a jury trial with a possible 1st degree sexual assault charge.
Velez was accused of forcing the 18-year-old victim to perform oral sex in January 2007, and admitted to the details in court. He was 17 at the time of the incident.
Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Ornousky said the victim and her mother wanted to avoid a trial and believe the outcome was fair. Velez and the victim previously had been friends, she said.
"She felt it was important that he get some punishment and that he take responsibility," Ornousky said.
Velez will formally be sentenced to a 5 year suspended prison sentence followed by 10 years of probation on August 21.
(Update 8-27-08) The sentencing was as expected, except for the date being postponed to Monday, August 25.
A victim's advocate read aloud letters from the woman and her mother.
"The whole thing changed my life to the point where I wished it all went away," the victim wrote.
She also wrote that because of the drawn-out case and news reports about it, people figured out she was the victim, but she feels some did not believe her.
The victim's mother wrote that she felt that Velez should get the maximum possible sentence, but she supports her daughter, who wants the matter resolved.
Velez has to obey a lifetime restrainging order, undergo SO treatment and listing, and is facing charges for inpersonationg a police officer.
Marcus Velez, 18, of Darien, CT, pleaded guilty to 3rd degree sexual assault after admitting raping a 18 year old woman at the Stamford, CT fire department headquarters Thursday, June 19. He will serve 15 days in jail and spared himself a jury trial with a possible 1st degree sexual assault charge.
Velez was accused of forcing the 18-year-old victim to perform oral sex in January 2007, and admitted to the details in court. He was 17 at the time of the incident.
Assistant State's Attorney Maureen Ornousky said the victim and her mother wanted to avoid a trial and believe the outcome was fair. Velez and the victim previously had been friends, she said.
"She felt it was important that he get some punishment and that he take responsibility," Ornousky said.
Velez will formally be sentenced to a 5 year suspended prison sentence followed by 10 years of probation on August 21.
(Update 8-27-08) The sentencing was as expected, except for the date being postponed to Monday, August 25.
A victim's advocate read aloud letters from the woman and her mother.
"The whole thing changed my life to the point where I wished it all went away," the victim wrote.
She also wrote that because of the drawn-out case and news reports about it, people figured out she was the victim, but she feels some did not believe her.
The victim's mother wrote that she felt that Velez should get the maximum possible sentence, but she supports her daughter, who wants the matter resolved.
Velez has to obey a lifetime restrainging order, undergo SO treatment and listing, and is facing charges for inpersonationg a police officer.
Second Tennessee man convicted of raping wife
Doug Young was convicted yesterday of forcing his estranged wife, Heather Moore to perform oral sex on him December 1, 2007. Formally convicted of a single count of aggravated rape after 1 ½ hours of jury deliberation, he faces 15 to 25 years in a Tennessee prison. He will be on supervision for life, and will have to pay a fine of $22,500.
Moore stated that the guilty verdict against her husband was “fantastic” and that “the outcome makes the embarrassment worth it.” He was officially charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, and rape.
Moore testified on Monday, and during a preliminary hearing in January, that Young grabbed her after she refused to give him a hug, shoved her and caused her to fall. The injuries to her lip and beneath her tongue came from him working his thumb around in her mouth after she bit down on it, she has said.
In his testimony, Young said that Moore became upset over another woman he was seeing and a comment he made about her mother, and stormed off down the hall. As he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, Moore spun around and fell into a closet door, popping it out of the track, he said.
She bit his thumb, he testified, and then led him in to the master bedroom, out to the deck, and back to the bedroom. About five minutes later, Young told jurors, Moore initiated oral sex as he sat on the corner of the bed.
When asked by a prosecutor if he ejaculated, Young said, “I do not know.”
A forensic analysis introduced as evidence found Moore’s blood on her and Young’s clothing, and semen on a washcloth she used to stop the bleeding from her mouth. The analysis by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also yielded DNA profiles that matched those of Young and Moore.
Young testified Tuesday, August 26 that the sexual encounter he had with his wife was consensual and that there divorced on good terms. He also testified that Moore, who was upset after the sexual encounter, bit his thumb. Assistant District Attorney general Teresa Nelson stated that “no woman would consent to oral sex while her month is still bleeding, her eye is still blacked, and she’s bruised all over her face and neck.”
Kennedy told the defendant’s mother and sister not to say anything to the media, an echo of his admonishment to the defendant not to talk about anything other than the December 1 incident he was placed on trial for.
Defense attorney William Kennedy, in his closing argument called the case a “he said, she said scenario – something lead prosecutor Barry Staubus echoed. “If they believed [Moore], they could convict Young.”
Circuit Court Judge Robert Montgomery ordered jurors to ignore the failure to appear charge Young received for leaving Tennessee and missing a January court date. That charge will be the subject of a fall trial. Sentencing is set for October 10.
Moore stated that the guilty verdict against her husband was “fantastic” and that “the outcome makes the embarrassment worth it.” He was officially charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, and rape.
Moore testified on Monday, and during a preliminary hearing in January, that Young grabbed her after she refused to give him a hug, shoved her and caused her to fall. The injuries to her lip and beneath her tongue came from him working his thumb around in her mouth after she bit down on it, she has said.
In his testimony, Young said that Moore became upset over another woman he was seeing and a comment he made about her mother, and stormed off down the hall. As he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, Moore spun around and fell into a closet door, popping it out of the track, he said.
She bit his thumb, he testified, and then led him in to the master bedroom, out to the deck, and back to the bedroom. About five minutes later, Young told jurors, Moore initiated oral sex as he sat on the corner of the bed.
When asked by a prosecutor if he ejaculated, Young said, “I do not know.”
A forensic analysis introduced as evidence found Moore’s blood on her and Young’s clothing, and semen on a washcloth she used to stop the bleeding from her mouth. The analysis by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also yielded DNA profiles that matched those of Young and Moore.
Young testified Tuesday, August 26 that the sexual encounter he had with his wife was consensual and that there divorced on good terms. He also testified that Moore, who was upset after the sexual encounter, bit his thumb. Assistant District Attorney general Teresa Nelson stated that “no woman would consent to oral sex while her month is still bleeding, her eye is still blacked, and she’s bruised all over her face and neck.”
Kennedy told the defendant’s mother and sister not to say anything to the media, an echo of his admonishment to the defendant not to talk about anything other than the December 1 incident he was placed on trial for.
Defense attorney William Kennedy, in his closing argument called the case a “he said, she said scenario – something lead prosecutor Barry Staubus echoed. “If they believed [Moore], they could convict Young.”
Circuit Court Judge Robert Montgomery ordered jurors to ignore the failure to appear charge Young received for leaving Tennessee and missing a January court date. That charge will be the subject of a fall trial. Sentencing is set for October 10.
Australian wife killer sentenced to life with no parole for 27 years
A man who raped his wife with a metal pole and brutally bashed her to death in a prolonged booze-fuelled rage at an Alice Springs' town camp has been ordered to serve two life sentences.
It is one of the longest sentences the Northern Territory Supreme Court has ever handed down to an Aborigine.
Ronald Djana used a hose to whip his 32-year-old partner before belting her with a stick, stomping on her abdomen and dragging her naked body over rough ground, before raping her with either a stick or metal pole, causing severe internal injuries.
A jury last month found the 33-year-old guilty of murder and sexual assault without consent over the prolonged and brutal attack at the Little Sisters camp in May last year.
Djana called an ambulance the morning after his jealous rage, which had started in the dry river bed of the Todd River the previous afternoon. The court was told he was found crying and cradling his wife's bloodied and lifeless body.
Justice Dean Mildren said Djana was a bully with no respect for women or court orders.
"Your treatment of the deceased was brutal in the extreme," he said to Djana who appeared in the Darwin court via video link from Alice Springs.
"You stomped on her, you hit her with a hose and you took a stick or some other object and impaled her."
Djana committed the crime only weeks after being released from jail where he had been serving time for a previous assault on his wife.
He faced a minimum of 25 years in prison but crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers argued the nature of the attack and Djana's ongoing history of abuse warranted a higher sentence. Justice Mildren agreed and today ordered Djana - who had breached a number of restraining orders following previous assaults on his wife - to serve two life sentences.
A post-mortem examination report found she had cuts and bruises on her face, mouth, arms and legs. She had also suffered a brain haemorrhage, a ruptured small bowel, fractured ribs and a stab wound to the vagina that had punctured her bowel.
All of the injuries had been inflicted while she was still alive, the court was told.
Justice Mildren called the attack a "merciless flogging" and sentenced Djana to a minimum non-parole period of 27 years in jail.
It is one of longest sentences ever handed down to an indigenous person in the territory and is one year less than the jail time being served by Bradley John Murdoch. He was sentenced to 28 years in 2006 for the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio and the assault of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.
The case has again raised criticism that too many Aboriginal men in the territory are allowed to face lesser charges of manslaughter, rather than murder or rape.
It is one of the longest sentences the Northern Territory Supreme Court has ever handed down to an Aborigine.
Ronald Djana used a hose to whip his 32-year-old partner before belting her with a stick, stomping on her abdomen and dragging her naked body over rough ground, before raping her with either a stick or metal pole, causing severe internal injuries.
A jury last month found the 33-year-old guilty of murder and sexual assault without consent over the prolonged and brutal attack at the Little Sisters camp in May last year.
Djana called an ambulance the morning after his jealous rage, which had started in the dry river bed of the Todd River the previous afternoon. The court was told he was found crying and cradling his wife's bloodied and lifeless body.
Justice Dean Mildren said Djana was a bully with no respect for women or court orders.
"Your treatment of the deceased was brutal in the extreme," he said to Djana who appeared in the Darwin court via video link from Alice Springs.
"You stomped on her, you hit her with a hose and you took a stick or some other object and impaled her."
Djana committed the crime only weeks after being released from jail where he had been serving time for a previous assault on his wife.
He faced a minimum of 25 years in prison but crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers argued the nature of the attack and Djana's ongoing history of abuse warranted a higher sentence. Justice Mildren agreed and today ordered Djana - who had breached a number of restraining orders following previous assaults on his wife - to serve two life sentences.
A post-mortem examination report found she had cuts and bruises on her face, mouth, arms and legs. She had also suffered a brain haemorrhage, a ruptured small bowel, fractured ribs and a stab wound to the vagina that had punctured her bowel.
All of the injuries had been inflicted while she was still alive, the court was told.
Justice Mildren called the attack a "merciless flogging" and sentenced Djana to a minimum non-parole period of 27 years in jail.
It is one of longest sentences ever handed down to an indigenous person in the territory and is one year less than the jail time being served by Bradley John Murdoch. He was sentenced to 28 years in 2006 for the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio and the assault of his girlfriend Joanne Lees.
The case has again raised criticism that too many Aboriginal men in the territory are allowed to face lesser charges of manslaughter, rather than murder or rape.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Man convicted on rape regarding woman he met at bar
(Original Story 5-31-08)
Shaun Tappendick, 27, was convicted of rape, aggravated burglary and attempted criminal sodomy for a sexual attack on a woman he had met at a Salina, KS bar on July 31, 2007. He was convicted by a Saline County District Court after under three hours of afternoon deliberations Thursday, May 29. Bond was revoked and Tappendick was taken to the Salina county jail to await sentencing July 16.
Much of the testimony during the trial centered around the timeline of the night's events and cell phone calls made by Tappendick and his accuser.
"The time frame doesn't fit, and that's where the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt comes in, as well as the lack of evidence," defense attorney Roger Struble told jurors during his closing argument.
Witnesses testified that Tappendick and some of his friends went to two bars, the accuser's home and a private house party that night. Tappendick left the party about 3:30 a.m. and arrived home sometime shortly before 4 a.m., defense witnesses said.
The defense claimed Tappendick had been at the woman's home briefly after leaving a bar earlier in the night, but did not return.
Struble asserted that Tappendick would not have had time to drive from the party to the accuser's home, pry open a window, assault the woman and make it home between 3:30 and 4 a.m., when his now ex-wife testified that he got home.
The prosecution argued that after Tappendick left the party, he made several calls to his accuser. Those calls went unanswered because the woman was in bed, said Prosecutor Christina Trocheck, an assistant Saline County attorney.
The last of those calls was made at 3:33 a.m. No more calls were made from Tappendick's phone until 4:03 a.m.
Trocheck said that during that time, Tappendick drove to the accuser's home, used a tool to pry a screen off the window and attacked the woman, who was asleep in her bed.
Tappendick's 4:03 a.m. phone call was to a friend. The victim also called a friend about the same time. Trocheck said both calls were made just after Tappendick left the woman's house.
In the 15 minutes following the attack, Tappendick left two messages on the accuser's phone. Records indicate that in both messages, he apologized for "that." The defense asserted Tappendick's apologies were for an altercation he had been in at the bar earlier in the night with the accuser's ex-boyfriend.
Trocheck said that didn't make any sense. The altercation would have happened hours prior and Tappendick, according to both his and the accuser's testimony, had seen the woman since that time.
"It's crystal clear what he was apologizing for," Trocheck said.
(Update 8-26-08) Tappendick was sentenced to 12 years, 11 months for the rape.
Shaun Tappendick, 27, was convicted of rape, aggravated burglary and attempted criminal sodomy for a sexual attack on a woman he had met at a Salina, KS bar on July 31, 2007. He was convicted by a Saline County District Court after under three hours of afternoon deliberations Thursday, May 29. Bond was revoked and Tappendick was taken to the Salina county jail to await sentencing July 16.
Much of the testimony during the trial centered around the timeline of the night's events and cell phone calls made by Tappendick and his accuser.
"The time frame doesn't fit, and that's where the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt comes in, as well as the lack of evidence," defense attorney Roger Struble told jurors during his closing argument.
Witnesses testified that Tappendick and some of his friends went to two bars, the accuser's home and a private house party that night. Tappendick left the party about 3:30 a.m. and arrived home sometime shortly before 4 a.m., defense witnesses said.
The defense claimed Tappendick had been at the woman's home briefly after leaving a bar earlier in the night, but did not return.
Struble asserted that Tappendick would not have had time to drive from the party to the accuser's home, pry open a window, assault the woman and make it home between 3:30 and 4 a.m., when his now ex-wife testified that he got home.
The prosecution argued that after Tappendick left the party, he made several calls to his accuser. Those calls went unanswered because the woman was in bed, said Prosecutor Christina Trocheck, an assistant Saline County attorney.
The last of those calls was made at 3:33 a.m. No more calls were made from Tappendick's phone until 4:03 a.m.
Trocheck said that during that time, Tappendick drove to the accuser's home, used a tool to pry a screen off the window and attacked the woman, who was asleep in her bed.
Tappendick's 4:03 a.m. phone call was to a friend. The victim also called a friend about the same time. Trocheck said both calls were made just after Tappendick left the woman's house.
In the 15 minutes following the attack, Tappendick left two messages on the accuser's phone. Records indicate that in both messages, he apologized for "that." The defense asserted Tappendick's apologies were for an altercation he had been in at the bar earlier in the night with the accuser's ex-boyfriend.
Trocheck said that didn't make any sense. The altercation would have happened hours prior and Tappendick, according to both his and the accuser's testimony, had seen the woman since that time.
"It's crystal clear what he was apologizing for," Trocheck said.
(Update 8-26-08) Tappendick was sentenced to 12 years, 11 months for the rape.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Buffalo News -NY state sex scandals make Albany "Sin City" for politicians
Sex scandals earn Albany the tag of ‘Sin City’
Power, youth make state capital ripe for scandal, insiders say, as list continues to grow.
By Maki Becker NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 08/24/08 1:33 PM
A former legislative aide accuses an assemblyman of sexually harassing her.
An underage intern accuses an assemblyman of raping her in a hotel room, then recants and says it was consensual, although he gave her alcohol.
An aide to the Assembly’s top leader is accused of raping two women, and the assemblyman stands by him until very recently.
The governor resigns as a federal investigation uncovers he had been seeking the services of high-price prostitutes. His successor admits that he and his wife had had affairs.
And now a Buffalo assemblyman admits he had been unfaithful to his wife several years ago but says his conduct did not violate any laws or State Legislature rules.
What is going on in Albany? According to longtime Albany insiders, the state capital has more than earned its nickname “Sin City.”
“Albany is a conducive environment to this kind of thing,” said Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director of the League of Women Voters of New York State, who has spent 28 years in Albany. “That may be true of every capital in the nation. You have a lot of powerful people, and young people tend to be attracted to powerful men.”
Charmian Neary, who filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Assembly in 1992 against her former boss, said the capital was a hotbed of outrageous behavior when she worked there. The complaint was dismissed, but she later sued Assemblyman Alan Siegel and the Assembly, and they settled with her.
When Neary arrived in Albany in 1990, she remembered being stunned at the attention she received, including that of her married boss. She was 30, had long blond hair but had never considered herself a babe.
“I was always the smartest one in my high school, not the most popular,” she said.
Neary recalled how lobbyists threw fundraisers and parties every night the Legislature was in session.
“You never had to buy dinner,” she recalled.
Over the years, she has kept tabs on the various scandals that have hit Albany.
“There’s a lull,” she said, after each one. “Then it rears its ugly head again.”
The blatant boozing and shameless cavorting have calmed down in recent years, said a woman serving in the Legislature, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
These days, most politicians in Albany behave themselves, she said. But not all.
“There’s a handful who act like they’re still in college,” she said. “They give everyone else a black eye.”
The tolerance of such wild behavior has at times led to criminal acts.
In 2003, J. Michael Boxley, who had been Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s top aide, was hauled out of the Capitol building in handcuffs on charges that he had date-raped an aide.
Two years earlier, another aide, Elizabeth Crothers, had accused him of forcing her to have sex with him in his apartment. She took her case to the speaker, but she said he did not take her accusations seriously. The complaint was dropped after she agreed not to pursue it further.
In the more recent incident, Boxley pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct and did not serve any jail time.
Now, Crothers is campaigning for Manhattan activist Paul Newell, who is challenging the speaker in a primary.
She is cynical about Silver’s motives in quickly taking up the allegations that Hoyt had affairs with two young women, who were 24 and 25 years old at the time.
Tuesday, a local blogger forwarded e-mails and other information about the affairs to the speaker’s press office. The ethics panel convened on the matter the next day.
Silver whipped into action in the Hoyt case, Crothers said in an interview, adding, “If only he had done the same with the rapist on his staff.”
When Crothers accused Boxley of sexually assaulting her, Silver publicly defended Boxley, saying he would be totally exonerated.
Silver now says in a statement he was “wrong about Michael Boxley, and as a father and grandfather I have tremendous anguish about what Elizabeth Crothers went through.”
Silver added: “I am deeply dedicated to ensuring that every woman in this state feels safe, and I have devoted much of my career to protecting the rights of victims of sexual abuse, strengthening laws against rape and sexual violence, and providing resources for the treatment of victims.”
Crothers dismissed his comments.
“He feels anguish. . . . Well, he had seven years to let me know about this anguish. I never found out except from a reporter. I tend to think the anguish was getting the call from a reporter.”
Hoyt’s supporters have criticized the attention his infidelities have received.
“It’s a private matter,” Assemblywoman Crystal D. Peoples, a fellow Buffalo Democrat, said of Hoyt’s affairs.
While she doesn’t condone his behavior, she called it a matter between him and his wife.
“I think it’s unfair,” she said of his dirty laundry being aired. “This has got to be the only job where your personal issues get laid out before the world.”
Peoples, who said she has never witnessed her colleagues behaving badly, said many in Albany cleaned up their act after the Assembly passed a strict policy barring fraternization between Assembly members, as well as staff and interns.
The policy was enacted shortly after a 19-year-old intern accused Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV of raping her. She later changed her story, saying that the sex was consensual but that he gave her alcohol.
Peoples, who was on the committee that came up with the policy, advocated banning interns from receptions where alcohol is served.
“It’s a rule that makes sense,” she said. “If they’re not there, there aren’t going to be [those problems.] And you know what college students will do if they have access to beer. They are going to have it. We as legislators should not encourage that or make it possible to do that.”
As more women join the Legislature, the bawdy behavior might disappear, said Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.
“What female legislators do in their off time in Albany is go shopping; they go to the movies and maybe go to one another’s apartments to cook dinners,” she said.
More women in politics?
“That’s an answer,” she said, “if you’re talking about world peace or promiscuity.”
Power, youth make state capital ripe for scandal, insiders say, as list continues to grow.
By Maki Becker NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: 08/24/08 1:33 PM
A former legislative aide accuses an assemblyman of sexually harassing her.
An underage intern accuses an assemblyman of raping her in a hotel room, then recants and says it was consensual, although he gave her alcohol.
An aide to the Assembly’s top leader is accused of raping two women, and the assemblyman stands by him until very recently.
The governor resigns as a federal investigation uncovers he had been seeking the services of high-price prostitutes. His successor admits that he and his wife had had affairs.
And now a Buffalo assemblyman admits he had been unfaithful to his wife several years ago but says his conduct did not violate any laws or State Legislature rules.
What is going on in Albany? According to longtime Albany insiders, the state capital has more than earned its nickname “Sin City.”
“Albany is a conducive environment to this kind of thing,” said Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director of the League of Women Voters of New York State, who has spent 28 years in Albany. “That may be true of every capital in the nation. You have a lot of powerful people, and young people tend to be attracted to powerful men.”
Charmian Neary, who filed a sexual harassment complaint with the Assembly in 1992 against her former boss, said the capital was a hotbed of outrageous behavior when she worked there. The complaint was dismissed, but she later sued Assemblyman Alan Siegel and the Assembly, and they settled with her.
When Neary arrived in Albany in 1990, she remembered being stunned at the attention she received, including that of her married boss. She was 30, had long blond hair but had never considered herself a babe.
“I was always the smartest one in my high school, not the most popular,” she said.
Neary recalled how lobbyists threw fundraisers and parties every night the Legislature was in session.
“You never had to buy dinner,” she recalled.
Over the years, she has kept tabs on the various scandals that have hit Albany.
“There’s a lull,” she said, after each one. “Then it rears its ugly head again.”
The blatant boozing and shameless cavorting have calmed down in recent years, said a woman serving in the Legislature, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
These days, most politicians in Albany behave themselves, she said. But not all.
“There’s a handful who act like they’re still in college,” she said. “They give everyone else a black eye.”
The tolerance of such wild behavior has at times led to criminal acts.
In 2003, J. Michael Boxley, who had been Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s top aide, was hauled out of the Capitol building in handcuffs on charges that he had date-raped an aide.
Two years earlier, another aide, Elizabeth Crothers, had accused him of forcing her to have sex with him in his apartment. She took her case to the speaker, but she said he did not take her accusations seriously. The complaint was dropped after she agreed not to pursue it further.
In the more recent incident, Boxley pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct and did not serve any jail time.
Now, Crothers is campaigning for Manhattan activist Paul Newell, who is challenging the speaker in a primary.
She is cynical about Silver’s motives in quickly taking up the allegations that Hoyt had affairs with two young women, who were 24 and 25 years old at the time.
Tuesday, a local blogger forwarded e-mails and other information about the affairs to the speaker’s press office. The ethics panel convened on the matter the next day.
Silver whipped into action in the Hoyt case, Crothers said in an interview, adding, “If only he had done the same with the rapist on his staff.”
When Crothers accused Boxley of sexually assaulting her, Silver publicly defended Boxley, saying he would be totally exonerated.
Silver now says in a statement he was “wrong about Michael Boxley, and as a father and grandfather I have tremendous anguish about what Elizabeth Crothers went through.”
Silver added: “I am deeply dedicated to ensuring that every woman in this state feels safe, and I have devoted much of my career to protecting the rights of victims of sexual abuse, strengthening laws against rape and sexual violence, and providing resources for the treatment of victims.”
Crothers dismissed his comments.
“He feels anguish. . . . Well, he had seven years to let me know about this anguish. I never found out except from a reporter. I tend to think the anguish was getting the call from a reporter.”
Hoyt’s supporters have criticized the attention his infidelities have received.
“It’s a private matter,” Assemblywoman Crystal D. Peoples, a fellow Buffalo Democrat, said of Hoyt’s affairs.
While she doesn’t condone his behavior, she called it a matter between him and his wife.
“I think it’s unfair,” she said of his dirty laundry being aired. “This has got to be the only job where your personal issues get laid out before the world.”
Peoples, who said she has never witnessed her colleagues behaving badly, said many in Albany cleaned up their act after the Assembly passed a strict policy barring fraternization between Assembly members, as well as staff and interns.
The policy was enacted shortly after a 19-year-old intern accused Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV of raping her. She later changed her story, saying that the sex was consensual but that he gave her alcohol.
Peoples, who was on the committee that came up with the policy, advocated banning interns from receptions where alcohol is served.
“It’s a rule that makes sense,” she said. “If they’re not there, there aren’t going to be [those problems.] And you know what college students will do if they have access to beer. They are going to have it. We as legislators should not encourage that or make it possible to do that.”
As more women join the Legislature, the bawdy behavior might disappear, said Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters.
“What female legislators do in their off time in Albany is go shopping; they go to the movies and maybe go to one another’s apartments to cook dinners,” she said.
More women in politics?
“That’s an answer,” she said, “if you’re talking about world peace or promiscuity.”
Oregon man faces murder charges after girlfriend dies in alleged Oregon arson
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - A McMinnville man faces new charges after his girlfriend died Monday from burns suffered in a house fire he is accused of setting last month.
Larry Warren Barnard was facing attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder charges in addition to arson charges.
Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry says the case will be resubmitted to a grand jury for an amended indictment to charge Barnard with murder in the death of Krista Wiegel.
The 38-year-old Wiegel died Monday morning at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.
Investigators say the 38-year-old Barnard had quit taking medication for bipolar disorder and had gone on a drinking binge when the house was set on fire July 2.
Larry Warren Barnard was facing attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder charges in addition to arson charges.
Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry says the case will be resubmitted to a grand jury for an amended indictment to charge Barnard with murder in the death of Krista Wiegel.
The 38-year-old Wiegel died Monday morning at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.
Investigators say the 38-year-old Barnard had quit taking medication for bipolar disorder and had gone on a drinking binge when the house was set on fire July 2.
Oregon man faces murder charges after girlfriend dies in alleged Oregon arson
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - A McMinnville man faces new charges after his girlfriend died Monday from burns suffered in a house fire he is accused of setting last month.
Larry Warren Barnard was facing attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder charges in addition to arson charges.
Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry says the case will be resubmitted to a grand jury for an amended indictment to charge Barnard with murder in the death of Krista Wiegel.
The 38-year-old Wiegel died Monday morning at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.
Investigators say the 38-year-old Barnard had quit taking medication for bipolar disorder and had gone on a drinking binge when the house was set on fire July 2.
Larry Warren Barnard was facing attempted aggravated murder and attempted murder charges in addition to arson charges.
Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry says the case will be resubmitted to a grand jury for an amended indictment to charge Barnard with murder in the death of Krista Wiegel.
The 38-year-old Wiegel died Monday morning at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.
Investigators say the 38-year-old Barnard had quit taking medication for bipolar disorder and had gone on a drinking binge when the house was set on fire July 2.
Commerce City, CO man sentenced to life without parole for killing wife
A man who killed his estranged wife on Christmas Eve 2006 by stabbing her 60 times was sentenced to life without parole Friday in a Commerce City, CO courtroom. Natisha Gallegos, 30, was killed by her husband Albert, 33 after an alleged rape and death threats a month before the actual murder. Natisha, the mother of 2 kids, had a restraining order in place when she was stabbed to death, and her body was found by her sister.
Albert changed his plea from not guilty by reason of insanity to guilty of 1st degree murder Friday.
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick said the homicide was "particularly brutal and senseless."
"Although (the sentencing) will be no means bring an end to the suffering Mrs. Gallegos' family has endured as a result of this terrible tragedy, hopefully they can now begin the process of healing," said Quick.
District Judge Thomas Ensor oversaw Friday's proceedings.
Albert changed his plea from not guilty by reason of insanity to guilty of 1st degree murder Friday.
Adams County District Attorney Don Quick said the homicide was "particularly brutal and senseless."
"Although (the sentencing) will be no means bring an end to the suffering Mrs. Gallegos' family has endured as a result of this terrible tragedy, hopefully they can now begin the process of healing," said Quick.
District Judge Thomas Ensor oversaw Friday's proceedings.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Kim Jernigan accused of kidnapping virtual boyfriend
33-year-old Kimberly Jernigan tried to kidnap the virtual boyfriend that broke up with her after they met in real life on Thursday, August 21. Jernigan, of North Carolina, met a 52 year old man from Delaware in the online game Second Life. The victim’s avatar, or virtual character, was a lion, and Jernigan’s avatar was a woman. After he broke up with her in real life, she became disturbed, trying to kidnap him at gunpoint from his Pennsylvania workplace in early August. She was unsuccessful.
Police said Jernigan posed as a postal worker in order to locate the victim's new address, as he had recently moved. After four days of searching, authorities said she found residence in the Whitney Presidential Towers on the 7100 block of Society Drive in Claymont.
With her dog Gogi in tow, investigators said Jernigan cut and removed a screened window in order to enter her virtual ex's apartment.When the victim arrived home on Thursday, August 21, he told police he saw someone pointing an object at his chest that was projecting a laser beam. He immediately fled the apartment and contacted police.
Officers arriving at the scene discovered a pair of handcuffs, a roll of duct tape, a Taser and a BB gun as well as the suspect's dog.Police said Jernigan had bound her dog Gogi with duct tape and put him in the bathroom as he was making too much noise. The dog was said to be uninjured, but the SPCA is looking into possible charges of animal cruelty.
Jernigan is being held on attempted kidnapping, aggravated menacing, and burglary after she was arrested at a Maryland rest area on I-95.
Police said Jernigan posed as a postal worker in order to locate the victim's new address, as he had recently moved. After four days of searching, authorities said she found residence in the Whitney Presidential Towers on the 7100 block of Society Drive in Claymont.
With her dog Gogi in tow, investigators said Jernigan cut and removed a screened window in order to enter her virtual ex's apartment.When the victim arrived home on Thursday, August 21, he told police he saw someone pointing an object at his chest that was projecting a laser beam. He immediately fled the apartment and contacted police.
Officers arriving at the scene discovered a pair of handcuffs, a roll of duct tape, a Taser and a BB gun as well as the suspect's dog.Police said Jernigan had bound her dog Gogi with duct tape and put him in the bathroom as he was making too much noise. The dog was said to be uninjured, but the SPCA is looking into possible charges of animal cruelty.
Jernigan is being held on attempted kidnapping, aggravated menacing, and burglary after she was arrested at a Maryland rest area on I-95.
Oklahoma "boyfriend" pleads guilty to murdering pregnant woman
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma City man has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his pregnant girlfriend and the fetus.
Eric Phan faces life in prison either with or without the possibility of parole after entering the plea Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court.
Phan was arrested Nov. 28 after a friend told police in Bethany he'd confessed to killing Lauren Barnes.Barnes had been reported missing less than a week earlier after telling her family she was going to talk to Phan.
Her body was found Nov. 30 in a shallow grave in Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma City
Eric Phan faces life in prison either with or without the possibility of parole after entering the plea Thursday in Oklahoma County District Court.
Phan was arrested Nov. 28 after a friend told police in Bethany he'd confessed to killing Lauren Barnes.Barnes had been reported missing less than a week earlier after telling her family she was going to talk to Phan.
Her body was found Nov. 30 in a shallow grave in Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma City
Iowa wife rapist sentenced to 5 1/4 more years for child porn
A Iowa man, 35 year old Travis Frey, serving 10 years in prison for the 3rd degree sexual abuse and domestic abuse causing injury of his wife back in 2006 has been sentenced to another 5 1/4 years in federal prison Tuesday, August 19 for child porn possession.
The case drew international exposure, not because of the crime itself, but because of a five-page document in the court file titled "Contract of Wifely Expectations." Frey allegedly presented the contract to his wife. The contract outlined how she was to dress, what she should wear to bed and how she should groom herself.
During the course of investigating the kidnapping and domestic abuse charges, two home computers were seized from Frey's residence. A computer forensics expert found more than 99,000 images of pornography on one of the computers.
The Pottawattamie County Attorney's Office believed that several of the pictures found were illegal pictures of minors, and initially charged Frey with 40 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Those charges were dropped when it was learned Frey would face federal charges.
Frey's child porn sentence will be served after the sentence for wife rape, and comes with a $100 special assessment to the local victims' fund, and 10 years of supervised release.
The case drew international exposure, not because of the crime itself, but because of a five-page document in the court file titled "Contract of Wifely Expectations." Frey allegedly presented the contract to his wife. The contract outlined how she was to dress, what she should wear to bed and how she should groom herself.
During the course of investigating the kidnapping and domestic abuse charges, two home computers were seized from Frey's residence. A computer forensics expert found more than 99,000 images of pornography on one of the computers.
The Pottawattamie County Attorney's Office believed that several of the pictures found were illegal pictures of minors, and initially charged Frey with 40 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Those charges were dropped when it was learned Frey would face federal charges.
Frey's child porn sentence will be served after the sentence for wife rape, and comes with a $100 special assessment to the local victims' fund, and 10 years of supervised release.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Toppenish, WA man sentenced to 13 3/4 years for stabbing baby's mama
A 26 year old man will serve 13 ¾ years in prison and 2 to 4 years probation for the May 2007 attack on his now ex-girlfriend. Robert Savala Jr., 26, will serve the time for stabbing his then live-in girlfriend Melissa Vega 20 times in the chest, legs and head while drunk in their Toppenish, WA apartment. Savala’s official conviction was for 2nd degree attempted murder, and he was issued a no-contact order lasting for 80 years. The couple had a then 6 month old son.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Man gets 10 years in federal prison for felon in posession charges stemming from gunpoint rape of girlfriend
U.S. District Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced a 37 year old Florence, SC man to 10 years in federal prison for the rape of his then girlfriend.
Donnie Wayne Sheffield was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a January 2006 attack where after a cocaine binge, Sheffield, armed with a 12 gauge shotgun, beat and raped his girlfriend, threatening to hang her. She convinced her perpetrator to let her go to work before her coworkers got suspicious and called Florence, SC police – which they did anyway after she joined them.
Because Sheffield was on parole, officers coordinated with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sheffield. An arrest team entered the victim’s house, where they arrested Sheffield in a back bedroom. Agents seized the shotgun and the noose, still hanging from a light fixture in the house.
Sheffield was previously convicted in 2001 for a burglary that involved breaking into another girlfriend’s house and beating and holding her hostage. He has other convictions for failure to stop for a blue light, larceny, and distribution of an imitation controlled substance.
U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham prosecuted this case, with help from the ATF and SLED (State Law Enforcement Division).
Donnie Wayne Sheffield was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a January 2006 attack where after a cocaine binge, Sheffield, armed with a 12 gauge shotgun, beat and raped his girlfriend, threatening to hang her. She convinced her perpetrator to let her go to work before her coworkers got suspicious and called Florence, SC police – which they did anyway after she joined them.
Because Sheffield was on parole, officers coordinated with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sheffield. An arrest team entered the victim’s house, where they arrested Sheffield in a back bedroom. Agents seized the shotgun and the noose, still hanging from a light fixture in the house.
Sheffield was previously convicted in 2001 for a burglary that involved breaking into another girlfriend’s house and beating and holding her hostage. He has other convictions for failure to stop for a blue light, larceny, and distribution of an imitation controlled substance.
U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham prosecuted this case, with help from the ATF and SLED (State Law Enforcement Division).
Wisconsin prison doctor accused of sexually assaulting male inmates
A former Stanley Correctional Facility physician is facing 6 felony counts of sexual assault after allegedly using his position to sexually assault patients. 46 year old Brian Bohlmann, of Madison, was charged in Chippewa County Court yesterday with 3 counts of 2nd degree sexual assault by correctional staff, 2 counts of 3rd degree sexual assault and a count of 4th degree sexual assault. The second degree charges carry a maximum 40 year sentence, and 3rd degree sex assault carries a maximum 10 year sentence in a Wisconsin prison.
According to the criminal complaint: An inmate at the prison first reported on Sept. 19, 2007 that two days before he had been sexually assaulted by Bohlmann. The 25-year-old man said he went to the doctor for a back problem, but Bohlmann’s exam concentrated on the genital and rectal areas and included collection of seminal fluid. He said after the exam, Bohlmann told him they had to keep things between themselves or they could get in trouble.
In October 2007, another inmate went to Bohlmann for a routine physical, including a complaint about pimples on his side, and the exam included the doctor running ungloved hands over his body and genital contact.The inmate said at one point he put his clothes back on and Bohlmann had him undress again for a prostate exam.Another inmate reported that in September 2007 he went to Bohlmann about a rash on his waistline, under his arms and on his knees and Bohlmann’s exam included genital contact and a rectal exam that the inmate felt went on too long.
As a result of complaints, the medical supervisor for the Department of Corrections ordered Bohlmann not to do any below-the-waist exams without another staff member present.
DA Jon Thiessen stated that the charges came after a thorough investigation of Wisconsin’s Department of Justice. His statement summarizing the reasons for the charges is shown below.
“Medical doctors take a Hippocratic Oath wherein they swear to protect their patients from harm and injustice. It is despicably ironic and unjust that any doctor would use his or her position to sexually harm patients. The Chippewa County District Attorney’s Office zealously prosecutes all sexual offenders. This office has earned a reputation for successful prosecution in support of sexually assaulted women, children and disabled. All victims, including prison inmates, deserve our aggressive prosecution of their offenders.”
Bohlmann will make an initial court appearance October 28.
According to the criminal complaint: An inmate at the prison first reported on Sept. 19, 2007 that two days before he had been sexually assaulted by Bohlmann. The 25-year-old man said he went to the doctor for a back problem, but Bohlmann’s exam concentrated on the genital and rectal areas and included collection of seminal fluid. He said after the exam, Bohlmann told him they had to keep things between themselves or they could get in trouble.
In October 2007, another inmate went to Bohlmann for a routine physical, including a complaint about pimples on his side, and the exam included the doctor running ungloved hands over his body and genital contact.The inmate said at one point he put his clothes back on and Bohlmann had him undress again for a prostate exam.Another inmate reported that in September 2007 he went to Bohlmann about a rash on his waistline, under his arms and on his knees and Bohlmann’s exam included genital contact and a rectal exam that the inmate felt went on too long.
As a result of complaints, the medical supervisor for the Department of Corrections ordered Bohlmann not to do any below-the-waist exams without another staff member present.
DA Jon Thiessen stated that the charges came after a thorough investigation of Wisconsin’s Department of Justice. His statement summarizing the reasons for the charges is shown below.
“Medical doctors take a Hippocratic Oath wherein they swear to protect their patients from harm and injustice. It is despicably ironic and unjust that any doctor would use his or her position to sexually harm patients. The Chippewa County District Attorney’s Office zealously prosecutes all sexual offenders. This office has earned a reputation for successful prosecution in support of sexually assaulted women, children and disabled. All victims, including prison inmates, deserve our aggressive prosecution of their offenders.”
Bohlmann will make an initial court appearance October 28.
Nevada denies rape victims compensation because of "contributory conduct"
Rape still a crime where victim can share blame
State ‘contributory conduct’ rule used to deny financial assistance
Abigail Goldman - Las Vegas Sun
Susan woke up with this guy all over her like an animal. By the time she realized what was happening, he had stopped. He let go of her shorts, looked at her and said, “I messed up real bad, didn’t I?” Then he told her to make him breakfast.
Susan has no idea what she cooked. She had no idea what to tell the officer who said, “But you don’t look like someone that’s been raped.” She had no idea what to say when, several weeks later, she got a letter from a state program that helps victims of crime pay medical bills stating she’d been denied funding because of “contributory conduct.”
Susan was denied, the logic goes, because she was partly responsible for her own rape. She’d used methamphetamine 30 hours before the attack — this was her “contributory conduct.” She is one of nine sexual assault victims confirmed to have been denied assistance from Nevada’s Victims of Crime Compensation Program because of contributory conduct. Eight of the nine were teens.
Many advocates for victims think there have been more than nine such denials. They say records do not reveal the true extent of the problem. But in any case, they say, denying assistance to even one rape victim on these grounds would be an outrage.
For many, it cuts too close to antiquated notions that women can invite or encourage rape, and are therefore responsible if it occurs. And, advocates for victims emphasize, alcohol and drugs are often instruments of sexual assault. “No” means “no,” they say, no matter what.
The “no” that victims are hearing from the compensation program officials may be driven as much by fiscal concerns as by philosophy, however. Ever-growing numbers of victims are asking for assistance from a program that doesn’t have enough money to help them all, asking for help from a program that may be looking for reasons to deny them so that it can stretch its budget.
That’s how Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto sees it. She leads a committee that in January began a careful survey of the victim compensation program and its policies.
Last month, percolating concerns about contributory conduct boiled over. At a July 7 meeting of the committee that oversees Masto’s smaller group, several attendees sat in quiet shock as Bryan Nix, coordinator of the compensation program, explained the contributory conduct policy.
Speaking of intoxicated sexual assault victims, Nix told commission members, “You know, their behavior alone oftentimes excludes them from participation in this program because they’re not, under our guidelines, innocent victims of crime. They participated in the crime on some level.”
Since that July meeting, the compensation program has come under fire from victim and civil rights advocates who feel the troubles run deeper than poorly written policy. The real issue here is the fundamental differences of opinion about whether a rape or sexual assault victim should ever share the burden of blame. Nevada’s contributory conduct clause is a small step, many fear, into a dark hole where women in short skirts or low-cut blouses are blamed for attracting negative attention, for “asking for it.”
Of the criticism, Nix says, “I think it’s a little misguided. Someone goes to a bar, slams down numerous cocktails, ends up with someone in the bar, goes to their hotel room to ‘watch TV’ in a very drunken, intoxicated state and ends up ‘waking up raped.’ ”
The rationale behind Nevada’s contributory conduct policy is simple — prevent drunken people who pick bar fights from getting compensation, keep burglars who break their ankles kicking in a door from having their medical bills paid with state money. These matters are pretty black and white. It’s when contributory conduct falls into the gray area of sexual assault and rape that the problems start.
Statewide, 2,017, or 27 percent, of the 7,357 compensation claims accepted from January 2005 to January 2007 were submitted by victims of rape and sexual assault who, in turn, had more than $1.28 million in medical or counseling expenses paid by the program. It’s a considerable sum, but less than the $34 million paid for 2,750 general assault victims, or the $5.5 million in compensation allocated to 1,065 domestic violence victims.
In the past four years, 592 rape and sexual assault victims have been denied compensation program funding for a variety of reasons. The vast majority of these victims, 494, were denied for “failure to cooperate,” meaning the victim didn’t complete required paperwork, follow up with compensation officers or keep appointments. For at least 12 rape and sexual assault victims, the reason for denial is unknown. Program records are incomplete. The records also do not indicate how many victims appealed their denials and were awarded funding after a fight.
Most victims don’t challenge the rejection. This has more to do with emotional exhaustion than laziness: Some victims would rather forget than put themselves through a detailed application process, let alone argue over the outcome, according to Rape Crisis Center Executive Director Louise Torres. The average victim gives her account of the crime 57 times to various officials before the case even lands in court, Torres says.
The nine victims who were denied for contributory conduct, which Nix says doesn’t necessarily mean intoxication, represent such a small percentage of all denials that “it’s hardly worth a lot of discussion,” he said. Nix is quick to insist that the disqualifying factor is not the presence of drugs or alcohol, but the resulting behavior; not merely being intoxicated, but being intoxicated and making a bad decision as a result.
Some scoff at this distinction.
“Being violently assaulted by someone, inebriated or not, is a violation of your personhood,” said Andrea Sundburg, director of the Nevada Coalition Against Sexual Violence. Whether the victim had been drinking is irrelevant, she added.
Those who question the policy also note that it is not applied consistently, so while one intoxicated victim gets funding, another does not. Nix points to this case-by-case approach as an example of the program’s success. Compensation officers consider the nuances of each case, interview victims and read police reports before reaching determinations. In fact, Nix noted, a considerable number of sexual assault and rape victims applying for compensation report being intoxicated at the time of the crime, and the program regularly provides them assistance regardless of the fact.
In some cases, Nix noted, the compensation officer thinks a line has been crossed. Where that line lies, however, is unclear. For some, this is extremely problematic.
“The idea that you are going to sit around and figure out what percentage of the blame you are going to ascribe to the victim themselves is just completely misguided and improper,” said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada American Civil Liberties Union.
Lee Rowland, Nevada ACLU northern coordinator, added: “A case-by-case review is only as good as the rules that govern that review. Discretion vested in officials should not turn into a character assassination of the victim, or be used to play out archaic gender stereotypes.”
Masto’s committee is studying whether changes must be made to compensation program policy.
The contributory conduct rules were adopted years ago by the state Board of Examiners, composed of the governor, the attorney general and the secretary of state. The rules mandate that claims for compensation must be denied if the victim “used poor judgment because of intoxication or drugs.”
Whether compensation officers should be determining what is and isn’t poor judgment, Masto said, is also up for consideration. Masto’s committee has been asked to provide Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty, chairman of the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice, with recommendations for changes to the program, legislative or otherwise.
If the committee looks to neighboring states, it will find that compensation officers in Utah, California and New Mexico, among others, do not consider intoxication a contributory factor in sexual assault or rape cases. Members of New Mexico’s Crime Victims Reparation Commission decided 10 years ago that they “just would not look at drugs and alcohol on sexual assault cases,” according to current Commission Director Larry Tackman.
Victims who undergo a sexual assault forensic exam from the hospital — like every Nevada victim must to be eligible for assistance — demonstrate by action alone that no matter how inebriated they were, something serious enough to warrant assistance likely occurred, Tackman said.
If the committee looks around the globe, it will see that England’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has been under fire for cutting the standard $20,516 crime compensation payment for 14 rape victims by as much as 25 percent in the past year alone. All of these victims were told the deduction was because of contributory conduct — alcohol consumption.
This revelation sparked furious condemnation from citizens and politicians.
The British compensation authority has since issued a statement acknowledging the deductions should not have been made. A 25-year-old victim who challenged the reduced compensation recently got the full award, and the government has called the compensation authority to review the other cases in question.
Many of the best arguments against contributory conduct flip the policy on its head. If victims can be penalized for becoming intoxicated before they were raped, does that mean the rapist on trial should have his sentence mitigated because he had a partner in crime?
Justice Hardesty extends the argument: Does this mean someone under the influence of alcohol who is shot by a robber cannot qualify for assistance? There is a disconnect between the criminal law that makes a perpetrator guilty and the policies of the victims compensation program, Hardesty says.
At least part of the problem with the compensation program can be traced back to financial strain. Despite laws indicating it is the policy of Nevada to provide care to victims of crime, the program does not receive any money from the state’s general fund. Instead, the program gets its money from criminal fines, restitution paid by convicts, government grants and a handful of other sources. The result: The compensation program received more than $8.8 million in funding during the 2006-07 fiscal year, the most recent data available.The income is hard to reconcile with the costs. From January 2005 through January 2008, the compensation program was billed almost $50 million on behalf of victims.
In a presentation to Hardesty and the advisory committee of which he is chairman, Masto said, “due to limited crime compensation funding, it appears that (compensation officers) are forced to look for reasons not to provide funds rather than reasons to provide funds.”
Nevada has three compensation officers. A fourth position is open, but because of a government hiring freeze, it has gone unfilled for three months. The program has a backlog of roughly 1,000 cases, applications on hold because additional information is needed. Nix thinks he can solve the problem by handing much of the paperwork back to victims’ advocates, such as counselors at rape crisis centers.
To achieve this goal, he is revamping the application process. Traditionally, victims have been asked to submit one sheet of information to state compensation officers, who would seek out additional information on their behalf. Now Nix wants victims to fill out an 11-page application, full of information compensation officers will no longer have to get on their own. This will speed up the process, Nix says.
But the new application is still just a proposal, and not every victim’s advocate is excited at the prospect of more work.
This is where things would get nasty, if things weren’t so politely political.
Delicately, Nix notes that his nine denials for contributory conduct are nothing compared with the almost 500 sexual assault and rape victims who were denied for failure to cooperate. These people have slipped through the cracks, Nix subtly suggested in an e-mail to the Sun, because advocates didn’t take enough time to help victims through the process. “The elephant in the room is not the issue of denial because of contributory conduct,” Nix wrote.
This implication, not surprisingly, makes victim’s advocates a little angry.
“When you start putting blame on other people, without looking at your own internal procedures, there is a problem,” Sundburg said. “Advocates are just as busy as victims of crime compensation. We all need to work together to make sure victims are getting the help they need.”
Susan had to be persuaded to file for victim’s assistance, convinced that revisiting the crime in interviews and applications was worth the stress. After the rape, scared to stay at her home, she landed in a series of women’s shelters. She had nightmares, was always looking over her shoulder, and suffered from that free-floating, endless and almost sourceless anxiety that haunts some victims. Susan was raped by a man she thought she knew. He invited her and some other friends over to do meth. She crashed at his house, in a guest bedroom.
Later, in a hospital gown, naked from the waist down, she told police the whole story, even admitting she had been an addict off and on for about two years. When she left the hospital, she drove around for hours in a daze, and finally, at the age of 39, called her parents and asked if she could go stay with them.
So when the rejection letter came, Susan was furious. “’Cause I used meth, it’s OK for someone to rape me,” she said. “That’s how I felt.”
Susan decided she would fight the rejection. In May, she appealed the decision. The denial was upheld, so she took it to the next level. In June, Susan made her case before an appeals officer, an attorney appointed by the governor.
Eleven months after she got her first letter of rejection, Susan’s application for assistance was approved. She was awarded $3,000 for counseling, so now therapists and psychiatrists — the people writing Susan’s new prescriptions for depression and anxiety — can bill their services directly to the compensation program.
In light of everything that led up to this, its hard to know whether Susan should celebrate.
British used luxury car salesman accused of stabbing wife to death
The body of Sally-Ann Sinclair, 40, was discovered in a pool of blood at the five-bedroom detached house she shared with her husband Alisdair and their twin sons.
Mr Sinclair, 47, was in police custody last night after being arrested on suspicion of murder.
The successful career woman had been working as head of business analysis at mobile phone giant Vodafone.
The family are believed to have been renting the large house just outside the picturesque village of Amport, Hampshire.Mr Sinclair is understood to have traded in second-hand cars from the farmhouse.
The couple married in Basingstoke in 1987 and had twin sons, Alexander and Christopher, in 1998. The nine-year-old boys were yesterday being looked after by an aunt.
Police were called to the address at 10pm on Saturday. They were alerted to the stabbing by ambulance crews, which had arrived some minutes earlier.
Mrs Sinclair was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in nearby Winchester, where a post-mortem examination revealed that she died as a result of injuries to her upper body.
A team of forensic officers have begun combing the house for clues and are expected to continue tests at the property well into this week.
Today Mrs Sinclair's mother, Nicolette Alford, said:
"Sally was a clever, bright, hardworking girl who loved her job but more than anything, she loved her children. She was a wonderful mother and worked tirelessly to give her children a happy life. She was the most caring person I have ever known.Even if she was upset or unhappy, she would always think of others first and offer sympathy and support.'
Her stepfather, Barry Alford, added:
"We will remember Sally as being caring, hardworking, intelligent and delightful to know. She was dedicated to her twin boys and sacrificed a lot to keep them happy. She has achieved so much in her life and was about to embark on a new course when her life was cruelly taken from her. We miss her so much."
Mrs Sinclair, an only child, was believed to share the rented property with her husband who stayed at home to care for their 10-year-old twin boys. Before moving to the Amport country estate, the family lived in detached red-brick home in Basingstoke close to Mr Sinclair's parents' home.
Since the move, neighbours said they had lived a secluded life.
'I rarely saw the couple and much of the time the house looked deserted but there are always a lot of cars outside,' one neighbour said.
'My understanding was that she worked for Vodafone and he may have stayed at home to look after the boys. It's a terrible shock to hear what has happened.'
John-James Lloyd, 28, who lives down the road from the house, said: 'I saw an ambulance rush past on Saturday night at about 10pm. I have never actually seen anyone at the house despite all the cars. It's as if the people who live there are very private or always on holiday because the curtains always seem to be drawn.'
Farmer Harry Wells, who also lives down the road from the property, said he had been shocked to see police at the address.
'We came back home just after midnight on Sunday morning and there was a lot of police activity,The family had only been living there about nine months. We drive past the house every day but I rarely saw any sign of life at all.'
Eight cars, understood to be mainly connected to Mr Sinclair's business, including two high-powered rally cars - a Subaru Impreza and a £35,000 Mitsubishi Evo - and a silver van stood in the drive of the secluded property yesterday.
Mrs Sinclair's bosses have paid tribute to Mrs Sinclair.
Matthew Brearley, human resources director of Vodafone UK, said: 'Sally Sinclair was employed by Vodafone as head of business analysis.
'Sally worked for Vodafone from 1994. Sally will be deeply missed by her colleagues here at Vodafone. Our sympathy goes out to Sally's family and friends.'
Mrs Sinclair's mother Nicolette Alford, who lives in Coombe Bissett near Salisbury, declined to comment.
Mr Sinclair's family in Basingstoke also refused to comment.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said: 'Detectives investigating the death of a woman in Amport near Andover on Saturday, continue to question a 47-year-old man who has been assisting with enquiries.
'The investigation team from the major crime department are also following up a number of other lines of enquiry to establish the circumstances that led to the woman's death.'
Mr Sinclair, 47, was in police custody last night after being arrested on suspicion of murder.
The successful career woman had been working as head of business analysis at mobile phone giant Vodafone.
The family are believed to have been renting the large house just outside the picturesque village of Amport, Hampshire.Mr Sinclair is understood to have traded in second-hand cars from the farmhouse.
The couple married in Basingstoke in 1987 and had twin sons, Alexander and Christopher, in 1998. The nine-year-old boys were yesterday being looked after by an aunt.
Police were called to the address at 10pm on Saturday. They were alerted to the stabbing by ambulance crews, which had arrived some minutes earlier.
Mrs Sinclair was pronounced dead at the scene and her body was taken to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in nearby Winchester, where a post-mortem examination revealed that she died as a result of injuries to her upper body.
A team of forensic officers have begun combing the house for clues and are expected to continue tests at the property well into this week.
Today Mrs Sinclair's mother, Nicolette Alford, said:
"Sally was a clever, bright, hardworking girl who loved her job but more than anything, she loved her children. She was a wonderful mother and worked tirelessly to give her children a happy life. She was the most caring person I have ever known.Even if she was upset or unhappy, she would always think of others first and offer sympathy and support.'
Her stepfather, Barry Alford, added:
"We will remember Sally as being caring, hardworking, intelligent and delightful to know. She was dedicated to her twin boys and sacrificed a lot to keep them happy. She has achieved so much in her life and was about to embark on a new course when her life was cruelly taken from her. We miss her so much."
Mrs Sinclair, an only child, was believed to share the rented property with her husband who stayed at home to care for their 10-year-old twin boys. Before moving to the Amport country estate, the family lived in detached red-brick home in Basingstoke close to Mr Sinclair's parents' home.
Since the move, neighbours said they had lived a secluded life.
'I rarely saw the couple and much of the time the house looked deserted but there are always a lot of cars outside,' one neighbour said.
'My understanding was that she worked for Vodafone and he may have stayed at home to look after the boys. It's a terrible shock to hear what has happened.'
John-James Lloyd, 28, who lives down the road from the house, said: 'I saw an ambulance rush past on Saturday night at about 10pm. I have never actually seen anyone at the house despite all the cars. It's as if the people who live there are very private or always on holiday because the curtains always seem to be drawn.'
Farmer Harry Wells, who also lives down the road from the property, said he had been shocked to see police at the address.
'We came back home just after midnight on Sunday morning and there was a lot of police activity,The family had only been living there about nine months. We drive past the house every day but I rarely saw any sign of life at all.'
Eight cars, understood to be mainly connected to Mr Sinclair's business, including two high-powered rally cars - a Subaru Impreza and a £35,000 Mitsubishi Evo - and a silver van stood in the drive of the secluded property yesterday.
Mrs Sinclair's bosses have paid tribute to Mrs Sinclair.
Matthew Brearley, human resources director of Vodafone UK, said: 'Sally Sinclair was employed by Vodafone as head of business analysis.
'Sally worked for Vodafone from 1994. Sally will be deeply missed by her colleagues here at Vodafone. Our sympathy goes out to Sally's family and friends.'
Mrs Sinclair's mother Nicolette Alford, who lives in Coombe Bissett near Salisbury, declined to comment.
Mr Sinclair's family in Basingstoke also refused to comment.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said: 'Detectives investigating the death of a woman in Amport near Andover on Saturday, continue to question a 47-year-old man who has been assisting with enquiries.
'The investigation team from the major crime department are also following up a number of other lines of enquiry to establish the circumstances that led to the woman's death.'
Pakistani immigrant to Britain jailed for attacks on wife - sentencing on September 11
A husband who constantly beat up his young wife and treated her as a 'slave' has been told he will be jailed.
Sania Bibi, 20, arrived in Britain from Pakistan following an arranged marriage to Haroon Akhtar and was forced to work 17-hour days cooking, cleaning and washing clothes for his family.
Her violent husband and his domineering mother Zafia Bibi, 50, threatened to shoot the terrified bride in the head if she did not follow their orders.The victim told St Albans Crown Court she was attacked at least twice a day by her husband, with his mother egging him on.
On one occasion he threw her down the stairs after his mother complained she had not been doing her chores properly. Her mother-in-law threatened that she would be sent back to Pakistan and shot in the head, as she was of no use to the family.
Akhtar, 28, was today convicted of five counts of actual bodily harm. The mother and son were also found guilty of causing fear of violence through harassment.
Judge Martin Griffiths, who will sentence the pair on September 11, told Akhtar: "These offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence can be considered."
During the trial, Mrs Bibi, who gave evidence from behind a screen, said she had never met her husband before their marriage ceremony in Pakistan in April 2006, when she was 18.
The pair moved in with his parents, brother, sister and her three children in Hemel Hempstead, where Mrs Bibi's gruelling days of housework lasted from 6am to 11pm.
Within a week of her arrival she suffered the first of many beatings from her husband, who screamed abuse at her before grabbing her by her hair and thrashing her against a window.
The tormented wife said her husband, an IT worker, would hit her every day before leaving for work and then again on his return.
Prosecutor George Heimler said Mrs Bibi had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her terror.
He said: "Sania Bibi lived in an austere and oppressive regime which involved many long hours.
"She was regularly admonished for poor performance. Her husband told her he wanted to marry someone else. He punched her slapped her and she lived in a climate of isolation and despondency."
The jury heard that within days of his wife's arrival in the UK, Akhtar told her that he planned to remarry and would force her to look after his new bride's children. Speaking through an interpreter, Mrs Bibi said: "I was told I had been brought here as a servant and I was told I had to do all the work.
"He said 'You are not good enough for me' and he would get married a second time and he would have children through his second marriage and I would have to take care of these children."
The jury of seven men and five women heard that when the teenager arrived in the UK her clothes and shoes and jewellery were immediately taken from her by her mother-in-law.
She was forced to wear pyjamas for her housework, and banned from answering the door, or using the telephone.
Mrs Bibi said her marriage was consummated over the first three days after her arrival, with her dictatorial mother-in-law inspecting the sheets to confirm she was a virgin.
She was then banished from marital bedroom to sleep on a settee in a box-room.
On one occasion Zafia Bibi was angry that she had not done the housework properly and called her son on the phone.
Sania Bibi told how he raced back to the house and attacked her in the bathroom before throwing her down the staircase. Her mother-in-law would watch the attacks, urging her son to 'beat her more'.
When she visited her own relatives in Blackburn and told them what was happening, Mrs Bibi said: "They told me 'Now that you are married you have to stay there.
"It is family honour'. They said 'you belong to that family, you no longer belong to us'."
When she returned to the family home that day, she told how one of Akhtar's younger brothers said she would be sent back to Pakistan.
His sister taunted that she would be sent to a mental asylum and given electric shocks.
Akhtar and his mother were both freed on conditional bail, after the judge postponed sentencing for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.Sania Bibi, who was finally expelled from the house early in 2007 and now lives with relatives, was not at the court to hear the verdicts.
After the verdict, Mr Heimler said: "As a result of her treatment Sania Bibi was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and I would anticipate that compensation would be sought."
He added that the Crown would apply for £6,000 costs to be paid between the guilty parties.
An executive at mobile phone giant Vodafone has been stabbed to death at her £1.3million country home.
Sania Bibi, 20, arrived in Britain from Pakistan following an arranged marriage to Haroon Akhtar and was forced to work 17-hour days cooking, cleaning and washing clothes for his family.
Her violent husband and his domineering mother Zafia Bibi, 50, threatened to shoot the terrified bride in the head if she did not follow their orders.The victim told St Albans Crown Court she was attacked at least twice a day by her husband, with his mother egging him on.
On one occasion he threw her down the stairs after his mother complained she had not been doing her chores properly. Her mother-in-law threatened that she would be sent back to Pakistan and shot in the head, as she was of no use to the family.
Akhtar, 28, was today convicted of five counts of actual bodily harm. The mother and son were also found guilty of causing fear of violence through harassment.
Judge Martin Griffiths, who will sentence the pair on September 11, told Akhtar: "These offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence can be considered."
During the trial, Mrs Bibi, who gave evidence from behind a screen, said she had never met her husband before their marriage ceremony in Pakistan in April 2006, when she was 18.
The pair moved in with his parents, brother, sister and her three children in Hemel Hempstead, where Mrs Bibi's gruelling days of housework lasted from 6am to 11pm.
Within a week of her arrival she suffered the first of many beatings from her husband, who screamed abuse at her before grabbing her by her hair and thrashing her against a window.
The tormented wife said her husband, an IT worker, would hit her every day before leaving for work and then again on his return.
Prosecutor George Heimler said Mrs Bibi had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her terror.
He said: "Sania Bibi lived in an austere and oppressive regime which involved many long hours.
"She was regularly admonished for poor performance. Her husband told her he wanted to marry someone else. He punched her slapped her and she lived in a climate of isolation and despondency."
The jury heard that within days of his wife's arrival in the UK, Akhtar told her that he planned to remarry and would force her to look after his new bride's children. Speaking through an interpreter, Mrs Bibi said: "I was told I had been brought here as a servant and I was told I had to do all the work.
"He said 'You are not good enough for me' and he would get married a second time and he would have children through his second marriage and I would have to take care of these children."
The jury of seven men and five women heard that when the teenager arrived in the UK her clothes and shoes and jewellery were immediately taken from her by her mother-in-law.
She was forced to wear pyjamas for her housework, and banned from answering the door, or using the telephone.
Mrs Bibi said her marriage was consummated over the first three days after her arrival, with her dictatorial mother-in-law inspecting the sheets to confirm she was a virgin.
She was then banished from marital bedroom to sleep on a settee in a box-room.
On one occasion Zafia Bibi was angry that she had not done the housework properly and called her son on the phone.
Sania Bibi told how he raced back to the house and attacked her in the bathroom before throwing her down the staircase. Her mother-in-law would watch the attacks, urging her son to 'beat her more'.
When she visited her own relatives in Blackburn and told them what was happening, Mrs Bibi said: "They told me 'Now that you are married you have to stay there.
"It is family honour'. They said 'you belong to that family, you no longer belong to us'."
When she returned to the family home that day, she told how one of Akhtar's younger brothers said she would be sent back to Pakistan.
His sister taunted that she would be sent to a mental asylum and given electric shocks.
Akhtar and his mother were both freed on conditional bail, after the judge postponed sentencing for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.Sania Bibi, who was finally expelled from the house early in 2007 and now lives with relatives, was not at the court to hear the verdicts.
After the verdict, Mr Heimler said: "As a result of her treatment Sania Bibi was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and I would anticipate that compensation would be sought."
He added that the Crown would apply for £6,000 costs to be paid between the guilty parties.
An executive at mobile phone giant Vodafone has been stabbed to death at her £1.3million country home.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Man sentenced to life without parole for shooting girlfriend
A 23 year old Georgia man was sentenced to life without parole, Florida’s mandatory sentence for 1st degree murder, for the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend in Lakeland, FL because she wanted to break up with him. The jury declared him guilty after 2 hours of deliberation, and Circuit Judge J. Michael Hunter sentenced Swift to mandatory life without parole. Christina Skinner, 24, was shot to death in the ironically named Christina Park in South Lakeland 4 times with a .45 caliber handgun by her ex-boyfriend William Keith Swift.. Skinner was shot twice in the head and twice in the upper body then called 911.
"Oh, I'm calm," Swift said on the 911 recording. "It's not a big surprise to me. I didn't freak out in a fit of rage and do it. She decided that she wanted to leave me, and I ain't gonna have that."
At trial, Barbara Skinner, the victim’s mother, testified that after the breakup, she tried to mediate between the couple, stating "I just kept telling him that life goes on. … It doesn't mean you won't get back together in the future."
She called her daughter minutes before the shooting, and there seemed to be no problems. She also testified that she felt blessed to be both the 1st and last person to tell Christina she loved her. She described her daughter as a strong-willed woman who loved playing pranks, being a mother, and jokes. Christina looked forward to going to school and since she died, her mother said “A part of you is forever gone.”
Assistant State’s attorney Paul Wallace stated that Swift killed Skinner because “If I can’t have you, nobody can.” “He didn’t love her – he wanted to possess her, Wallace said.
Assistant Public Defender Deborah Goins stated that Swift, despite stating he was calm in the 911 recording, had tension in his voice and wanted to make sense of what he had done. She cited her client’s mental health problems and lack of criminal history.
The PSI described Swift’s friends as calling him polite when he worked at a Georgia jail and movie rental store. Swift dated Skinner after his wife left him, taking their daughter.
After the sentencing, the victim’s mother hugged the perpetrator’s family. Swift winked at his mother before being led away.
"Oh, I'm calm," Swift said on the 911 recording. "It's not a big surprise to me. I didn't freak out in a fit of rage and do it. She decided that she wanted to leave me, and I ain't gonna have that."
At trial, Barbara Skinner, the victim’s mother, testified that after the breakup, she tried to mediate between the couple, stating "I just kept telling him that life goes on. … It doesn't mean you won't get back together in the future."
She called her daughter minutes before the shooting, and there seemed to be no problems. She also testified that she felt blessed to be both the 1st and last person to tell Christina she loved her. She described her daughter as a strong-willed woman who loved playing pranks, being a mother, and jokes. Christina looked forward to going to school and since she died, her mother said “A part of you is forever gone.”
Assistant State’s attorney Paul Wallace stated that Swift killed Skinner because “If I can’t have you, nobody can.” “He didn’t love her – he wanted to possess her, Wallace said.
Assistant Public Defender Deborah Goins stated that Swift, despite stating he was calm in the 911 recording, had tension in his voice and wanted to make sense of what he had done. She cited her client’s mental health problems and lack of criminal history.
The PSI described Swift’s friends as calling him polite when he worked at a Georgia jail and movie rental store. Swift dated Skinner after his wife left him, taking their daughter.
After the sentencing, the victim’s mother hugged the perpetrator’s family. Swift winked at his mother before being led away.
29 year old Long Island woman gets 21 years for strangling husband to death
Kelly Forbes, 29, of Merrick, NY (Nassau County, Long Island) was sentenced to 21 years in prison for strangling her husband, 50 year old Michael Forbes, to death with an electric cord, a crime which the presiding judge said required a good deal of premeditation.
The official charge was 1st degree manslaughter, but Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter said in aggravation that Kelly should have took advantage of a bureaucratic error which invalidated the marriage instead of resubmitting the marriage certificate, and that instead of going to work, she snuck out with a lover. Judge Carter noted it takes time and intent to strangle versus shoot or stab.
"This is not like a knifing. It's not like a shooting. To strangle someone takes time. It takes intent...I don't know if this is going to satisfy Mr. Forbes' family. Nothing I can do today will bring Mr. Forbes back. But I can assure them that for the next 21 years you will be paying for your actions."
When police arrived at Forbes' Merrick home Nov. 21, she told them that Michael, 50, had come at her the night before with an orange electrical cord while she slept. She said she kneed him in the groin, grabbed the cord, wrapped it around his neck and held it until he stopped moving.
She also told them that Michael, who had a 25-year-long rap sheet that included convictions for rape and attempted murder, had been violent with her twice during their 2-month marriage. Forbes told the judge yesterday that she married Michael because she believed he would provide a nice home for her and her 8-year-old daughter, Kadeshja. But shortly after they were married, Michael became physically and emotionally abusive, Forbes said.
Kelly stated that Michael’s death was in self-defense, with thoughs of running away with her daughter 1st.
"If I could have run away with Kadeshja, I would have. But he grabbed me and tried to put the cord around me a second time. I know in my heart that I am alive today because God gave me the strength to fight Michael off."
Aretha Forbes looked at her daughter-in-law, and told the killer to look at the portrait of her son, which she held towards Kelly. Kelly, keeping her head down, turned her back to the woman, and the picture of her son.
"Kelly, can you look around and see this? This is my son. You took his life."
Michael Forbes' daughter, Michele Forbes, 15, was the last person to speak before Carter imposed sentence on Kelly Forbes.
"Why did you do this to my father? He was my best friend," she said to her stepmother. "One day you will be able to see your daughter again, but my father will still be dead."
The official charge was 1st degree manslaughter, but Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter said in aggravation that Kelly should have took advantage of a bureaucratic error which invalidated the marriage instead of resubmitting the marriage certificate, and that instead of going to work, she snuck out with a lover. Judge Carter noted it takes time and intent to strangle versus shoot or stab.
"This is not like a knifing. It's not like a shooting. To strangle someone takes time. It takes intent...I don't know if this is going to satisfy Mr. Forbes' family. Nothing I can do today will bring Mr. Forbes back. But I can assure them that for the next 21 years you will be paying for your actions."
When police arrived at Forbes' Merrick home Nov. 21, she told them that Michael, 50, had come at her the night before with an orange electrical cord while she slept. She said she kneed him in the groin, grabbed the cord, wrapped it around his neck and held it until he stopped moving.
She also told them that Michael, who had a 25-year-long rap sheet that included convictions for rape and attempted murder, had been violent with her twice during their 2-month marriage. Forbes told the judge yesterday that she married Michael because she believed he would provide a nice home for her and her 8-year-old daughter, Kadeshja. But shortly after they were married, Michael became physically and emotionally abusive, Forbes said.
Kelly stated that Michael’s death was in self-defense, with thoughs of running away with her daughter 1st.
"If I could have run away with Kadeshja, I would have. But he grabbed me and tried to put the cord around me a second time. I know in my heart that I am alive today because God gave me the strength to fight Michael off."
Aretha Forbes looked at her daughter-in-law, and told the killer to look at the portrait of her son, which she held towards Kelly. Kelly, keeping her head down, turned her back to the woman, and the picture of her son.
"Kelly, can you look around and see this? This is my son. You took his life."
Michael Forbes' daughter, Michele Forbes, 15, was the last person to speak before Carter imposed sentence on Kelly Forbes.
"Why did you do this to my father? He was my best friend," she said to her stepmother. "One day you will be able to see your daughter again, but my father will still be dead."
Arkansas man sentenced to life without parole for murder of ex-wife, kidnapping of son
Green County, AR Circuit Court Judge David Laser formally sentenced Kristopher Parker on August 13, 2008 for the June 2007 attacks after pleading guilty to a count of 1st degree murder and a count of 1st degree kidnapping. The rape charge was dismissed as part of Parker’s guilty plea.
In June 2007, Parker was accused of beating his ex-wife, Tiffany "Raines" Parker (also a Kennett native), to death, raping her, and then kidnapping their toddler son, Carson, from Raines' home in Paragould, Ark., before turning himself into Green County authorities the following morning.
On Wednesday [August 13], Parker told Laser that he did, in fact, beat his ex-wife to death with a tool carpenters typically use to install carpet and other types of flooring.
According to information reported by the Paragould Daily Press on Friday, Parker also admitted to kidnapping his and Tiffany's child, and apologized to the Raines family for their loss, and for his actions that tragic day.
Parker took full responsibility for his ex-wife’s death and his son’s kidnapping, stating that they did not deserve what had happened to them.
"You all have been through more in this past year than anyone should have to go through. I hope God gives you all peace. And I beg you for forgiveness."
Life sentences in Arkansas are always without parole.
In June 2007, Parker was accused of beating his ex-wife, Tiffany "Raines" Parker (also a Kennett native), to death, raping her, and then kidnapping their toddler son, Carson, from Raines' home in Paragould, Ark., before turning himself into Green County authorities the following morning.
On Wednesday [August 13], Parker told Laser that he did, in fact, beat his ex-wife to death with a tool carpenters typically use to install carpet and other types of flooring.
According to information reported by the Paragould Daily Press on Friday, Parker also admitted to kidnapping his and Tiffany's child, and apologized to the Raines family for their loss, and for his actions that tragic day.
Parker took full responsibility for his ex-wife’s death and his son’s kidnapping, stating that they did not deserve what had happened to them.
"You all have been through more in this past year than anyone should have to go through. I hope God gives you all peace. And I beg you for forgiveness."
Life sentences in Arkansas are always without parole.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Rapist pleads guilty to strangling coed with her bikini in SC court
By SEANNA ADCOX Associated Press Writer
Posted: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008
PICKENS, S.C. A convicted sex offender spotted a college student outside her South Carolina apartment two years ago, then slipped through her patio door and raped and strangled her, leaving the bikini top still wrapped around her neck, according to a confession revealed during his guilty plea Tuesday.
Jerry Buck Inman, 37, admitted to authorities shortly after his June 2006 arrest that he raped and killed 20-year-old Tiffany Marie Souers of Ladue, Mo., but his statements to police were not made public until Tuesday.
Inman could face the death penalty when he is sentenced Sept. 8. A defense psychiatrist testified that's exactly what he wants.
"He wishes to die for what he's done," said Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts, a forensic psychiatrist with the University of South Carolina. "He has consistently stated that."The psychiatrist said Inman takes medication for a mood disorder, but "he absolutely knows what he's doing."
The Clemson University engineering student's body was discovered May 26, 2006, at her apartment just a few miles from this campus in rural northwestern South Carolina.
Authorities said Inman's DNA matched samples taken from Souers' apartment, and he was arrested during a nationwide manhunt near his mother's home in Dandridge, Tenn., about two weeks after Souers' body was found.
Inman, bald with tattoos on his neck, both arms and chest, still appeared menacing in court despite handcuffs and shackles. He stared straight ahead during much of the court hearing, biting his lip as he answered yes or no to basic questions.
Inman also faces charges in the attempted rape of a 24-year-old woman in Rainsville, Ala., and in the rape of a 28-year-old woman in Sevierville, Tenn.Authorities have said those crimes occurred in the days leading up to Souers' death.
Inman said everything in handwritten confessions he gave to police shortly after his arrest were true. "I did not go there to kill her. I don't want to talk about the sex part, but I did have sex with her," he wrote.
Inman wrote that he knew Souers would recognize him, so he killed her. He bound and strangled her with what he found in her room.
"I knew Tiffany was dead because she stopped struggling," he wrote.
Inman spent about 18 years in prison in North Carolina and Florida for rapes committed in those states as a teenager. He was free for about nine months before his June 2006 arrest. In his confession, Inman wrote he was living with a cousin at the time and "was not adjusting well to being out of jail, so I decided to get away."
Inman, who finished the eighth grade and previously worked construction, wrote that he'd run out of money when he reached Clemson and was "looking for some place to rob." He said he spotted Souers on her front porch earlier in the day, then drove around until nearly 1 a.m., went in through her patio door and woke her up.
Prosecutor Bob Ariail said Inman later tried to use Souer's credit card six times at two different bank ATM machines but didn't enter the correct personal identification number. In his statements, Inman said Souer's had given him her PIN, but he'd forgotten it.
Posted: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008
PICKENS, S.C. A convicted sex offender spotted a college student outside her South Carolina apartment two years ago, then slipped through her patio door and raped and strangled her, leaving the bikini top still wrapped around her neck, according to a confession revealed during his guilty plea Tuesday.
Jerry Buck Inman, 37, admitted to authorities shortly after his June 2006 arrest that he raped and killed 20-year-old Tiffany Marie Souers of Ladue, Mo., but his statements to police were not made public until Tuesday.
Inman could face the death penalty when he is sentenced Sept. 8. A defense psychiatrist testified that's exactly what he wants.
"He wishes to die for what he's done," said Dr. Donna Schwartz-Watts, a forensic psychiatrist with the University of South Carolina. "He has consistently stated that."The psychiatrist said Inman takes medication for a mood disorder, but "he absolutely knows what he's doing."
The Clemson University engineering student's body was discovered May 26, 2006, at her apartment just a few miles from this campus in rural northwestern South Carolina.
Authorities said Inman's DNA matched samples taken from Souers' apartment, and he was arrested during a nationwide manhunt near his mother's home in Dandridge, Tenn., about two weeks after Souers' body was found.
Inman, bald with tattoos on his neck, both arms and chest, still appeared menacing in court despite handcuffs and shackles. He stared straight ahead during much of the court hearing, biting his lip as he answered yes or no to basic questions.
Inman also faces charges in the attempted rape of a 24-year-old woman in Rainsville, Ala., and in the rape of a 28-year-old woman in Sevierville, Tenn.Authorities have said those crimes occurred in the days leading up to Souers' death.
Inman said everything in handwritten confessions he gave to police shortly after his arrest were true. "I did not go there to kill her. I don't want to talk about the sex part, but I did have sex with her," he wrote.
Inman wrote that he knew Souers would recognize him, so he killed her. He bound and strangled her with what he found in her room.
"I knew Tiffany was dead because she stopped struggling," he wrote.
Inman spent about 18 years in prison in North Carolina and Florida for rapes committed in those states as a teenager. He was free for about nine months before his June 2006 arrest. In his confession, Inman wrote he was living with a cousin at the time and "was not adjusting well to being out of jail, so I decided to get away."
Inman, who finished the eighth grade and previously worked construction, wrote that he'd run out of money when he reached Clemson and was "looking for some place to rob." He said he spotted Souers on her front porch earlier in the day, then drove around until nearly 1 a.m., went in through her patio door and woke her up.
Prosecutor Bob Ariail said Inman later tried to use Souer's credit card six times at two different bank ATM machines but didn't enter the correct personal identification number. In his statements, Inman said Souer's had given him her PIN, but he'd forgotten it.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Pennsylvania woman sentenced to 8 to 20 years for 3rd degree murder of husband
Montgomery County, PA Judge William R. Carpenter sentenced a 48 year old grandmother to 8 to 20 years in prison Wednesday August 13 for the 3rd degree murder of her husband, who she had married for 27 years before his death.
The sentence came after a guilty plea in April to the shooting death of Jereleigh Morton by his wife, Myra of August 5, 2007 at their Whitpain Township house. He was to meet a Moroccan woman he had taken as a 2nd wife and get her pregnant in Morocco so he could father a son.
The hearing capped a bizarre family saga with complex issues, including religion, polygamy, a family fortune and Internet dating.
The family fortune came about from a malpractice settlement with the hospital where their 13 year old daughter died in 2001. Prosecutors said that the millions from the settlement were part of the motive for the man’s death.
The Mortons' 27-year marriage began to fall apart last year after Jereleigh Morton told his wife that he was taking a second wife, in accordance with Muslim law, in order to have a son.
Myra Morton, then 47, could no longer have children.
The former handyman had met a young Muslim woman from Morocco on the Internet and married her. His American wife had initially consented and even attended the Moroccan wedding, but arguments ensued.
He was on his way back into the arms of his Moroccan wife - the trip timed to her ovulation - when Myra Morton "snapped," defense attorney Tim Woodward said.
"The last thing she sees before she goes to bed that night are the gifts that her husband was bringing to his wife in Morocco," he said.
Jereleigh Morton's relatives spoke before the sentencing, with his brother Darryl recounting how Jereleigh became the head of their household after their father died.
"When my father died, he took over the family. He was showing me how to be a man."
Delzora Morton, Jereleigh’s mother, recounted how Myra betrayed her by killing her son, and asked for an apology. While sobbing on the witness stand, Delzora cried while looking at her daughter-in-law, "I'll never be the same…Why did you take my son away? Why, why?"
Delzora alluded to the history of abuse by her son against Myra, which along with childhood abuse, played a part in limiting the sentence to 8 - 20 years.
"I loved you. All you had to do was walk away like I told you so many times. You didn't have to take him away from me. Can you say, 'Mom, I'm sorry?' Can you say it?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," Morton, who is Muslim and was covered from head to toe, said in a barely audible voice.
When Myra Morton finally spoke, she apologized again and said she didn't remember what happened on the night of the shooting. But she also struck a defiant tone.
"I put my whole heart into the marriage. I begged him not to marry another woman. . . . It tore my heart apart to share him with another woman," she said. "This was never about money."
She loved her husband very much, she said, "but this was something I could not deal with."
The sentence came after a guilty plea in April to the shooting death of Jereleigh Morton by his wife, Myra of August 5, 2007 at their Whitpain Township house. He was to meet a Moroccan woman he had taken as a 2nd wife and get her pregnant in Morocco so he could father a son.
The hearing capped a bizarre family saga with complex issues, including religion, polygamy, a family fortune and Internet dating.
The family fortune came about from a malpractice settlement with the hospital where their 13 year old daughter died in 2001. Prosecutors said that the millions from the settlement were part of the motive for the man’s death.
The Mortons' 27-year marriage began to fall apart last year after Jereleigh Morton told his wife that he was taking a second wife, in accordance with Muslim law, in order to have a son.
Myra Morton, then 47, could no longer have children.
The former handyman had met a young Muslim woman from Morocco on the Internet and married her. His American wife had initially consented and even attended the Moroccan wedding, but arguments ensued.
He was on his way back into the arms of his Moroccan wife - the trip timed to her ovulation - when Myra Morton "snapped," defense attorney Tim Woodward said.
"The last thing she sees before she goes to bed that night are the gifts that her husband was bringing to his wife in Morocco," he said.
Jereleigh Morton's relatives spoke before the sentencing, with his brother Darryl recounting how Jereleigh became the head of their household after their father died.
"When my father died, he took over the family. He was showing me how to be a man."
Delzora Morton, Jereleigh’s mother, recounted how Myra betrayed her by killing her son, and asked for an apology. While sobbing on the witness stand, Delzora cried while looking at her daughter-in-law, "I'll never be the same…Why did you take my son away? Why, why?"
Delzora alluded to the history of abuse by her son against Myra, which along with childhood abuse, played a part in limiting the sentence to 8 - 20 years.
"I loved you. All you had to do was walk away like I told you so many times. You didn't have to take him away from me. Can you say, 'Mom, I'm sorry?' Can you say it?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," Morton, who is Muslim and was covered from head to toe, said in a barely audible voice.
When Myra Morton finally spoke, she apologized again and said she didn't remember what happened on the night of the shooting. But she also struck a defiant tone.
"I put my whole heart into the marriage. I begged him not to marry another woman. . . . It tore my heart apart to share him with another woman," she said. "This was never about money."
She loved her husband very much, she said, "but this was something I could not deal with."
NJ man held under police guard in stabbing death of girlfriend
Roberto Corona, 36, is being held under police guard in a Camden, NJ hospital after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death the morning of August 12. 21 year old Marisol Campos was pronounced at her Pennsauken, NJ home.
Police found Campos lying in the foyer at 8:20 a.m. She had been stabbed multiple times and was declared dead at the scene. Corona was found nearby with self-inflicted knife wounds to his neck and chest, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Pennsauken police.
Arraignment date has not been scheduled.
Police found Campos lying in the foyer at 8:20 a.m. She had been stabbed multiple times and was declared dead at the scene. Corona was found nearby with self-inflicted knife wounds to his neck and chest, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Pennsauken police.
Arraignment date has not been scheduled.
Two University of Missouri - Kansas City professors resign rather than face stripping of tenure and firing
Psychology professors S. Carlos Poston II and C. Keith Haddock, University of Missouri-Kansas City professors accused of sexual harassment, resigned last week Monday because they ran out of money to defend themselves from an internal procedure which would have led to revocation of tenure and dismissal from the university.
Both denied sexually harassing a former graduate student and a faculty member, creating a hostile environment in the psychology lab they oversaw. Poston said, “I did not resign because I was guilty of anything. I resigned because I was told that was the only way to get a letter that says I didn’t do it.”
Linda Garavalia, a victim and associate professor of psychology at UMKC, was surprised by the resignations, but stated that giving up tenure is a sign of guilt.
“I thought they would fight it out. If you weren’t guilty, then why not go through with it. If there was no evidence against them, then what would it cost? What would they have to defend against? I would never give up my tenure if I were innocent.”
The other woman, Megan Pinkston-Camp, was not available for comment. She was a graduate student when the suit was filed and now is a clinical psychologist doing post-doctoral work at Brown University.
The university settled the $1.1 million lawsuit in June 2007. The suit, filed a year earlier, claimed that women were groped and fondled and subjected to explicit sexual conversations and that the two male professors had physically threatened people in the lab.
Garavalia and Pinkston-Camp had complained to the their department chairman in 2004 and later to the UMKC affirmative action office, which led to an order for the professors to implement a risk management plan. Later, the professors were granted tenure and given raises — from $76,707 to $101,707 for Poston and from $75,876 to $93,376 for Haddock.
Haddock tried to file two record requests to gain access to the report, but “I wanted the truth to come out. I thought it would exonerate me. But we still haven’t seen it, and now I don’t think we ever will.”
Karen R. Glickstein, lawyers for both accused, received a letter from university lawyers suggesting that resignation would lead to avoidance of internal discipline and the chance to receive the draft of the findings. That draft came in the form of a letter by Grace Hernandez, former affirmative director, currently chief of staff in UMKC.
Both denied sexually harassing a former graduate student and a faculty member, creating a hostile environment in the psychology lab they oversaw. Poston said, “I did not resign because I was guilty of anything. I resigned because I was told that was the only way to get a letter that says I didn’t do it.”
Linda Garavalia, a victim and associate professor of psychology at UMKC, was surprised by the resignations, but stated that giving up tenure is a sign of guilt.
“I thought they would fight it out. If you weren’t guilty, then why not go through with it. If there was no evidence against them, then what would it cost? What would they have to defend against? I would never give up my tenure if I were innocent.”
The other woman, Megan Pinkston-Camp, was not available for comment. She was a graduate student when the suit was filed and now is a clinical psychologist doing post-doctoral work at Brown University.
The university settled the $1.1 million lawsuit in June 2007. The suit, filed a year earlier, claimed that women were groped and fondled and subjected to explicit sexual conversations and that the two male professors had physically threatened people in the lab.
Garavalia and Pinkston-Camp had complained to the their department chairman in 2004 and later to the UMKC affirmative action office, which led to an order for the professors to implement a risk management plan. Later, the professors were granted tenure and given raises — from $76,707 to $101,707 for Poston and from $75,876 to $93,376 for Haddock.
Haddock tried to file two record requests to gain access to the report, but “I wanted the truth to come out. I thought it would exonerate me. But we still haven’t seen it, and now I don’t think we ever will.”
Karen R. Glickstein, lawyers for both accused, received a letter from university lawyers suggesting that resignation would lead to avoidance of internal discipline and the chance to receive the draft of the findings. That draft came in the form of a letter by Grace Hernandez, former affirmative director, currently chief of staff in UMKC.
Being the champion of your child - even over the age of consent
I’m seeking feedback from parents of grown kids between legal age and 40 for this essay. If you fit the description, contact me for more discussion at the addresses (both e-mail and snail mail) given or comment on this article. If you are an adult in that age range yourself, I’m not looking for a response from you, but you can tell your parents about this request.
This essay is geared towards parents of under-40 adults undergoing abusive relationships. Though I’m not a parent, I’ll turn 28 in a month and a half (September 26 to be exact). I was involved in a relationship where my “girlfriend” lied to me, then stole from me. After I broke up with her, I tried to stay friends with her, but that led to more problems, culminating in stalking between August 2006 and December 2006, and then in June 2007. She managed to steal, con, or extort almost $3000 from me before it was all over. My father (my mother died 6 years ago) lives in a different city from my own, but I wish that I had his support during this time period, not just after. Many grown kids wish the same.
In an abusive relationship, there are a few obvious signs – like bruising, bleeding, or the abuse of grandkids – something egregious enough to warrant a prompt police response. These cases are blatant, not subtle, and you can support them during the legal actions to come. But there are more subtle forms of abuse that your grown child may not know about, and that’s where your experience comes in.
When your child always comes home depressed or sad after an encounter with her “boyfriend” or you notice that her husband is turning her against you, there is no question that some form of abuse is going on. Abusers isolate their victims as a way of breaking them down. You have known your child for 20, 30, or 40 years – the abuser has known her (or him) for only a few years in most cases. You know their strengths and weaknesses, but unfortunately, so does your grown child’s abusive “partner”.
There is no question, in these cases, that your grown child’s date, “partner”, or spouse is not conducting themselves in a way beneficial to them. There is no question that a predator has charged through your (and you child’s) life and is threatening her spirit and soul (if not their very life). There is no question that you must do all you can legally do to prevent further damage.
There is no “partnership” because partners are peers, equals, and abuse by definition feature power differences. Even if they are the same age and come from the same background, abusers can never be peers to their victims because that would take away the reason for their manipulation, deceit, and their scheming. Even if the abuser and the abused have wedding rings on each other’s hands, there is no real relationship other than that of predator and prey.
Be a parent. Parenting doesn’t stop when your son or daughter turns 18 or 21, it just becomes an advisory position. Your first duty is not the same as it was before they went off to college or out on your own. However, whenever there’s danger, you must become the protector of your daughter (or son) if they don’t recognize it. When there is an abusive relationship, there is no love, but only power and control. Like the 15 year old with the 30 year old, the victim in an abusive relationship (including an abusive marriage) believes that they are in love with their perpetrator, but in reality, they are being worked over for the perpetrator’s power and control needs.
If the dynamics of an abusive relationship between adults and an abusive relationship between a 15 year old and a 30 year old share similar characteristics, then the remedy should be similar. This means that parents should watch the situation between their grown child’s abuser and their grown child closely. Encourage them for file for a restraining order or divorce if need be. Take them to the women’s shelter or a relative’s house, but don’t leave them in the current situation! If there is obvious signs of bruises or you see your adult offspring physically abused, call 911 immediately, regardless of whether the child wants to or not. Your 1st duty is to protect your kids from harm, and physical violence is definitely a form of harm. They will thank you for this down the line if they are grateful.
It’s not a mistake or a bad temper – but deliberate abuse, deliberate stealing of a soul that you are dealing with. You must snatch your child from the abuser’s mouth. You must tell her (or him) that true love does not involve abuse, manipulation, or power over someone. You must remind them that the things you have done for them in the first 18 years (or 21 years, or until graduation) is true love, not the situation that they are in. Love builds up, it does not tear down, belittle, or hurt.
After the ordeal is over, it is time to mend the relationship that you’ve had for the past few decades before the abusive “partner” intruded into you grown child’s life. It is time to help your child pick up the pieces (not pick them up yourself), and guide them to a new life, one without abuse, manipulation, or deceit. Above all, your support will show them that while friends come and go, and partners or spouses (abusive or not) may come and go, your bond with them will always stay as long as you are around. An abuser won’t always stay married (or involved with) your child, but you will always stay their parent.
This essay is geared towards parents of under-40 adults undergoing abusive relationships. Though I’m not a parent, I’ll turn 28 in a month and a half (September 26 to be exact). I was involved in a relationship where my “girlfriend” lied to me, then stole from me. After I broke up with her, I tried to stay friends with her, but that led to more problems, culminating in stalking between August 2006 and December 2006, and then in June 2007. She managed to steal, con, or extort almost $3000 from me before it was all over. My father (my mother died 6 years ago) lives in a different city from my own, but I wish that I had his support during this time period, not just after. Many grown kids wish the same.
In an abusive relationship, there are a few obvious signs – like bruising, bleeding, or the abuse of grandkids – something egregious enough to warrant a prompt police response. These cases are blatant, not subtle, and you can support them during the legal actions to come. But there are more subtle forms of abuse that your grown child may not know about, and that’s where your experience comes in.
When your child always comes home depressed or sad after an encounter with her “boyfriend” or you notice that her husband is turning her against you, there is no question that some form of abuse is going on. Abusers isolate their victims as a way of breaking them down. You have known your child for 20, 30, or 40 years – the abuser has known her (or him) for only a few years in most cases. You know their strengths and weaknesses, but unfortunately, so does your grown child’s abusive “partner”.
There is no question, in these cases, that your grown child’s date, “partner”, or spouse is not conducting themselves in a way beneficial to them. There is no question that a predator has charged through your (and you child’s) life and is threatening her spirit and soul (if not their very life). There is no question that you must do all you can legally do to prevent further damage.
There is no “partnership” because partners are peers, equals, and abuse by definition feature power differences. Even if they are the same age and come from the same background, abusers can never be peers to their victims because that would take away the reason for their manipulation, deceit, and their scheming. Even if the abuser and the abused have wedding rings on each other’s hands, there is no real relationship other than that of predator and prey.
Be a parent. Parenting doesn’t stop when your son or daughter turns 18 or 21, it just becomes an advisory position. Your first duty is not the same as it was before they went off to college or out on your own. However, whenever there’s danger, you must become the protector of your daughter (or son) if they don’t recognize it. When there is an abusive relationship, there is no love, but only power and control. Like the 15 year old with the 30 year old, the victim in an abusive relationship (including an abusive marriage) believes that they are in love with their perpetrator, but in reality, they are being worked over for the perpetrator’s power and control needs.
If the dynamics of an abusive relationship between adults and an abusive relationship between a 15 year old and a 30 year old share similar characteristics, then the remedy should be similar. This means that parents should watch the situation between their grown child’s abuser and their grown child closely. Encourage them for file for a restraining order or divorce if need be. Take them to the women’s shelter or a relative’s house, but don’t leave them in the current situation! If there is obvious signs of bruises or you see your adult offspring physically abused, call 911 immediately, regardless of whether the child wants to or not. Your 1st duty is to protect your kids from harm, and physical violence is definitely a form of harm. They will thank you for this down the line if they are grateful.
It’s not a mistake or a bad temper – but deliberate abuse, deliberate stealing of a soul that you are dealing with. You must snatch your child from the abuser’s mouth. You must tell her (or him) that true love does not involve abuse, manipulation, or power over someone. You must remind them that the things you have done for them in the first 18 years (or 21 years, or until graduation) is true love, not the situation that they are in. Love builds up, it does not tear down, belittle, or hurt.
After the ordeal is over, it is time to mend the relationship that you’ve had for the past few decades before the abusive “partner” intruded into you grown child’s life. It is time to help your child pick up the pieces (not pick them up yourself), and guide them to a new life, one without abuse, manipulation, or deceit. Above all, your support will show them that while friends come and go, and partners or spouses (abusive or not) may come and go, your bond with them will always stay as long as you are around. An abuser won’t always stay married (or involved with) your child, but you will always stay their parent.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Serial British voyuer breaches sex offender order 3rd time
Garry Willey, Evening Chronicle
SERIAL sex pest Andrew Mackie took more secret snapshots of women shoppers – just weeks after finishing a jail term.
The sleazy voyeur, now branded “perverted” by a Tyneside judge, was given a Sex Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) as long ago as October 2006.
Part of the order forbid Mackie, of Washington, from having any mobile fitted with a camera.
The ban was aimed at finally ending the 37 year old’s obsession with targeting unsuspecting women in public – taking photos of their bottoms and up their skirts.
But in April this year he was jailed for five months for a second SOPO breach.
And although he was released in June with the order still running, he was caught snapping more women at The Galleries, Washington, in July, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Mackie, who has previous convictions for indecent assault and threatening behaviour as well as voyeurism, admitted a third SOPO breach.
Only a detailed report saying probation officers still believed they could work with him in the community saved him from another immediate prison term.
“You are an obsessive voyeur,” Judge Guy Whitburn told him. “You take photographs of women who are unaware of you photographing them for your own sexual gratification.
“The fact of the matter is you engage in these weird, perverted acts. It is the most curious form of perversion, but perversion it certainly is.”
Mackie, who has spent 26 days in custody since his arrest, was given a nine-month jail term, suspended for 36 weeks with supervision.
He must also attend a probation-run sex offender group programme due to begin next month. The SOPO remains in force.
“It is an order of the court,” Judge Whitburn warned. “It must be obeyed.”
Mackie is now anxious to change his barrister, Lee Fish told the court.
“He now knows, having spent some time in custody, what will happen if he continues to flagrantly breach this order,” Mr Fish added.
“The defendant readily accepts the help probation can provide him with and he is ready to take advantage of that.”
Mackie was seen in The Galleries bus station repeatedly pressing a button on a mobile he was carrying, said Sarah Guest, prosecuting. A witness realised he was taking a photograph of a female wearing a low top and kept looking at other women, the court heard.
He was arrested and accepted he had been taking photographs of women even though he knew he was not allowed to use a camera phone, Ms Guest told the court.
SERIAL sex pest Andrew Mackie took more secret snapshots of women shoppers – just weeks after finishing a jail term.
The sleazy voyeur, now branded “perverted” by a Tyneside judge, was given a Sex Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) as long ago as October 2006.
Part of the order forbid Mackie, of Washington, from having any mobile fitted with a camera.
The ban was aimed at finally ending the 37 year old’s obsession with targeting unsuspecting women in public – taking photos of their bottoms and up their skirts.
But in April this year he was jailed for five months for a second SOPO breach.
And although he was released in June with the order still running, he was caught snapping more women at The Galleries, Washington, in July, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Mackie, who has previous convictions for indecent assault and threatening behaviour as well as voyeurism, admitted a third SOPO breach.
Only a detailed report saying probation officers still believed they could work with him in the community saved him from another immediate prison term.
“You are an obsessive voyeur,” Judge Guy Whitburn told him. “You take photographs of women who are unaware of you photographing them for your own sexual gratification.
“The fact of the matter is you engage in these weird, perverted acts. It is the most curious form of perversion, but perversion it certainly is.”
Mackie, who has spent 26 days in custody since his arrest, was given a nine-month jail term, suspended for 36 weeks with supervision.
He must also attend a probation-run sex offender group programme due to begin next month. The SOPO remains in force.
“It is an order of the court,” Judge Whitburn warned. “It must be obeyed.”
Mackie is now anxious to change his barrister, Lee Fish told the court.
“He now knows, having spent some time in custody, what will happen if he continues to flagrantly breach this order,” Mr Fish added.
“The defendant readily accepts the help probation can provide him with and he is ready to take advantage of that.”
Mackie was seen in The Galleries bus station repeatedly pressing a button on a mobile he was carrying, said Sarah Guest, prosecuting. A witness realised he was taking a photograph of a female wearing a low top and kept looking at other women, the court heard.
He was arrested and accepted he had been taking photographs of women even though he knew he was not allowed to use a camera phone, Ms Guest told the court.
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