Man gets 12-25 years, woman gets 5 2/3 to 15 years for three way with developmentally disabled daughter

A Fruitland Township, MI man was sentenced to 12-25 years in prison Tuesday, April 12, 2011 after pleading to three counts of 1st degree criminal sexual conduct. He and a Manistee, MI woman were originally charged with three counts of 1st degree and 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct, respectively by Muskegon County officials.

The sexual assault charge stem from both perpetrators having sex with the woman's 21 year old developmentally disabled daughter, described as needing 9 to 16 hours of supervision a day by her case manager and as a girl with the mental capacity of a 10 to 13 year old. Both perpetrators were sentenced by Muskegon County 14th Circuit Judge William C. Marietti.

The victimization of the daughter by then 51 year old Mark Wayne Barnhard and her then 46 year old mother took place over several months in 2008, with the victim undergoing a sexual assault examination April 23, 2009. Both offenders were originally arraigned in May 2009.

According to a Muskegon County Sheriff's report, Barnhard -- using the alias "Mike Bradford" -- met the woman in an online chatroom more than a year and a half ago. He told police that the two later met in person and began having sex on numerous occasions at his Fruitland Township home.

At some point, Barnhard and the woman -- both married to other people -- decided they wanted to have a "three way" and the woman brought her 21-year-old mentally impaired daughter to Barnhard's house to participate, the report said.

Authorities were alerted to the alleged sexual abuse after the 21-year-old victim told her aunt that she might be pregnant by Barnhard. It turns out she was not, according to the report. Barnhard told investigators that both he and the victim's mother performed sex acts on the daughter.
"It was a secret life I had," he told investigators.

The mother was sentenced to 5 2/3 to 15 years imprisonment by Judge Marietti on September 15, 2009. The victim's aunt, now her guardian, said "when she gets dressed, there's not enough layers of shirts and sweaters."

When the young woman first arrived in her aunt and uncle's home, she barely spoke, and her family could see "fear in this young girl's eyes."

The victim's impact statement, read during the first sentencing by a family friend, said, "You did a very bad thing to me and let bad things happen to me...Why did you do this?" When the victim wanted the abuse to stop, instead of stopping,"you yelled at me and told me not to be a baby...You made me feel dirty and told many lies. I never want to be anything like you, Mom...I will never forgive or forget you, Mom... I hope you'll be gone for a long time."

Judge Marietti said that "this is probably the most outrageous and disgusting scenario that I have ever come across. It actually is beyond belief." Robert Hedges, a 22 year prosecutor in the Muskegon County court system, said "It's just awful. Even in the animal world, mothers care for their children."

Barnhard plead guilty to his three counts of 1st degree CSC on March 2, 2011, and was able to stay out on bond until his sentencing. At the sentencing, the family friend read another letter from the victim, this time directed at Barnhard. “Auntie wakes me up and I'm afraid to open my eyes, because I'm afraid it will be you. I scrub my skin until it's red and I can't feel clean. … Auntie and I moved far away and I still can't feel safe.” The aunt asked Barnhard, "Does it make you feel like a big man that this little girl's afraid of you? Calling you a monster is too good for you.”

Man who slept with, pimped grown daughter out sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, 15 years sex offender probation - daughter sentenced to probation

(Original Post 5-2-10)

A Palm Coast, FL man who prostituted and had sex with his grown daughter was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and 15 years of sex offender probation Friday, April 30. Alton Smith, 47, was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of incest, one count of living off the earnings of prostitution and 52 counts of possession of child pornography. After completion of prison, Smith will be subject to lifetime monitoring under Jessica's Law and civil commitment under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act.

The incest and prostitution counts were due to his pimping (and having sex with) his daughter Kristilyn. The incest led to a 3 year old son who is now in state custody. Because the incest happened in the presence of their son at their former business, Hot Shots A1A Models and Photography, one of the charges Smith plead guilty to was lewd and lascivious exhibition in the presence of a minor under 16.

A suspicious advertisement for an escort service led investigators to arrest Kristilyn Smith for prostitution on Dec. 12 [2008]. Alton Smith also was charged with being a principal to prostitution and was given a notice to appear in court.  According to a police report, Smith admitted his daughter occasionally worked as a paid escort and he told police that those who answered his Internet ads usually would photograph or film his daughter in the nude.

When Flagler investigators returned to the Smiths' Palm Coast home with a search warrant later in December, they said they found photos of "hundreds" of children posed nude or engaged in sex acts.

Officials also arrested Smith's wife, Tina Marie Smith, 44, who is his daughter's stepmother. Tina Marie Smith had been jailed for 15 months until last month when she struck a deal, pleading guilty to aggravated child abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping 37 counts of possession of child pornography against her. She was sentenced to 10 years sex offender probation and will not be listed as a sex offender.

Kristilyn will be sentenced at a later date for 3 counts of incest, prostitution, and child neglect.

(Update 11-23-10) Last Monday, November 16, Kristilyn was sentenced to 5 years probation in a Daytona Beach courtroom for a single charge of incest.  Flagler County, FL Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond dropped a second incest charge and a child neglect charge. Volusia County sentenced Kristilyn to 15 years probation for another incest charge. This concludes the criminal proceedings against her.

NYC incest victim gets 5 - 15 for castration death of father, her abuser

An incest victim was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison Friday for cutting off her father (and perp's) penis while he bled to death. Brigitte Harris was convicted of 2nd manslaughter after a two week trial. Jurors acquitted her of 2nd degree murder and 1st degree manslaughter charges after 3 hours of deliberation on September 30. Judge Arthur Cooperman, who presided over the trial in Queens Supreme Court, sentenced Harris. Harris was beaten and raped by her father, a Liberian citizen, since she was 3.

Ms. Harris, 28, contends that she did not intend to kill her father, 55-year-old St. George [Staten Island]resident Eric Goodridge, after luring him to her Far Rockaway [Queens] apartment on July 28, 2007. Prosecutors say Harris lured Goodridge, 55, to her Beach 69th St. apartment on July 28, 2007, handcuffed him to a chair and stuck a towel in his mouth.

She then removed his penis with a surgical scalpel.

She admitted to cooking the evidence on a stove because she had learned from researching the John Bobbitt case that a penis can be reattached. She simply wanted to dismember him to prevent him from sexually abusing anyone else. He was found handcuffed and beaten, with his genitals severed and a towel stuffed in his mouth.

Harris acted after learning that he was planning to take his sister's daughters back to Liberia, where he was born. "There was no way I could let it continue. I did it because I couldn't let my sister's children go through that...I don't know why I didn't take the towel out of his mouth.I didn't want him to hurt anybody else."

Harris told her sister, aunts, and other relatives about the incest, but they did not believe her. "No matter what he did, he's still your father," one aunt said. "The people who did know me should have known I wasn't lying. They knew me. They knew I wasn't that type."

The unusual case flipped the common dynamic that a jury is supposed to feel sympathy for the victim and at least some aversion toward the defendant. One juror called Goodridge “a sick pedophile”; others agreed with the prosecutor’s statement that he was "despicable.” On the other hand, at least 10 jurors said they plan to write letters to the judge and the parole board to ask that Ms. Harris be set free on time served.

“No one should have to go through what she had gone through. I just felt to put her away for another 30 or 40 years is not justice. Hopefully, she will get the help she needs and be able to make a life for herself when she gets out,” said one of the jurors.

Cooperman acknowledged the findings of mental health professionals who agreed Goodridge repeatedly sexually abused his daughter from age 3, but he cautioned against victims taking the law into their own hands.

"Sometimes, the crime itself warrants punishment," he said


“[Jurors] came back with a just verdict, but the judge came back [and said] ‘give her the max’ without even thinking,”  said Harris' attorney Arthur Aidala, who represented her pro bono.

On Riker's Island, the jail for NYC residents awaiting trial, Harris' interests include vampire books, and ironically, cooking classes. She has also found out that many incarcerated female inmates have their own incest histories. "I try to tell them that if they did it to you, they could do it to someone else," she said.

Deborah King - incest survivors need to speak up to begin healing

The recent revelation by Mackenzie King of incest by her father on the Oprah show led to a second Oprah show about incest. Deborah King, a Huffington Post columnist, shares her story of sexual abuse by her father between 2 and 13 and states that healing is possible when survivors tell their stories. An excerpt is below.

When a victim refuses to be silenced, speaking up can heal much of the damage from the abuse. Until then, they often continue to deal with substance abuse, ill-health, promiscuity, depression, anxiety, and a host of other emotional and physical problems. Being able to speak your truth is an important part of the healing process from any trauma--and incest is a traumatic event, whether it's a one-time rape or an ongoing 30-year "relationship."

Deborah King is the Huffington Post's health and wellness columnist.

Father sentenced to 109 years to life for raping, impregnating daughter

In a case with echos of the Josef Fritzl saga, a California man was sentenced to the equivalent of life without parole for sexually assaulting his daughter between the ages of 6 and 25. The victim said her father, a martial arts instructor, was able to control her using beatings and surveillance cameras. Lindolfo Thibes, now 48, was sentenced Friday for what prosecutors called the worst case of child abuse ever encountered by them.

According to the lead detective, Torrance Police Detective Rick Carr, "He's probably the sickest suspect I ever had. This poor woman endured just some unbelievable torture and horrendous acts."

Acting as his own attorney, Thibes, 48, said his case should have been dismissed long ago on procedural grounds. He said he has been hallucinating and "believes that shadows are out to get him." He called his trial a "kangaroo court" and said his conviction was the result of fraudulent evidence and perjured testimony.

But on Friday, Superior Court Judge Dennis J. Landin rejected Thibes' claim of mental illness, saying he believed it was a fabrication designed to delay sentencing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rouman Ebrahim reminded the judge of the woman's testimony during the trial, saying Thibes had been charged with only a fraction of the assaults she recounted and deserved the maximum sentence.

"The conduct in this case is so shockingly heinous," Ebrahim said. "It was done by someone that society expects to be a protector, not a predator."

The woman lives in the Antelope Valley with her girls and said she is allowed to remain in the U.S. thanks to a special visa for crime victims who cooperate with law enforcement. She said she dreams of writing a book or perhaps becoming a therapist to help similar victims.

She is struggling to find a job but said she is determined to provide for her children. "I want them to be loved," she said. "I'm living the childhood I didn't have through them. . . . I want to make sure they go to proms and have all the stuff I didn't have."

"British Fritzl" sentenced to 14 years for rape of daughters

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent Last Updated: 6:34PM GMT 20 Jan 2009

The 72-year-old abused three daughters between 1976 and 1993 and began raping his eldest child when she was 12.

Now 42, she had a baby girl by her father when she was 17 and gave birth to a son six years later. She said yesterday that she hoped he would die in jail. He also raped a younger daughter from the age of eight and continued to abuse her until she was 16.

He was convicted last month of repeatedly raping two daughters and using lewd and libidinous behaviour towards a third.

His eldest daughter, who now lives in Aberdeenshire, went to the police after telling her teenage son the truth about his father during an argument. She said she had been too afraid to speak out beforehand because her father had threatened to shoot her. He raped her once every week or two.

Outside the High Court in Kilmarnock on Tuesday she said she was delighted with the sentence.
She added: "He has ruined my life and that of so many others and I will never be able to forgive him. It is one less paedophile on the streets and one more step on getting my life back together."
She thanked the jury and the judge for the conviction and the sentence.

The woman added: "I am disappointed he did not show any regret or remorse for his actions and did not acknowledge what he has done to me and my family. I hope he rots in jail."

Lady Clark of Calton told the elderly paedophile, who cannot be named in order to protect his victims, that he was guilty of "terrible" offences and criticised his reluctance to admit the impact he had on his daughters' lives.

She said: "You have been found guilty of very serious criminal charges against your daughters. The charges are terrible in their terms.

"You were in a position of trust and your daughters have suffered terribly over the years."
She sentenced him to 14 years in prison on each of the four rape charges and one year in custody for a charge of lewd and libidinous behaviour. The offences took place in Dundee and Fife.

His eldest daughter said he raped her for the first time when her mother was taken to hospital.
She said the attack happened in the early hours of the morning, and was repeated later that morning after her siblings had gone to school.

She added: "Two months later he took me shooting. He had a shotgun and he put me on to the ground and he told me that if I told my mum he would shoot me and say it was an accident."
She assumed until the recent court case, when DNA tests were carried out, that the father of her daughter was her boyfriend at the time. But the tests confirmed that her father was also the father of her first child.

When she gave birth to a son at 23 she knew that it was her father's child because she was not in a relationship.

She told BBC Scotland: "He said to me that if I let anybody know, my daughter would be taken from me, my son would be taken from me as well. "Also my brother and my sisters would be taken from the family because they would go to jail and the family would be broken up and I would get the blame of breaking up a family."

She added that her mother "should have come and spoken to us when he was found guilty.
"I was hoping for her to come over and say to me and my sisters 'I am so sorry this has happened' and maybe just have put an arm around us and given us a cuddle, but no.
"She never did that. She was just interested in him. She stands by him to this day."

She went to the police for the first time two years ago.

Woman held in beatings, object rapes of 16 year old niece

Mara L. Escobar, 35, of Worcester, MA was held on $25,000 bond and ordered to stay away from the 16 year old niece that she allegedly held in a "Cinderella" type situation for 5 years, where the victim suffered beatings, deprivtions as compared with cousins who lived in the same home, and rapes during her last year in servitude.

Arraigned yesterday in Worcester District Court, Escobar was charged with assault and battery, three counts of assault and battery on a child with injury, five counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of rape of a child with force.

Ms. Escobar was arrested last week after police said she held the girl in a “Cinderella-type situation” for five years, during which Ms. Escobar beat and raped the girl. Police said the girl told a social worker in September that she had been sexually assaulted and physically abused. The social worker notified the Department of Children and Families, which in turn notified the district attorney’s office and Worcester police. Detective Laura J. LaLiberte was the lead investigator for the Special Crimes Division.

Police said that while the girl lived with the woman and her two biological daughters, her mistreatment went beyond physical assault. For example, her daughters’ bedrooms were well-appointed with televisions, DVD players, video games, toys and wall posters. The other girl’s room was Spartan, with bare walls, a bureau, a single bed with one fitted sheet and a single blanket. The girl did the housework, police said.

According to authorities, the rapes, which involved objects such as a rose with thorns, ocured between June 1 last year and September this year. Escobar's next court appearance will be December 12.

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.

Stepfather convicted of rape of female - 9 year prison sentence

Vile stepfather jailed for sex abuse
Girl bullied into years of sexual abuse
By DEAN PRITCHARD, SUN MEDIA
The Winnipeg Sun

A Winnipeg man controlled every facet of his stepdaughter's life to bully her into years of sexual abuse, a judge said Monday.

"This is the most egregious form of sexual exploitation short of slavery with handcuffs attached," said Justice Morris Kaufman before sentencing the 54-year-old man to nine years in prison.

"The accused kept the victim under his complete and total control, picking her clothes, approving her friends, and attempting to control every facet of her life." The man -- who can not be named to protect the identity of his now 30-year-old victim -- was convicted following a trial last summer of sexual assault, sexual touching, procuring for the purposes of prostitution, and uttering threats. He was acquitted of an additional charge of sexual assault with a weapon, involving accusations he used a syringe to inject water into her breasts to make them bigger.

Kaufman called the man "a sly manipulator of facts" and "a bully who used verbal threats and violence to get his way."

"When confronted with the fact he sent her to get contraceptives, he claimed with a straight face that he was just looking out for her welfare and did not know who she was going to have sex with," Kaufman said. The man gave credibility to his threats by recounting his assault on his own grandmother and described his abuse of the girl as "bonding," Kaufman said.

According to court documents, the woman told police her stepfather started groping her when she was 10 years of age and raped her when she was 14. The man claimed the two were involved in a five-year consensual sexual relationship beginning when she was 15.

The victim said when she was 12, the man and her mother asked if she would agree to carry the man's baby. The girl's mother became pregnant before the proposal could be acted upon.

"Today, I feel that my mother all but handed me over to (my stepfather) by making it clear that he could have sex with me without her doing anything about it," the woman wrote in a court document.

When the girl was 15, she and her stepfather moved into their own home. She became pregnant with his baby but suffered a miscarriage.

The woman said her stepfather threatened her with death if she told anyone of the abuse, claiming he had killed his grandmother with a hammer.

On the victim's 18th birthday, the man dressed her up in pink tights, took her to a massage parlour and put her to work as a prostitute, she told police. The man claimed it was her choice to become a prostitute and he only suggested going to a massage parlour to keep her off the streets.

Father convicted of incest in rape of 18 year old daughter

An 18 year old Sheboygan, WI woman raped by her father received justice Thursday after her 39 year old father was convicted of incest for sexually assaulting her while she slept. The father, who is being held on $10,000 bond pending sentencing, faces 7 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The 18-year-old daughter told police that she woke up to find her father — whom she recently met for the first time — sexually assaulting her. She began crying and told him to get off, which he eventually did.

Another family member heard the daughter crying and saw the act from a distance. The incident occurred at a home on the city's south side.

The father, who came to visit his daughter after arranging a visit through her mother, later admitted to police he had sex with her and initiated the act while she was asleep.

Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco approved the plea deal where felony incest charges were plead guilty to in exchange for dropping 3rd degree sexual assault charges. Incest, according to DeCecco, are normally more serious than sexual assault charges because the victims are usually minors. The sexual assault charge is less serious than the incest charges in this case because the victim is 18. Wisconsin law prohibits marriage between relatives closer than 2nd cousins, and makes sex with such relatives a felony.