Couple abuse developmentally disabled woman for 13 years starting when she was 14 - Woman sentenced to 40 years

(Original Post 5-10-08)
Sgt. Linda Cook, a Muncie, IN detective, is calling the case of a couple who has allegedly sexually abused a 27 year old developmentally disabled woman for the past 13 years a "most bizarre case." Duane Tackett, 48, and his wife Patricia, 47, are charged with sexually abusing the developmentally disabled woman.

"It started here in Muncie when the girl was 14. She's presently 27. We believe they lived in Muncie for the first two years of this abuse then moved to Salyersville, Kentucky," said Sgt. Linda Cook, Muncie police.

The Tacketts had recently moved to a Muncie neighborhood from Kentucky. When a relative asked the victim why she was wearing a birth control patch, the woman told of the history of abuse and the relative then called police.

Police say Patricia Tackett and the victim were living in a home on Hodson Street with Duane Tackett still in Kentucky. Police records describe a regular patten of sexual abuse by both suspects. Investigators say the victim has the mental capacity of a child.

"We're looking at adding at least one rape count to each defendant because of the mental capacity of the victim," said Mark McKinney, Delaware County prosecutor.

"I believe it may have become part of her life and maybe it was accepted. She definitely tells me she doesn't want to do it anymore and doesn't like the people that did this to her."

The break in the case occured when the victim told an aunt that Duane Tackett repeatedly had sex with her for the past 13 years. Duane Tackett was persuaded to return to Indiana to face the sex charges according to Cook. Underlying issues regarding the abuse include not wanting the woman to "date" other men.

Patricia Ann Tackett, 47, 124 1/2 N. Hodson St., was arrested this week on a preliminary charge of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Her husband, Duane Ray Tackett, 48, was taken into custody Wednesday, preliminarily charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, criminal deviate conduct and child solicitation. They were being held without bond in the Delaware County jail late Wednesday.

Formal charges the Tacketts face may also include rape, as mentioned above. They are being held without bond and face Kentucky charges as well.

(Update 9-13-10) Patricia Tackett was sentenced to 40 years in prison August 24 by Judge Marianne Vorhees in Delaware Circuit Court 1. Judge Vorhees believed that Patricia Tackett's crimes were "very disturbing, almost beyond belief," and merited a term of as much as 60 years behind bars.

A Delaware County Circuit Court 1 jury found her guilty July 28 of rape, sexual misconduct with a minor, and child solicitation. Child solicitation is a Class D felony carrying a standard 1 1/2 year sentenced - the other felonies are Class B felonies with a standard 10 year sentence. Testimony said that the Tacketts both participated in assults on the woman lasting for at least 14 years.

"The details of this crime are shocking," said Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold, who recommended a 38-year sentence.

Defense attorney Kelly Bryan suggested a 10-year sentence with four years suspended, asking the judge to consider "a certain element of provocation and control here, at the hands of her spouse."

[P]robation officer Teresa Brown told the judge that in a pre-sentence interview, Tackett had expressed little remorse for her actions, instead blaming a family member who had learned of the sexual abuse and alerted authorities.

"Not only did she not take responsibility for this crime, she's still having continuous contact with Duane Tackett, who's coming to see her at the jail," Brown said. Brown said the victim -- now 30 and described as having the mental capacity of an 8-year-old -- had told her the Tacketts "should be made to stop so that they won't hurt anyone else, and stay in jail."

At the sentencing hearing, Patricia Tackett said to the victim, who was not present, "I feel so hurt because I let you down...Please forgive me for all I have done." Judge Vorhees, for her part, said that "I believe in my heart she knew exactly what was going on and she knew it was wrong," the judge said. "And she did nothing to stop it." As for her expression of remorse, it was, in Vorhees' opinion, "way too little, (and) way, way, way too late, probably 14, 15, 16 years too late."

Molest victim shoots attacker, pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter

A Fort Bragg, CA man who shot his alleged molester pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter April 6 in a case where he is considered a folk hero. 32 year old Aaron Vargas, allegedly victimized from ages 11 to 28 by his former next-door neighbor, faces a maximum of a decade in prison for shooting 63 year old Darrell McNeill in February 2009.

He told [his family] McNeill began molesting him while they were on a fishing trip when Vargas was 11 years old. McNeill continued to psychologically harass Vargas into adulthood, the Vargas family said.

McNeill would drop by the house Vargas shared with his fiancee at all hours, call frequently and ask to baby-sit Vargas’ newborn daughter, his sister [Mindy Galliani] said. Galliani believes her brother snapped on the night he drove to NcNeill’s home outside of Fort Bragg carrying a .44 caliber cap and ball pistol.

The men argued and Vargas shot McNeill once in the chest, then stayed at the home for 20 minutes to make sure he was dead, preventing Liz McNeill from phoning for help, law enforcement officers said. After the shooting, Vargas disassembled the gun and divulged his accusations for the first time.

Liz McNeill and her sons have written letters urging Humboldt County, CA prosecutors to charge Vargas with lesser charges that murder, and according to Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Norman and Vargas’ attorney, Tom Hudson. Three men and a woman contacted the DA's office alleging molestation by McNeill, and Norman said the plea agreement was “a fair resolution in light of all the facts.”

Vargas has became a celebrity of sorts since his arrest immediately after the killing. His sister’s unflagging outreach efforts garnered nationwide media attention and support from the Fort Bragg community and beyond for Vargas, who many consider to be the victim in this case.

More than 2,000 people signed an online petition seeking a reduction in the charges or dismissal of the case. A dozen people claim McNeill also molested them, said Vargas’ sister, Mindy Galliani.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ron Brown took into account the plea of the victim's family in accepting the plea agreement, but not the public support for Vargas, shown by a petition urging charges be dropped. “That is the reason we’re not guided by public opinion,” Judge Brown said.

Brown will sentence Vargas after an April 20 stipulated facts hearing. There is a chance that Vargas can be sentenced to more than 10 years by Judge Brown. Voluntary manslaughter carries a 21 year maximum sentence, and Vargas can retract his plea if Brown sentences him to 10-21 years.

Woman sentenced to 30 years for molesting three boys, developmentally disabled man

(Original Post 3-4-08)


Michelle Vanmeter, a 35 year old former teacher and employee of a group home, was sentenced Friday, February 29 to 30 years in prison and five years of probation for sexually abusing three boys and a young deaf man with an IQ of 58. She gained access to three of her victims, who were brothers, through working with their mother at a Ft. Wayne group home.

According to court documents, VanMeter had sex with the boys between June 2006 to April 2007, and when Allen County Superior Court Judge Fran Gull sentenced her to 30 years in prison (which is 15 years for good behavior), followed by 5 years probation, giving her credit for over 15 months served.

VanMeter’s lawyer, Bart Arnold, argued that self-esteem issues and depression were to blame for his client’s behavior. Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards said VanMeter preyed upon the families she victimized and Judge Fran C. Gull called the trust she violated worse than a parent violating the trust of a child. “My intentions were to never hurt anyone,” said VanMeter through tears at her sentencing.

Three of VanMeter’s victims were brothers. Two of them were teens, ages 13 and 15, while the third was the man, who is deaf and mentally challenged. He told his mother by sign language of their sexual encounter, according to court documents. After that the other two boys admitted the same.

According to the court documents, the trio would spend considerable time with VanMeter who met with their mother after they confessed and before she went to the police. VanMeter had just given birth to a baby girl whose pregnancy she kept secret, but then said had been the result of a one-night stand at a bar.During dinner with VanMeter, the victims’ mother saw the baby and later told police it looked like her 15-year-old son.

After the mother of the victimized brothers came forth and police filed charges, the father of a 12 year old boy came forward with concerns he had been molested she was eventually charged with that crime as well.

VanMeter eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of child molesting, a count of sexual misconduct and a count of sexual battery in order to have her prison sentence capped at 30 years. Friday, her lawyer asked for considerably less time in order for VanMeter to see her child.

“I would like my daughter to know her mother while she was young,” said VanMeter, who said the girl laughs and smiles whenever she has the chance to talk to her on the phone.VanMeter’s family is sharing custody of the girl with the boy’s family, though Richards said the boy’s family has spent thousands of dollars to secure exclusive custody of her.“

(VanMeter’s) caused trauma to that young man and his family,” argued Richards in her request that VanMeter receive the maximum penalty.Though several people wrote letters to the court, saying they noticed changes in her in the past two years as stress took a hold of a “good” person, nobody testified on her behalf.

Reading from a letter, VanMeter said as she looked back over the last few years, she could see that things weren’t “going well” for her and that she was no longer the “joyful” or “happy” person people knew.

“My intentions were never to hurt anyone,” she said, adding she brought life into the world as a result of her actions and considers her daughter a gift from God.

Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards argued VanMeter fit the classic pattern of a child molester – male or female.

VanMeter preyed on the boys, going out of her way to cover up her conduct and to buy their silence with gifts, Richards said.

And she asked Gull not to differentiate between a male child molester and VanMeter in sentencing.

“Does it matter if you are a man and you (molest) out of a position of power and control, or if you are a woman and you manipulate a position of trust?” Richards asked.

The victims have been damaged by VanMeter’s actions, particularly the teen who found himself a father and will have to deal with that stigma, Richards said.

Both the boy’s family and VanMeter’s parents have been in a heated custody battle costing the boy’s family thousands of dollars, Richards said.

Though VanMeter had no prior criminal record, Gull said that she was in an "extraordinary position of trust," and her assaults "appeared calculated." She said to VanMeter, "Sort of murder, there's nothing more serious than a Class A felony. You jumped right in." "You were not only in a position of trust;you were in an extraordinary position of trust."

(Update 5-27-09) The family of 3 of Vanmeter's victims have filed a civil lawsuit against AWS under the doctrine of respondat superior. Respondat superior states that the employer is responsible and liable the actions of an employee at all times while the employee is acting within their employment scope.

Filed [May 19] in Allen Superior Court, the unnamed plaintiffs, identified only by their initials "L" and "J" on behalf of their children "A," "D" and "J," sued AWS, formerly known as Anthony Wayne Services, for compensatory and punitive damages.

The suit alleges that Vanmeter became acquainted with the family by being a personal assistant to their oldest son. It was through this that she became sexually involved with them."As a result of the molestation … each of them have suffered pain and suffering, mental distress, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, physical and psychological trauma, counseling expenses and other damages and injuries," according to the lawsuit.

Because Vanmeter got pregnant and decided to carry the victim's daughter to term, raising the grandchild is "directly attributable to the sexual molestation and statutory rape of their minor son."

Vernon Center, CT man sentenced to 2 decades in prison

Oral Haines was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of special parole in Vernon Superior Court Friday, July 25 for molesting a family member between ages 9 and 23. His conviction was after only 3 hours of jury deliberation. Because of the statute of limitations in effect when the abuse was finally reported back in 2003, Haines was only charged with the sexual abuse occuring after the victim was 21 and not the childhood and adolescent sexual abuse, but it was factored into Haines' sentence.

The abuse started as inappropriate touching, she said, before progressing to further sexual abuse, including intercourse. The woman also told jurors that she eventually began using birth control so that Haines would not impregnate her.

Haines, charged with 2 dozen counts of 3rd degree sexual assault and a count of 1st degree sexual assault, was found guilty on all counts. He denied the charges, then said that the sex was consensual between himself and the victim.

During his two-week trial, defense lawyers Jeff Kestenband and Moira Buckley questioned why the woman waited so long to report the lengthy childhood abuse; Haines was charged with only two years’ worth of assaults due in part to the state’s statute of limitations on sexual crimes.

However, expert testimony revealed to the court that victims of traumatic abuse often hide the details of their abuse from others due to a deep sense of shame or responsibility, even going so far as to protect their abusers. After just three hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Haines of one count of first-degree sexual assault and 24 counts of third-degree sexual assault, acquitting him of one count of first-degree kidnapping.

Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Leaming, who prosecuted the trial, said that his actions were “one of the most heinous crimes one can commit. Never once, prior to the trial or since, has the defendant shown the slightest bit of remorse.”

The victim also spoke at the sentencing, and said “I’m sure you thought I wouldn’t show up for the trial; that I wouldn’t stay the course. That you still had control over me.”

The woman called herself the voice for those women who come forward to confront their abusers “even if their families or society ostracizes them.”

Kestenband, however, argued for less jail time for the man he said was a good person and a good father; one who suffered from a background of mental illness and parental abuse. According to Kestenband, Haines’s father was physically and emotionally abusive, and many of Haines’ behaviors mirror those that his father inflicted on him.

Another factor in sentencing, Kestenband said, should be Haines’ life expectancy. Haines, 52, is without work, on disability, and is plagued by physical ailments.“Eight years, for somebody in his position, is a significant period of incarceration,” Kestenband said, after proposing a maximum eight-year sentence for Haines.Many of Haines’ friends and family also spoke during the sentencing in support of their friend and father, supporting Kestenband’s comments.

Conditions of special parole include sex offender treatment and registration, no contact with the victim or pornography. Kestenband plans to appeal.

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.

Man, already charged with molesting girl, now charged with assaulting nurse

David Wayne Rogers Jr., 30, a Bartlesville, OK man who was originally charged with the lewd molestation of a 11 year ond girl has been charged with the sexual battery of a nurse by the sexual groping on the buttocks.

Rogers was originally charged with counts of lewd molestation and rape by instrumentation in August of 2007.According to a probable cause affidavit, on March 9, the nurse told authorities that she had been helping jail personnel serve meals when Rogers reached out of his cell and grabbed her buttocks. She reportedly screamed and left the area before reporting the incident to deputies.

In his earlier case, Bartlesville police were alerted on Aug. 3, 2007 that Rogers had reportedly molested an 11-year-old female.When interviewed, the girl said the alleged actions had happened around 6 a.m. on Aug. 3. The report states that the girl became visibly upset and began to cry when recounting the events.

Rogers denied the allegations regarding the allegeitons involving the girl but said he had 15 beers the night before and sometimes blacked out.

Haywood County, NC roundup of child sexual abuse cases

Beginning with a plea entered by a Tennessee man to solicit a Waynesville minor for prostitution and ending with the tearful, emotional plea by a young Waynesville man who’s consensual relationship with his young girlfriend led to criminal charges, this week in Haywood County Superior Court has been dominated with pleas to sex crimes.

One woman will spend almost seven years in prison after pleading guilty to second degree rape of a young boy, another will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to 18 felony charges related to sex crimes against children.

Following is a recap of pleas entered this week in superior court:

Russel Lang Perhaps the most heart-wrenching plea of the week, according to courtroom witnesses, was entered Thursday by Russel James Lang, 20, of Waynesville, who pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a victim who was at the time 14 years old and more than four years, but less than six years, younger than Lang who was 19 when the incident occurred.

The case itself was described by Lang’s defense attorney Jeff Jones as a sort of Shakespearian romance, likening the relationship between Lang and the victim, who at the time was his girlfriend, to that of Romeo and Juliet. During a hearing that left few without tears, Lang pleaded guilty to one of two counts of statutory rape and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Mark Powell to spend the next three years, six months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections. One count of the same charge was dismissed.

Under state statute, Lang is not required to register as a sex offender. The victim, who sobbed throughout the entire court proceeding, addressed the court through a letter, read aloud by Assistant District Attorney Angie Rogers. In the letter, the victim wrote that she and Lang initially grew to know each other at a party held at Lang’s house.

After realizing they shared a lot in common, the two began a relationship that lasted two years and ended with Lang’s arrest on Aug. 31, 2007. The victim — who is five years, five months younger than Lang — said she and Lang engaged in consensual sexual intercourse.
“I just don’t want anything to happen to him because of me,” she wrote. “I just don’t want to see him get hurt.”

Lang told the court that the loving, committed, long-term relationship between himself and the victim was based on love between two people who shared a lot in common. Dr. Pete Sansbury, a clinical psychologist from Asheville, told the court he has evaluated Lang and determined he is not a sexual predator, nor a pedophile, and would have a low risk of recidivism. Sansbury described the situation as an adolescent romantic relationship between an immature male and a victim who is simply too young to be involved with him. Lang is supported by a large network of people throughout the community, Jones told the judge.

When Jones asked if, by a show of hands, there was anyone present in the courtroom who supported Lang, at least 24 people raised their hands.

Judge Powell was also asked to consider a stack of 26 letters presented to the court — written by friends and family members, including a church pastor and numerous Haywood Community College instructors — each coming to Lang’s defense as a person of good character. Furthermore, Jones pointed out, when Lang was first notified of warrants being issued for his arrest, he turned himself into the Waynesville Police Department and offered a video confession of his relations with the victim.

“He told them everything because he had nothing to hide,” said Jones. “He was in love. She was in love.” At that time, Lang spent 92 days in the Haywood County Jail — for which he is to be given credit.

Immediately upon his release from jail, he got a job and enrolled in college, said Jones. He was scheduled to take his final college exam today, but “his whole semester is shot now.”

Stephanie Rae Mathis Spann

After pleading guilty Monday to the second-degree rape of a 13-year-old boy, Stephanie Spann, 31, of Jackson County, will spend at least six years, eight months in the North Carolina Department of Corrections, a sentence also imposed by Judge Powell. She could spend as many as eight years, nine months incarcerated.

The crime to which Spann pleaded guilty was committed on Jan. 7, 2007, in the victim’s home, while his mother was away. At that time, after a night of drinking alcohol and using methamphetamines, Spann initially had sexual intercourse with an older male adult, then with the victim who was also under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Assistant District Attorney Jim Moore said.

Initially she was also charged with first-degree statutory rape and first- degree sexual offense — charges that were dismissed pursuant to the plea agreement. While second-degree rape usually requires evidence of forced intercourse against a victim’s will, Spann was convicted due to the young victim’s incognizance, which rendered him physically helpless, Moore said.

The victim was also drinking alcohol and using methamphetamines the night the incident occurred, he continued, and wasn’t fully aware of what was happening. “When a person is mentally disabled or, in this case, was physically helpless and can’t appreciate what is happening” that also counts as second-degree rape, said Moore. Upon her release from prison, Spann will be required to register as a sex offender.