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2000 Updates Continued

August 8, 2000 - Montoya family & friends need your support.

Dear Fellow Victim Advocates & Friends

On Wednesday 8-9-00, after three long years,(5-16-97) the trial of Alex Dale Thomas, Rio Linda High school substitute Janitor and parolee accused of brutally raping and then murdering, Senior, Michelle Montoya at Rio Linda High School in Sacramento will begin in Santa Rosa at the Sonoma County Superior court. The defense won the motion to move the trial out of Sacramento.

Pam Schleeter, Mother of Michelle, and other family members are in need of support in and out of court, during this trial.

If you know of anyone in that area that can attend and support the family, please let them know of this trial. If more information is needed please call Maggie at 916-392-9330.

Let's get out and support this family in the court system and show the Defense that it does not matter that the trial was moved.

Your support and love are needed for the family and friends of Michelle Montoya. Please pass this message on to others that you feel will be able to help.

Thank you. Maggie

August 7, 2000 - Man receives probation in attempted kidnapping. Girl, 6, was approached leaving school bus in Dec. 1999 (August 2, 2000).

By Liz F. Kay, Sun Staff

A Manchester man convicted of sexual abuse in 1992 accepted a plea agreement yesterday on charges that he attempted to kidnap a 6-year-old girl in December.

David Lee Simpson, 32, of the 3700 block of Miller Station Road faced counts of attempted abduction of a child under 12 and a child under 16, both punishable by sentences, respectively, of up to 20 and 30 years.

Simpson filed an Alford plea to the charges. Though treated as a guilty plea, it is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgment that prosecutors could prove their case.

In the plea agreement, Carroll Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. sentenced Simpson to 10 years in prison, reduced to time served, with 5 1/2 years of supervised probation. Simpson has been in jail since February.

In addition, Simpson was required to register as a sex offender and forbidden to have contact with children younger than age 18. Burns granted him permission to move out of state, however.

Simpson approached the child after she got off the school bus at Walnut Street and Route 30 in Manchester and ordered her to get in his pickup truck, according to the statement of facts read by Deputy State's Attorney Tracy A. Gilmore.

When the girl refused, the defendant offered her a ride in his truck and candy, and invited her to meet his girlfriend and spend the night at his house, court records said. The girl again refused and ran away.

She told her parents about the incident when school resumed after Christmas because she was afraid to get off the school bus by herself.

The Carroll County Child Abuse Sexual Assault Unit, consisting of police officers, arrested Simpson in February after conducting a month long investigation.

Simpson's conviction in 1992 stemmed from abuse of a relative. In that case, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail, which was reduced to five years' supervised probation.

August 7, 2000 - Sex-offender gets two years of home detention with no access to the Internet. (March 16, 2000).

By Kevin Griffis, Times Staff Writer.

A former Hampstead man must spend the next two years on home detention and can have no access to the Internet for sending pornographic pictures to an 11-year-old and molesting an 8-year-old in June 1999.

Carroll County Deputy State's Attorney Tracy Gilmore recommended Calvin Gary Horelick receive eight years in prison. But Carroll Circuit Court Judge Luke K. Burns said that Horelick appears to have made progress in his treatment, and if he was sentenced to a state prison, Horelick 'wouldn't last long' and probably wouldn't receive any kind of therapy.

'It would be very easy for me to impose the maximum sentence, but I don't think that would be right when you look at the entire case,' Burns said.

Horelick, 47, was convicted in mid-December of one count of distributing child pornography and a third-degree sexual offense. Burns handed down consecutive 10-year sentences for each of the convictions but suspended all but two years.

State police were led to Horelick, formerly of the 4800 block of Hillock Lane, after a woman in Cape May, N.J., called investigators June 25 and said a man in Maryland was distributing pornography to her daughter over the Internet, said Carroll County Assistant State's Attorney Laura Kozlowski at the December hearing in which Horelick pleaded guilty.

The mother told investigators from the Maryland State Police's Columbia-based Computer Crimes Unit that the man, who called himself 'RTF,' sent 10 pornographic pictures to her daughter after the two met in a chat room for children, Kozlowski said.

The man also gave her daughter his phone number in Hampstead, Kozlowksi said in December, told the girl what he wanted to do to her sexually and told her she could come live with him - offering her a Beanie Baby stuffed toy if she did.

While investigators were looking into the complaint from the New Jersey family, a Hampstead woman and her daughter went to the Hampstead police and reported that on June 25 Horelick had sexually molested the 8-year-old girl, a police report indicated.

The victim - who was friends with Horelick's two sons, ages 13 and 8, who now live in Florida - said Horelick began showing her pornography involving children on his computer during a visit to his home June 25, the police report indicated. Horelick then kissed and fondled the girl, Kozlowski said.

Horelick's attorney, Steven J. Bienstock, characterized Horelick as socially awkward, as a 'nerd' who possesses the emotional maturity of a child.

Bienstock did not minimize the crimes, but told Burns that Horelick never has had any sort of criminal record and was at a low point following the failure of his business and difficulties with his marriage.

In crisis and alone, Bienstock said Horelick ventured onto the Internet, into a fantasy land.

He needs treatment, which he will not be able to receive in prison, Bienstock said - a conclusion seconded by Ellen McDaniel, a Towson psychiatrist who evaluated Horelick.

'This will be Cal Horelick's first and last contact with the criminal justice system,' Bienstock said.

He has already lost everything - his wife, his children, his reputation and his job at Random House, where he was fired because supervisors said they could not guarantee his safety, Bienstock said.

Gilmore, though, said the fantasy Horelick receded into was still an illegal fantasy. She summarized the crimes for Burns and characterized them as predatory and escalating in seriousness.

The victims will forever have problems trusting people, she said.

'Probably every parent's nightmare is this kind of crime,'

August 7, 2000 - Britain Fights Tide of Anti-Pedophile Attacks.

By WARREN HOGE

LONDON, Aug. 6 -- Britain said today that it would "urgently" press for stricter laws on child molesting but resisted widespread calls for public identification of released violators that have been associated with current vigilante attacks across the country.

Home Office Minister Paul Boateng pledged that the government would strengthen laws protecting children from sexual abuse, but he said, "The decisions about whether or not people are told names and addresses are not matters for newspapers, they are not matters for ministers, they are matters for police and the probation service."

His newspaper reference was to Britain's top-selling tabloid, The Sunday News of the World, which under the headline "Name and Shame" has been running photographs and whereabouts of men convicted of molesting children who have been released from prison. Although the paper had promised to name 100,000, it ended the practice today after publishing only 82.

Lynch mob attacks and firebombings have occurred in 11 communities in England and Scotland since the campaign began two weeks ago, the majority of them at homes of people wrongly identified as suspected pedophiles or confused with people with similar names and appearances as people pictured by the newspaper. A rioting crowd of 150, many carrying signs with the emotive News of the World headline, overturned vehicles, smashed windows and threw stones and rocks at the police on Thursday and Friday nights in Plymouth in Southern England.

The newspaper, which is owned by the press magnate Rupert Murdoch, has been condemned by police officials and human rights groups arguing that its campaign has actually further endangered children by driving sex offenders underground. "The government's concern has to be the protection and welfare of children and the maintenance of public order," Mr. Boateng said. "The News of the World approach to this issue in naming and shaming threatened both."

But the newspaper said it was abandoning its effort only because it had started an "unstoppable force" for a law for public identification of known offenders. It said 300,000 people had already signed a petition for a law that would let parents see registers of convicted pedophiles in their area, and it printed forms for its 4.1 million readers to sign and send to the government, with the promise of a receiving a "badge of pride" to wear.

Modeled after the so-called "Megan's Law" in the United States, the British version is being promoted as "Sarah's Law," in memory of Sarah Payne, 8, who was abducted last month near her grandparents' home and later found dead and naked off a country path after a search that aroused front-page sympathy throughout Britain.

The girl's mother, Sara Payne, 31, made affecting televised daily appeals for her daughter's return during the two weeks that hundreds of police officers combed fields in Surrey, and she was pictured on today's News of the World front page endorsing the campaign and helping count signed petitions.

Megan's Law, a New Jersey statute that all 49 other American states have used as the model for similar laws, was created in 1994 in response to the brutal rape and murder of Megan Kanka, 7, of Hamilton Township, by a twice-convicted sex offender who was living across the street unbeknown to her parents. Under the law, all sex offenders must register with the police, and community organizations involved with children are alerted to the presence of those who are considered potentially repeat offenders. The law counsels a number of preventive steps and explicitly rules out verbal and physical vigilantism.

Michael Howard, known as a strict law-and-order official when he served as Britain's Home Secretary in the last Conservative government, warned on Saturday that proposals for public surveillance would lead to vigilantism "that no civilized society could tolerate" and could increase risks to children by discouraging released sex offenders from registering with the police at the high level they do now. He said the level in Britain was 97 percent -- the highest compliance of any country in Europe.

Mr. Boateng did not detail what steps he was contemplating to redeem his pledge to tighten up procedures, but the government is known to be looking at proposals for longer sentencing, including life terms with no possibility of parole.

The editor of The News of the World, Rebekah Wade, said, "As a result of our naming and shaming campaign, I believe the introduction of Sarah's Law is now inevitable." She cited that as the reason the newspaper had ended the campaign and added, "Our job now is to force the government to act -- and we'll name and shame every politician who stands in our way."

August 7, 2000 - Children See Different Police Role, as Camp Directors.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN, NY Times

TAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 4 -- As commander of the Stamford Police Department's youth division, Sgt. Jon Fontneau handles the grim cases in which children are the perpetrators or the victims of child abuse, sexual assaults, drug abuse or violence, their young lives either terribly wasted or horribly exploited.

As part of the city's efforts to be in the vanguard of community policing, he is also in charge of a summer camp.

The day camp, now in its second year, is attended by 350 middle school children and provides jobs for about 40 high school students as counselors. The majority of the camp's adult staff members are police officers who are assigned during the rest of the year to patrol the city's public schools. Instead of driving a squad car this summer, they are basketball referees, whiffle ball umpires and kickball coaches.

The S.R.O. Camp, named for the school resource officers who run it, was proposed last year by two Stamford officers, Scott Baldwin and John Jeter, as a way for the police to keep in touch with the city's youth all year.

Officer Jeter, who had spent the previous summer visiting other camps to talk about gangs, said he asked the Stamford police chief, Dean M. Esserman, "Why don't we have the kids come to us?"

Chief Esserman, a onetime prosecutor who later became a top assistant to William J. Bratton, the former New York City police commissioner, loved the idea. With the support of Mayor Dannel P. Malloy, he used money seized from drug dealers to start the camp, in partnership with the Domus Foundation, a nonprofit community group, and the Stamford public school system. About 100 children signed up.

"In my heart, I believe this is police work," Chief Esserman said, noting that the officers working at the camp are veterans who have served throughout the department, including in narcotics units and on the bomb squad. "To see police as simply and only enforcers of the law is really to miss the point," he said.

"You want to know the best way to fight crime? Invest in kids. Invest in them before arresting them."

The camp is open to all Stamford middle school students, ages 12 to 14. Campers attend at no charge.

The camp is meant to serve children who are also required to attend summer school and whose parents most likely could not afford to pay for other summer activities. The camp day begins at noon, when summer school classes end, and runs until 5 p.m. Most campers live in inner city neighborhoods.

Without the camp, the campers would probably "be hanging out at home, doing who knows what," Officer Terry Lauf said. She was running up and down a gym floor, keeping score in a basketball game, her badge, gun and handcuffs clipped to the belt on her waist.

"These kids are having fun," Officer Lauf said. "They are getting exercise and they are learning team sports. By the end of the day, we exhaust them."

For its first summer, the camp was in a middle school. This year, officials decided to triple the camp's size and the Board of Education agreed to provide a larger building, Westhill High School, which has an indoor swimming pool, a large gymnasium and outdoor ball fields at its sprawling campus.

The camp also uses classrooms for computer lessons, arts and crafts, and library projects.

"The thing just exploded this year. It's huge," said Mr. Malloy, who has provided administrative assistance for the camp.

"We have got a great police department filled with men and women who want to work with the community and want to work to make it stronger and safer and better," he said. "Community policing is our sole philosophy of policing."

The Domus Foundation, which runs numerous youth programs throughout Stamford, has lent its expertise in running a camp. Michael Duggan, the foundation's executive director, said the camp fit perfectly into efforts by Domus to connect community-based organizations with government agencies and private companies. The camp's initial success has led to further support, including $40,000 this year from the Stamford Housing Authority and $25,000 from the Ruth Brown Foundation, a local charity.

The beneficiaries are children like Lillian Forbes, 12, who said she would otherwise spend the summer "doing nothing." Instead, she spends the days swimming, playing ball and step-dancing.

Quentin Foskey, 13, who is now on a first-name basis with the man he calls "Sergeant Jon," said he would have spent the summer just hanging out at Southfield Village, the housing project where he lives. About camp, he said simply: "I like it."

Officer Paul DeRiu said the relationships he has built working at Rippowam Middle School during the year and at camp in the summer had proved immensely valuable on the street. When he is on patrol, he said, "there's not a day that goes by without a kid coming up and saying hello to me. They kind of get to see the other side of the cop. There's a person behind that badge."

August 7, 2000 - Child abuse permanently alters brain chemistry, U.S. study says.

ATLANTA (AP) - Abuse in early childhood dramatically changes the brain chemistry of women for life, making them more vulnerable to anxiety disorders and more easily frustrated by stress as adults, a study suggests.

Researchers said the results could lead to profound advances in treatment for depression - for women and men. The study was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dramatic differences in women based on whether they had been physically or sexually abused as children came to light when they were asked to speak in front of a poker-faced audience and to solve tricky math problems.

In women who had been abused, a key hormone that regulates the body's response to stress responded six-times as strongly as in women with no abuse history. The early trauma makes the hormone hypersensitive, researchers said.

"We've known for a long time that if you enrich the environment during early development, you can get critical, positive long-term effects," said Dr. Charles Nemeroff of Emory University, one of the study's authors.

"This is the other side of the coin, the dark side."

Anti-depressant medication available now indirectly targets the body's hormonal response to stress. But researchers said Wednesday the new information bolsters studies on whether anti-depressants can target specific stress-reaction hormones.

They also said it could help victims of abuse prevent falling into deep depression.

"This should be beneficial is seeing whether we can reduce that sensitivity," said Dr. Jeffrey Newport, a study author.

A professor from the University of Georgia disagreed with the conclusions from the Emory report.

"It's not always so," said Allie Kilpatrick, a professor of social work at the University of Georgia.

"There are so many intervening factors. Who was the person providing the abuse, how long did the abuse continue, how much force and trauma occurred at the time?"

"All those factor in to how someone reacts later in life."

Kilpatrick said she did a study of her own with 500 women, including some who had sexual relations with their fathers when they were children.

"The effects were all varied," she said.

"There were some women who had no traumatic effects and there were women who had a lot. It all depends on those intervening variables and the resiliency of the individual."

The Emory study examined 49 women ages 18 to 45, dividing them into four groups by whether they had been abused as children and whether they suffered depression as adults.

They were told to speak before a panel of observers who had been told not to show any reaction and they were asked to subtract 17 from 4,000 repeatedly.

Blood tests measured the response of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone, or ACTH, two hormones closely related to another hormone called CRF that controls the body's reaction to stress.

Cortisol and ACTH are much more easily measured in blood than CRF.

Researchers said they focused on women because both abuse and adult depression are more widely reported among women than men. But they said similar tests on animals have shown almost no difference in the responses of males and females.

"I have no doubt that this will be the case for both men and women," Nemeroff said Wednesday.

"It just highlights the importance of public education about child abuse."

August 6, 2000 - UK Won't Reveal Sex Offender Log.

LONDON (AP) -- The British government on Sunday said it would not make public a register of sex offenders, despite a newspaper-led campaign that has gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures.

The Sunday tabloid News of the World said 300,000 people had signed its petition urging the government to give parents controlled access to registers of convicted sex offenders in their areas, and to establish life prison sentences without the possibility of parole.

Home Office Minister Paul Boateng said the government would strengthen laws to protect children from abuse, but defended the current system under which information about the whereabouts of sex offenders is handled by police and probation officers.

'Every year since the government came into power we have taken action to better protect children. We continue to do so -- the law will be strengthened,' he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

But, he added, `decisions about whether or not people are told names and addresses are not matters for newspapers, not matters for governments. They are matters for the police and probation service working together.'

The News of the World proposals -- named `Sarah's Law' in memory of 8-year-old Sarah Payne, whose naked body was discovered in a field two weeks after she disappeared on July 1 in southern England -- have been backed by police and child-welfare groups.

They are modeled on `Megan's Law,' the U.S. legislation named for Megan Kanka, a New Jersey child who was raped and murdered by a repeat sex offender.

The News of the World announced on Friday that it would end a two-week campaign to `name and shame' those it said had sexually abused children.

The newspaper published photographs of people it said were offenders, along with identifying details and locations. The campaign was followed by a series of vigilante attacks on people identified in the newspaper and on innocent people mistaken for them.

On Thursday, about 150 people rioted outside the home of a man wrongly identified as a pedophile.

August 5, 2000 - We need your help. We are asking for letters of support for SB 1463.

SB 1463 would allow for an expansion of the Sexual Predator Apprehension Team. This would allow DOJ to assist local law enforcement in apprehending some of the worst and most violent criminals. Attached you will find a sample letter that you can use. You can address the letter to:

Please provide our office with a copy of your letter, or if you want to send my office your letter, we will forward it to the Senate Appropriations Committee on your behalf. Please help us pass this crucial bill. Your letters need to be at my office no later than August 11, 00. My office address is:

Thank you for your help,

Nina Salarno Ashford

Sample Letter

To the Honorable Carole Migden, Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
State Capitol
Room 2114
Sacramento, CA 95814

I am writing to you to express my strong support on SB 1463. Sexually violent predators are some of the worst offenders - often they have a high recidivism rate. SB 1463 will allow law enforcement to monitor and apprehend these violent criminals. SB 1463 is crucial to the protection of California citizens. I urge you to pass SB 1463.

August 4, 2000 - Reaching Out to Crime Victims. Feds Plan Automatic Notification of Changes in Case.

By Amy Worden

WASHINGTON (APBnews.com) -- By the end of 2001, all federal crime victims will be offered automatic notification about developments in their cases -- including when an offender will be released -- under a new system modeled after the successful state crime victims notification program.

The Justice Department this week awarded a contract to a Virginia firm to develop the National Victim of Crime Notification System (VNS) that for the first time will allow victims registered with the agency to receive all developments in their cases.

"It will allow the Justice Department and the other initial entities, the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons to provide 24-hour notification of the status of offenders by every means of communication from snail mail to cell phone and fax," said Gerald David, program director for GRC International, the AT&T-owned information technology company that received the contract.

Currently each department operates independent systems that track offenders and notify victims individually. The new automated system will allow the agencies to integrate case information, and computers will handle the notification process. In addition, victims will be able to call a toll-free number to receive information on their cases.

"There will be a seamless transition from arrest through the court system to incarceration and release," David said.

Complex coordination efforts

In 1996, President Clinton directed Attorney General Janet Reno to adopt a nationwide victim notification system and $8 million was set aside to develop and implement the program, said Kurt Shernuk, an assistant U.S. Attorney and the project director for the Justice Department.

"The system will improve the notification methods we have," he said. "Right now people are responsible for generating a letter or picking up the phone, which will still be done, but this will enhance the ways we can provide the information."

Shernuk said the project is taking five years to bring on line because of the complex coordination efforts among the three federal departments which each operate on an independent computer system.

"If a case came to [the Justice Department] from the FBI, we would have to rekey that information in the computers," he said.

Victims 'not dependant on a person'

Although the total federal caseload is smaller than the state or local jurisdictions, some federal cases, such as fraud, can have thousands of victims," Shernuk said.

Victims rights advocates applauded the system, saying it will help victims in potentially violent federal crimes such as kidnapping, interstate stalking and Internet sex offenses.

"I like the concept of automated notification," said Carol Dorris, public policy staff attorney for the National Center for Victims of Crime. "That way, victims are not dependent on a person [to notify them]."

"Any information, that's what victims want to know," said Ellen Halbert, director of the victim/witness division of the Travis County, Texas, District Attorney's Office. "Where the offender is at the moment is at the top of the list."

System used in 35 states

All states have legislation requiring the creation of a victim notification system, but the scope of the information released and how it is released varies widely, Dorris said.

"There is a lack of services in rural areas," Dorris said. "Even if the funding is there they don't have an advocate who knows it's there or people who are aware and can implement it."

The federal system will be based in the Louisville, Ky., facility where Appris Inc., the nation's leading provider of victim notification software to states and local jurisdictions, is housed.

Formerly known as The VINE -- or Victim Information and Notification Everyday -- Company, Appris software serves 750 communities in 35 states.

Could help healing process

Halbert, a victim of rape and attempted murder, said had she been a victim of a less violent attack she would want regular notices about her case.

"I was attacked in 1986 and he got life, which meant 20 years, so he will not be eligible until 2006," she said. "If he had not gotten a long sentence it would have been beneficial to the healing process to know I could call a number and know where he was."

August 3, 2000 - Internet pitch snares New York suspect.

Pueblo County Sheriff's Department officials said Wednesday that Robert H. Dupes, 51, of New York City traveled to Pueblo earlier this week to meet what he thought would be a 30-year-old woman and her 13-year old daughter.

He thought he was going to have sex with the two, based on Internet conversations in which he had participated. But he actually had been "talking" to a sheriff's deputy. So when he showed up a Pueblo hotel Tuesday, he was arrested by members of the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and U.S. Customs agent.

August 3, 2000 - Tulsa's Most Wanted: Mother sought in sex abuse.

By Nicole Marshall, World Staff Writer

The abuse of her son allegedly occurred from September 1996 through March 31 of this year, court records show.

The woman is charged with sexually abusing her young son for four years. Police are trying to capture a woman who is charged with having sex with her son when he was as young as 8 years old and videotaping the sex acts.

According to court records, Catherine A. Nicholson, 41, has been sexually abusing her biological son for the past four years.

"This case is one of the most appalling cases I have ever investigated," said Detective Liz Eagan, who works in the Tulsa Police Department's Exploitation Unit.

Eagan also investigated the recent high-profile multi-county child pornography ring that resulted in a couple being convicted of sexually abusing their daughter when she was as young as 12. The girl's stepfather was also charged with transporting her to locations in Tulsa, Vinita, Commerce and Sand Springs to have sex with men who answered ads placed in "swingers" magazines and videotaping the conduct.

Nicholson was charged July 27 with two counts of sexually abusing a minor child and one count of procuring a minor's participation in an obscene video, court records show. The abuse allegedly occurred from September 1996 through March 31 of this year at an apartment in the 6100 block of South 87th Street, court records show.

Because the investigation is continuing, Eagan was guarded with details about the case. She said she had forwarded additional information to both the Tulsa County and Muskogee County district attorney's offices for review.

"There are other individuals who we are investigating in this case, and more than likely there will be more charges filed," Eagan said.

Eagan said Tulsa police launched the investigation after receiving evidence from "several different sources at several different times."

Eagan said Nicholson's son, who was 8 when evidence indicates the abuse began, is now 12 and is staying with a family member.

Police have been searching for Nicholson since she was charged. "She is apparently somewhat transient," Eagan said. "We are not really sure where she is residing. There may be some evidence that she has left the state."

Eagan said cases of mothers who are charged with sexually abusing their young children are relatively rare.

"It does not happen very often. It is like most other cases, though, and is probably one of those crimes that are underreported."

Anyone with information about Nicholson's whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 596-COPS. Callers can be anonymous and will receive a cash reward for information that leads to her arrest.

August 3, 2000 - Naughton may get no time in prison. Government seeks probation, small fine, other constraints.

By Michelle Quinn, Mercury News Staff Writer

Patrick Naughton, the former Infoseek executive caught in an FBI online sex sting operation, most likely will serve no prison time.

In a court filing, the government is asking that Naughton, who will be sentenced Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, receive five years probation, which includes nine months of home detention. That means zero jail time.

It also asks that he continue to be prohibited from ``unapproved'' contact with children, receive counseling and have no access to sexually-oriented chatrooms. Furthermore, the government will ask him to pay a $20,000 fine, not the maximum $250,000.

Since he pleaded guilty in March to crossing state lines to have sex with a minor, Naughton has been giving technical assistance to the FBI in its efforts to investigate pedophiles who lurk online. In its filing, the government calls Naughton's help 'substantial' and requests he continue his work during his probation period.

While he faced as much as 15 years in prison for his guilty plea to a felony charge, Naughton was most likely to receive no more than 18 months in federal prison, the standard sentence in these cases.

In asking for a reduced sentence, the U.S. Attorney's Office is required to explain to the federal judge exactly what Naughton has done that has proven valuable to the FBI.

But the office has filed another motion asking that such details not be made public. Public disclosure of Naughton's cooperation 'will notify potential offenders of some of the investigative techniques used to locate and prosecute them as well as the tools to be used by the FBI to uncover their unlawful activity,' according to a motion filed by prosecutors.

On Thursday, the Mercury News opposed the U.S. Attorney's motion seeking to seal details of how Naughton has helped the government. The paper is seeking the release of that information.

Naughton, 35, was arrested last September after he approached a female undercover police officer who was pretending to be a girl Naughton met in months of online conversations. In their online conversations, she identified herself online as 13 years old. She was in fact an FBI agent.

Naughton at first pleaded not guilty to the felony charges of crossing state lines and using the Internet to have sex with a minor. He also pleaded not guilty to possessing child pornography after the FBI alleged it had found child pornographic images on his laptop computer.

In December, Naughton was convicted for possession of child pornography. The jury split on the other two charges and a mistrial was declared. He was released from jail after six days when an appeals court, in a separate case, ruled that a person could only be convicted of possessing child pornography if the images were of real children. While the prosecutor offered evidence that two children were real, the judge in Naughton's trial did not tell the jurors to consider this issue as they deliberated.

Then, in March, days before he faced a retrial, Naughton pleaded guilty to crossing state lines to have sex with a minor.

July 28, 2000 - Internet Crimes Against Children Arrest.

The Colorado Springs Police Department and the New York State Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, comprised of members of various New York law enforcement agencies, in conjunction with the New York State Department of Correctional Services' Office of the Inspector General, report the arrest in Buffalo, New York, of Millard J. Lonkey Jr., age 47, of 3174 Bedford Corners Road, Cape Vincent, New York, for Attempted Kidnapping First Degree, a class B felony, and Attempted Disseminating Indecent Materials to Minors First Degree, class E felony. Lonkey, 47, is a Correction Officer at New York's Cape Vincent Correctional Facility.

The investigation started in late February after Lonkey made contact in an Internet chat room with a person he believed to be a thirteen (13) year old girl living in Colorado Springs.

The "child" was an undercover Colorado Springs Police Detective from the Colorado ICAC Task Force in Colorado Springs. Lonkey arranged to have the child purchase a bus ticket to travel to New York State, where he intended to engage in various acts of sexual conduct with the child and raise the child as his daughter.

July 25, 2000 - Suspected Peeping Tom Fatally Beaten. Alabama Man Held in Baseball Bat Attack.

By Richard Zitrin

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (APBnews.com) -- A 23-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter for fatally beating a man he suspected of being a Peeping Tom, police said today.

Kelly Jermaine Marsh surrendered to police Monday and was arrested in connection with the death of 48-year-old Eddie Ward, authorities said. Marsh is free on $10,000 bond, police said.

Marsh told investigators he attacked Ward with a baseball bat around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday after he spotted him peeping into his 8-year-old sister's bedroom window, police said.

Police found Ward in the front yard outside of Marsh's home with a severe head wound. He died two hours later at a local hospital, police said.

No history of peeking in houses

Marsh was charged with manslaughter because prosecutors determined he overreacted, authorities said. "You can use deadly physical force to protect your person or someone else, but apparently since he was charged, it's apparent he wasn't in a position where he was having to protect himself," homicide Sgt. Mike Acton told APBnews.com. "His force was excessive."

Ward allegedly had been seen prowling around the neighborhood prior to the fatal attack, but he had no history of being a Peeping Tom, Acton said.

"At his age [48], you'd think if he had a perversion like that, he'd have been caught or something to indicate he had a history," he said. "So either he's not [a Peeping Tom] or he's been real good at it."

July 25, 2000 - Accused Molester Flees - Out Motel Window. Breaks Feet in Jump to Escape Girl's Father, Police Say.

By Richard Zitrin

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (APBnews.com) -- A local man surprised in the act of having sex with a 12-year-old runaway broke both his feet jumping out a second-floor motel window to escape the girl's father, police said today.

Voung Quoc Danh met the 12-year-old and another runaway, a 13-year-old girl, Monday afternoon and checked into a room with them at the Landmark Motel, police spokesman Dan Bates said. Both girls are from St. Petersburg.

Danh was assaulting one of the girls when the runaways' fathers, who had tracked the girls to the motel, found out what room they were in and started pounding on the door, Bates said.

Option number two

"He hears the knocks, sees the father, and I guess he's got either the choice of answering the door or jumping out the second-floor window," Bates told APBnews.com today. "He takes option number two."

Police found Danh crawling on all fours in an alley outside of the motel and charged him with sexual activity with a child under the age of 13, Bates said. The room where the girls were found was registered to Danh, Bates said.

Danh broke the heels on both feet and is under police guard in Bayfront Medical Center, police said.

July 25, 2000 - Abductors Lurk Close to Home. Relatives Kidnap More Often Than Strangers, Study Suggests.

By Amy Worden

WASHINGTON (APBnews.com) -- Acquaintances pose a greater risk to children than strangers, according to a new government report.

The Justice Department study, Kidnapping of Juveniles, found family members committed the greatest number of child kidnappings -- 49 percent. Acquaintances were responsible for 27 percent of the abduction cases, while the remaining 24 percent of abductors were strangers.

It was the first time researchers examined the acquaintance category separate from strangers, and the results will help guide future education and prevention strategies, government officials and child advocates said.

"The data reinforces what we have said for many years, that 'stranger danger' is good information, but it's grossly incomplete," said Ernest Allen, chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "Children are at far greater risk with people they know, at least casually. It's not the guy who crawls out from under the bridge."

Seduction rather than abduction

Acquaintance kidnapping, often by boyfriends or ex-boyfriends of the child's mother, usually involves girls ages 12 to 17, the study found. The victims are more likely to be hurt by acquaintances who kidnap them than by strangers, the study said.

Twenty-four percent of acquaintance kidnappings led to victim injury compared with 16 percent of stranger abductions and 4 percent of family kidnappings. Eighty-four percent of kidnappers were males and 30 percent were juveniles. "The vast majority are men who commit crimes of seduction rather than abduction," said Allen. "They use the mother to gain access to the child."

Robbery and assault were the crimes most commonly associated with stranger kidnappings, in which 95 percent of kidnappers were males. In cases involving family members, 80 percent of the kidnappers were males and victims were injured in only 4 percent of the abductions.

'We have to empower the child'

Allen said he was alarmed at the number of abductions by strangers. "That one out of four kidnappings is done by a pure stranger," he said, "means we have to take a closer look at that segment of society."

He said the report's findings would help efforts to broaden children's education about the dangers of kidnapping.

"Kids know they are not supposed to talk to strangers, but someone they knew a little bit ceases to be stranger," Allen said. "We have to empower the child, let them know it's OK get away from situations they don't feel right about and to tell somebody. And teach them not to think just because a person doesn't look like the bogeyman that they are safe."

About 30,000 children were kidnapped in the United States last year, a decline of about 5 percent over the past two years. But Allen cautioned that figure is still six times as high as the number of abductions reported in 1985.

The Justice Department report, conducted by researchers at the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, examined 1997 FBI data from 12 states.

July 25, 2000 - Drifter Charged With Luring Teen Cyber-Friend. Girl, 14, Agreed to Cross Canadian Border, Say Cops.

By Seamus McGraw

VICTORIA, B.C. (APBnews.com) -- A 28-year-old drifter from Washington who lived out of his car and used public computers to surf the Internet is being held without bail for trying to lure across the border a girl he met online, authorities said.

Jason Andrew Wright and his 14-year-old runaway girlfriend were nabbed Monday morning as they prepared to board the ferry to Vancouver for the first leg of their trip to Washington, said Constable Phil MacDonald of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Wright, originally from Selah, Wash., is charged with abduction, MacDonald said.

The girl, who has been returned to her family, told authorities that she was disappointed with her home life and that she had struck up a friendship with Wright several weeks ago after meeting him in a teen chat room.

"There wasn't anything serious," MacDonald said of the problems that drove the girl to a man she knew was twice her age. "It was just typical teen stuff."

Suspect turned up unexpectedly

The girl told authorities that at first she kept Wright at arm's length. "She didn't give him her address or her phone number," MacDonald said. But about two and a half weeks ago, she weakened and told Wright where he could reach her by phone. The pair talked regularly on the phone, but the girl still kept her address a secret, MacDonald said. But on Sunday, Wright turned up unexpectedly in Colwood, a suburb of Victoria, and urged the teen to meet him. "She was young and naive, and didn't know how to say no," MacDonald said.

She agreed to meet him at a spot near her home, and two rode around the area for a while in Wright's car. During the ride, the girl again went in to detail about how unhappy she was living with her single mom and brother, MacDonald said.

Girl packed belongings as car idled

Wright then offered to spirit her back across the border so she could stay with him in Washington, MacDonald said. Finally, the girl agreed, and, while her mother was attending an open-air concert in a local park, she slipped back into her house, "packed her stuffed animals and took her dog," and fled with Wright, MacDonald said.

Neighbors, however, got suspicious when they saw Wright's car idling outside, and called police. A short time later, the girl's mother returned home, reported her missing, and a search was launched.

Authorities said Wright had driven to nearby ferry terminal, hoping to catch a ferry to Vancouver. But the couple had missed the last ferry of the day by about 10 minutes, and so they checked into a nearby hotel where they spent the night.

Nabbed at the ferry

The next morning, when they tried to board the ferry, authorities were waiting for them. The girl was returned to her mother. Wright was charged under a Canadian law that makes it a felony to take an unmarried girl under 16 away from her parents without their consent.

Authorities don't believe Wright molested the girl. He is not charged with any sex crimes in connection with the case, MacDonald said. But authorities in British Columbia say they have reached out to officials in Oregon, where they suspect Wright may have been involved with other underage girls.

July 25, 2000 - After six years on the run, Guatemalan private policeman Mariano de Jesus Barillas Ruano has finally been captured and is being held on suspicion for the 1994 murder of street youth Sergio Miguel Fuentes Chavez (17) in Guatemala City.

An arrest warrant for the policeman was issued more than 5 years ago by the Fifth Judge of 1st Penal Instance, Drug Activity and Crimes Against the Environment. Barillas Ruano was finally captured by the Guatemalan authorities on July 4th, 2000 inside the Guatemala City police headquarters when he came to request a copy of his police record! He is expected to be formally accused of the murder of the youth later this month.

Sergio was murdered on September 4th, 1994 when the private policeman fatally shot him in the head after accusing him of stealing a pair of sunglasses. The youth had been in the market ìSur Dosî in central Guatemala City with a fellow street child who was also threatened by the same officer, but whom later escaped.

In 1996, after two years of inaction by the Guatemalan authorities, Casa Alianzaís Legal Aid Office succeeded in pressuring the Public Prosecutor into initiating an investigation into the murder. However, despite repeated requests by Casa Alianza, the five year old arrest warrant had never been served on the private policeman.

In a desperate search for justice, Casa Alianza and CEJIL (Center for Justice and International Law) presented the case before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington in 1995. The case was accepted by the IACHR with case number 11,554. The IACHR is one of the principal human rights bodies of the Organization of American States (OAS) responsible for upholding the American Convention on Human Rights ñ the international instrument for the protection of human rights in the Americas. The case has yet to be resolved by the Commission.

There are still ten pending arrest warrants against policemen in Guatemala accused by Casa Alianza of the torture and murder of street children. Some of the arrest warrants were issued more than 8 years ago. The Casa Alianza Legal Aid Offices in Guatemala and Honduras are funded by the Danish church organization, DanChurchAid.

Let this arrest be an example to people to show that we will not forget those children who had their childhood stolen from them. Sooner or later justice will prevail...

Bruce Harris, Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin America

July 25, 2000 - "The Third Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference" will be held on August 5 and 6, 2000.

"The Third Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference" will be held on August 5 and 6, 2000 at the DoubleTree Hotel near Bradley International Airport (between Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA). The purpose of the conference will be to help survivors of ritual abuse and to help stop future occurrences of ritual abuse and mind control. The conference will be for survivors, co-survivors, helping professionals and others interested in the above topic. People have told us that last year's conference was the safest conference they have ever been to. For the safety of all participants we try to exclude current members of secret organizations, current perpetrators, and/or members of unsympathetic organizations. We recommend always bringing a support person to all conferences and staying with that person or another safe person at all times. For survivors of mind control and/or ritual abuse, S.M.A.R.T. recommends that you try to bring a support person that is familiar with mind control techniques. We also recommend reading the first presentation at our last conference at http://members.aol.com/smartnews/page5/NBpresentation99.htm about conference safety and trigger management.

For information write:

Conference information is at: http://members.aol.com/smartnews/smart-2000-conference.htm

S.M.A.R.T. - Copyright 2000 (Entire Pamphlet and conference name) - All rights reserved, no reproduction of any material without written permission from S.M.A.R.T.

July 19, 2000 - Boys used in pornography sought (Ocean City, MD - 1970-80'S).

Boys in sex pictures sought as police investigate further. Severna Park man serving 6-year sentence.

By A Baltimore Sun Staff Writer

Two months after a Severna Park man was sentenced on a federal conviction of possessing child pornography, state police are trying to identify the boys appearing in dozens of explicit photographs that served as evidence to pursue the possibility of further charges.

"We're looking to see if the individuals involved were sexually abused," said Tfc. Art Schroeder of the state police Computer Crimes Unit. The pictures were found in an album possessed by 61-year-old Robb Walker Freeman, a convicted child molester, in a search of his home in the 600 block of Old County Road. He was arrested in September and sentenced in May to six years in prison.

Freeman had been convicted in 1984 of molesting a young boy, prosecutors said at sentencing. Police said the album held more than 50 instant photographs of white boys ages 7 to 13 involved in sexual acts that appeared to have been taken during the 1970s and 1980s in Ocean City and in Freeman's residence.

Anyone with information is asked to call Schroeder at 410-290-1620, or the U.S. Customs Service at 410-962-2914. All information will remain strictly confidential, police said.

July 16, 2000 - Boys & Girls Town of Missouri Releases Research on Adolescent Sexual Abuse Behaviors. Study Provides Insight for Parents, Social Workers and Counselors.

ST. LOUIS, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers from Boys & Girls Town of Missouri and Southeast Missouri State University recently released a sexual abuse study providing key insight into the behaviors of adolescent sexual offenders. The study supports the theory that sexual abuse by some adolescents may be a reenactment of their own sexual abuse. The implications of the study provide valuable information in the diagnosis, treatment and re-introduction of adolescent sexual offenders into society.

Published in the April 2000 issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, the sexual abuse study was conducted on male sexual offenders aged 10 - 17, each of whom had been a victim of sexual abuse. The study includes the following results on sexual offending adolescents:

Sexual offending adolescents were twice as likely to abuse a child less than five years old if they were sexually abused under the age of five.
Sexual offending adolescents who had been sexually abused by a male were twice as likely to select a male victim.
Adolescent sexual offenders were two to fifteen times more likely to enact the same sexual behaviors on their victims as they experiences during their own abuse.

According to Scott LeGrand, co-researcher of the study and program director of the Sexual and Substance Abuse Recovery Program at Boys and Girls Town of Missouri, "The results of the study will enable therapists, medical professionals, judges and juvenile officers to conduct more thorough evaluations, which lead to better treatment planning for these adolescents."

"Adolescents tend to have a very difficult time in discussing issues of sexual abuse and sexual behaviors. In many situations, there may be only one opportunity to evaluate an individual for possible treatment. The study demonstrates that if we are dealing with an adolescent offender who was sexually abused, and we know about the type of abuse involved, then we can make clinical judgements regarding their possible behaviors. It will also allow us to identify safety factors, evaluate risk for relapse and provide better recommendations for after care," said LeGrand.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, forty-three percent of sexual assaults against children age six and under are perpetrated by a juvenile offender. Historically, sexual behavior between children has been dismissed, perhaps because the line between normal childhood curiosity and sexual abuse has been unclear.

Dr. Louis Veneziano, professor of Psychology at Southeast Missouri State University and co-researcher of the study, explains that sexual abuse is different from normal childhood curiosity in that it involves coercion, power and control. He warns that parents should look for signs that further investigation might be necessary.

"Children who are sexually abused may exhibit problems at school, with friends or in social situations. Adults should be aware of any unusual behavioral changes in their children. Pronounced difficulties in school, emotional or behavioral difficulties, a child's inability to interact with peers in social settings and nightmares may be signs that a child may have been traumatized. Trained professionals can help determine the cause for the anxiety."

Founded in 1949, Boys & Girls Town of Missouri is a nationally accredited facility that treats troubled youths with a history of abuse, neglect, severe behavior disorders and psychological problems. The organization runs an innovative sexual offenders program that provides comprehensive assessment and specialized treatment for youth with sexual offenses or sexual behavioral problems. You can visit the organization's Web site at http://www.bgtm.org.

FACT SHEET

Sexual Abuse

Statistics on Adolescent Victims and Offenders

In 1997, 120,732 children were reported sexually abused in the United States. (Children's Welfare League of America (CWLA) Web site http://ndas.cwla.org)

One in three victims of sexual assaults reported to law enforcement, are under the age of 12. (U.S. Department of Justice's Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report)

Forty-three percent of sexual assaults against children age six and under are perpetrated by a juvenile offender. (U.S. Department of Justice's Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report)

Thirty-four percent of sexual assaults against children ages seven through 11 are perpetrated by a juvenile offender. (U.S. Department of Justice's Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report)

Twenty-four percent of sexual assaults against adolescents age 12-17 are perpetrated by a juvenile offender. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report)

FACT SHEET

Sexual Abuse Myths and Facts

Adapted from the Safer Society Program & Press: A Guide for Parents of Children with Sexual Behavior Problems

Myth: Young children do not perform sexually abusive behaviors. They are just curious.
Fact: Children are naturally curious about sexual information. However, children who use intimidation, verbal coercion or force during sexual behaviors are not engaging in normal behaviors. These are signs of a sexual behavior problem.

Myth: A child with a sexual behavior problem must have been sexually abused.
Fact: Many pathways can lead to sexual behavior problems. Some children with these problems have been abused, others have not. Younger children frequently have been sexually touched, exposed to graphic sexual information or influenced by an overly exposed sexual environment. Other children are imitating behaviors they have seen. Regardless of how these behaviors were learned, acting out sexually or aggressively is an unacceptable way for children to get their personal needs met.

Myth: Children with sexual behavior problems will grow out of it.
Fact: While some children "self-correct," no one can tell which children will. Relying on hope that a child will self-correct gambles with that child's life and others' safety. The best way to protect a child from greater problems later in life is to get treatment for the problem now.

Myth: Children exaggerate and tell "tall tales." These stories about sexual abuse aren't real.
Fact: Children depend on adults and seek their attention in a variety of ways, including "telling stories." Almost without exception, children who talk about experiencing or performing sexually abusive behaviors are not "telling stories," they are telling the truth. A parent's, social worker's or therapist's challenge is to become skilled listeners for children who courageously talk about difficult issues such as sexual abuse and sexual behavior problems. Children will not tell adults what they think adults are unable or unwilling to hear. Therefore, adults need to prepare themselves to calmly hear the truth from children.

Myth: Children are too young to remember abuse or abusing.
Fact: Children's recollections are vastly more rich than was once believed. Children remember many things quite accurately. Children often tell adults about traumatic events in bits and pieces. Adults need to give children time and room to feel safe about talking.

CONTACT: Tammy Stankey or Adrian Collins of The Standing Partnership, 314-469-3500, for Boys & Girls Town of Missouri.

SOURCE: Boys & Girls Town of Missouri
CO: Boys & Girls Town of Missouri; Southeast Missouri State University
ST: Missouri

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