WFLA:

"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A teacher at a Christian school in New Port Richey was arrested Tuesday after he was accused of using yearbook photos of his students to create AI-generated child pornography.

Steven Houser, 67, works as a third grade science teacher at Beacon Christian Academy in New Port Richey, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).

The sheriff’s office was tipped off to Houser and started investigating. In a news release, PCSO said Houser was in possession of two photos and three videos of children pornography. The sheriff’s office said none of the media featured his students.

Deputies discovered Houser had AI-generated child pornography, which he admitted to creating with three student yearbook photos, according to PCSO. "

Okay, so this video raises a very good question.

If some weirdo uses AI to make CSAM for their own benefit, and nobody ever finds out about it, has a crime been committed?

We've already been over this in America.  But because our justice system is spottier than a measles ward, there's no firm answer.

I recall a case -- I know I blogged it somewhere -- of a convicted molester who is sitting in prison for CSAM.  He was found to have been making drawings of CSAM in his cell.  And he was charged with production of CSAM, and had time added to his sentence, because he made drawings to jerk off to.

Now, personally I think that's a little draconian.  He's not an actual threat to children.  We're in the realm of thought crimes now, where he's doing time in prison for fantasizing and masturbating.  Now we're punishing him just for being a pedophile, which I don't support.

But in this particular case?  It's a much harder question.  I'm doing a lot of numbered lists today, so I'll continue.

1. He can't be a teacher ever again.
   
2. He can't be around kids ever again.
   
3. There's no way to stop him from sharing those images, which were made from photos of actual children that he knows.
   
4. Those are children that he actually knows, which is stomach turning.
   

I'm not in favor of CSAM anime, cartoons, and other abusive materials that encourage and promote the abuse and exploitation of children.  But I'm not sure you can criminalize it.  Then again, I'm not an attorney, just an old lady with an opinion that nobody gives a shit about.

At some point in time, I will have the resources to do some proper legal research.  Get me an intern and squander the opportunity to bully and harass them.  Just waste it having them do research.  Meantime, I have to live with the infuriating way things get reported now. 

KUTV:
"OGDEN, Utah — A daycare employee in South Ogden was arrested Tuesday after allegedly taking a 5-year-old girl away from a group activity and sexually assaulting her, according to a police affidavit.

Tanner Wayne Dobson, 30, is listed was listed on the daycare's website as a support staff member and substitute teacher. His name has since been removed.
A South Ogden Police Department officer's report noted that the alleged assault happened while Dobson "on probation or parole, or while free on bail awaiting trial on a previous felony charge."
The affidavit also stated Dobson was also a suspect in a separate, but similar, case.
"As of this date (Jan. 10, 2024) a separate case with similar allegations was being reported to South Ogden Police Department," the affidavit states.

Information on the other allegations or Dobson's parole, or probation status was not included in the probable cause statement. Court records showed only traffic offenses in Utah prior to his arrest. [Emphasis added]

According to the probable cause statement, the victim reported that Dobson instructed her to remove her clothes. He is accused of using his phone to take videos of the girl as well as touching her inappropriately.
The child's parents reported the alleged abuse to South Ogden police on Monday.
The victim was interviewed at the local Children's Justice Center, where investigators learned the details of what happened. Dobson reportedly later admitted to the victim's claims.
The officer reported Dobson had taken two videos of the girl, which he ultimately deleted from his phone before initiating a factory reset, wiping evidence of the chid pornography off the device. He also admitted to inappropriately touching the child.
The daycare owner terminated Dobson's employment after becoming aware of the allegations against him, according to the probable cause statement.
Dobson was arrested at his Ogden home at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
He was booked into the Weber County Jail just after 9:30 p.m. on suspicion of first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child, first-degree felony aggravated sexual exploitation of a child, and second-degree felony obstruction of justice."

Okay, I have so many questions.

1. The linked video says there are complaints about him going back to 2017.  Complaints to whom?  This contradicts the reporting about the court records showing nothing but traffic issues with him.
   
2. There's an affidavit saying he's on probation or parole, further contradiction.  So he has clearly done something before.
   
3. There's mention of another, similar complaint pending investigation as of January 10, 2024.
   
4. If he was already on parole or probation, how in the hell did he get hired at a daycare center?  What is his relationship to the owners of that daycare center?  Why was he allowed to single out the child he admits to assaulting and videotaping?  Why was he allowed to remove her from the room?
   

What infuriates me about this is that even when kids do manage to come forward, which is such an uphill battle for them in so many ways, the adults very often don't do anything.  This case right here proves it. 

How many complaints were there dating back to 2017?  Complaints to whom?  Probation or parole about what?  JFC I can't.

The more I dug into this story, the more it upset me.  America's narratives are so toxic that I just stay to myself all the time.

What actually happened was bad, but not so out of range for every day in America.  Two people with mental illness collided, one of them almost died.  Our lack of mental health care, and our piss-poor parenting, are the true pandemic that will kill us all.

What bothers me about this first video:  the focus is entirely on the mental health of the victim.  The attackers are described as "small children," when actually the boy who stabbed her was 12, almost a teenager.  To me, "small children" would be toddlers.    If the 7-year-old were the older of the two that description might make sense.  But no.

Dave Chappelle's whole justification for rape trolling the shit out of Elizabeth Smart was, "How old is 13 anyway?" against two armed, adult kidnappers.  But this poor darling is a "small kid," sure.  Welcome to America, land of alternative facts.

The 7-year-old isn't being charged, and that's fine with me.  He's said to still be processing what happened.  He's a bystander and victim of  his shitty mother and doomed brother.  At 7 he was surely overwhelmed and had no way to understand what his negligent mother was allowing his undersupervised, mentally ill brother to do. 

The reporting has me furious.  I truly don't see what the survivor's mental health had to do with the price of milk in this story, other than blame-shifting.

The doorbell cam shows two boys in front of the neighbor's house on their bikes.  They're said to be having words with her when another neighbor comes and shoos them away.  Note that I'm not able to see the survivor in the doorbell video.  She appears to be in her own garage, minding her own business.

The two boys are seen about ten minutes later on their bikes, this time wearing gloves.  The 12-year-old (allegedly) runs into the garage, pulls out a knife, and stabs the woman.  They both get back on their bikes and race away.  The woman didn't die because her brother came to routinely check on her very shortly after the attack.  She was choppered out to a trauma center.  That's the only reason she survived.

Now here's the apology from the mother of the alleged attackers, who were brothers.  Let me break her statement down point-by-point.

1. I'm very remorseful.  I wouldn't want that to happen to nobody. [sic]
2. I'll keep my prayers up for both my son and their family.
3. My son struggles with mental problems.
4. He has mental issues, but other than that, he's just a boy.  [shrug]  They all learn.  We learn from our mistakes.
5. I'm sorry my sons committed "the incident."
6. I'm praying for your health and wellness.

Do you see how stripping her whiny mewling out, and reducing her statement to the simple words, makes her position a lot more clear?  Everything about her statement made me want to grab her by the throat and punch her face until it wasn't there anymore.

In Point 1, she's acting as her son's spokesperson. He needs to say this to the public and can't.

In Point 2, first problem, ma'am, we know and don't care that you're praying for your own son.  Filter that out of your "apology."  Because you're creating a level playing field where there isn't one.

Also, she's mimicking what every authority figure in America says when they don't plan to take responsibility for jack shit, like after every mass shooting.  "It's too soon... thoughts and prayers."  Decades later, that's still all we're doing other than throwing low-level individuals in jail after they shoot everybody.  The mechanisms that allow the mayhem are all left perfectly intact.

But she's added the piss-take of including herself as co-victim, by reminding everybody that her son is also a victim of having stabbed an elderly neighbor in a premeditated, unprovoked home invasion.  Whatever crazy thing the woman may have said to them ten minutes earlier, she never left her garage.

In Point 3, we're getting down to business.  Her son is mentally ill.  Now we're at the beating, bleeding heart of American hypocrisy:  the mentally ill have to fend for themselves in this country.   This incident happened at the intersection of need and responsibility.

The survivor is still alive because her brother took personal responsibility for her every single day as her mental state declined in old age.  He came by for his routine check-in just at the right moment.  She made it 59 years without getting stabbed by some unattended brat.

The kid who stabbed her will continue to be a menace to and burden on society all his days, because his mother has never taken responsibility for him.   He made it 12 years without attempting to kill someone in their own home. 

What was his mom doing during the pertinent timeframe?  Why was the mentally ill 12-year-old supervising his little brother?  Why did she not notice her two sons grabbing gloves and knives?  Why did the other neighbor shoo them away from arguing with the neighbor and she knew nothing about their whereabouts or activities?  What was she so preoccupied with, that was more important than her mentally ill son?  Where does this woman get off shrugging during her apology?

4. He has mental issues, but other than that, he's just a boy.  [shrug]  They all learn.  We learn from our mistakes.

This one right here is what made me want to personally beat this kid's mother beyond recognition.  She's why that lady got stabbed.  This statement is 1/2 an RCH from "boys will be boys."  In case you're not clear on how few fucks she gives, she literally followed it up with a shrug.  She created the little monster in that video. When she says in Point 1 "I'm very remorseful," she means "I'm sorry it happened" because now her life is all messed up.  

We all learn from our mistakes?  What did his mother learn about supervising her mentally ill son?  I'm left to wonder how much time she spent sitting around the house complaining about that neighbor in front of her children, griping that she was a danger to the community?  Where did her kids get the idea to go over there and argue with her in the first place?  Fuck this woman and her worthless apology.

Because she then followed that up with apologizing that her son committed "the incident."  I grew up having the violence against me continually minimized and dismissed. 

Ohio State News:
"In two separate experiments, Lewicki and his co-authors tested how 755 people reacted to apologies containing anywhere from one to all six of these elements:
1. Expression of regret
2. Explanation of what went wrong
3. Acknowledgment of responsibility
4. Declaration of repentance
5. Offer of repair
6. Request for forgiveness.
...
Our findings showed that the most important component is an acknowledgment of responsibility. Say it is your fault, that you made a mistake,” Lewicki said." [Emphasis added]

And that's exactly what made this woman's apology less valuable than used toilet paper, her utter lack of responsibility.  Her child's mental health combined with her lack of supervision is just whoopsie diddle.  The rest of us will be working around that as long as he's breathing and it's not her fault.  And she'll be mewling on TV and praying about it.  I could drown her in the toilet right now.

"The second most important element was an offer of repair.

One concern about apologies is that talk is cheap. But by saying, ‘I’ll fix what is wrong,’ you’re committing to take action to undo the damage,” he said.

The next three elements were essentially tied for third in effectiveness: expression of regret, explanation of what went wrong and declaration of repentance."

Nobody gives a shit about your prayers about things you refuse to own up to with your actions.

I report on a lot of serious problems with the police in America.  So this seems petty AF. 

This officer would allegedly go to Target and switch price tags, in one of the most-commonly busted forms of shoplifting.  It happens so often there's a name for it:  ticket switching.  And as a police officer she should know this, and how easy it is to catch.  Because I watch bodycam footage in my spare time.  And the cops apparently run a shuttle from Target to Walmart to jail with the shoplifters.

I have a lot of feelings about that.  I really hate thieves, especially this new thing where people just walk in, take whatever they want, and leave.  I very much dislike the complete breakdown of minimal mutual respect.  All hell has broken loose, and I'm not for it.  Recently a young woman at a beauty store in Boyle Heights was dragged out by multiple attackers and severely beaten in the parking lot, over some bullshit that can be found anywhere in America for peanuts.  That didn't used to happen when I was a kid.  Now that kind of thing happens all the time.

On the other hand, it's infuriating that sexual and domestic violence survivors often can't get the time of day from the police.  But Walmart and Target have them on speed dial, revolving door service on the petty theft.  Because America has always had its priorities straight.  One reason is obvious:  administratively, Target and Walmart hand them a prosecutorial package, done deal.  They know who and what they can charge, and they're handed the correct evidentiary packet, bang, boom, done.  It's the exact opposite of a DV or sexual assault call, which is like a wild card wrapped in a loose cannon at a goat rope.  100% motivation to look for a way to say, "Nothing to see here."

So it never sits right with me.  I'm not mad at retailers for protecting their interests.  It's better for everyone that they do loss prevention.  But I'd love to see law enforcement in this country protecting the sanctity of people more than the money of the rich.  And that will never happen, because the entire country was founded on the opposite premise.

Back to this particular police officer.  I report on police officers who are rapists and murderers, so again, this seems petty AF. 

But think about it.  If she's found guilty of the things in these videos -- which hey folks, Target and Walmart are on camera like the average casino in case you didn't know -- then you don't want her investigating the burglary at your house, because she's a constant, petty thief.

If she's found guilty of the offenses alleged herein, that means she routinely steals whatever she wants, even with her children in tow. 

And also?  She's dumb AF, double problem over in the Land of Entrapment.  If she's allegedly this shady and also dumb about it, that's a deal breaker for any allegedly shady coworkers she may have.  I'm reminded of the New Mexico segment of that documentary The Killing Season, where they did all of these interviews about who might be dumping dead sex workers out onto the Mesa.  One police officer's name came up over, and over, and over.  Every sex worker they talked to suspected it was that one cop.  Now, whether it had anything to do with him or not?  ABQ police has a much bigger problem than this lady potentially shoplifting at Target. 

I remember of working the cash register for my dad's friend Greg Lasser at Lasser's Beverage Company back in Chicago in the early 1980s.  Greg told me some cops would be coming by to pick up some pop for their picnic.  He motioned to a stack of about 20 cases and left me running the whole warehouse by myself as a high school student. 

When the cops showed up, I directed them to the 20 cases Greg had left for them.  They walked right past me to direct the truck driver as he backed into the warehouse.  They loaded up the entire truck, taking whatever TF they wanted.  What was I to do about it?  Who was I to call?  Why was I to think Greg left before they came, if not to turn a blind eye?

This has got to be one of the most horrifying stories I have heard in a while.

This young woman, Mahogany Jackson, was set upon allegedly by eight people she knew, and tortured/sexually assaulted to death.  What makes it more shocking and bizarre is how many women participated in it.  I cannot imagine the backstory that led to this level of brutality against Mahogany Jackson, just why?

According to this report, it began with Jackson confronting one of the men about a gun and some money allegedly stolen from her purse.  Jackson allegedly "made him strip to prove he didn't have it," which if true sounds like they may be something of a low-key criminal element as a cohort.  I don't know any girls who know any guys who might steal a gun from them, and then go over and "make him strip to prove it."   Bit of a hard charger if so.

But also, this is their side of the story after she's dead.

There are a lot of details missing in the reporting between Jackson allegedly making one of the men strip to prove he didn't rob her, and Jackson then being held against her will and repeatedly assaulted.

But she's known to have sent heartbreaking messages begging for help to her family.  And now they have to deal with all of these trials. What a horrible case.

There's a lot of information out about this sick guy, Brian Steven Smith. 
ABC News
"A jury found Brian Steven Smith guilty of the murders of 30-year-old Kathleen Jo Henry and 52-year-old Veronica Abouchuk, two Native Alaska women who died on Sep. 4, 2019, and August 2018, respectively.

Smith was found guilty of all 14 criminal counts, including first- and second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and sexual assault in the deaths of both women.
The jury also found that an aggravated factor of substantial physical torture applies to Smith's count of first-degree murder in the murder of Kathleen Jo Henry.
Smith, who is from South Africa, previously admitted to committing both murders in an interrogation on Oct. 8, 2019, which was played for the jury during the trial. Still, Smith pleaded not guilty to all charges."


I'm glad these women got some justice, and that his reign of terror was finally stopped.  Because I'm sure there are other victims.  Lord only knows what he got away with during his days on the loose.  There's a reason such a person gravitated to Alaska.  He knew exactly what he was doing.  I'm so sorry for what they went through at his hands.

Former Officer Michael Christian Green pled guilty to forcing an arrestee to lick his own urine off of the jail floor, after not allowing him to use a toilet.  This was a horribly violent, prolonged, and despicable attack on an immigrant.  I'm not sure how it was discovered, whether the man filed a complaint, a coworker of Green's, or command routinely reviewed the video.

AP:
"Michael Christian Green, 26, lost his job as a Pearl Police Department patrol officer in late December, four days after security cameras showed the violent encounter in Pearl, a suburb of the capital city of Jackson.

Green — who has a large cross tattooed on one arm and the word “Blessed” tattooed on the other — stood calmly before a federal magistrate judge Thursday and did not dispute any of the accusations read aloud by a federal prosecutor."

I'm glad they acted swiftly and firmly on this in terms of revoking his ability to work in law enforcement.  But he was only charged with a misdemeanor.  And how were there not more safeguards in place to prevent it happening in the first place?  How were there not more other personnel in the area to see what kind of thing he was doing and stop it?

Mississippi has serious problems, as we see from the recent "goon squad" sentencing.  America's "justice" system is so spotty, so variable from one place to another.  A lot of things never come to the light of day.

It was weird to me the way this Mayor mentioned, in another video, his personal religious beliefs as a reason that he couldn't understand Green's behavior.  Because Green has his Christianity tattooed on his arms.  And the Mayor wasn't doing what a lot of people in Mississippi demand Muslims, for example, do every time there's a terror attack, and denounce the bad people of their own religion.  No, he was just kind of baffled at how somebody could do such a thing, tsk tsk.  I think America would be better off overall if we really did have separation of church and state.  I think that would be better even if that makes the Christians uncomfortable, checking their personal values at the door and just going strictly by the law.

I think as long as people think their personal feelings can come into their official decision-making, that America is about them and their personal values while they fulfill their municipal duties, we're screwed.

So this is the one and only thing I've ever had to say about this also-ran comedian from the 1980s.

Anti-Abortion Zealots Flex Their Biblical Muscles at the Supreme Court

Michael Ian Black was someone I used to have  a neutral-favorable opinion of.  Then he disappeared from my radar for a long time.

Then while the #MeToo Movement got co-opted/Twitterjacked by white celebrities during the Harvey Weinstein kerfuffle and other prosecutions that followed, once that started to die down, it became safe to be a rape troll again.  I was much too hard on Jim Jeffries in hindsight, which is pretty sick in terms of how low the bar is.

But once it became safe to piss on #MeToo, Michael Ian black couldn't miss his chance to draw some attention to himself by hopping on the bandwagon and coming out against it.  I don't remember/care exactly what he said.  I remember noting it at the time.  I've seen who he is now.

Now not only is Louis CK back on tour, Michelle Wolf is opening for him and Dave Chappelle -- who talks all kinds of shit about a young girl who got kidnapped and raped.  Michelle Wolf has a bunch of #MeToo jokes, as does even Kathleen Madigan.  They all do now.  Comedy was never our friend.  But rape culture is all the way safe and open now.  #MeToo is officially hysterical women persecuting men now.  The portion of the world that I'm willing to participate in gets smaller every day. 

I bring this up because I will never forget realizing Michael Ian Black was still alive when he popped up, a propos of nothing, to piss on #MeToo.  Duly noted.  Another hero heard from. 

I point this out, on the first and last time I will ever talk about this washup, because of the dripping hypocrisy.  He appears to be angling for an MSNBC job.  I'll never vote again, so I don't care what any of these hypocrites do.  But I pay to maintain this blog so that I can have an opinion. 

When I read the book Women Talking, one of the most infuriating things about it was the reviewers going all swoony on August Epp with "not all men!"  I guess it seems that way when you've never dipped below a certain level of comfort, that he's doing a great job.

To me, August Epp, like Michael Ian Black, with his heroic article in The Daily Beast, is disastrous.  With friends like him, we're better off dead.   I can't possibly grade on that hard of a curve.  I'd like to see him lead, follow, or get the fuck out of the way.  I'd like to see the people with no scar tissue at all STFU for a minute and stop talking over me about everything.  I'm old now.  This is not so survivable.

August Epp knows how to read.  August Epp has not only been to England and speaks English and Spanish, knows how to use maps, he's been in prison and understands more about how society works than average, right?  And he sits in that meeting with his male gaze, ogling the women and even the girls, adding not a damned thing of value that can help them.  They don't know what questions to ask, and he offers them fucking gibberish about the Dead Sea.  I wanted to strangle August Epp.  And the unraped women reading that book all wanted to give him cookies for not killing himself or raping anybody.  That's how low the bar is for "not all men" like him and the anti #MeToo Michael Ian Black.

I have so many thoughts about both this story and the Franke/Hildebrandt case.  And they have a lot in common.  Really the Utah women are lucky that the children didn't die, is the main difference.  And the demographics.  Bottom line, all of these kids were living in hell because of the high-demand Christianity of their parents.  The two youngest Franke children barely survived.

Unfortunately people who directly experience violence in America are automatic casualties of both whatever abuse is inflicted on them, and then of America's toxic narratives.  There isn't much of a good or healthy way to talk about the life and death of this poor child.

It's obvious to note how much more attention the Franke children are getting, and how nobody knows the name Sayra Barros.  If you look at it from the superficial, identity-politics level that everything has degraded to now, it looks like just another death being swept under the rug.  Firing those two caseworkers means nothing.  They'll get other jobs.

But Ruby and Jodi had an actual TV show about how great it was, the way they treated children!  And the Mormon Church referred people to her multimillion-dollar home.  Jodi was looking to buy even more-secluded land to have children funneled to for "repentance."  The police found $85,000 cash in Jodi's home, which was child support for the two starving children.

Whereas Sayra's father and stepmother were just very quietly in a high-demand religion, not exploiting her financially or in the media.  And there was only one of her to take the wrath/be in the way of her stepmother's marriage to her father.

But showering Sayra's case in attention the same way the  Franke case is being treated would be highly problematic for a number of reasons:

• Sayra's family are immigrants from Nigeria
  
• They're black people
  
• They weren't famous child-raising experts in a huge, influential church before Sayra was murdered
  
• The prior complaints about Sayra's mistreatment were nowhere near as public as with the Franke kids
  
• The conversation in America already has never been balanced, and has only spiraled into madness in recent years;
  

and the kicker:

• Most of the discussion around "true crime" is gawking and exploitative piss-taking on the victims anyway.  That's the part nobody likes to talk about, and why Sayra's case isn't really ripe for that sort of attention.  It isn't about support or making anything better. Nothing wholesome comes of it.  It's about ad revenue.  Exploiting and screwing with minority immigrants when they've committed horrible child abuse will only play with one demographic, and they don't care what happened to Sayra because she's black.
  

The other thing that leaps out at me, based on my age and demographic, is how firing these two workers is exactly like weeding out those "bad apple" cops, which is what I grew up being told needed to happen as a white kid in the 1960s.  How did that work out?  Let's ask George Floyd -- or Philando Castile, or a lot of people.

Well as an old lady, I'm a huge fan of body cams, which would never have come to pass if we were still in "bad apples" mode.  I literally watch body cam videos every day, because I'm a believer in "your story, their story, and the actual story."  Not that people are necessarily lying.  But I learned running 911 calls that all the different perspectives of a serious event are needed, and they often conflict for many different reasons.  I know how untrustworthy my own memory is.  The more cameras, the better.   Because come to find out, it was more than just a few bad apples.

Meanwhile, exactly like with the Franke kids, Sayra died because her father deferred to his wife on however she wanted to treat the child.  Period.  Same with my dad.  "I abdicate responsibility.  Good luck, kiddo."  We live in a nation of heroes.

Like Ruby and Jodi, Sayra's stepmother used the child as a dark mirror for all of her own shortcomings.  I have to wonder what about any of this reflects Jesus, in what way.

Eve Franke, when she could finally be coaxed out of the linen closet after several hours, was brought in for questioning.  When she finally spoke, she said, "If I talk to you, it will only make my repentance process that much harder."

All of this is immensely helpful for me personally as a survivor, to see how these children truly believed it was their own fault, that they deserved what was done to them.  I recognized my mother in the Teflon denial of Jodi and Ruby, how they continued to blame first the children, then each other.  But I felt especially liberated by the children's pure acceptance of blame and responsibility for all of it.  How I recognized that.  How wrong it is.

The best thing about this is that Sayra doesn't have to deal with it anymore.