I'm not a huge fan of plea bargaining.  I know prosecutors love them.

• People of few resources are often coerced into accepting guilt rather than try to fight against the state, whether or not they're guilty.
• We have the "Alford plea," in which someone who has not admitted guilt, nor had it proven beyond a reasonable doubt, is accepting punishment and going to prison because they don't believe they can successfully fight the state.
• Lastly, people of wealth and connections are often allowed to plead down to much lesser charges, and given little, if any, punishment.  Jeffrey Epstein comes directly to mind.  Officer Timothy Barber.

I know this isn't exactly on point.  But the last item above is only one of the ways sexual assault survivors get rampantly screwed by prosecutors all the time.  The mother in this story just happened to be able to see it happening to her child.  And there was a way for her to do something about it.  God bless.

The core of it is the "He said, she said" where they tell you there isn't enough evidence, sorry.

In this case, the child's mother reported the attacks on her daughter.  The DA declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence.   What had really happened was they dropped the ball and made excuses to the mother.  The mother had no idea how badly they had botched it until they got it reassigned thanks to Marsy's Law.

In I Saw the Devil's Face, I wrote about Lavail Calhoun.  If I'm not mistaken, she attempted to prosecute her rapist, showed up to her court date, and was stood up by the prosecution, allowing Dondi Craig to walk free.  I'm 95% positive I saw that reported about her case.  Unfortunately I don't have the research resources to back that up in writing.  I couldn't find written proof of it on my own.  But a lot of us know that prosecutors really don't care that we got raped.  It costs them nothing to haggle that all the way down to probation only.

The Oconee Enterprise:

"Judge Norris last year ruled that [DA] Gonzalez violated Marsy’s Law, which meant that she violated the rights of a victim by dismissing the case without notifying her or her mother.

“The evidence adduced suggests that the nolle prosequi (dismissal) was entered improvidently,” Norris wrote in his decision to vacate the dismissal and allow the case to be prosecuted but with a DA from another judicial circuit."

Online Athens:

"Daniel was brought to trial on an indictment that included rape, aggravated sexual battery, child molestation, and battery. Athens-Clarke police took out warrants charging Daniel with raping the girl in October 2021 and that he assaulted her the following February by dragging her by the hair and striking her head."

It took a jury 45 minutes to find Daniels guilty on all counts.  Everything he did to this girl was proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt, with minimal deliberation.

A good day in America.

KRON4:
"GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – A woman who disappeared in 2017 has been reunited with her loved ones after police located her in a Michigan motel, the Michigan State Police said Thursday.

The woman, who was not identified, is now back with her family, police said.
In a thread on X, MSP said the woman managed to call her stepmother earlier this week, telling her she was being “held against her will” at a motel in the Detroit suburb of Inkster.
Detectives were able to track her to the Evergreen Motel, where “a girl was heard screaming and crying from a motel room,” MSP said.
“Troopers made forcible entry into the room and recovered her,” MSP wrote.

In a search of the motel room, the MSP said officers found drugs, guns and multiple cell phones. Police said they also identified a suspect, though a spokesperson for the MSP’s Second District said no one was in custody."

While the woman is said to have originally left voluntarily as an adult, things obviously went off the rails in the intervening seven years.  It's not clear why she couldn't leave the motel room, if she was restrained, on drugs, or in poor physical condition.

This just goes to show the slippery slope, how hard it can be to draw the line between a victim and a criminal.  When did domestic violence turn into turning someone out?  When did her drug problem make her a criminal and a fugitive, and when the plot twist again?  What turn of events made her again see herself not as a criminal or fugitive but as a daughter worthy of being helped and rescued by the police?

I'm extrapolating here, based on what I know of other girls who have been turned out by boyfriends.  I don't know that that's what happened to her.  But I can see her going through multiple phases of believing/not believing she would be helped.

I'm glad she got away.  I wish her all the best.  I wish they could all get free.

I just wanted to report on something with a happy ending for once, where the girls are okay and hopefully learned to better protect themselves going forward.  I love it when adults step up to protect children.

NBC2:

"ARCADIA, Fla. --A man was arrested after he allegedly tried to lure teen girls in Arcadia that he was communicating with on a social media app.
According to the Arcadia Police Department, Erdem Ethan Guzelgunler, 22, drove from Tampa to Arcadia in a stolen vehicle to meet the girls.
When Arcadia Police responded to the downtown area on February 15, Guzelgunler tried to run away and was detained.Lolita Euros said her 14-year-old daughter is one of the teens Guzelguner added on Snapchat. She noted her daughter accepted the friend request after seeing they had mutual friends.
Euros’ daughter wanted to meet who she thought was a 19-year-old late at night. When mom said no, the girl asked if she could hang out with him at a public place in her presence. Euros agreed, and Guzelguner drove down from Tampa last week to attend Karaoke.
When a parent noticed the 22-year-old - who is now known to be a convicted sexual offender - asking a teenager to get into his car, the parent called the police.
"Don’t meet these strangers online, I’m begging you. You never know,” Euros said. “I met my daughter’s predator and he looked me dead in the eye and had conversation with me with the ill intent of harming these kids.”
Guzelgunler faces the following charges:

• traveling to meet a minor (2 counts)
• grand theft of a motor vehicle
• resisting arrest without violence
• giving a false name while lawfully detained
• unlawful possession and use of a DL or ID card

The New York man had a warrant from Ohio for a similar incident. He failed to register as a sex offender in 2022 and had been using a fake name, APD said.
Euros encourages parents to communicate with their kids and be open to conversation. Marshal Jones commends the relationship between Euros and her daughter. He said if the daughter hadn't been open this whole situation could've ended in tragedy.
The Arcadia Police Department recommends all parents be involved in their children's online presence."

Folks, this is why your children can't be unattended for a single minute.  Because everyone in America is insane.

In this incident, some kids were at a pool of an apartment complex where they don't live.  The manager lost her entire mind, dumped a soft drink on one of them, and slapped him around.  Why?  Only she could answer that.  Don't say "racism," because a lot of people are racist and manage not to assault children.  Racists can often function within the law.

The kids don't live in the building and maybe shouldn't be at the pool, fine.  Is it such a big deal?  Whatever.  Even if it is such a big deal, there are other ways to handle it.  Close the entire pool for the day.  Say everybody has to leave unless they're with their parents if they're too unruly.  Or just get over yourself because it's a pool and they're kids.

There may be a legal liability of having kids who don't live there at the pool based on insurance.  I don't know.  But there's no reason to assault a child.  I'm glad she was successfully prosecuted.  Does she need to be in prison?  Not for any lengthy stay.  But jail, for sure.  She put hands on a child. 

She needs to be kept away from children going forward.  She needs anger management counseling.  She needs to do community service.  She needs to make amends to this child and his family.

Two quick facts about America:

1. The federal government employs a lot of doctors. 
   
2. The federal government makes and enforces its own rules as it sees fit; nobody holds it directly accountable
   

One thing about going to a federal doctor:  you can't sue them for malpractice.  You basically just take what you get.

When you're in the military, they own you lock, stock, and barrel, the same way they own trucks and filing cabinets.  So if you don't like the medical care you got while on the DoD payroll, you're free to go fuck yourself.

The US military has made some efforts, with whatever degree of success, at improving its sexual assault problem.  They have a long, long way to go in my estimation.  For example, when they rolled out sexual harassment training, part of it was to mandate that the word "harassment" always be pronounced HAIR-us-ment rather than her-ASS-ment.  Because they know who they're dealing with.  Seriously, that's a thing.  That's the level they're working from.  People get not only raped, but have the shit beaten out of them in the barracks all the time.

Army Times:
"Stockin was immediately suspended from seeing patients when officials received the first reports, Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, a spokeswoman for the base, told Army Times in August. Since his suspension, Stockin has continued working administrative duties in a “non-clinical area” of the medical center."


I'm glad they curtailed Major Stockin's activities and I hope he goes to prison for a long time with the other serial rapists.  Me of little faith.

WSJ:

"RAPID CITY, S.D.—An Indian Health Service pediatrician who was convicted of sexually abusing young Native American boys in his care over two decades and became an emblem of the federal agency’s long-term failures was sentenced Monday to five lifetime prison terms.

Stanley Patrick Weber, 71, groomed and abused Native American boys as young as about 9 years old on reservations in Montana and South Dakota between 1995 and 2011, according to court documents. His supervisors in the federal government buried their own suspicions about his conduct, tried to silence others who raised concerns, and transferred the doctor from one reservation to another after managers concluded he might have molested his patients, The Wall Street Journal and the PBS series Frontline reported last year.
The agency’s handling of Weber revealed broader dysfunction at the U.S. agency that provides health care to 2.6 million Native Americans, often in some of the nation’s poorest and most remote communities. The Journal and Frontline later reported that the agency had hired dozens of doctors with track records of malpractice, licensure sanctions and even criminal convictions who went on to harm patients at IHS hospitals."  [emphasis added]

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.