Judge considers bond for dad who admits punching, killing 4-month-old daughter; also harrased dead baby's mom before trial (Sioux City, Iowa)

That violent dad PAUL HILL would be even CONSIDERED for bail just shows how little regard the legal system has for the safety of mothers and children.

http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/father-charged-in-baby-s-death-is-flight-risk-state/article_f6c47574-c9a7-58a9-9806-dabd2f5fd27c.html

Sioux City father charged in baby's death is flight risk, state says

April 27, 2015 4:30 pm • NICK HYTREK SIOUX CITY |

With no family in the area and the knowledge of what prison is like, Paul Hill has no reason to stay in Sioux City and face a new trial for the death of his 4-month-old daughter, the girl's great-aunt said Monday.

"He's had a taste of prison and he's not going to like it, so he's going to run," said Kim Bursell, the grand-aunt of Tryniti Jo Hill, testifying why Hill's bond should be raised from $50,000 to $100,000.

Hill, 25, has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment causing death for Tryniti's Feb. 17, 2009, death and is scheduled to stand trial Aug. 4 in Woodbury County District Court.

Hill was found guilty in June 2010 and sentenced to 50 years in prison, but was granted a new trial in January, when the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled that a district court judge should have granted Hill's application for postconviction relief and a new trial.

Hill claimed that police questioning him violated his right to remain silent when he admitted to striking Tryniti in the abdomen while buckling her into a car seat.

Hill is being held in the Woodbury County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond. Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Jill Esteves has asked that Hill's bond be increased because his parents no longer live here and he harassed Tryniti's mother, Kayla Hegge, and her family while out on bond prior to his first trial. His bond had been $75,000 when he was released before his first trial.

Hill's attorney, Hannah Vellinga, asked Senior Judge Gary Wenell to leave Hill's bond at $50,000. He attended all his hearings prior to his first trial, she said, and the case has essentially started over since the appeals court's decision.

"Our stance is that at this point, Mr. Hill is facing a new trial. He has not been convicted of anything," Vellinga said. Wenell said he would issue a ruling as soon as possible.

Bail set for custodial dad charged with chaining 6-year-old son to bed for 10 days (Logan, Utah)

So UNNAMED DAD has a criminal record. How much you want to bet that this father was just as controlling and abusive with the new girlfriend--and that's why she did not report? How much do you want to bet he demonstrated the same behavior with the little boy's non-custodial mother?

Let's ask the question that the media refuses to ask. WHO GAVE THIS FATHER CUSTODY?

So much for discrimination against poor widdle daddies....

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/5c1ad86b30e84a94b5cf40356d9fe8d1/UT--Child-Chained-Arrested

Judge sets bail at $10K for Utah man accused of chaining 6-year-old son to bed while at work

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 12, 2014 - 6:25 pm EDT

LOGAN, Utah — A judge set bail at $10,000 Thursday for a Utah father accused of chaining his 6-year-old son to a bed while the man was at work.

The 28-year-old man made his initial court appearance via a video that was played in a courtroom in Logan, Utah, reports the Herald Journal of Logan (http://bit.ly/TPvASs ).

The Associated Press is not naming the man to avoid identifying the child.

In addition to setting bail, the judge assigned him a public defender, Dave Perry.

The man asked to be given a different attorney who had represented him previously on a different case, but that request was denied by the judge. The man is due back in court Monday.

Investigators believe he chained his son to the bed post for 10 straight days when he left for work, unchaining him when he got home. The man did general labor for $13 an hour at a company that makes flood-containment systems in Logan, new court records show.

The man was arrested Tuesday after police went to the house on an anonymous tip and found the boy shackled to the bed, home alone.

The boy had water and snacks and just enough slack to reach the bathroom, Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen said. The heavy, tow or logging-style chain was attached to the boy's ankle, Jensen said.

The boy is with child welfare services, which is looking for the boy's biological mother to see if she is fit to care for the boy, Jensen said.

Authorities also are exploring whether the father's live-in girlfriend knew about what was going on, Jensen said. She and her children lived with the father in the house. She has not been arrested or charged.

The other children in the house go to day care each day, the Herald Journal reported, based on court records.

Online state court records show the father was convicted of felony forgery and theft in 2009. He was arrested in 2011 when he broke the terms of his probation.

Dad, while out on bail for kidnapping and rape charges, chokes and slashes 16-year-old son with a knife; then makes bail AGAIN (Englewood, New Jersey)

He's out on bail AGAIN???

Back in 2010, this guy was arrested on kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Oh, and there was a big police standoff too. That was when the police came to his house after Daddy started firing his handgun as the victim was fleeing. Nevertheless, he got bail.

Now dad SISA BUTU (aka JAMES MCDOWELL) chokes his 16-year-old son, and slashes him with a knife. And because we coddle violent daddies, doncha know, he's out on bail again.

What happens with these guys too often it that they eventually kill somebody, and law enforcement will tsk tsk and moan about what a terrible tragedy it all was. WHEN THEY COULD HAVE PREVENTED IT BY KEEP THESE SH**s of the street to start with.

Now the victim is in hiding. Why do victims have to do the hiding while the criminals roam free? And what happened to this boy's mother?

http://cliffviewpilot.com/englewood-father-charged-with-slashing-son-16/

Englewood father charged with slashing son, 16

Posted by: Jerry DeMarco
Posted date: November 15, 2013

A 52-year-old Englewood man awaiting trial for rape was arrested by city detectives today on charges of choking and slashing his 16-year-old son during a fight at their home.

Police became aware of the incident yesterday, after the boy went to Englewood Medical Center for treatment, Detective Capt. Timothy Torell said.

Sisa Butu — also known as James McDowell — grabbed a kitchen knife and began chocking the teen during an argument Wednesday night, Torell said.

The boy fought back and was severely cut on his hand, the captain said.

Butu, who was charged with aggravated assault, weapons possession and child endangerment, made $75,000 bail while still at the city lockup this afternoon.

A judge issued a “No Contact” order and the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency was notified, Torell said.

The boy is staying at a safe location outside of Englewood, he said.

Butu made headlines in September 2010 during what other media reported as a standoff.

Police said Boto sexually assaulted a Pennsylvania acquaintance who came to see him because he’d been despondent and ended up fleeing his house when he got sick and vomited.

As she did, they said, Butu fired a shot from a handgun, bringing city police and a tactical squad that surrounded the house and tried calling him for a few hours before tossing in cannisters of gas.

The chemical agent awoke Butu, who apparently had passed out sometime after the 45-year-old woman fled and called police on her cellphone.

He was charged with aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, making terroristic threats and illegal handgun possession and indicted in later December of that year.

Butu has remained free on bail since being released 10 days after the incident.

Dad shoots 6-week-old son, baby's mom, police officer; dad later shot and killed by police (Calais, Maine)

May sound harsh, but good riddance. You can just about bet that this POS was going to be nothing but trouble till he was dead or ended up in prison for killing somebody.

Why did the authorities let dad DANIEL PINNEY out on bail? Guys like him are obsessive and ruthless. They are not stopped by niceties like orders of protection. This is the typical judicial coddling we see for domestic violence offenders.

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/police-1-dead-3-wounded-in-shooting/-/8792012/20836142/-/9c5xgu/-/index.html

Baby wounded in foot in Calais shooting; Father dead
State police: Officers fire on father

UPDATED 1:42 PM EDT Jul 04, 2013

CALAIS, Maine —Maine State Police say a woman and a baby were wounded in a domestic violence shooting in Calais in which the father was the shooter and was himself shot and killed by police.

The incident took place at a home on Main Street around 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Calais police officers shot and killed Daniel Pinney, 26, shortly after officers arrived at the home, state police said.

The wounded woman is Megan Sherrard, 21, and her 6-week-old boy, Luca Sherrard. Pinney was the child's father. State police said the woman and child were reportedly shot by Pinney and were fleeing the home when police shot him.

Megan Sherrard is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Luca Sherrard is being treated for a gunshot wound to the foot, state police said.

A Calais police officer, John Preston, was also wounded during the incident and is expected to be recover. State police said Preston and fellow officer Joseph Bartlett shot at Pinney.

Pinney had been in jail for a domestic violence criminal threatening charge involving Megan Sherrard and a bail condition required that he have no contact with her, state police said. She had filed a protection from harassment and abuse order against him on June 11.

Megan Sherrard failed to show up for a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and her father found her car in the medical practice's parking lot and contacted police because he was concerned for her safety, state police said. Investigators believe that Pinney confronted Megan Sherrard in the parking lot and forced her to return with him to his house.

Along with state police, the Maine Attorney General's Office has sent a team of its investigators to Calais to investigate the shootings.

Dad accused of using 2-year-old daughter as "human shield" (Apple Valley, Minnesota)

This illustrates what's wrong with our criminal justice system. This dude has a long criminal record, including CONVICTIONS for crimes like domestic assault. Nevertheless, the judge lets him out on bail during his most recent domestic assault investigation --with predicable results. We put this mom and child at further risk for their lives and in further emotional distress. We subjected this two-year-old girl to total terror as Daddy grabs her as a human shield when the cops pull guns.

It's all about Daddy's rights, you know.

Meanwhile, Mom, the crime VICTIM, is worried that she will be the one who is punished by being evicted from her home.

Dad the criminal gets coddled, Mom the crime victim is at risk of homelessness. What else do you need to know about domestic violence in the U.S.?

Dad is identified as TIMOTHY LEE MYERS.

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21673979/apple-valley-man-accused-holding-2-year-old

Apple Valley man accused of using 2-year-old as 'human shield'

By Nick Ferraro

Posted: 10/01/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT October 2, 2012 12:50 PM GMT

Updated: 10/02/2012 07:50:10 AM CDT

An Apple Valley man is accused of using his 2-year-old daughter as a "human shield" when police drew a gun on him during a recent domestic assault investigation.

Timothy Lee Myers, 52, has been charged in Dakota County District Court with gross misdemeanor child endangerment, as well as domestic assault and obstructing legal process, in connection with the Sept. 22 incident.

Police responded to Myers' house in the 14000 block of Garrett Avenue about 1:45 a.m. after dispatch reported a call with yelling in the background and the caller saying it was "getting pretty bad," according to a criminal complaint.

Officers forced their way into the house because of "ongoing concerns that someone inside had been assaulted and may be in danger," the complaint said.

Once confronted, Myers yelled at an officer and ignored demands to put his hands on his head. The officer pointed the gun at Myers, who refused to raise his hands and kept one behind his back, the complaint said.

Myers then picked up the girl and put her in front of him "like a human shield," the complaint said.

When another officer entered the room, the first officer grabbed the child. Myers physically resisted officers' attempts to place him in custody, the charges said. Two people who were in the house told police that

Myers and a female resident had been fighting. One said she heard the victim making noises like she was being choked, the complaint said.

The victim, identified in the complaint as "M.D.M.," told an officer she did not want to give a statement out of fear that she would be evicted.

"However, the investigating officer said M.D.M. shook her head in the affirmative when he asked her if Myers choked and hit her," the complaint said.

Myers was released from jail the same day after posting $5,000 bail, which included conditions that he have no contact with the victims and avoid using alcohol and drugs.

Myers, who could not be reached for comment on Monday, Oct. 1, is on probation because of a June drunken-driving conviction.

Court records show he also has been convicted of domestic assault, obstructing legal process (interfering with a peace officer) and disorderly conduct.

His next court appearance for the latest charges is scheduled for Oct. 23.

Law would require domestic-violence assessment after arrest (Lewiston, Maine)

Here at Dastardly, we have often called attention to the problem of batterers being out on bail, and how this leaves mothers and children vulnerable to further violent retaliation.

http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/5270228-Maine-law-would-require-domestic-violence-assessment-after-arrest/

Maine law would require domestic-violence assessment after arrest
Officers would report results at defendant bail hearing

By Bridget O'Rourke
Sun Journal (Opinion/Editorial)

LEWISTON, Maine — Victims of domestic violence may not be safe after an arrest is made.

Last summer in Dexter, a kindergarten teacher and her two children were murdered by her husband. At the time he was at liberty awaiting trial on domestic-violence-related charges. In the wake of this tragedy, legislators are considering how Maine's archaic bail system can be improved to increase safety for victims.

The problem of domestic abuse is not unique to Maine. Year after year, all across the country, the headlines are full of heartbreaking news about family violence.

Domestic violence is a serious and costly problem that hurts us all. Roughly half of the state's homicides each year are lethal incidents of domestic violence. In addition, more than 5,000 domestic assaults are reported to law enforcement agencies in Maine each year, which equates to about one assault report every 102 minutes.

Victims of domestic violence are predominantly female and come from all walks of life. Children exposed to domestic violence are particularly vulnerable. These children are more likely to experience developmental delays, learning and behavior problems and other adverse emotional, psychological and physical issues. Chronic exposure to domestic abuse has been shown to cause changes in the brain development of young children.

When a child's lifelong potential is diminished, it hurts us all. It may also contribute to the need for greater public expenditures for education, health care, law enforcement and court services.

A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The bail process exists to protect that important presumption. Bail is set to assure a defendant appears in court, but the safety of victims and the community are also supposed to be protected in the process. However, to do this, adequate relevant information must be available regarding the risk an individual poses.

As the deaths of Amy, Coty and Monica Lake tragically illustrated, victims of domestic violence may not be safe after an arrest has been made. Indeed, the time between an arrest and a trial can be particularly dangerous because domestic violence tends to escalate when a perpetrator feels he is losing control.

During this session, state legislators have the opportunity to increase safety for victims of domestic violence and their children by making some long overdue changes in the bail system. The proposed changes include having judges, rather than bail commissioners, decide bail in cases of domestic violence, and having the defendant's criminal history available for consideration.

In addition, and perhaps most importantly, LD 1711 is a bill that would require law enforcement officers to administer a standardized domestic-violence risk assessment at the time of arrest and to report the results when the defendant's bail is being considered.

This kind of specialized risk assessment would provide meaningful information about risk that should be considered when bail is being addressed.

Since domestic violence is an under-reported crime, the results of a domestic violence risk assessment may be more pertinent than a defendant's criminal history.

Under LD 1711, members of the Maine Commission on Sexual and Domestic Abuse would decide which risk assessment tool will be used. One measure they may consider is the Ontario Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment. This 13-question, yes-no risk scale was developed specifically for use by law enforcement officers in the field to determine a defendant's likelihood of re-offending against his current alleged victim.

The ODARA is a brief, practical, cost-effective and reliable tool to flag cases where heightened safeguards are warranted.

The deaths of Amy Lake and her children were preventable. We must not let their deaths be in vain.

Proposed changes to the bail system will offer better protection for families threatened by domestic violence. In particular, I urge legislators to support LD 1711, an act to mandate the use of standardized domestic-violence risk assessments in the management of domestic violence crimes.

Bridget O'Rourke is a licensed attorney and a guardian ad litem who practices in central Maine. She handles many cases involving families with children who have experienced domestic abuse. She lives in Wayne.

Drunk dad assaults mom during visitation, abducts child armed with shotgun (Brookstead, Australia)

In Australia, any dad with a pulse pretty much gets child custody rights/visitation on demand. This is the result. You have a violent substance-abusing father like UNNAMED DAD, who gets "his rights" to a preschooler without any consideration for the safety of others. When Mom arrives to pick up their son from visitation, Daddy assaults her in some kind of drug-induced rage and smashes her windshield. Armed with a shotgun, Daddy then takes off with the 3-year-old.

How does the media react? They nervously reassures us that this wastrel didn't make any (direct) threats against the child.

So? Are you people idiots? What kind of assurance is that?

Luckily, the child is found three hours later and is apparently "unharmed" (this time). Physically, I suppose they mean. In terms of psychological impact, you tell me how a 3-year-old would react to seeing his Mommy being beaten up, and Daddy taking off with him in some kind of scary rage while brandishing a shotgun.

So how has this been handled by the authorities? CLASSIC DADDY CODDLING.

Daddy's arrested and charged with lots of stuff. But he's in jail for ONLY ONE NIGHT before being let out on bail. That's sure saying a lot about how much you value the safety of mothers and children, isn't it? It's basically saying you don't.

But they wagged their finger at Daddy and told him not to bother Mom anymore! (Big deal). And they sternly informed him he wasn't to drink or drug anymore, and that they were going to do (random) tests just so Daddy knows they really mean business! (Even bigger freaking deal.)

But notice what we DON'T SEE in this article, which is that Daddy's visitation has been revoked. Nor is there any mention of taking Daddy's guns away. Even though we know these orders are basically unenforceable, it doesn't appear that the authorities even bothered to go through the motions.

So it appears that Mom and the child will continue to be put in harm's way so this criminal can continue to exercise his "rights" as a father.

This tells you everything you need to know about the triumph of fathers rights in the west. And the elimination of everyone else's.

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2012/02/01/armed-dad-flees-with-son/

Armed dad flees with son
Lacey Burley | 1st February 2012

A BROOKSTEAD father has been banned from drinking alcohol and taking drugs after he armed himself with a shotgun and drove off with his three-year-old son.

The incident on Monday night sparked a statewide child abduction alert and huge response from police including multiple general duty crews, detectives and the police dog squad.

The three-year-old boy had been visiting his father, 28, at his residence when the child's mother arrived to take the boy home.

An argument broke out between the pair and the offender assaulted the woman.

Police said he also smashed the windscreen of the woman's car.

He was armed with a pump-action shotgun and drove off from the property with his son about 6.30pm.

He did not make any threats against the boy's safety.

Police searched the area for the man's white 2010 Toyota LandCruiser.

Police issued a statewide child abduction alert at 8.15pm and requested media broadcast the vehicle description and registration every 15 minutes.

Officers located the man and child hiding back at his house three hours later.

The boy was unharmed.

Officers also discovered cannabis and a drug utensil inside the man's home.

He was arrested and charged with common assault, wilful damage, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a dangerous drug and utensil, and breach of a domestic violence order.

He was held in custody overnight and appeared in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court yesterday.

Defence solicitor Brad Skuse applied for bail on behalf of the man.

Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist granted the man bail with strict conditions including having no contact with the complainant woman or her father.

He must also subject himself to random alcohol and drug testing by police.

Bail for batterers under review after dad murders two kids, mom (Maine)

Dad STEVEN LAKE murdered his two kids and their mother last summer. He had previously threatened them, but got out of jail on $2,000 bond. Not holding my breath that daddy coddling in the state of Maine is actually going to stop though.

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/26/news/state/dexter-tragedy-brings-bipartisan-focus-to-domestic-violence-bail-decisions/?ref=latest

Shooting of Dexter family brings bipartisan focus to domestic violence bail decisions

By John Christie

Posted Dec. 26, 2011, at 2:08 p.m.
Last modified Dec. 27, 2011, at 9:08 a.m.

MORE ARTICLES IN MAINE'S BAIL SYSTEM:

Report: People need almost no legal training to set bail
•Officials may set bond amounts without full criminal history
•Maine’s bail system: best state can afford or a threat to due process?
•Maine’s bail system: will it be improved?
•‘Broken’ bail system freed man who went on to murder family
•Shooting of Dexter family brings bipartisan focus to domestic violence bail decisions


The deaths of Amy, Monica and Coty Lake at the hands of husband and father Steven Lake may be the tragedy that brings major reform to how the criminal justice system handles dangerous domestic violence cases.

The June 13 triple murder-suicide is becoming a rallying point for changes in the system from an unofficial coalition of domestic violence groups, leading Republicans and Democrats and the state’s top judge and public safety official.

“Change will occur,” said Brian Gagan. “I can guarantee you that.”

Gagan was part of a four-man team of former police officers — now academics and consultants — who recently released a “domestic violence psychological autopsy” of the Dexter incident.

The team interviewed 69 people this year to discover the systemic causes behind the murders. It cites multiple failures by police, prosecutors, the courts, bail commissioners and the Legislature.

Among the failures: bail commissioners set “ridiculously low” bail of $2,000 twice after Lake was picked up for threatening and stalking his wife. In both cases, he was bailed out by his father in a matter of hours.

Although this was the most damning report yet on the pretrial criminal justice system, it is not the first time problems have been raised by experts — and then mostly ignored.

But this time, the response may be different.

Those coalescing behind a change include Republican Gov. Paul LePage; his public safety commissioner, John Morris; state Rep. Emily Cain of Orono, the leading House Democrat; Chief Justice Leigh Saufley; Attorney General William Schneider; Evert Fowle, a district attorney; and advocates with social service and law enforcement backgrounds.

“It takes a long time and sometimes a horrible tragedy for people to put this together,” said Julia Colpitts, executive director of the Maine Coalition To End Domestic Violence and vice chairwoman of the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse.

One of the focal points of legislative changes will be the way the state sets bail for defendants accused of domestic violence.

Except in murder cases, bail is not set by a judge. It is set by one of the state’s 115 bail commissioners. There are no job requirements to be hired; bail commissioners get one day of training a year; and they are independent contractors paid by the people they set bail for, not the courts.

This beleaguered system has been changed very little since it was established by the Legislature in 1883.

‘Orphan’ system

The bail commissioners come under the direction of the state’s judiciary and Saufley, who has been working behind the scenes to improve it with the limited funds and laws available to her.

This year she was able to reinstate a position that will help train and select bail commissioners. The Baldacci administration eliminated the job during a budget crunch; LePage and the Legislature restored it.

But generally the bail commissioner system has been “an orphan within state government,” Saufley said.

“The Legislature will have to look whether it wants to unwind this ancient system of bail commissioner,” she said, adding that she doesn’t see that happening soon because of the costs involved.

In the meantime, though, a number of changes from politically strange bedfellows are making their way towards public debate.

Gagan’s group proposes more than 50 reforms, some legislative and some procedural. Among them are nine changes to the bail system, including that in cases such as Lake’s, a District Court judge, not a bail commissioner, should set the bail.

It also recommended that in most cases in which terrorizing, assault or other violence has occurred while the defendant has been ordered to stay away from a spouse, the defendant should be jailed until a trial.

‘The training and the budget for bail commissioners has so drastically been restricted,” Gagan said, “it’s no surprise that cases have slipped through the cracks.”

Public Safety Commissioner Morris said he has been meeting with the governor, Schneider and the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse to come up with legislation for the 2012 session.

The governor’s bill is still being worked on, but Morris said it would address the bail issue.

Like Gagan’s group, LePage administration has the idea to take bail decisions in serious domestic violence cases out the hands of bail commissioners and have them handled by a judge.

“Judges have more training and they are more experienced and are able to assess the danger associated with” a defendant, Morris said.

Evert Fowle, district attorney in Kennebec and Somerset counties, has been a critic of the bail commissioner system. The Morning Sentinel has reported he too is submitting a bill to put judges, not bail commissioners, in the decision-making role in the most serious domestic violence cases.

Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, a lawyer, has submitted a bill that also puts bail decisions in violent domestic cases in the hands of a judge, who could require defendants to wear an electronic monitoring device that tracks their whereabouts for authorities.

Perhaps the most far-reaching idea would provide a “risk assessment” tool that would be used by police and bail commissioners.

Using science

One such process used now in other states and Canada, the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment, calculates how likely spouses are to assault their partner again.

The 13 yes-or-no questions in the assessment cover the defendant’s history of violence, antisocial behavior, substance abuse and other factors.

Rep. Cain’s bill, which will be brought up next year, would mandate the use of a “standardized risk assessment in the management of domestic violence crimes.”

It would require law enforcement and the state Department of Corrections to set up processes to implement risk assessment statewide over the next two years.

“We need to learn from the horrible things that happened in the Dexter case,” Cain said. “We need consistency, reliability and accuracy in the bail process.”

The governor’s pending legislation will offer a similar idea.

Meanwhile, Sagadahoc Sheriff Mark Westrum, a critic of the bail commissioner system, is about to start a model program using an assessment tool in his county.

Westrum challenges the comments from some bail commissioners who say they can make a reasonable risk assessment with the information they have now because they personally know most of the people in their community.

Brian Rideout, a bail commissioner in Piscataquis County, said, “Ninety percent of these guys, I know,” but he added that sometimes he has to “pry out” of police the criminal histories of a defendant.

‘The bail commissioner may think he knows, but you never really know what a person is capable of,” Westrum said, but a system based on verifiable data will go a long way to making better decisions.

Rideout said the recent public attention on bail has created “a really touchy situation now” and noted that Judge Robert Mullen, who oversees bail commissioners, has focused more on domestic violence in the recent annual training session

The Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse has been working with legislators and the governor’s office on the pending bills.

Julia Colpitts, vice chairwoman of the commission, said a central problem “is that bail commissioners don’t have enough information to make a reasoned decision in the case of someone arrested for domestic violence.”

Even in the rare cases when a bail commissioner has access to a full criminal record, she said, that is not enough to assess the risk, which is why she is among those pushing for a scientifically based assessment.

Saufley said, “We’re moving, I hope, more rapidly to a more objective risk assessment tool. Anyone can be misled by another human being. The more we step away from that and rely on the science, I think the better we will be. But it’s all nascent now.”

In the report by Gagan’s group, he and his co-authors address the political side of changing laws and attitudes about domestic violence.

They say their recommendations should be adopted “in short order … despite the roadblocks that will be attempted by a dramatic minority of decision makers, leaders and professionals who do not accurately understand the importance of preventing [domestic violence homicides].”

Colpitts’ comments, based on her years of experience on the front lines of the issue, echoed the report’s view:

Reports, she said, “don’t get things done” on their own.

“There’s been a history of inaction,” she said. “That needs to stop.”

This story is part of a continuing series called, “Maine’s Bail System: A 19th Century Holdover.” Contributing writers Emily Guerin and Mary Helen Miller provided research for this story.

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is a nonprofit and nonpartisan journalism organization that provides in-depth reporting as a public service to its Maine media partners. The email address is mainecenter@gmail.com. The website is pinetreewatchdog.org.

Dad accused of choking 8-year-old son out on bail (Bartlesville, Oklahoma)

Why do dads like CECIL HAROLD WILSON always gets out on bail? This is how victims of child abuse/domestic violence are further endangered. Choking is considered a significant red flag for escalating violence....But the police chose to believe what is probably a polished, lying creep over a child. What else is new....

http://bartlesvilleradio.com/pages/news/23522011/wilson-charged-with-child-abuse

Posted: Dec 30, 2011 3:36 PM
Updated: Dec 31, 2011 10:28 AM

Wilson Charged With Child Abuse

Charges have been filed against 31-year-old Cecil Harold Wilson, who has been charged with child abuse. Bartlesville police were called to the 200 block of Northeast Debell Avenue to investigate a family fight. According to a court affidavit, officers spoke with an 8-year-old boy and his mother about the incident. The mother told the police that her son got into an argument with his father, Cecil Wilson. The boy told the authorities that Wilson picked him up by the shirt, ripped off his shirt, threw a toy tow truck at him and missed, and choked him. Police looked at the boy and saw no injury to support that he was choked, but did have a red mark on the right side of his neck. Wilson's next court date is February 3rd. Wilson is free on a $20,000 bond.

Dad with visitation rights and facing 5 counts of child cruelty granted bond (Hall County, Florida)

This case is a perfect illustration of how Florida has totally capitulated to pro-criminal fathers rights. Though authorities claim (with evidence) that dad SHANNON PAVEY is a "substantial risk" to the public and his family, Judge David Burroughts granted him bond anyway. Despite the legitimate fears on the part of his ex-wife and new husband that this guy has nothing to lose by retaliating against them.

But that's just the tip of the iceburg. Below, we see listed all the abuse and trauma he has heaped on his children while Daddy was exercising his visitation rights. We also see that Daddy even pleaded guilty to aggravated assault against the mother of the children, threatening her life and putting a gun in her mouth WHILE THEY WERE STILL MARRIED.

SO WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA FOR THIS POS TO HAVE ANY CONTACT WITH THESE KIDS WHATSOVER AFTER THE DIVORCE? What (unnamed) judge granted this criminal child visitation rights? Did anybody seriously think any good would come out of it? Now the kids are abused, and the mother and her new husband have continued to be subjected to endless threats and harassment. Which will only get worse.

Thank fathers rights leaders and their lackeys in the legal system for this mess. This is their doing.

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/60322/#.TuNrcEetvRM.facebook

Man facing 5 counts of child cruelty granted bond
Pavey accused of using stun gun on his 11-year-old son

By Patrick Stoker

POSTED: December 9, 2011 11:43 p.m.

Despite being labeled as "a substantial risk" by authorities, a Hall County magistrate judge granted bond Friday to a Hoschton man charged with five counts of child cruelty.

Shannon Pavey, 38, was arrested Tuesday when the Hall County Sheriff's Office SWAT arrived at his Paris Lane home with search and arrest warrants.

Prosecutors allege Pavey discharged a stun gun on his 11-year-old son, using it multiple times on his legs and thighs. He is also accused of placing his son in a choke hold with his hands over the boy's mouth and nose.Additionally, a warrant alleges Pavey dangled both his son and 8-year-old daughter upside down by the ankles over a two-story balcony.

Based on Pavey's previous compliance with bond conditions, Magistrate Judge David Burroughs granted a $75,000 bond with multiple conditions, including submitting to random drug tests, GPS monitoring, forfeiture of all weapons and having no contact with his two children.

"The evidence is (Pavey) never had a probation revocation during the time he was on probation. He's never been held in contempt of his divorce decree," Burroughs said.

Previously Pavey was allowed visitation with his son and daughter every two weekends. His ex-wife, Heather Foster, has custody of the two children.

Because authorities deemed Pavey as being "prone to spontaneous violent behavior" and owning "a large amount of weapons and ammunition," SWAT was used to make Tuesday's arrest, Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks said.

Investigator Mark Mitchell testified that officers arrived at the residence at about 4:30 p.m. and waited about 30 minutes before Pavey came out and was he was then arrested without incident.

Pavey said he was in the shower when officers arrived and didn't realize they were outside.

Attorney Kelley Robertson, representing the state, as well as other witnesses, described Pavey as having violent outbursts that led to threats against his ex-wife and her current husband. The prosecution suspects that alleged violence could be a result of steroid use.

In 2005, when Pavey and Foster were still married, he pleaded guilty to a Gwinnett County aggravated assault charge in which he made threats against her life and placed a gun in her mouth.
During testimony, Foster's current husband, Greg Foster, said Pavey has made additional threats since that time.

"The persistence by which (Pavey) has gone to aggravate my wife and my family ... knowing his past ... people don't like to mess with him. They're afraid of him and I'm very afraid of him," Greg Foster told the court.

"I'm afraid to testify here today. I'm putting my life in danger because I feel like Mr. Pavey will retaliate."

Among the conditions of the bond, Pavey can't travel to Walton County where the Fosters live. The couple testified that Pavey "has nothing to lose" and would attempt to coerce witnesses not to testify.

"He's done nothing but harass (Heather Foster) the whole time over every single little thing," Greg Foster testified. "My wife has been through an unbelievable hell."

Attorney Hammond Law, who represents Pavey, countered the prosecution's claims.

Neighbors testified for the defense that they feel comfortable leaving their children under Pavey's watch.

"They're unanimous in their intention that their children are safe at Mr. Pavey's house. They leave their children and they don't have any problem with him," Law said.

Dad accused of assaulting 5-month-old son out on bail, told to take classes (Hatboro, Pennyslvania)

Daddy coddling at its finest. Dad JARRETT TOURISH is accused of assaulting his 5-month-old son, and yet he's out on bail and encouraged to attend anger management and parenting classes. WTF?

http://horsham.patch.com/articles/hatboro-father-accused-of-assaulting-infant-out-on-bail

Hatboro Father Accused of Assaulting Infant Out on Bail Jarrett Tourish must attend anger management and parenting classes.

By Theresa Katalinas

November 23, 2011

A Hatboro father accused of assaulting his infant son earlier this month will be home for the holidays – although his contact with the 5-month-old boy must be supervised.

Jarrett Tourish, 21, of North York Road in Hatboro, on Wednesday waived his preliminary hearing in District Judge Paul Leo’s court and was freed from the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after his father, Brian Tourish, posted bail. One of the conditions Leo placed on Tourish’s release was that he must reside with his father and visits with his child must be supervised by an adult age 21 or older.

Tourish must also attend anger management and parenting classes stemming from the Nov. 10 incident, in which Tourish is alleged to have thrown the baby down on a crib and struck the infant repeatedly because he would not stop crying.

Tourish’s attorney, Chris Perry, said the child is “doing well” and had no permanent damage stemming from the alleged abuse. Following the incident, the infant’s mother, Tourish’s wife, had noticed bruising on the child and took him for medical treatment, police said. He was admitted to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with injuries consistent with being physically assaulted, police said. The child was released from the hospital several days later.

Perry said the “best interests of the child” are of utmost importance.

“He is remorseful about what happened,” Perry said of his client, who works in a store. “He understands that he does need some assistance dealing with his anger.”

Tourish faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assaut, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and unsworn falsification to authorities after Hatboro Police said he initially lied about - and later confesed to - throwing his baby down on a crib and striking the infant repeatedly because he would not stop crying.

He is scheduled to be formally arraigned on Jan. 4 in the Court of Common Pleas in Norristown.

Stay-at-home dad admits to sexually abusing daughter since she was 4 years of age (Manitoba, Canada)

Needless to say, it's an UNNAMED DAD. Notice how this lazy deadbeat, er, "stay-at-home," abused his daughter for years. And when the girl told Mom, Mom told the local child protective agency, which did NOTHING. They "allowed" Daddy to stay in the home, while Mom (of course) was obliged to continue supporting his pedo @$$. He abused the girl for another four years, and threatened that SHE would "destroy" the family if she told.

Seriously, what could this mom have done? Without some official recognition of his sexual abuse, he would have been assured of receiving primary custody as the "primary parent" had she divorced him.

Now this creepy piece of sh** says he's sorry, but the first thing he does when he gets out on bail (!), is get inside a car with his four kids again--after he was (finally) was ordered to have no contact! And check this out: Daddy looks forward to coaching children's hockey some day. WTF? Oh, and notice how Dadddy blames his actions on "anger" over ongoing "marital discord." So he takes no responsibility at all for his own crap. Such a surprise.

Somebody needs to hand this perv a serious reality check. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen in Canada anymore. Nope, what we see is a consistent pattern of minimalizing paternal sexual abuse, and catering to these perverts' every whim and delusion.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/father-jailed-for-abusing-daughter-132223563.html

Father jailed for abusing daughter
Sex assaults started when girl was four
By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 10/20/2011 1:00 AM

A Manitoba father has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing his young daughter.

The man, who can't be named to protect the identity of the victim, admits forcing the girl to commit sexual acts on him beginning when she was just four years old while living in their home just east of Winnipeg.

"She once timed (the sexual assault) as lasting through an entire episode of SpongeBob SquarePants," provincial court Judge Tim Preston said during this week's sentencing hearing.

The girl told her mother following the first incident in 2007, triggering an investigation by Child and Family Services. However, the child protection agency ruled there was "inconclusive" evidence of wrongdoing and allowed the accused to remain in the home with his children and wife, who continued to support him.


The accused was a stay-at-home father who cared for their four young children, all under the age of six, while his wife worked full-time, court was told. After being cleared by CFS, he resumed the pattern of abuse for nearly four more years until the girl told her mother again, when she was eight.

Police were brought in this time and a formal statement was taken from the victim. She told investigators her father had been telling her to keep quiet about what he was doing to her, otherwise "Daddy will be taken away in handcuffs," and she would be responsible for destroying the family.

Upon his arrest, the girl began blaming herself and even asked an officer "How do you fix me to get this out of my head?"

She has difficulty sleeping, trusting others and has shown "boundary issues," according to a victim report tendered with the court.

"She obviously has a long period of healing ahead," Preston said. "This was a gross abuse of parental trust. Rather than nurturing her, (the accused) was ensnaring her in his perversion."

The accused wrote a letter of apology to his daughter following his October 2010 arrest, telling her, "It's clearly not your fault." He was released on bail, only to be rearrested weeks later after getting caught inside a vehicle with his four children when under court order not to have any unsupervised contact.

The man has been in custody for the past 11 months and is undergoing sexual-offender treatment and counselling. He told justice officials he plans to support his family financially -- from a distance -- upon release from custody and hopes to one day coach children's hockey. That revelation immediately raised a red flag with the judge.

"That demonstrates a clear lack of insight," Preston said.

He has no prior criminal history and offered little explanation for his crimes, except to tell police he was angry about ongoing "marital discord." There were no issues with alcohol or drug abuse.

The accused was seeking a much lighter jail sentence, but Preston agreed with the Crown's request.

www.mikeoncrime.com
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 20, 2011 A8

One domestic violence law still needed (Poughkeepsie, New York)

Here at Dastardly, we have highlighted this issue for years now, which is all the dads who kill the mom or kids while out on bail. Within one year, there were four women dead in Dutchess County, New York--all killed by a man with a criminal record who was out on bail. Shame on the NYS Assembly!

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20110807/OPINION01/108070346/Editorial-1-domestic-violence-law-still-needed?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CPoughkeepsieJournal.com%7Cs

Editorial: 1 domestic-violence law still needed
10:44 PM, Aug. 6, 2011

Following a series of deaths in Dutchess County connected to domestic violence, state Sen. Steve Saland stepped up with a package of bills to strengthen laws and help victims.

Three have now passed the Legislature and have been signed into law by the governor. Yet, for reasons passing understanding, one of the senator's proposals never got real consideration in the Assembly after gaining Senate approval.

This intolerable situation must be remedied. The bill, which empowers judges to take into account certain risk factors to domestic-violence victims when determining bail for defendants, is too important to ignore.

It could, in fact, make a world of difference to victims.

The three bills that passed are, indeed, praiseworthy. One makes it easier for a family or household member to qualify for assistance from the state Department of Social Services in the wake of a domestic-violence attack.

Another closes loopholes to ensure orders of protection stay in place until an abuser is sentenced, not just convicted of the crime.

And a third, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week, fixes a glitch in New York's system that made it too easy for those convicted of certain misdemeanors in domestic-violence cases to continue to own and purchase firearms.

But Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and others recognize the profound importance of the fourth bill.

Here in Dutchess County, four women have been killed in a span of a year, even though, in each case, the perpetrators or suspects had a history with the judicial system. Several, in fact, had domestic-violence-related arrests on their records and had been ordered to stay away from the victims. Nevertheless, they were free on bail, and these women were killed.

In one particularly grisly case, a man fatally stabbed his girlfriend in front of the victim's young daughters; documents showed the woman had relayed to a court referee that the man had threatened to kill her a month before the murder.

There is no way a just society can stand idly by and allow these fiendish acts to continue.

Defendants do have rights, and that basic principle must be upheld even when new, well-intentioned laws are being considered.

Yet why shouldn't judges be given latitude to ensure victims are protected as well, especially in these cases where gross deficiencies are so obvious?

Too often domestic-violence cases are treated differently, with society seeing them as a matter to be sorted out among family members or loved ones.

And, too often, that cavalier attitude has been met with deadly results.

Saland's fourth bill did pass the GOP-controlled state Senate, but it died in the Democratic-led Assembly, specifically its Codes Committee.

Yet Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, a Democratic member of the Codes Committee, has sponsored similar legislation, with Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, a co-sponsor.

That legislation, too, was referred to the Codes Committee, which took no action.

Prosecutors, law enforcement officers and those who work in battered-women shelters say such "risk-factor" legislation would greatly enhance the protection of victims.

What more needs to be said to get an earnest discussion going?

Dad charged in death of 3-month-old son; denied bail (Amarillo, Texas)

Thank goodness in this case, the judge DID listen to the mother and deny dad JOHNATHON FRANK ATHEY bail. He is facing a murder charge in the death of his 3-month-old son. The baby died from asphyxiation.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7553409.html

Texas father charged in death of 3-month-old sonThe Associated Press
May 6, 2011, 12:37PM

AMARILLO, Texas — A 27-year-old father facing a murder charge in the death of his 3-month-old son has been denied bail by a judge in the Texas Panhandle.

Johnathon Frank Athey remained in the Hutchinson County jail Friday in the connection with the April 19 death of Dustin Athey.

The Amarillo Globe-News reports that Justice of the Peace Cindy Irwin told Athey she wanted him held without bail because of the severity of the charge. Preliminary autopsy results showed Dustin died of asphyxiation.

Authorities say Athey does not yet have an attorney.

The newspaper reported that the child was dead when emergency personnel arrived at a home near Fritch where Athey and the boy's mother lived.

Fritch is about 35 miles northeast of Amarillo.

Woman relates years of abuse by father; dad murdered mom while out on bail for kidnapping and assault (Enid, Oklahoma)

An appalling story, but what is not highlighted here is how the criminal justice system contributed to this mother's murder. Notice that Dad JERRY RUSHING was let out on bail after he was arrested for kidnapping his "estranged" wife. While out on bail, he assaulted his father-in-law. So he was arrested for assault, and they LET HIM OUT ON BAIL AGAIN. This time Daddy broke into the mother's home and shot her six times and killed her. This was in 1979.

So why is it in 2011, we continue to let batterers and abusers out on bail? We've known for many years what these guys are gonna do when they're not behind bars.

http://enidnews.com/localnews/x340277532/Local-woman-relates-years-of-abuse-by-father

May 5, 2011

Local woman relates years of abuse by father By Cass Rains, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle The Enid News and Eagle Thu May 05, 2011, 10:41 PM CDT

ENID — Windy Wellner, formerly Windy Rushing, didn’t have a typical childhood.

She and her two brothers grew up knowing abuse. They learned to accept their father’s lies as facts and accept his abuse toward them and their mother.

From July to August 1979, Debra Rushing, Windy’s mother, lived with her three children at a shelter for battered women in Enid, the first of its kind in the state.

Debra was kidnapped by her estranged husband, Jerry Rushing, and two women Aug. 8, 1979, and driven to Tulsa. One of the women drove the children. The other rode with the Rushings, while Debra was beaten with a pistol.

Debra eventually was able to get away and contact police. But the nightmare didn’t end there.

Debra Rushing was hospitalized for two weeks for injuries sustained in the ordeal, and Jerry Rushing and one of the other women were charged with kidnapping. While Jerry was on bail for the kidnapping charge, he attacked Debra’s father with a bottle.

While out on bail for the assault and prior kidnapping, he went to Debra’s home and shot her six times, killing her.

Wellner told her story to about 70 men and women Thursday during the first fundraising luncheon for Garfield County Child Advocacy Council.

“There really wasn’t any rhyme or reason,” Wellner said of the beatings she and her siblings received from her father. “I knew you got beat for two things: lying and getting bad grades.”

She said there were times she tried to help her brothers with their school work, sometimes even doing it for them. She noted the regret she felt for not teaching them better when report cards came home.

Right or wrong, the children knew to “assume the position” for the abuse to come. Wellner said although the beatings were painful, it was what her father would say that hurt worse.

“His voice and his verbalization was worse than the sting of the leather belt,” she said.

Following her father’s arrest and conviction, Wellner was able to get into foster care with Lynn and Judy Nelson.

“I came to know love. I came to know honesty,” she said. “Jesus came to me while living in foster care. I was blessed to have wonderful foster parents.”

Wellner’s father still is serving a life sentence for her mother’s death.

Garfield County Child Advocacy Council Chair Cathy Stocker, who introduced Wellner and prosecuted her father as district attorney, told those in attendance Thursday their support was greatly appreciated.

Stocker explained last year a decision by Oklahoma’s Supreme Court took away the council’s funding.

“There we were. Our major funding source was cut. We were scared,” she said.

United Way of Enid and Northwest Oklahoma helped the council with its budget and state legislators made appropriations to support the council and others like it in the state.

However, Stocker said the council never wanted to be in that position again.

“Our goal is going to be to create a reserve fund and have it build, and build and build,” she said. “It is intended to ensure us from having our agency devastated as it almost was last year.”

The council’s vision is to stop child abuse, neglect and exploitation and strengthen the community by advocating for children through prevention, education and intervention, using a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, child-friendly approach.

Garfield County Child Advocacy Center on the C.A.R.E. campus allows agencies to coordinate child-oriented procedures to protect abused children. The center provides a place for interviews that are sensitive to the child’s immediate and future needs while still promoting the flow of information needed to determine if prosecution of an adult is warranted.

Garfield County Child Advocacy Center director Carole Wade said she was “really overwhelmed and grateful” by the number of people who attended the event.

“The community’s response to this event is so reflective of how the community has supported and responded to the Garfield County Child Advocacy Council since we started,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

Dad charged with battering 2-month-old son (Reno, Nevada)

Once again, we have a daddy who "allegedly" beat up (and sexually abused?!?) a 2-month-old baby. This time the daddy is DONNIE DUGAN. Notice that Mom has lost custody though she is not charged. Despite all this, Daddy's bail is only $3500. Outrageous.

http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/118398919.html

Updated: 4:15 PM Mar 21, 2011

Father Charged With Allegedly Battering His 2-Month-Old
The father of a two-month-old is charged with child abuse after officers say the baby was brought to the hospital with a broken femur and head injury.
Posted: 3:56 PM Mar 21, 2011
Reporter: Staff
Email Address: news@kolotv.com

The father of a two-month-old is charged with child abuse after officers say the baby was brought to the hospital with a broken femur and head injury.

According to Reno police 28-year-old Donnie Dogan is charged with child abuse Monday after he and the mother brought the two-month-old baby to a local hospital last week with a broken femur and head injuries.

Detectives assigned to the Sex Crimes Child Abuse Unit were called into the hospital treating the infant along with RPD and upon further investigation determined that the two-month-old had allegedly been battered by his father.

Dogan is charged with Child Abuse Causing Substantial Bodily Harm and booked into the Washoe County Jail. His bail was set at $3500.

Authorities say the young victim was treated over the weekend and is now in the custody of the Washoe County Child Protective Services.

Dad who "allegedly" assaulted 4-month-old son posts bail (Omaha, Nebraska)

It never fails. Daddies like MATTHEW W. KOSTER always get bail. Even when they "allegedly" assaulted a 4-month-old baby.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110228/NEWS97/702289847/-1

Published Monday February 28, 2011

Tot's father posts bail

An Omaha man charged with injuring his 4-month-old was released from the Douglas County Correctional Center after posting 10 percent of $150,000 bail.

Matthew W. Koster, 35, of 2522 S. 60th St. No. 26, was arrested last week and charged with felony child abuse.

His son was taken to Children's Hospital & Medical Center with three bone fractures in his right leg and one in his left, three rib fractures and a bruise to his forehead, according to Omaha police. The child also had blisters on his right foot.

The injuries were called in by doctors after the child's mother brought him to the emergency room because of swelling in the baby's right leg.

A hospital official said Monday that no information on the baby could be released.

Police said Koster told hospital officials that his infant son's injuries may have occurred when he got frustrated changing the child's diaper. — Jason Kuiper

Dad charged with 2nd-degree murder in death of 23-day-old son; also faces 13 felony robbery charges (Indio, California)

Dad JOSEPH ROY SCOTT just couldn't take it when his newborn son was crying. How dare that baby start bawling and annoy Daddy! So Daddy shoved the baby's head into a countertop to "quiet him." (That's how you "quiet" a baby??? Guess I read the wrong infant care books.) The baby suffered brain damage and seizures, and would have faced a lifetime of developmental disabilities--except that he developed liver failure and pneumonia and died.

Anyway, his piece of sh**, er, Frustrated Caretaking Father, then gets to post bail, because that's what we always do with abuser daddies. He then goes on to commit 13 felony robberies, which I'm sure will be treated with more gravity than his crime against his son, given that the robberies involved Real Men and Major Money, whereas a baby is just a baby after all.

So while Daddy was "caretaking," where was this baby's mom? No mention. When will we learn that volatile young thugs who just happen to be fathers are not good infant caregivers?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://www.kesq.com/news/26749313/detail.html

Father Accused Of Beating Son To Death To Stand Trial
Man Claims He Hit Infant To Make Him Stop Crying
POSTED: 12:32 pm PST February 4, 2011

INDIO, Calif. -- An Indio man who allegedly hit his infant son to stop him from crying, leading to the baby's death, was ordered today to stand trial for second-degree murder and assaulting a child.

Joseph Roy Scott, 22, also faces 13 felony robbery charges. A judge is expected to decide later today whether he be tried on those charges.

Scott allegedly used the heel of his hand to quiet his crying, 23-day- old son Alexander on June 11, 2008. Investigators believe the baby's head hit a countertop, causing brain damage and seizures that contributed to his death in July 2009, said Deputy District Attorney Kristi Hester said.

"He was crying and (Scott) got angry and frustrated with him crying," Hester said.

Alexander survived the alleged blow, but in the next few months, medication he was taking to prevent seizures caused his liver to fail. He contracted pneumonia in the hospital while being treated for his liver issues and died July 4, 2009.

"Had he been a normal healthy kid he would have been able to recover from the pneumonia, but with the after-effects of brain damage, he wasn't able to," Hester said.

Had he survived, Hester said Alexander would have suffered from developmental issues the rest of his life.

Initially arrested on suspicion of child abuse, Scott was able to post bail in December 2008. After being released, he allegedly committed a string of robberies at Circle K convenience stores across Riverside County.

From Jan. 13 to Jan. 28, 2009, Scott allegedly robbed 13 of the convenience stores from Indio to Rubidoux.

If ordered to stand trial on those charges, Scott faces sentence- enhancing allegations of using a firearm.

DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Euless, Texas - 2009)

Not a terribly old story, but not brand new either. After dad SHANE PINGLE was convicted in 2008 of killing his 12-week-old infant daughter, he made a run for it. One year later, he was captured in Texas. Note that he was also convicted of assaulting the murdered baby's twin sister. Yet his "family" insists he's really a nice guy...Denial. It's an amazing thing.

But once again, we have a case with no specific mention of the mother. Interesting.

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://tdn.com/business/local/article_e6f61f16-fed6-524f-b696-de687f2975fd.html

Convicted baby killer Benjamin Pingle captured in Texas
By Leslie Slape The Daily News Online Posted: Thursday, July 30, 2009 12:00 am

Fugitive Benjamin Shane Pingle, convicted last year of killing his infant daughter, was arrested early Thursday afternoon in Texas by U.S. Marshals, said Holly Bishop, the Longview bondsman who posted his $250,000 appeal bond.

“We picked up Pingle,” Bishop said with obvious pleasure shortly after receiving word from the Marshals Service. “He did not resist arrest.”

Pingle, 26, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2006 death of his 12-week-old daughter Justice, had been free on the appeal bond when he vanished in May.

A spokesman in the city jail in Euless, Texas, said Pingle was booked at 3:57 p.m. Central time (1:57 p.m. Pacific time) and is being held without bail. Euless is west of Dallas.

Cowlitz County Prosecutor Sue Baur said Pingle is scheduled to appear in court in Texas Friday and is expected to be transferred Sunday to the Tarrant County Jail in Forth Worth.

Pingle, she said, could be back in Cowlitz County within two weeks if he waives extradition. The process could take at least two months if the prosecutor’s office has to force his extradition with a governor’s warrant, Baur said.

“The sheriff’s office and the prosecutor’s office will work out the details,” said Sgt. Mike Hallowell of the Longview Police, which investigated Pingle’s disappearance. “LPD detectives may go down there and do extradition.”

Hallowell said police received tips that Pingle was in Euless with a woman.

“We had believed that’s where he was last headed and we asked officials to attempt contact,” he said. He said the Marshals found Pingle while having the woman’s apartment under surveillance. Baur said authorities approached Pingle at the apartment and took him into custody.

She said it’s up to local Texas authorities to decide whether the woman will be charged with harboring a fugitive.

Baur said a Euless jail official told her Pingle didn’t say much when he was booked, but he reportedly told a jailer that he knew why he was in custody.

“I don’t know anything about whether the Marshals talked to him about being on the run,” Baur said.

Pingle’s capture means his grandparents, Cordell and Marlene Stone, won’t lose their home, which they put up as collateral to make his bail.

Cowlitz Superior Court Judge James Warme revoked the bail July 16 and gave Pingle’s family 60 days to find him or pay the full amount.

“The Stones are crying, they’re so happy,” Bishop said. “They’re extraordinary people. Their assets and stuff are being protected.”

The Stones could not be reached at their home Thursday afternoon.

Bishop said he’s covering all expenses related to Pingle’s transportation back to Cowlitz County as part of the job.

“That’s the purpose of this bonding business,” he said. “The taxpayers aren’t paying for this kid jumping bail. It’s a very small amount, but well worth it to get him back in.”

Pingle was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison in June 2008 after a highly emotional three-week trial. The prosecutor’s office said the Castle Rock man killed his daughter by shaking and abusing her. Pingle also was convicted of third-degree assault of a child for causing injuries to Justice’s twin sister, Liberty. Pingle’s family continues to insist he is innocent.

Baur said the prosecutor’s office, which objected to Pingle’s release after his sentencing last year, is considering additional charges against Pingle related to his disappearance.

Pingle was more likely to flee because he faced significant prison time and didn’t know what to expect in prison, Baur said. “I hope in the future any judge considers the amount of time the person is looking at as a motivation to run, especially if they’ve never done time before,” she said.

Asked if she thought those factors were taken into consideration when Pingle’s appeal bond was granted last year, Baur said, “I don’t think it was.”

Judge Warme, who granted the appeal bond during a contentious June 2008 hearing, has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

“I think it is unlikely that the defendant will re-offend, particularly if he is not in contact with minor children,” Warme said during the hearing. “And I think it is unlikely that he will flee.”

Following Pingle’s disappearance, prosecutors said they would ask the state Court of Appeals to dismiss his appeal, which had not yet begun. The prosecutor’s office wanted to ensure Pingle wouldn’t wait out the result his appeal in absentia and decide whether to return based on the outcome, Baur said. Now that Pingle is back in custody, she said, the prosecutor’s office will not stand in the way of his appeal.

“We really want to just see him get what he was sentenced to,” Baur said. “He needs to start serving his sentence.”

Dad charged with murder of infant son; but gets bail and visitation with 2-year-old son (Fort Myers, Florida)

Unfreaking believable. Dad RYAN COSTELLO is charged with 2nd-degree murder and child neglect in the death of his 3-month-old son. But not only does this guy get out on bail, he gets (supervised) visitation with his surviving 2-year-old son! Why? I see that family court judge James Seals was astonished to see this was "his call." So am I. I don't see any reason for a father charged with murdering his own offspring to get any child visitation rights with any surviving offspring whatsoever. Judge Seals doesn't think this visit will cause this child emotional harm? I do. I'm sure the little boy is aware that his baby brother is dead and that on some level, Daddy is somehow involved in it. You don't think this child is feeling fear and insecurity? You don't think the presence of his father and strange "monitors" will heighten his anxiety? I do. So why is Judge Seals allowing it? Just sickening.

It is an outrage that mothers get denied even supervised visitation because they might say the "wrong" thing. But daddies who virtually confess to the homicide of one of their children still get visitation with a surviving child? Double standard much?

http://www.news-press.com/article/20101104/CRIME/101103063/1075/Man-accused-in-son-s-death-released-on-bail

Man accused in son's death released on bail
Man gets supervised visits
By Rachel Revehl • rrevehl@news-press.com • November 4, 2010

Bracing to stand trial for the death of his infant son, Ryan Costello will soon have visitation with his 2-year-old boy, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The 32-year-old south Fort Myers man was released on $75,000 bail Friday. Still facing charges of second-degree murder and child neglect, Costello filed for — and was granted — supervised visitation with his older son.

As a condition of Costello’s release from jail, criminal prosecutors had requested no contact between Costello and the surviving toddler. But Judge Mark Steinbeck left it to the discretion of family court Judge James Seals, who expressed surprise that it was his call.

“The only reason I know of to deny a parent visitation is if it will actually or eminently cause the child harm — physical, mental or emotional,” Seals said.

No one in court Wednesday — including the child’s mother, Whitney Simonsen, and both sets of grandparents — said they considered that to be a concern if the visits were supervised. So Seals approved visitation for Costello for one hour, once a week, monitored by Lutheran Services.

“If the visit itself or the aftermath of the visit creates some unpleasant happenings, then we need to know about it and make a course correction,” Seals said.

Costello was arrested in June, after deputies reported he rushed his 3-month-old son, Darwin, to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He handed his baby to a nurse and fled back to his home, where deputies later found a marijuana grow operation and prescription pills. Both Costello and Simonsen, 24, were accused by police of dealing and possessing drugs, but state attorney’s office spokeswoman Samantha Syoen said there was insufficient evidence to go forward with prosecution of Costello on the drug charges.

“There was no way to prove who the drugs belonged to,” Syoen said.

The murder trial is still moving forward.

Investigators captured an audio conversation between Simonsen and Costello in which he says, “I killed my kid.” But his family court attorney, Toni Butler, said if that statement is considered in context, it isn’t a confession, and there is no proof Costello was the one who inflicted the baby’s injuries, which included trauma to the head, spine and internal organs.

Butler also told Seals that Costello completed a Life Skills program in jail — to which Simonsen sarcastically replied, “Well that’s good.”

Tension in the courtroom Wednesday wasn’t limited to that between Darwin’s parents, but also involved both sets of grandparents.

Both DCF and the Guardian ad Litem program recommended Simonsen be reunited with the 2-year-old, which could give her custody and the power to decide whether to allow Costello’s parents to visit. Seals granted her unsupervised visitation and permission to move back in with her parents, where her son has also lived since August. The boy has been staying with Costello’s parents on weekends.

Seals encouraged Simonsen to continue to allow Costello’s parents time with her son, saying grandparents are a good anchor for children.

Micah Costello, Ryan Costello’s sister, said later that he has always been a good father to the boy — the only real parent he knows. Simonsen’s father, Lindsay, said if it were up to him, Ryan Costello would never see his grandson again, but he understands why Seals made the decision he did.