America's Most Wanted 5-23-08

The following cases will be aired this Saturday, at 9 pm on your local Fox station:

John Walsh At Sprint All-Star NASCAR Race: John Walsh and the AMW crew headed down to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. recently to catch the Sprint NASCAR All-Star Race, and to catch up with some of racing's biggest stars, including Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne.

http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=2787

Esther Reed: After almost nine years on the run, an AMW tipster brought accused con artist Esther Reed's life as a fugitive to an end on Saturday night in suburban Chicago. Reed -- who police say stole identities and conned her way into the Ivy League -- faces 47 years in a federal lock-up and over $1 million in fines.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=42967

Stanek and Ayers: Officer Doug Stanek's dream was to become a police officer, but he couldn't because of his weight. Instead, he became a paramedic for five years. What he didn't know at the time was that after becoming a cop, the skills he learned as a paramedic would be the only things standing between his partner and death.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=45168

Aaron Garcia: Aaron Lopez Garcia's no stranger to Washington law enforcement. As a Norteño gang member, he racked up multiple charges ranging from rape to assault; when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, it seemed like the last anyone would hear from him for a while. But Garcia orchestrated a prison break and on November 29, 2006, he enlisted the help of fellow inmates to break out of the big house. While his cronies have all been captured, Garcia remains on the loose.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=45509

Dennis Lilly: The warden at the last prison where Dennis Lilly escaped called him "just a little rascal". Lilly has slithered his way out of four prisons and jails, and in his last escape from the Missouri State Penitentiary, he's been gone the longest: since 1986. But a sighting as recent as 2001 has authorities hoping this clever criminal can -- once again -- be put back behind bars.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=51992

Thomas Gleason: BMX Racing and teenage boys are not a good combination for Tom Gleason: after years of coaching kids in the extreme sport, police say he went too far and victimized several members of his team. Now, he's racing to stay away from the cops and families aching for justice who want him caught.

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=51044

Leanna Warner: On Friday, July 8, 2005, police learned that Joseph Duncan, the man charged with kidnapping Dylan and Shasta Groene and murdering their family, wrote about missing 5-year-old Leanna Warner on his blog. Leanna has been missing since June 14, 2003. Investigators are looking into whether he might have had anything to do with her disappearance.

http://www.amw.com/missing_children/brief.cfm?id=25696

For more information on these and other cases, check out the AMW website- www.amw.com

Most are like him

Phillip Trembley would like you to believe that most sex offenders are like him. I'd like you to believe that too- so I don't have a disagreement with him in that area. But- when we get to defining him, then his opinion begins to clash a little with mine. Trembley served a few years in jail, and was sentenced to spend some time checking in with the police every so often as part of his registration as a sex offender.

Backing up a little, Trembleys comments come in response to a story by channel 49 news out of Topeka, KS. The article ponders over whether just a sexual offender registry list is enough, or if the state needs to follow the lead of others and adopt tougher laws- including residency restrictions.

People like Phillip Trembley are on the state's registered offenders list. He committed a sex crime.

"Did I touch her? Yes," he said.

The KBI's registered offender Web site includes photos, addresses and the types of crimes committed, but is keeping a list enough?

When Trembley looks out his front door he sees Scott Magnet School, less than 300 feet away. Some states restrict where registered offenders can live. Kansas does not.
Web-exclusive extended interview

When asked if she knew sex offenders in Kansas could live next door to a school Harmony Grubbs said "I did not realize that, no," adding "I think all states should get that law passed. "

First off, I understand that parents are busy people- I'm pretty busy myself. However, with the sex offender registry available online, it takes nothing more than a few minutes to look up your address, or the address of your child's school- or really any address for that matter- and check for any possible sex offenders living or working within that area. No parent has an excuse for not knowing when a sex offender lives nearby. And honestly, for the benefit of protecting their children, they ought to be making time to check that list out. Many states also offer a feature that will email alerts to your email address when a sex offender moves within a certain range of any address you provide. So- other than laziness, there is no reason to now know.

But, back to Trembley. When questioned about his conviction, he makes no attempt to downplay what he did. He does however make a very big attempt to downplay how society should see him now.

Trembley says there are some people who are habitual offenders, even predators who need to be separated from society or certainly watched closely, but most on the list, he says, are like him.

"I put out a fire once. That does not make me a fireman. I touched a young girl once. It does not make me a threat to society. I erred. I learned my lesson. I paid for my mistake," he said.

That there is the reasoning of a dangerous man. Downplaying the fact that he once molested a child by comparing it to putting out a fire is nothing more than a slap in the face. The child that he molested was his step daughter. She was 6. He had a role in her life that should have given her a feeling of wellbeing, of safety, or protection from the bad things. Instead, he became the very thing he was responsible for protecting her from.

People don't just wake up one day out of the blue and decide they are going to molest a child. It'd be like you waking up this morning and deciding that rather than making your kid breakfast, you're going to beat them to death. It's not going to happen with out some provoking circumstance. Hopefully, it's not going to ever happen at all- but you get my point.

You walk into a house and see a fire on the stove- a normal reaction it to put it out before the house burns down. That's normal. Nope, doesn't make you a fireman- but it makes you a person having a normal reaction to something dangerous. You walk into a room and see a child and molest that child- errr... not a normal reaction. Doing so makes you a child molester, a deviant, a danger to other children. Because you've chosen to commit a heinous crime, not put out a simple fire-- You've become the dangerous ingredient in a situation, you are the fire. And that makes the rest of us responsible for ensuring that you are put out before any more damage can be done.

He'll never get this, because he's already downplayed his role, justified to himself that he's really not all that bad. He molested a child, but he's not a child molester in his own mind. Even worse, he's already justified the crimes of most of the people on sex offender registries by saying that they are no worse than him, who he believes is just fine, and not a danger.

If your child was playing near a fire, you'd do all that you could to get that child away from there... it's what parents are suppose to do. But- we can't move a school every time a sex offender moves n next door. So, we do what we can to put up a barrier, and keep the fire away from the child. Trembley, and those like him- are the fire. And, we must work to keep them at a safe distance, or we'll be stuck cleaning up the mess after one of our children get burned.

Robert J. Ruthosky Jr. Likes Kids

As in having kids. With kids. For the second time in his 31 years, Robert J. Ruthosky Jr. is looking at jail time after conceiving a child with a minor.

Ruthosky, 31, of Glens Falls, is accused of fathering a child with the teen through a sexual relationship that began in 2004, when she was 16, said Washington County Sheriff's Investigator Bruce Hamilton. Ruthosky faces four felony charges of third-degree rape and three felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual act, as well as a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.

The first time, the girl in the case was just 14.

Ruthosky is a registered sex offender because of a 1994 conviction for third-degree rape in Washington County Court that came after he impregnated a 14-year-old girl.

Since then, he has been arrested at least four times on charges he failed to properly register as a sex offender when he moved, the most recent arrest coming in February when he moved to a home in Glens Falls without making proper notification to police or state officials.

He might have gotten away with it the second time, if not for the fact that he demanded a DNA test on the baby in order to prove it was indeed his child.

The allegations came to light when the young woman sought child support from Ruthosky in Family Court, and Ruthosky sought a DNA test to determine whether he was the father, officials said. The test showed he was the father, and based on the child's age, authorities determined the child had been conceived before the mother's 17th birthday, according to authorities.

Now, he might be able to avoid making some child support payments- but it's going to cost him a possible sentence of 25-years-to-life in prison.

Timothy Schlafer stays in jail

I've mentioned 18 year old Timothy Christian Schlafer before. Schalfer was arrested after police say he attempted to kidnap an 11 year old girl while she was sleeping in her home.

After a hearing, it's been determined that this little monster will be remaining in jail, at least for now, as he was ordered to be held without bond.

A few more details on the case against him:

Police said Schlafer had a large kitchen knife when he snatched the Coral Springs girl from her bed as she slept early Wednesday.

He was about to carry her outside when the girl's grandmother woke up, police said.

"Put my granddaughter down!" the woman shouted at the intruder.

He set the girl on the floor, rubbed her stomach and, leaving the knife on a staircase, ran out of the house near the 8700 block of Northwest 40th Street, police said.

The grandmother and the girl ran upstairs and the woman called 911. The girl, 11, was not hurt. She and her grandmother told police they had never seen the man before.

Moments later, officers found and arrested Schlafer at an abandoned golf course nearby. His pants were unbuttoned and partially unzipped and he had a condom in one of his pockets, according to an arrest report.

His lawyer voiced a crazy opinion that because this almost kidnapper and God knows what else 18 year old high school senior was a honor student, he deserved bond. And he even tossed the fact that Schlafer had a scholarship to Florida Atlantic University in there as an extra bit of evidence. Thankfully, the judge seen Schlafer for the danger he is, and gave this response:

"Based on the safety of the community and the safety of the child, we are placing him without bond," Seidman said.

Investigators also believe that he may have been involved in at least one other break in which happened the same night, although they are still investigating.

Police ask that anyone who has noticed any other suspicious incidents in the neighborhood or who may have additional information contact Detective Kim Eveker at 954-346-1388.

Dawson F. Shot With Two Arrows Jr

No, he wasn't actually shot with two arrows- that's evidently his last name. But- his crimes make him a perfect candidate for someone who should be shot with two arrows.

Dawson F. Shot With Two Arrows Jr., 27, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to a grand jury indictment charging him with kidnapping, attempted aggravated sexual abuse, robbery, first-degree burglary and assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he is accused of entering the victim’s Todd County home early on the morning of March 10, attempting to sexually assault her by use of force and threat, assaulting her with a knife, and then abducting her in her own car.

Prosecutors say Shot With Two Arrows threatened the lives of the victim’s boyfriend and children.

More...

Eugene Hammond at it again

Just like in the previous post, what we have here is a sex offender who didn't learn anything the first time he was convicted, and who likely won't be any different this time either.

A convicted sex offender, who admitted to fondling an 8-year-old girl while working as a monitor on a Faith Baptist Church bus, was sentenced Thursday to serve at least 13 years in prison.

Eugene Hammond, 59, formerly of 10 Burke St., Nashua, had been jailed since his arrest in October.

On Thursday, Hammond pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious sexual assault, and one count of possession of child pornography.

The charges all are class B felonies, but Hammond faced more than the usual 3-1/2 to seven-year maximum sentence because of the girl's age and his prior record, Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Patricia LaFrance said.

Hammond previously was convicted of at least three previous sexual assaults against children in Florida and Pennsylvania, in 1973, 1979 and 1987, LaFrance said.

Well, at least we might be safe from him for the next 13 years... or until he gets early release, parole or whatever new and improved method they think up that will allow them to release this monster back onto our streets again.

Gerard Schlaiss gets deja vu

Gerard Schlaiss must be experiencing deja vu, well either that or he is still the deviant predator he was two decades ago. For the sake of honesty- I'm going to say that a leopard can't change his spots, and Schlaiss is what he is, and what he has always been.

According to prosecutors, Schlaiss molested a mentally disabled girl who lived in his apartment complex over a three-year period leading up to his arrest in September.

In 1989, Schlaiss was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Lake County, according to the Illinois Sex Offender Registry Web site. He was 33 years old at the time of the abuse.

Just another instance proving that sex offenders don't stop.

Robert A. Smith goes to pubs...

...and evidently likes to do illegal things while he's there.

Police say that the 53-year-old registered sex offender Robert Smith was at a pub in Belleville when he put his hands up the skirt of a 12 year old girl. Others at the pub noticed and informed a bartender who kicked Smith out before police were contacted.

According to a press release, police were able to locate Smith because witnesses knew he was a painter from Tennessee, and that he was staying at a nearby hotel.

Smith has been arrested for sexual-based crimes "several" times in Tennessee, where he is a registered sex offender, according to a police statement. He did not register once he relocated to Belleville.

I'm amazed that those who witnessed this encounter stopped to tell the bartender, rather than actually physically stepping in and stopping Smith themselves.

Jared Harris Update

I've talked about Jared Harris before, but for those of you who have forgotten- he's the young man who artfully covered the forehead of Anthony Stockelman (child molester and killer of Katie Collman) in a simple, yet insightful tattoo that read "Katie's Revenge". Jared was Katie's older cousin, and had been doing time in Wabash Correctional Facility for petty charges.

After the news of the tattoo was out in the media, Jared was charged for it. His court date has been postponed and postponed almost endlessly since 2006. Now, the latest news is that the charges against him have been dropped:

An inmate at the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility will not go to trial for tattooing another inmate's forehead.

[...]

Stockelman is now refusing to testify against Harris, so the case isn't moving forward.

Now, normally I believe that those who commit a crime are deserving of being punished for it. But- given the special circumstances in this case, I've had a personally difficult time believing that justice would be served by punishing Jared any more than he already has been. And, therefore- I'm delighted at this new turn of events.

Effingham not happy...

I told you about Effingham, the place named in honor of it's incompetent law enforcement agency. Folks there were rightly unhappy with the fact that a Deputy there was giving some lovin to a convicted child molester by way of not only defending said scum bag, but testifying on his behalf. In a warm and fuzzy display of BFF, Effingham County Chief Deputy took the stand on his buddy the child molesters behalf- saying he was just too shy to attend required group sex offender meetings, and that special rules should be made for him. Nice. Of course, when called out about testifying, Bush defended his actions by saying something all sweet about how just cause Kenneth Brown was a child molester didn't mean that we should lock them up.... cause we need to get to know them for the person they are. Right. One has to really sit back and wonder if Bush would be taking the very same stand had the victim been HIS child.

Today's new news on Effingham has some local residents in a mood over the entire situation, as they rightly should be.

Neighbors were upset that a uniformed deputy would speak on behalf of Brown who was convicted of child molestation back in 2005.

In a 3 On Your Side follow up NEWS 3'S Tristan Tully spoke to more concerned neighbors, this time from parents who are upset that Kenneth Brown had attended church close to them, without their knowledge.

The story has some quotes from residents, which thankfully seem to run opposite of the over loving comments handed out by local law enforcement. At least now we know that someone in that area has brains, even if it's not the deputy, or his boss.

Just a little reminder on some of those stats handing out to explain how likely it is that Brown will once again victimize someone.


Updated.

The documents we obtained showed that Brown entered into a plea agreement reducing his original charge of aggravated child molestation to child molestation and enticing a child for indecent purposes.

Brown was sentenced to ten years probation, and at least 210 days. He entered into his plea agreement on December 8, 2005 and was released on August 21, 2006, serving 8 months in the detention center.

The records also show that the victim’s family did not press charges.

Note: it's rare in a case of sexual misconduct that a victims family would be the deciding factor in whether charges are pressed or not. So, I find that point mute. And the rest just proves that he's a sick individual.