All posts by Marc Klaas

I am President of the KlaasKids Foundation and BeyondMissing, Inc. Both organizations are 501(c)(3) public benefit non profit organizations.

More Evidence of Rising Crime Under Realignment

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By Michael Rushford

cuffsWith the recent FBI release of preliminary crime statistics for the first six months of 2012, and continuing reports on local crime from news organizations and police agencies across the state, it is becoming increasingly clear that something happened in California last year that caused a sharp increase in virtually every major category of crime.  The FBI report found a small increase nationally in violent and property crime driven by larger increases in the West.  Since the sweeping changes in sentencing under Governor Jerry Brown’s Public Safety Realignment law took effect in October 2011, the California-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has been monitoring criminal activity across the state to gauge the law’s effect on public safety.

While the reports we have collected from local law enforcement agencies over the past year and the recent preliminary report from the FBI are not proof of a trend, they do show a large and abrupt, across-the-board increase in California crime rates which is disturbing.

The Criminal Justice League Foundation noted that, in a January 28, 2013 report, researchers at the University of Minnesota identified a downward national trend in crime, citing better technology and changing social dynamics.  In December, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg boasted that his city’s declining incarceration rate and improved policing had caused a dramatic decrease in major felonies.

FBI Preliminary Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report

FBI Preliminary Semi-Annual Uniform Crime Report

The recent FBI report tells a different story.  Over the first six months of 2012, violent crime in New York City increased by 3.9% and property crime climbed 6.1%.  But not all large states saw increases, Florida and Texas, both of which have reduced some incarceration rates but maintain tough-on-crime sentencing policies, saw only slight increases or declining rates.  States which have been more aggressive at reducing the incarceration of felons, particularly along the West Coast have reversed the trend of reduced crime in recent years and saw rising rates of both violent and property crimes.

California’s increase has been the most dramatic.  The FBI report for 2011 had crime dropping in all categories compared to the previous year.  The preliminary report for 2012 shows significant increases.  In a February 3, 2013 Pasadena Star-News story, the Police Chiefs of Pasadena, Glendale, and Covina expressed their concerns about rising crime caused by Realignment.  “This is a dangerous public policy,” Glendale Police Chief Brian De Pompa told reporters.  “Without strong state prison accountability, it’s hard to control crime.”

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon disagrees.  His city has embraced the evidence-based rehabilitation and probation approach to most felons, an approach praised by the ACLU.  In a January 19, 2013 Los Angeles Daily News story, Gascon said, “I know that we cannot incarcerate our way out of this problem.”  Unfortunately, according to a January Associated Press story, the homicide rate in San Francisco increased by 36% last year, and the trend is continuing.  On January 1, 2013, documented gang member David Morales, 19, allegedly killed two people while being pursued by police in San Francisco.  Morales is suspected of having driven through a housing complex and shooting at three men.  Police matched the description of the vehicle involved in the shooting to Morales’s car.  Officers then tried to pull him over.  In the ensuing high-speed chase, Morales rammed into a car at an intersection and sent it spinning into a pedestrian.  Both the passenger of the car, 29-year-old Silvia Tuncun, and the pedestrian, 26-year-old Francisco Gutierrez, were killed.  Morales’s most recent conviction was in April 2012 for gang activity which, under Realignment, left him free on probation at the time of the killings.

Something happened in California last year that has caused a major shift in crime rates. Excuses by supporters of the Governor’s Realignment are of little comfort to Californians who have lost friends or loved ones to so-called ‘low-level’ felons left in our communities because of this dangerous law.

Posted in AB 109, Crime, FBI, jerry brown | Tagged | 3 Comments on More Evidence of Rising Crime Under Realignment

The Girl in the Bunker

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For six-days murder suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes held five-year-old Ethan hostage in an underground bunker on his property in rural Alabama. Yesterday, concerned over Dykes’ increasingly erratic behavior, the authorities stormed the bunker, killed the sixty-five-year old hostage taker, and saved the child. I believe that there are definite and important reasons that this tense situation received little publicity and remained low key until after it concluded.

In 2006, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Shouf was kidnapped after getting off of the school bus near her home in Lugoff, SC. The kidnapper, who gained Elizabeth’s trust by posing as a police officer, was thirty-six-year-old Vinson Filyaw. He quickly handcuffed Elizabeth, placed a bomb around her neck and threatened to blow her up if she tried to escape. He marched the high school student to an underground bunker where he imprisoned her for ten-days. 

elizabeth_shoaf

Elizabeth Shouf

While similar in many respects the cases differ in important ways. The authorities did not know that Elizabeth was being held captive in an underground bunker, in Alabama the authorities knew where the bunker was and even opened up a line of communication with the perpetrator. Filyaw was a sex criminal, Dykes was not. Both bunkers were wired for electricity.

The only reason Elizabeth Shoaf is alive today is because she was smarter, more resourceful and clever than her captor. Although he repeatedly threatened to kill her she remained cool and collected. She devised a strategy to stay alive. She gained his trust through feigned friendship and interest in his life and wellbeing. He began to see her first as a person, and then as a love interest. Filyaw began to believe that they would have a life together.

Between bouts of abuse Filyaw allowed Elizabeth to watch television, so she was aware that the authorities were looking for her. Ultimately, she convinced him to let her use his cell phone to play video games. On the seventh day of her captivity she was able to text her mother. Elizabeth described hearing trucks and machinery, and mentioned that she was in a hole.

Kershaw County police released the text message to the media, and Elizabeth watched that report with her captor. An enraged Filyaw realized that Elizabeth had betrayed his trust. Still, she kept her cool and advised him to get as far away from her as possible. Ultimately, he did and after ten days in the underground pit Elizabeth was rescued.

The lessons of Elizabeth’s captivity were learned and practiced in Alabama. The authorities limited information and tried their best to appease Jimmy Lee Dykes. The media was very careful not to provide any information that Dykes could use to harm little Ethan. They also downplayed the event so as not to further enrage the maniacal kidnapper. Ethan’s family praised Dykes for taking such good care of their child.

The police, media and public played their hands perfectly and a little boy is alive and beginning his road to recovery. However, I believe that Elizabeth Shoaf’s courage was also a huge factor in the successful recovery of the little boy in the bunker.

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Boy in the Bunker

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UntitledOn January 29, 2013, retired long haul trucker Jimmy Lee Dykes boarded a school bus returning children home after school and demanded two young boys. When bus driver Charles Poland put himself between the interloper and the children Dykes shot him to death. He then kidnapped a five-year-old child, known only as Ethan, and took him into an underground bunker on his property. He was holed up in the bunker with the boy until today. This afternoon authorities raided the bunker, killed Dykes and rescued Ethan.

This would seem like the perfect conclusion to a tense ordeal that could have ended much more tragically. Although he was not physically harmed, little Ethan witnessed the violent death of two individuals, and was held prisoner in a small underground fortress with a bitter and angry man for nearly a week. What happens to crime victims after the TV Trucks coil the cable, lower the microwave antennas and move onto the next crime de jour? After all, he is a fragile little child who has endured more trauma than most people can imagine. Of course his path to normalcy is fraught with challenges.

I have crossed paths with many remarkable people these past twenty years, but few have inspired or awed me more than Alicia Kozakiewicz, Midsi Sanchez, or Elizabeth Shoaf. These amazing young women have not only triumphed over their own kidnapping/hostage situations, they have used that experience to build strength, resolve and focus.

Eight-year-old Midsi Sanchez was walking home from school in Vallejo, California on August 12, 2000 when she was kidnapped and chained to the filthy floorboard of a car. Forty-four hours later she took advantage of an opportunity, unlocked her shackles and escaped into the protective arms of a passing truck driver. Her kidnapper was later linked to the death of other young girls in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. Midsi endured bullying in school, descended into alcohol and cheated death yet again, when at sixteen-she was in a near fatal car crash. Upon learning that she was pregnant while in the hospital, Midsi vowed to change her ways. These past years the devoted mother of a three-year-old toddler has been an invaluable KlaasKids Foundation volunteer and advocate for missing child. She has been profiled on numerous news magazines and talk shows.

On New Year’s Day 2002, thirteen-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz was lured into the clutches of an internet predator. Five-days later the Western Pennsylvania Crimes Against Children Task Force located, rescued and reunited Alicia with her very relieved parents. Alicia has since testified before federal and state legislative committees about Internet safety. She is the driving force behind Alicia’s Law which, among other things, strives to provide permanent funding for Internet Crimes Against Children taskforces. Alicia continues to make frequent appearances on broadcast and cable news magazines and leads the Alicia Project which is dedicated to protecting other children from the online victimization.

Elizabeth Shoaf was fourteen-years-old when she was kidnapped by a registered sex offender posing as a police officer on September 6, 2006 after getting off of the school bus near her home in Lugoff, South Carolina. Her kidnapper walked her into the woods and imprisoned her in an underground bunker. Ten-days later Elizabeth completely outwitted her tormenter and engineered her own escape.  I met her earlier this year on the set of the Ricki Lake Show, one of many television programs she has appeared on to tell her story.

The path to recovery has been difficult for each of these young ladies, but each has found ways to triumph over their own demons. Counseling, prayer, family have engaged each of them to varying degrees. But, it was coming to terms with their own victimization and deciding to use their experience as a cautionary tale for other children that led them to the light. Midsi, Alicia, and Elizabeth are empowered young ladies who positive and productive in their lives. Let us hope that Ethan too will find a way to beat the devil.

Posted in missing children | Tagged | 2 Comments on Boy in the Bunker

Dude, Where’s My Car?

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By Michael Rushford

California’s realignment program assures felons and potential felons that they will not go to state prison if they do not commit felonies classified as sex offenses, violent felonies, or felonies on a specific list unfortunately labeled “serious felonies”. The latter label is unfortunate because every crime properly designated a felony is serious.

One of the non-serious felonies is auto theft. It’s pretty serious to the victims, especially those of limited means who can’t afford comprehensive insurance and need their cars to get to work. Auto theft is a “regressive” crime. It falls harder on people on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. But it is not on the “serious felony” list. So with a guarantee of no state prison by law, and with county jails overcrowded so only a fraction of sentences there are actually served, car thieves might get the impression that it is now open season on California’s cars.

The FBI released its preliminary data for the first half of 2012 recently. These data only include cities over 100,000 population, but nonetheless the 2012 v. 2011 comparison is interesting. Because realignment took effect on October 1, 2011, the comparative first-half data gives us a clear before-and-after comparison.

Auto theft increased by 1.7% nationally. In California, the increase was 12.8%. California’s greater increase works out to an additional 4,485 people’s cars stolen.

Michael Rushford is the President of the Sacramento, CA based Criminal Justice League Foundation.

Posted in AB 109, Auto Theft | Leave a reply

Open Letter to a Sandy Hook Parent

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Dear Neil,

Let me begin by offering my condolence over the tragic loss of your six-year-old-son Jesse at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012. Losing a young child to senseless violence is a devastating experience that defeats many parents as it strengthens others. Unfortunately, you have joined the club that nobody wants to belong to, yet nobody can leave once they have gained entrance.

I compare losing a child to having a child. If you haven’t had the experience, you don’t understand the depth of emotion or the cosmic bonding involved, because there is nothing to compare it to. Not the loss of a parent, or the death of a puppy. We create our children, we mold them, nurture them and invest our lives in them. Nothing on this earth equates the loss of a child.

Neil Hesling & Jesse Lewis

Neil Hesling & Jesse Lewis

It’s a cold hard fact that just as our children gave meaning to their lives; it is up to us, their parents to give meaning to their death. There are numerous ways large and small to pursue this task. This morning I learned that yesterday you were heckled by so called pro-gun activists as you gave testimony at a hearing before the Gun Violence hearing at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, CT. Just as you are giving meaning to Jesse’s death they are demeaning his life.

I become apoplectic whenever victims are dismissed or demeaned over a so called higher principle. It is the anger that fueled my quest in the aftermath of the loss of my daughter Polly in 1993. Like you, I bared my soul, embraced the hole in my heart, and endured the taunts of hecklers. I too, proudly carried the picture of my slain child so that nobody would mistake my meaning or purpose. You will not allow them to deter you or defeat you because you are demonstrating the strength of your character as your adversaries are exposing the limitations of their narrow mindedness.

Crime BillStanding next to President Clinton when he signed the original assault weapons ban in 1994 was one of the proudest and saddest moments of my life. I finally realized that there was meaning in death, but that the cost of victory was unacceptable. The death of our children should never prompt change. Instead, the hopes and aspirations that we have for our children’s future should inspire safe schools and safe streets. Unfortunately, the loss of little Jesse and his friends and classmates proves yet again that we are a reactive and not a pro-active society. Let us now hope that your loss and the loss of the other parents in Newtown will finally limit the ability of out of control individuals to wreak mass murder on innocent children and those who care for them.

As the father of a child kidnapped and murdered by a crazed lunatic, I understand the need to do whatever is necessary to protect America’s children by limiting our ability to inflict violence. Neil, don’t stop, because your voice rings loud and clear while those who try to shout you down are shrill and weak. I am proud to stand next to you in your quest to end the madness that holds us all in the grip of fear.

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FBI Report Shows California Crime Rose Sharply in 2012

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By Mike Rushford

Statistics from the FBI, documenting national and state crimes over the first six months of 2012, indicate that after years of declining crime rates, California is experiencing significant increases in every category of reported crime, including a 7.6% increase in homicide and double-digit increases in burglary and auto theft.  While the report only counted crimes in cities with populations of 100,000 or more, the California-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation cited the increases as evidence of a trend which many in law enforcement saw coming.

“We have been following news stories reporting on crime across the state since March 2012 to determine the impact that Realignment (AB 109), which lowered the consequences for thousands of felons, is having on public safety,” said Foundation President Michael Rushford.  “Although it seemed clear our state was experiencing increases in crime throughout last year, the state officials and academics who had encouraged the sentencing alternatives kept telling us that Realignment was working and that those reporting increased crime were fear-mongers,” he added.

The FBI report indicates that between January and June 2012, the national rate of violent crime rose by 1.9%, compared to the first six months of 2011.  Property crime over the same period increased by 1.5%.  Violent crime in California increased at more than twice the national rate, rising 4% while the rise in property crime was six times higher at 9%.  The report showed the highest crime increases in the West, driven by significant rises for most or all crimes in California, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, while Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Texas experienced either minor increases or reductions in most categories.

While comparisons between states can be simplistic, there are inferences that can be taken by narrowing the criteria.  A comparison with Florida and Texas (which, like California, have large diverse populations, dynamic economies and long national borders) shows the increase in the rate of violent crime in the Golden State was two and a half times higher than Texas and seven times higher than Florida.  While both Florida and Texas have been experimenting with alternative sentencing for juveniles and some drug offenders, both have significantly higher incarceration rates than California, and neither has implemented the sweeping sentencing reforms required under California’s Realignment, which took effect in October 2011.  New York and Washington State, on the other hand, have been engaged in large-scale alternative sentencing for several years.  Both experienced a spike in violent crime similar to California’s along with increases in nearly all categories of property crime.

“This report tends to confirm what police chiefs, sheriffs, parole officers, and even some judges have been warning us about over the past year.  Crime in California is increasing under Realignment,” said Rushford.  “With the enthusiastic support of the Legislature, Governor Jerry Brown has traded the safety of law-abiding Californians for some mostly illusory, short-term savings.  Until major changes are made to Realignment, we can expect excuses and rhetoric from the Administration and even greater increases in crime with each successive report,” he added.

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The Shadow Nanny and Shaken Baby Syndrome

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Accused Nanny Aisling McCarthy Brady

Aisling McCarthy Brady arrived in Massachusetts from her native Ireland as a tourist for 90-days under the Visa Waive Program in 2002. She has been in the United States illegally ever since. On Jan.22, 2013 Brady was arraigned on a charge of assault and battery on one-year old Rehma Sabir, causing substantial bodily injury. The little girl has subsequently died. Prosecutors expect to charge the thirty-four year old professional nanny with murder once the autopsy is completed.

Currently, Brady, who has pled not guilty, is being held on a $500,000 bail in the MCI-Framingham correctional institution. If she posts bail she can have no contact with the family of the child, and no contact with kids under the age of 10. She cannot engage in employment or volunteer work with kids or engage in child care services. She must surrender her passport, and check in with probation, and she is ordered to remain under house arrest with GPS monitoring. Her next court date is a pretrial hearing that is scheduled for February 22.

On January 14, Cambridge Police responded to Ash Street regarding an unresponsive infant. The child was found to be breathing but unconscious.  The child was transported to Children’s Hospital in Boston where she was found to be suffering from subdural and retinal hemorrhaging, and cerebral swelling.  She was also observed to have multiple healing bone fractures.  On January 16, the child was pronounced brain dead and subsequently died.

It has been determined that Brady had sole custody of and contact with the child during the time that she sustained injuries consistent with abusive head trauma. An evidence search of the child’s bedroom revealed blood stained baby wipes discarded in a ‘Diaper Genie’. The baby’s blanket and pillow in the crib also had telltale blood stains. The wall next to her changing table had a piece of drywall missing, with remnants scattered on the floor that was consistent with it being damaged by forceful contact with the corner of the changing table.

In documents released yesterday it was disclosed that, based on radiologic images from Children’s Hospital, Rehma had numerous healing fractures, between 2 weeks and two months old, including several compression fractures in her spinal area, as well as what are called long bone fractures to one of her left forearm bones and the two bones in her left leg. Clearly, the toddler had been subjected to severe abuse over the long term.

Brady has no criminal convictions, but she does have a well-documented history of erratic behavior and anger management issues. In 2005, a former boyfriend got a restraining order against Brady because she attacked him in a bar for talking to another woman. This incident was followed by years of stalking and harassment. In 2007, in an unrelated incident, Brady was arrested and charged with assault after yet another incident at a bar. As recently as 2011, a restraining order was filed against Brady after she accused a woman of “abusing the kids in the playground”.

Convicted Nanny Louise Woodward

This case is reminiscent of the Louise Woodward manslaughter incident and trial in 1997. In both cases the nanny was a foreign national. Like baby Rehma, little Matthew had old injuries that indicated previous violent abuse. Louise, a nineteen-year old English au pair was convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of eight-month-old Matthew Eappen while he was in her care. In November, 1997, Louise Woodward was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence for the second-degree murder of baby Matthew Eappen. Inexplicably, Judge Hiller Zobel reduced the jury’s verdict to involuntary manslaughter and said that the 279 days in prison the British au pair had already served would suffice as the entirety of her sentence. Woodward has since returned to Great Britain.

According to USA Today there are hundreds of thousands of foreign born women working in these jobs. They belong to a job sector that exists in the shadows, foreign born, oftentimes illegal immigrants, with few mainstream job skills and a willingness to work under the table for sub-par wages.

Families that employ shadow nannies range from the middle class to the rich and powerful. Markel Foundation President Zoë Baird and Federal Judge Kimba Wood were both forced to remove their names from consideration as United States Attorney General in the Clinton Administration when it was revealed that they had both employed undocumented nanny’s during the infamous Nannygate scandal of 1993.

My question is simple: why do very smart people make such stupid decisions when it comes to the safety and welfare of their children? I have no doubt that the majority of America’s undocumented nannies are loving, competent and responsible, but what compels parents to entrust their children to the lowest bidder? Hopefully, this case of a sadistic shadow nanny that violently shortened the life of a sweet little girl will prompt requisite soul searching to get to the heart of that question.

Posted in Child Sex Abuse, family | Tagged | 4 Comments on The Shadow Nanny and Shaken Baby Syndrome

Déjà vu – Another Monster in our Midst

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Killer, Rapist Dennis Stanworth

Serial rapist and child killer and registered sex offender Dennis Stanworth (B-5936) had previously been sentenced to death and life without the possibility of parole, yet he was arrested yesterday for murdering his mother.

Dennis Stanworth’s violent crime spree began on August 12, 1965 when he carjacked a 20-year old nursing student’s car, drove her to a remote location not far from Oakland’s Bay Bridge, threatened her life and raped her.

It was about sixty-degrees Fahrenheit at 8:30 p.m., on November 4, 1965 when Stanworth dragged a 24-year old into a field in El Sobrante, held an ice pick to her throat, raped and robbed her.

On the evening of May 13, 1966 Stanworth similarly carjacked, raped, and threatened a 17-year old high school student in Richmond.

Less than three months later, on August 1, 1966, near Pilole, he brutally raped and murdered  15-year old Susan Muriel Box and 14-year old Caree Lee Collison.

On August 3, 1966, the day the girl’s bodies were discovered, Stanworth carjacked, raped and robbed, and stole the car of an 18-year old young lady near the San Mateo Coastline. The authorities arrested him in her car a short time later, finally putting an end to his crime spree.

Dennis Stanworth pled guilty to two counts of first degree murder, one count of kidnaping to commit robbery with bodily harm, four counts of kidnaping, three counts of forcible rape, one count of sexual perversion, and one count of robbery. He was sentenced to death for each of the murder counts and life without the possibility of parole on the aggravated kidnapping count.

Stanworth became eligible for parole when the California Supreme Court ruled that the use of capital punishment was considered impermissible cruel and unusual as it degraded and dehumanized the parties involved. 

In 1979 the California Board of Prison Terms (BPT) recommended Stanworth’s parole based on the following factors: lack of prior serious criminal history or history of violent conduct; an excellent work record while in prison, six-years of participation in therapy programs, and personal savings of $3,000. Finally, after spending seventeen years in prison for a litany of crime that should have mandated his extinction, Dennis Stanworth was released back into the community.Dennis Stanworth SOR

Has Dennis Stanworth been living quietly these past decades, or might he be responsible for unsolved crimes that have plagued the Bay Area over the years? According to the California Sex Offender Registry Dennis Stanworth is guilty of oral copulation. The California Department of Justice is unable to determine if there are any subsequent felony convictions for this registrant at this time. Finally, why were our elected officials protecting this monster when they should have been protecting us?

Posted in Megan's Law, psychopath | 2 Comments on Déjà vu – Another Monster in our Midst

KlaasKids 3.0 – Happy Birthday Polly

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Today we should be celebrating Polly’s 32nd birthday. Instead we are honoring her memory by introducing powerful new technology and philanthropic programs to the world that were inspired by her brief life.

2013 also represents the 20th year of our advocacy on behalf of America’s children. We can think of no better way to acknowledge that milestone than by providing 21st century solutions that put the power of prevention and pro-action in the hands of families, neighborhoods and communities.

We have forcefully engaged the public policy arena for the past 20 years because we believe that public safety is Governments fundamental duty.  Every citizen has the right to walk on safe streets, to send their children to safe schools and to live without the fear of violence or victimization.

In the early 1990’s, when America was experiencing an epidemic of crime, we supported truth in sentencing, the assault weapons ban, and criminal accountability. We championed Megan’s Law so that communities would be aware of registered sex offenders in their midst. In the new millennium we spoke out loud and often for Jessica’s Law, and defended every effort to undermine California’s 3-Strikes & You’re Out Law. KlaasKids was one of the first organizations to acknowledge that the United States supplies much of our own human trafficking demand, and have worked diligently to educate the public and rescue underage victims of human trafficking. These past few years we have labored to update Megan’s Law into the 21st Century by including internet identifiers as a component of the registration process.

But now, all of that work is coming undone, because of apathy and government incompetence. And those who will suffer the consequences are the very people government is entrusted to protect.

In recent years California’s Department of Public Health has ignored Jessica’s Law and paper screened tens of thousands of potential sexually violent predators like John Gardner back onto our streets.

In October 2011 Governor Brown’s prison realignment program reassigned the responsibility for housing and monitoring tens of thousands of so-called non serious, non-violent, non-sexual prison inmates from the state to the Counties. This is a responsibility that the counties were ill equipped to accept or handle, and as a result serious, violent and sexual crime rates have soared.

California voters overwhelmingly passed the 3-Strikes & You’re Out Law in 1994, and by 2012, you were half as likely to be a victim of violent crime as you would have been in 1993. Yet, a cleverly worded proposition has modified that law to the point that it is no longer worth the paper it was written on and we will soon be releasing third strikers back onto our streets. How do you think that is going to work out for all of us?

In 2011 we worked the halls of the California State Legislature to include Internet identifiers as a component of sex offender registration, only to run into a brick wall at every turn. In response we fought for Proposition 35, the CASE Act, on the November 2012 ballot and the people voted overwhelmingly to enact the policies that our politicians refused to ratify. More than 81% of voters agreed that internet identifiers should be included as a component of the sex offender registry. Yet only a few weeks ago the ACLU challenged the constitutionality of Prop 35 in the Superior Court of the State of California with false claims and phony arguments.

All of this tells me that we need to take responsibility for our own safety. I’m not suggesting that we arm ourselves to the teeth with handguns, rifles, assault weapons, or rocket propelled grenade launchers as some horrible old men in legislatures throughout the United States have been hinting at in response to Connecticut’s Sandy Hook massacre. Instead, we need to arm ourselves with knowledge, technology, and philanthropy. There are numerous child-safe technology solutions in the marketplace. Some work, and some don’t. However, all of them existed in a vacuum until today.

For more than a year now, the KlaasKids Foundation has been working with vendors, inventors and visionaries to produce a comprehensive suite of technology and funding tools to address the challenges faced by America’s small children and their families. Today, I’d like to introduce you to the fruits of our labor.

Cocoon for KlaasKids uses Cloud Technology to protect children from predators and abusive marketers. Polly’s Guardian Angel is a parent initiated missing child alert smart phone application. It provides the direct support of the KlaasKids Polly Center response team. The LEO Wristwatch is GPS, cell phone technology that cannot be as easily discarded as Sierra LaMar’s GPS enabled cell phone if your child has been stolen. And finally, the Klaas Family Housing Fund provides a new and innovative way to assist the families of missing children with housing expenses.

Posted in KlaasKids Foundation, Polly Klaas | %

Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 256

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Two hundred and sixty-seven days ago Sierra LaMar disappeared while walking to the school bus. Her family has spent nearly every Saturday at a search center working with volunteers who are trying to find the missing 15-year-old cheerleader. Steve and Marlene LaMar are among the first to arrive in the morning, and the last to leave in the afternoon. This morning was particularly cold, yet several dozen search volunteers braved temperatures in the low 40’s to look for Sierra.

Two hundred and one days ago a suspect was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murdering Sierra. He resides in the relative comfort of a jail cell at the Santa Clara County Jail Complex. The authorities are protecting him so he resides in a solitary cell, segregated from the other prisoners. He eats three meals per day and the police cannot question him without his attorney being present. We the people are paying for the attorney. If he is injured or gets sick guess who pays the healthcare tab? Although he has yet to enter a plea to the charges against him, twenty-six days ago the suspect was charged with trying to kidnap three other victims during three separate car jackings. Charges are piling up like a criminal justice train wreck, but at least his rights aren’t being violated.

The American criminal justice system provides no equity to victims. The United States Constitution enumerates numerous rights for criminal defendants, yet the word victim is never mentioned. His right to remain silent supersedes their right to recover Sierra. His right to endless delays overrides their right to closure or piece of mind. I fear that we may never know what happened to Sierra because our society is so invested in protecting monsters from their own sins.

Thirty-two states, including California, have passed victim rights amendments to their state constitutions. They include things like the right to attend criminal proceedings, the right to be treated with dignity, and the right to apply for compensation, but in the final analysis they lack the power of the United States Constitution. So victims always take the backseat and even if they win they come in second place. We need a victim’s rights amendment to the US Constitution so that families like Sierra LaMar’s can participate in the system and not be relegated to the status of currency that drives the system.

Posted in missing children, Sierra LaMar | Tagged | 3 Comments on Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 256