The Child Protection eNewsletter

Jessica Lunsford’s killer sentenced to death, again…

A Florida judge sentenced sex offender John Evander Couey to die for the brutal 2005 rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Read More "Sentencing is about a final accounting, it is a closure, it is a reckoning," Circuit Judge Richard Howard said at a sentencing hearing this afternoon in which he read a description of the crime so graphic that he had to stop more than once to compose himself.

Howard listed a number of aggravating factors -- including Couey's previous sexual assault conviction, the girl's young age and the heinousness of the crime -- as reasons for his decision. "He caused a slow, suffering, cautious death, Jessica was placed not in one, but two trash bags," Howard said. "She was alive when he started to shovel the dirt over her body."

Howard said the facts of the crime "vastly outweighed" mitigating arguments put forward by Couey's attorneys in an effort to stave off capital punishment -- particularly questions raised about Couey's mental capacity. "He saw the victim playing in her yard and planned the burglary," Howard said. "He hid her in the closet for days. When he became fearful of the policemen, he dug a hole."

The Miami jury that convicted Couey in March had recommended the death sentence by a 10-2 vote, but under Florida state law Howard had the final word regarding capital punishment. Read More

Couey was convicted of kidnapping the girl from her bedroom, sexually assaulting her and later burying her alive in garbage bags. Howard described dirt under the girl's fingernails and holes poked in a trash bag as evidence of her effort to free herself from a foot-deep hole. Her wrists were bound with speaker wire and Howard said she may have been alive for up to five minutes before she suffocated.

A massive three-week search for the third-grader ended with the discovery of her body in the hole outside the trailer where Couey lived -- just 150 yards from her own home.

Couey, a convicted sex offender, was arrested in Georgia and, after initially denying his involvement, confessed to the crime. His trial had to be moved from Citrus County, Florida, to Miami because of intense backlash among residents in the local community.

Self-described pedophile to leave California…

A self-described pedophile is leaving California after a judge ordered him to stay away permanently from places where children gather, the man told a TV station. Read More "I have to leave the state, really, I can't live here under this Orwellian protocol," Jack McClellan told KABC. "It's nightmarish."

McClellan has been unemployed and living out of his car since arriving in Southern California this summer from Washington.

McClellan, 45, came to the attention of authorities for a Web site where he posted photos of children in public places and discussed how he liked to stake out parks, public libraries, fast-food restaurants and other areas where little girls congregated. His Internet service provider took down his Web site more than a month ago.

Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig issued a permanent injunction and a three-year restraining order that prohibit McClellan from coming within 30 feet of schools, playgrounds and other places where children congregate.

The judge's ruling narrowed an injunction issued earlier in the month that barred McClellan from coming near anyone under age 18 anywhere in the state. McClellan spent 10 days in jail for violating that injunction when he was arrested earlier this month near a child care center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Sandvig's new ruling also bars McClellan from contacting, videotaping or photographing children or publishing their photos without written consent from a guardian or parent. McClellan could be arrested if he violates that prohibition.

In other news… 

Senior social workers have given warning of the dangers posed by a new government register that will store the details of every child in England beginning next year. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/ They fear that the database, containing the address, medical and school details of all under-18s, could be used to harm the children whom it is intended to protect. The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ACDS) has written to officials outlining its “significant” concerns about the new system, called ContactPoint, The Times has learned. Confusion over who is responsible for vetting users and policing the system “may allow a situation where an abuser could be able to access ContactPoint for illegitimate purposes with limited fear of any repercussions”, Richard Stiff, the chairman of the ADCS Information Systems and Technology Policy Committee, said.

TMZ has learned Britney Spears is being investigated for possible child abuse. Read More An unscheduled hearing was held at Los Angeles County Superior Court. Present -- Britney's lawyer, Dennis Wasser, her former husband Kevin Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, and a lawyer from the Los Angeles County Counsel who is assigned to the dependency court. L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services is conducting an active investigation.

When the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego filed for bankruptcy in February, abruptly halting multiple sex-abuse lawsuits on the eve of trial, Michael Bang thought his chance for a day in court was gone. Read More On Friday, a federal bankruptcy judge revived hope for Bang, ruling that 42 cases be sent back to state courts for immediate jury trials. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Louise DeCarl Adler's ruling was a victory for Bang and about 150 other people who claim they were sexually abused by priests as children.

Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe said Monday there is no "imminent crisis" that would require a special legislative session to fix an error in a new law that allows Arkansans of any age -- even toddlers -- to marry with parental consent. Read More Beebe said he could call a special session if legislative leaders push for one or a court challenge arises, but he would rather avoid the expense of convening the House and Senate before the next regular session begins in January, 2009. "Right now, the code is in a way that most of the clerks feel like they don't have to issue marriage licenses to children under situations that would make them vulnerable, so at this point I think the caution is to just stay where we are," Beebe told reporters at the state Capitol

A controversial Virginia public service announcement aimed at preventing sexual abuse -- including billboards featuring a male adult holding a child's hand and provocative radio ads -- has some local men worried that the campaign is teaching children to fear men. Read More But the PSA may be in keeping with general child safety measures across the country. For example, airlines place unaccompanied minors with female rather than male passengers, and child safety groups advise lost boys and girls to seek out low-risk adults, like women with children, as first reported in last Thursday's Wall Street Journal.

A school uniform maker in England is considering adding satellite tracking devices to its clothing range so parents will always know where their children are. http://www.news.com.au/story The move comes after the Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex commissioned an online survey of more than 800 parents and over 400 children aged between nine and 16. It found 44 per cent of the adults were worried about the safety of their children and 59 per cent would be interested in uniforms with satellite tracking systems.

A central Florida toddler missing for almost a year was not abducted by a stranger and was not handed off to someone else by his mother, who killed herself as authorities focused on her as a suspect in the disappearance. http://www.foxnews.com/story/ The fate of Trenton Duckett, whose third birthday was Friday, remains unclear, Leesburg police Major Steve Rockefeller said. There have been no confirmed sightings of Trenton since he left his great grandparents house August 26, 2006. Read More

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