Volume 6, Issue 59
September 26, 2008
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Tony Alamo arrested on Mann Act violation...  FBI agents arrested evangelist and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo at an Arizona motel Thursday, alleging days after raiding the Arkansas headquarters of his ministry that he took minors across state lines for sexual purposes. Google News story here Alamo was staying at a hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona when arrested, said FBI spokesman Steve Frazier in Little Rock. The religious leader–who began his career as a California street preacher in 1966–was scheduled for a federal court appearance Friday in Flagstaff. Alamo is suspected of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking children across state lines for illegal purposes. Frazier described those purposes as "sexual activity." He said he didn't believe any children were with Alamo at the time of his arrest but would give few other details. Authorities did not say when minors were taken across state lines or which states were involved, but Alamo has ministries in California and Arkansas. Federal agents and Arkansas state police had raided the headquarters of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in tiny Fouke on Saturday and removed six girls ages 10 to 17. They sought evidence that children there had been molested or filmed having sex. See vol6_iss58. Prosecutors sought Alamo's arrest after interviewing the girls this week, but Frazier would not disclose what the children said. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, describes the ministry as a cult. Alamo's church rails against homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government, and Alamo has preached that girls are fit for marriage once they are sexually mature. "Consent is puberty," he said in a phone interview with The Associated Press last week from Los Angeles while agents raided the compound. He denied any involvement with pornography. An Arkansas judge has hearings set for Friday and Monday on whether the state Department of Human Services can keep custody of the six girls. The girls will attend the hearings. "We will transport them to and from hearings. We will take part in any future hearings," agency spokeswoman Julie Munsell said. "Our job right now is to basically take care of them." State Circuit Judge Jim Hudson said two hearings would be conducted Friday and the other four Monday in Texarkana. The six hearings will be split among three judges who will decide whether the state had enough evidence to temporarily remove the children from their homes on the Fouke compound. If a judge rules against the state, the girls would be returned to the parents. Caylee Anthony records released...  Audio recordings of witness interviews in the disappearance of Caylee Anthony have just been released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. My Fox Orlando story here On Tuesday, the Orange Osceola State Attorney's Office released 591 pages of discovery in the Casey Anthony case. In an interview with investigators, Amy Huizenga told police that Casey told her friends her car smelled like something died, that her dad may have run over something. She told her brother it was a squirrel that crawled up in the engine then told Amy Huizenga it was an animal stuck on the front of her car. The discovery includes depositions, phone and text messages made by Casey. The documents reveal a rift between Casey and her mom Cindy. And Lee told investigators his mom thought Casey resented her because Cindy had provided for Caylee, she was even the first one to hold Caylee after she was born. VIDEO: --What you didn't know about Casey: breaking down the new evidence VIDEO: Judge Napalotanio comments on the latest Casey Anthony evidence VIDEO: New audio tapes released in Anthony case TRANSCRIPTS Anthony Lazaro interview on July 22, 2008 Amy Huizenga interview on July 23, 2008 Jesse Grund interview on July 23, 2008 Brittany Schieber interview on July 24, 2008 Troy Brown interview on July 25, 2008 Ricardo Morales interview on July 25, 2008 Lee Anthony interview on July 29, 2008 Brian Burner interview on July 30, 2008 William Waters interview on July 30, 2008 Jesse Grund interview on July 31, 2008 Lauren Gibbs interview on August 1, 2008 Meanwhile, the woman who was accused of kidnapping Caylee by her mother, Casey Anthony, has filed a defamation lawsuit. Click to read lawsuit filed by Zenaida Gonzalez against Casey Anthony VIDEO: Alleged nanny sues Attorney John Morgan says Zenaida Gonzalez has never met Casey Anthony, who he says accused Gonzalez of taking the child in June. Gonzalez sued Anthony on Wednesday in Orlando. Anthony says she last saw 3-year-old Caylee in June with a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez. Authorities don't believe her. Todd Black, a spokesman for Anthony's attorney, says this isn't the same Zenaida Gonzalez Anthony left her child with. Black called the lawsuit frivolous. Anthony remains a "person of interest." She has been charged with child neglect, making false statements and obstruction. She says she doesn't know what happened to Caylee. Father drops off 9 kids under Nebraska's ageless safe haven law...  Some former supporters of the state's new "safe haven" law are calling for changes after 11 children as old as 17, including nine from one family, were dropped off at Omaha hospitals. MSNBC News story here The law, unique to the state, allows caregivers to abandon babies and teenagers alike at hospitals without fear of prosecution. It was originally intended to protect infants, but was expanded in a legislative compromise to protect any "child." Some have interpreted that to mean anyone under 19. Governor Dave Heineman, who signed the law, and others now say tweaks are needed. People are leaving them off just because they can't control them," State Senator Arnie Stuthman, who introduced the original bill, said Thursday. "They're probably in no real danger, so it's an easy way out for the caretaker." A father, who was not identified, left nine children–five boys and four girls ages 1 to 17–at Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room on Wednesday, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Unrelated boys ages 11 and 15 also were surrendered Wednesday at another hospital. At least 16 children have been abandoned since the law took effect in July, the state agency said. In other news...  Lori Drew, the woman accused of orchestrating an online hoax that allegedly led to the suicide of her teenage neighbor, planned to lure the girl to the mall and taunt her, prosecutors claim in court papers filed this week. ABC News story here Drew also allegedly told several people, including her hairdresser, that she and others were posing as a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans on MySpace and using the online account to communicate with 13-year-old Megan Meier, prosecutors say. Federal prosecutors claim that Drew, her daughter and her daughter's friend, Ashley Grills, pretended to be Josh Evans and first befriended and then taunted Meier, who lived down the street from the Drews in Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. Meier hanged herself in her bedroom closet in 2006, shortly after Grills, posing as "Josh," allegedly told her that the world would be a better place without her. See vol6_iss38.  The mayor of a South Texas town who is already required to register as a sex offender has been indicted on three new charges related to indecency with a child. AP News story here An Atascosa County grand jury Monday indicted Poteet Mayor Lino Donato on one count each of aggravated sexual assault, indecency with a child by contact, and attempted indecency with a child by contact, all felony offenses, according to the district clerk's office. Donato was being held at the Atascosa County Jail on a $200,000 bond, jail officials said. Donato pleaded guilty in October to indecency counts involving two girls but is now appealing. The plea cut short a trial on accusations that he exposed himself to two girls and improperly touched one of them. He is required to stay more than 1,000 feet from places where children congregate. That means he must also stay out of city hall because it within 200 feet of the Atascosa Boxing Club and Youth Center, City Attorney Frank Garza has said previously. Because identity theft is typically associated with financial matters like the misuse of credit cards, most people don't consider the possibility that their child's personal information could be stolen and misused. But more than 34,000 identity theft reports to the Federal Trade Commission from 2005 to 2007 concerned children under age 18. MSNBC News story here One reason there is no clear figure for the number of children affected is that the crime often goes unnoticed for many years, explained Scott Mitic, chief executive of TrustedID, a Redwood, Calif., company that offers ID protection services. Usually, there's a narrow time gap between the discovery and the theft, Mitic said of identity theft in general. "But in this age group, you're much more likely to see a lag." Because children don't have complex financial lives, there is less opportunity to notice that something has gone awry than for adults who try to access loans, mortgages and credit cards — one major factor that plays into child identity theft going undetected for years. A second major reason is that frequently, the thief is a parent or other relative of the child. "In excess of 50 percent of all child ID theft, involves a perpetrator who is one of the parents or someone who is close to the family," estimated Linda Foley of the Identity Theft Resource Center, basing her figure on counseling experience and work with law enforcement agencies. MSNBC's eight tips to protect your child's identity *for access to member only sites like the New York Times, use the ID "JohnDoeID" and the password "whatever". On sites asking for an email address, feel free to use "info@childprotectionprogram.org" |
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