MAYBE THIS COULD BE A TRENTON DUCKETT MIRACLE

First...Michelle Must Say:

This police department DID NOT issue an Amber Alert because they "had no evidence that Kevin was kidnapped so they could not issue an Amber Alert."??? WTF? This is a 2 year old boy...what are these people THINKING! It is a miracle this child is alive with all the incompents that run that police department. I have NEVER heard of a missing child that young NOT having an Amber Alert. Something SMELLS...

Boy, 2, rescued after disappearing in Texas wilderness

ALVARADO, Texas (AP) — For three days, 2 1/2-year-old Kevin Brown's chubby bare feet took him through acres of rugged pastures of grass taller than his head and around ponds where bobcats and coyotes roam. He probably slept and hid under thick bushes in some woods, frightened from a thunderstorm and the noise of rescue helicopters and searchers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles.


When a helicopter pilot spotted Kevin on Sunday night, the boy was nearly a mile from his home. Kevin was lying on his stomach at the edge of a pond as if he had been drinking, and the co-pilot jumped out, scooped him up and flew him to a hospital. "This little fellow was gone 69 hours and 16 minutes. There's no way he should have been alive," Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said. "I don't know if you believe in God, but this is truly a miracle that this boy is alive."


The toddler was treated for sunburn, dehydration, minor cuts and insect bites. Doctors were trying to determine whether Kevin was abducted but are not revealing their findings until a child psychologist talks to him in a few days, Alford said.


During the search, authorities feared Kevin had been snatched from a road near his rural home because they found no signs of his yellow T-shirt or gray checkered shorts. Officials even got tips about a suspicious red truck in the area. But the sheriff said Thursday he believes the child simply wandered off. Kevin's diaper was very soiled and he had fresh cuts as well as some that had started to heal, indicating he had been outside for several days. "I really don't believe he was abducted; he simply eluded us," Alford said.


The ordeal began Sept. 21 when Kevin and his 4-year-old brother, Anthony, were playing in the front yard of their mobile home. Their parents, Karla and Almond Brown, were inside with the windows and door open when Anthony entered, saying he had been bitten by a fire ant, Alford said. The couple tended to the older child for as long as 15 minutes, then went outside and did not see Kevin, Alford said.


After searching for about 30 minutes, the family called the sheriff's department, which arrived and quickly called other agencies. When Alford arrived hours later, he saw a Rottweiler and three pit bulls nearby and feared the worst. He said deputies checked the dogs' mouths for blood and pieces of clothing and looked under houses for the boy's body -- but were relieved to find nothing. By that time, a helicopter and more than three dozen officers had already been searching about a mile radius around the home. Another helicopter with heat-sensing equipment later arrived.


The next day, 100 volunteers searched through pastures, some with thigh-high weeds. Other friends made thousands of posters with Kevin's name and picture and put them up in several nearby towns, even sending and e-mailing them to other states and Mexico.


They also started prayer chains and made brown ribbons, symbolizing Kevin's last name. Some took food to the couple's home. "We tried to be strong for them, but it was so sad," said Vianney Ibarra, a family friend who helped search. The parents didn't return phone calls seeking comment. Authorities had no evidence that Kevin was kidnapped so they could not issue an Amber Alert. (WTF???) But they began questioning sex offenders in the area as early as last Friday and activated the National Child Find alert, which automatically sent calls to 5,000 homes in the area.


Authorities dragged and divers also searched the 10- to 15-feet deep ponds, and some ponds later were drained, Alford said. By Sunday, the reward for Kevin's safe return had grown to $14,000. The search scaled back as it appeared the child had been kidnapped or had died. But when a helicopter crew went out for a search Sunday evening, Kevin was finally found.


Later, Kevin appeared to sleep in his father's arms as the couple stood beaming and crying outside the hospital before they returned home, their relatives and friends cheering around them. Karla Brown told reporters it was the happiest day of her life. "We should have found him in two hours," Alford said. "Why we didn't, I'll never know."

A WOMAN CAN'T EVEN TAKE A RUN ANYMORE...I'M MAD!!!

(Source)--It's been one year. But Meghan says she still can't jog alone. On a Sunday morning a year ago today she was attacked while running down busy East Boulevard in Charlotte's Dilworth neighborhood. A man wearing only red underwear grabbed her, threatening her with what looked like a knife. He dragged her behind a building and raped her. The same man is blamed with at least two earlier rapes in the Charlotte area and police believe he may have tried to abduct another woman walking in Myers Park last January. He remains at large. 

All police have is a vague description and a DNA profile entered into a national database, waiting for the man's next misstep. But Meghan, now 26, is left with an upended life, shattered confidence, post-traumatic stress disorder and the sound of her own scream reverberating in her memory. Still, she is determined to reclaim her life. She wants people to see her face, to hear her name. 

The Observer doesn't normally name victims of sexual assaults and is withholding her last name for her safety. Meghan thinks about how many unnamed people have been raped since she was attacked.

More than 93,000 rapes were reported across the country last year. And federal crime experts estimate that more than 60 percent of rapes and sexual assaults aren't even reported to authorities. She imagines her own pain multiplied among all those other victims, among the two other women this serial rapist attacked.

The assault drove her from Charlotte, and she now lives in her hometown more than a thousand miles away. In the past year, she had to learn to lean on her friends and family, police, experts, other runners, even a pit bull. 

She's now starting to join rape education groups, hoping to speak out against such crimes and give others the same support. She wants survivors to know they aren't the only ones to feel the anxiety, the fear and the anger. 'You've got to let somebody give you a hug,' she said. 'You've got to say, `I'm hurt, I need help. I can't do this by myself.' ' And she hopes that maybe, if she gets the word out, people will come forward to stop rapists -- including her attacker -- from hurting anyone else.

A popular route On the morning of Sept. 25, 2005, Meghan planned to jog a new route. She said she stopped by a local coffee shop and told a friend her plans. She also told the friend when to expect her back. She'd lived in Charlotte for only about nine months, moving here with friends after finishing college. It was her first time away from her hometown. But she was trying out an experiment, giving the city at least a year. She headed off before dawn, running around Dilworth just south of uptown. 

The route she chose is popular among joggers, attracting many Dowd YMCA members. The start was uneventful. Just the usual pounding of feet. On her return she ran along the usually busy East Boulevard. But for a moment, no other joggers were around her and no cars passed on the street. That's when he grabbed her. His face was covered with a cloth. He threatened her with what turned out to be a screwdriver. 'I'm only 4' 10.' I'm sure people are imagining some strong runner woman,' Meghan said. 'I tried to struggle, but he was just too overpowering.' 

She seized a brief moment to yell for help. 'It's the scream you would give if it's your only chance someone would hear you. It's also the scream that you give when you know that this could be it,' she said. 'I can hear that scream and it haunts me today.'

She stumbled out to the street once the man fled. It was 7:14 a.m., the moment of sunrise that day. She flagged down the first people she saw, three men jogging down the same route. She never learned their names. 

Another jogger, this time a woman, also stopped when she came upon Meghan at the start of her own run. 'I grabbed her for dear life,' Meghan said. She was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital. The forensic nurses there helped connect her with support groups. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police talked with her. She visited a group counseling session. She didn't speak. But she called a national hot line for rape survivors, a lot, she said. That was the beginning, when she was first starting to learn how much she would need the help of others. She relied on friends and family. 'They have told me to call them morning, noon and night,' she said. 'And I have taken them up on that. 4:04 in the morning. 4:05 in the morning. 4:06 in the morning.' 

Meghan thought she was going to be able to stay in the city she had just adopted. Friends and family who had flown in or driven cross country surrounded her. But they had to return to their lives. 'Once everybody left and things were getting too much back to ...,' her voice trailed off. 'It was getting too quiet for me.'

Rebuilding confidence 

When she talks about how her life twisted that morning, she speaks haltingly, slow to find the words.She says she's a different person. She's more aware. More cautious. Less trusting. Sometimes she's filled with anxiety. Sometimes she's angry. But she's also determined. 'I'm just going to keep trying to view this experience for something positive,' she said. 

She started to run again, indoors, too scared to go outside. And she started to work with a personal trainer. He suggested she work out with his American pit bull terrier. 'You're going to train me with what? I don't know about this,' she recalled saying. But the dog, Maximus, senses when she is anxious or afraid. So she uses the dog to learn to reclaim her poise. 'My trainer is teaching me to be more confident, show Maximus that I am leading him, that I am in charge, that I believe in myself,' she said. 'When I do that Maximus always obeys me. He walks beside me, not in front of me.'

This summer she started to run outdoors again. She joined a program in her hometown where dozens, sometimes hundreds, turn out each day to train together. 

Surrounded by up to 300 people she finally felt safe, insulated from another attack. Now, she said, she doesn't need hundreds of running companions. She sometimes runs with her mom. But alone? 'It's still difficult. I still haven't run by myself outside,' she said. 'I have every confidence in the world that I will do that. It's going to take some time.' 

And this spring she visited Charlotte. She went to Harris Teeter and bought some sunflowers, a favorite symbol for her. 'They always point to the direction of the sun,' she explained. She went to the place where she was attacked and left the sunflowers there.

Michelle Says So:

Just the thought that women have to do this makes me sick. There are so many things that I am limited to do because us women can't trust ANYONE anymore. 

Every man I look at while walking down a quiet street I think of as a potential predator. It seems like humans are starting to realize the importance of predator and prey.

This is my weapon of choice...I'd aim straight at the throat/hole area.

 

Rape by strangers is comparatively rare, police say. About seven out of 10 females who were raped or sexually assaulted nationwide in 2005 knew their attackers, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

Here are some tips to protect yourself while outdoors: 

** Do not jog alone. In a public place, don't allow yourself to be isolated. 

** Try to stay in well-lit, crowded areas.

** Travel with a purpose, scanning the area around you. 

** Always let someone know the route you plan to take on a run and when you expect to return.

** Avoid distractions such as talking on a cell phone. Do not wear headphones for music that may limit awareness of your surroundings. 

** Don't stop for strangers who approach. Be aware of cars that pull up close or pass more than once. 

** Report anything suspicious to 911.

IF YOU ARE ATTACKED:

** Don't try to reason with the attacker. 

** Look for ways to escape. 

** Carry something to protect yourself. If you decide to fight, don't announce your intentions. 

** If you feel you can fight back, do not start when someone has a gun or knife to your throat. The most vulnerable places to strike an attacker are in the throat, eyes and groin. 

** Call 911 or a rape-crisis hot line. You can check your phone book's community information pages for a local number or call the national Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). It operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, which will connect you to a local hotline: (800) 656-HOPE(4673). 

** Do not take a shower. 

** Save the clothes you were wearing or wore afterward in a paper bag, not a plastic bag that can grow mold that contaminates evidence. 

** Ask someone you trust to help you get to a nearby hospital to treat your injuries and collect evidence in case you decide to press charges. Bring a change of clothes with you.

DARWIN'S THEORY AT ITS WORST...I WEEP FOR THE FUTURE

Mom let baby smoke weed from Bong

(source)--A Montana mother who allowed her 18-month-old baby daughter to inhale from a marijuana water pipe on several occasions was properly convicted, but should not have to spend five years in jail, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday.


Jessica Durham was photographed allowing her toddler Michala to suck from a marijuana water pipe, also known as a bong, in 2004 by a friend upset about the activity. (Oh isn't that a fun family picture! Will that go in the baby book, too? "Michala's first hit".)


"Ms. Durham allegedly remarked that smoking improved Michala's appetite (does she have cancer?) and left Michala lethargic and mellow - a manner she found consistent with her own experience (sounds like she doesn't want to be a parent...get the kid doped up so you can take naps and lay around watching Jerry Springer.) smoking marijuana," Judge Louis Pollak of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in summarizing the case.


In 2005, a lower court sentenced Durham to five years in prison for unlawful marijuana distribution. She appealed both the conviction and the sentence.


In its ruling on Friday, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld the conviction but said the sentence exceeded the applicable federal law which calls for punishment of no more than two years in prison.

WHERE IS TRENTON DUCKETT? MY GUESS? HIS MOTHER KILLED HIM

Portions of Transcripts from 9/20/06 show:

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight to Florida -- a parent`s worst nightmare, a 2-year-old boy reportedly snatched from his crib while his mom watched a movie in the very next room. Then mom commits suicide. Stunning and disturbing developments tonight, police now confirming a search of the trash dumpster near Melinda Duckett`s apartment revealed Trenton`s baby photos, his toys, his toy box, baby food and a sonogram of baby Trenton all thrown way in the trash the same day baby Trenton reported missing. 

Let`s go out to "Daily Commercial" reporter Marilyn Aciego joining us. Marilyn, what can you tell us about what was found in the dumpster? 

MARILYN ACIEGO, "DAILY COMMERCIAL": 

Well, like you said, Nancy, there were several photos of Trenton found, including the sonogram photos, toys, a toy box. This isn`t something you would think a mother would throw away if she thought her son was coming home. 

GRACE: Is it true that there was actually baby food, as well? 

ACIEGO: Yes, there was. And police are saying that it was possible she may have just been cleaning out the refrigerator. They`re not -- they don`t seem to be holding too much ground to that because it may have been possible she was just cleaning out pantries, cleaning out cabinets and things of that nature. ACIEGO: When was it found? 

GRACE: Yes. 

ACIEGO: Within a day of Trenton being reported missing. 

GRACE: OK, question. Marilyn, how do we know that the items were discarded in the dumpster the day he was reported missing? When were the items -- when was the dumpster last emptied? 

ACIEGO: I haven`t checked to see when the dumpster was emptied, but police found these items within a day of Trenton being reported missing.

THE FRESHLY PAINTED WALLS

GRACE: And what can you tell us about reports that there was freshly painted -- there were freshly painted walls in Melinda Duckett`s apartment? 

ACIEGO: There were freshly painted walls. She was very upfront with the police from the very beginning that she had painted. And they have yet to be able to find any forensic evidence linking the painted walls to the disappearance of Trenton.

THE SONOGRAM GRACE: To Marilyn Aciego. Let`s talk about the sonogram for a moment. We don`t know if it`s baby Trenton`s sonogram. Was it in the same trash bag along with all of Trenton`s other belongings? 

ACIEGO: Police have told us that it was found along with the other belongings. Whether it was in the same trash bag or not, they have not confirmed, but it was found. They felt it was part of the same trash. 

GRACE: Interesting. So this sonogram may or may not be that of baby Trenton, and it was found in Melinda and Trenton Duckett`s belongings. Very interesting. 

A WITNESS--AND MELINDA DUCKETT DID NOT GO TO POLICE WILLINGLY And Nancy, there was a witness, apparently, that saw one of the males who had been with her that evening taking one of the bags and discarding it in a dumpster before taking her to the Leesburg Police Department to be interviewed. And what she went -- and it says in the affidavit in support of a search warrant that she did not go willingly to police. So again, more and more suspicion towards Melinda Duckett. 

GRACE: Wait. Did I just hear you say she did not go willingly to police? 

BROOKS: And Nancy, yes, that`s exactly what I said, and it`s articulated in the affidavit in support of the search warrant for her apartment.

PAST ABUSE OF TRENTON BY MOTHER CASAREZ: 

That`s right. There was an alleged incident outside of a shopping mall, where Melinda and her ex-husband at the time were having an argument about money, and she allegedly took the neck of the little baby and appeared to try to break it or turn it. At that point, I believe child protective services took the child. An investigation was had, and they could find no visible injuries to the child at all.

GRACE: It`s my understanding, Marilyn Aciego -- Marilyn`s with "The Daily Commercial" -- at that juncture, she allegedly threatened to snap the baby`s neck, that later, no one found any bruises or marks on the baby. But whatever happened, Marilyn, it was enough to take the baby away from Melinda Duckett. How did she get the baby back? 

ACIEGO: After DCF investigated and found that there was -- that, basically, the claims seemed to be unfounded, they gave the baby back. That`s pretty -- that`s pretty normal in Florida.

MICHELLE SAYS SO:

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...it's probably MELISSA DUCKETT!!!

SERIAL KILLERS--BORN OR MADE?

(Source)--Are serial killers born or made, a product of faulty genetics or environment? That fundamental question has been driving academic interest and law enforcement research for as long as serial killing has been recognized as a serious problem.

My research in the area of serial crime supports the fact that with very few exceptions(and there are exceptions to every rule) serial killers are sane or meet the legal requirements of "sanity". They do however suffer from a wide variety of psychological disorders. These disorders are not sever to the point where the killer wouldn't be able to function in society or have the ability to lead a normal life if he were to seek help from a mental health professional.

As for the question are serial killers born or made? We are all born with a personality some of us are warm and loving others are cold and aloft. From our earliest experiences, we are taught that the world for the most part is a good place (we learn the harsh lesson that the world isn't always a nice good place later on). We are told that most killers have grown up in homes where abuse (physical, sexual, emotional or all of the above) are common place. They come from single parents homes where the parent is sexually proscimious, drug addicted or otherwise unable to care for her children.

Growing up in an environment like that effects the child, but what about the other children in a killers family that grow up and don't kill or children that grow up in almost identical circumstances that become "normal" productive members of society?

Serial Killers aren't like the rest of us. They don't act like we do, they don't react to situations like the rest of us would. They have a major fundamental difference, they just aren't "hard wired" like the rest of us. Childhood abuse and lack of love and support can and will exacerbate this situation, it does not by any means cause the behavior.

Plenty of us have come from abusive backgrounds to lead productive lives. Sure we are scared by events of the past, but as we grow we leave childish hurt and pain behind. The killer is unable to do that. His body will mature, but part of his psyche remains "primitive" or childlike in its response to stimulus. He lacks the ability to just "get past it".

The killer isn’t "born bad". It is my belief that his mind just works differently. The best way to further our understanding of the phenomenon of serial crime is to study serial criminals in custody and advance our understanding of forensic psychology, and neuroscience.
As we have all been told knowledge is power. Now is the time to further our understanding of the root cause of serial crime.

Serial criminals aren't just going to go away with a little wishful thinking.
News articles and the like about serial killing are few and far between these days. The cause for this is twofold:


1) American attention has been diverted by terrorism and the war in Iraq. Serial killers are still killing, victims families are still feeling the pain of loss, but those stories have been lost in the shuffle of a suicide bomber. Yes, terrorism in is a real and continuing threat but it shouldn’t be the exclusive focus of law enforcement.

2) Killers are getting smarter. They are watching "CSI" and "Forensic Files" with the rest of us. They know what police are looking for, they take great pains to eliminate evidence. Also, killers are looking for the "easy victim" one that isn't going to be noticed. Those victims have been called by Dr. Steven Eggar "the less dead". Simply put, victims that didn’t matter in life and still don't matter in death. A killer who is victimizing pretty young middle class college girls will receive much more attention that a killer that preys on prostitutes.

Amazing advances have been made in the area of forensic science, now its time to make the same amazing advances in the area of criminal profiling. Enough bickering over who should be allowed to profile and what kind of educational or law enforcement background a would be profiler comes from. If the individual is willing and able to dedicate his or her life to investigating serial crime and criminal profiling, I say it doesn't matter. We should be embracing everyone willing to further our understanding of the phenomenon instead of pointing fingers and proclaiming someone not qualified.

FORMER DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY PRESS AIDE ARRESTED FOR LURING SEX WITH FAKE ONLINE TEEN

BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — A former Department of Homeland Security press aide pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges that he had sexually explicit online conversations with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl.


Brian J. Doyle, 56, could face up to five years in prison under the plea agreement accepted Tuesday. He also faces up to 10 years' probation at sentencing scheduled for Nov. 17, and must register as a sex offender. He resigned from the department shortly after his April 4 arrest."I just want to say one thing. I am very, very sorry. Very sorry," Doyle told reporters outside the Polk County courthouse.


Doyle, of Silver Spring, Md., could have been sentenced to up to 115 years in prison if convicted of the 23 felony charges, which included 16 counts of sending pornographic movie clips to a minor. Prosecutors said Doyle wrote "very graphic" descriptions of sexual acts in online chats with a 14-year-old named "Ashlynne," who was actually an undercover Polk County sheriff's detective.


Doyle was arrested after detectives said he tried to set up a meeting in Florida with the girl on a date when she wouldn't be menstruating. According to court records, Doyle bragged about his government connections, provided his government-issued phone numbers, showed off his department ID and may have used his official computer in the communications with the detective posing as the girl.


Authorities said he sent her pornographic movie clips, as well as non-sexual photos of himself. One photo, released by the sheriff's office, shows Doyle in what appears to be Homeland Security headquarters. He is wearing a department pin on his lapel. Doyle told detectives he wasn't attracted to children, but had explicit conversations as a "kind of a power trip," court documents show.


Doyle's attorney, Barry Helfand, said his client suffers from depression and would detail the reasons for his online relationship at the sentencing hearing.His arrest sparked a national debate about Department of Homeland Security hiring practices. Secretary Michael Chertoff said he did not believe Doyle's alleged misconduct resulted in a breach of national security, calling it an individual's "misstep."


Doyle joined the federal government as a civil service employee shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, working at the Transportation Security Administration. He previously worked, for 26 years, as a reporter at Time magazine in Washington.He moved to Homeland Security's press operation in the summer of 2005 and was the fourth-ranking spokesman at the agency at the time of his arrest.

SERIAL CHILD MOLESTER CONVICTED

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A man prosecutors say was one of the nation's most prolific child molesters was convicted Monday of abusing two 12-year-old boys.


The jury deliberated for just four hours before finding Dean Schwartzmiller, 64, guilty of 11 felony counts of child molestation and one misdemeanor charge of child pornography possession.


Schwartzmiller, who represented himself during the trial but asked for an attorney to represent him during the sentencing phase, stood with his arms crossed as the verdicts were read. He faces up to life in prison.


Prosecutor Steve Fein said outside court that Schwartzmiller subjected jurors to unneccessary videotaped testimony and diatribes about how society doesn't accept pedophiles.


"A lawyer typically knows what the rules are. He had his own agenda," Fein said.


Prosecutors said Schwartzmiller, who has at least three other molestation convictions and a dozen arrests over three decades, left a trail of abused children.


During the nearly three-week trial, prosecutor Steve Fein showed jurors a map of the "places and decades where the defendant has molested young boys." It included an estimated 100 accusers dating to 1969 in eight U.S. states, Mexico and Brazil. Prosecutors pointed to a graphic 456-page memoir, 10 binders full of child pornography and 1,500 notebook pages with headings including "no, but yes boys," "best of the best, 13 and under" and "single-parent boys."


Schwartzmiller said the memoir and notebook entries were fiction. He blamed his roommate, Frederick Everts -- also a convicted child molester -- for the child porn.


Schwartzmiller testified on his own behalf and said he could not have molested the two boys, who are cousins, because he was either at a construction job or bedridden with a bad back at the time. In his closing argument, he noted discrepancies in testimony by the boys.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDENT RAPES 16 YEAR OLD IN DORM

An 18-year-old Indiana University student was arrested after he admitted to police that he raped a 16-year-old girl in a dormitory room over the weekend, authorities said.

Jacob Schwartz was being held in the Monroe County jail on a felony charge of rape, IU police said Monday.

The girl told her friends that she had been raped, and the friends took her to a hospital, where she was examined Saturday morning, police said. She told investigators that in that room, Schwartz raped her while she was in a state of semiconsciousness shortly before 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police.

Police were called to the hospital to investigate. Police then contacted Schwartz, who admitted to raping the girl during an interview at IU Police Department headquarters, authorities said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wrtv/20060919/lo_wrtv/9877753

WHITNEY HOUSTON--HAS SHE FINALLY COME TO HER SENSES?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston has filed for divorce from her husband Bobby Brown, her publicist told The Associated Press on Wednesday.Publicist Nancy Seltzer declined to reveal where or when Houston filed the divorce papers, and said the singer had no statement to make."I can just confirm that she has filed for divorce," Seltzer said.


Houston and Brown, who wed in 1992, have had a sometimes tumultuous marriage, and rumors of their breakup have surfaced often over the years. The couple believed live in Alpharetta, Ga.The couple have one child, a 13-year-old daughter , Bobbi Kristina.


Houston, 43, had her greatest musical success in the 1980s and '90s when she had several No. 1 records on Billboard's Hot 100 including the megahit "I Will Always Love You," from the 1992 film "The Bodyguard," in which she also starred opposite Kevin Costner.In recent years she's been an executive producer on the popular Raven-Symone films "The Cheetah Girls" and "The Cheetah Girls 2."


Her musician husband recently reunited with his old soul group New Edition for a show at July's Essence Musical Festival. The show got mixed reviews from the audience when Brown jumped suggestively around the stage and made vulgar remarks about his sex life with Houston.


Brown, 37, has had a history of drug and alcohol arrests and was sentenced to 90 days in jail in 2004 for missing three months of child support payments for two other children. He was arrested in March on minor motor-vehicle violations dating back 14 years when he visited Webster, Mass., to watch one of his children take part in a cheerleading tournament.

METH USER MUTILATES HOMELESS MAN

LAS VEGAS — A woman once convicted of mutilating and murdering a homeless man has a new chance for a jury to hear her case when her retrial begins Wednesday.


Prosecutors say Kirstin Blaise Lobato was on a three-day methamphetamine binge and working as an exotic dancer to make money for drugs when she ran out of cash on July 8, 2001, and tried to exchange sex for drugs from the victim, Duran Bailey. Prosecutors believe that, when Bailey couldn't live up to his end of the bargain, Lobato pulled out a butterfly knife and severed his penis before stabbing him and hitting him over the head with an aluminum baseball bat. Lobato also allegedly stabbed Bailey in his anus after he was dead, according to prosecutors.


A Las Vegas jury convicted Lobato of first-degree murder and sexual penetration of a corpse on May 18, 2002, and she was sentenced to 40 to 100 years in prison.


But the Nevada Supreme Court granted Lobato a new trial in September 2004, citing the trial judge's failure to admit evidence that could have weakened the credibility of a jailhouse informant. Clark County prosecutors Bill Kephart and Sandra DiGiacomo declined to discuss the specifics of their case, saying they will seek to convict Lobato within "the four walls of the courtroom and not in the media."


But DiGiacomo did say that they won't deviate much from the case they presented in the first trial. That case is almost entirely based on statements Lobato made about the killing, including her statement to police. Lobato told police she had been using meth for three days with no sleep when she got out of her car in a parking lot near Sam's Town Casino. She said an "older black man that smelled of alcohol and dirty diapers" grabbed her and was about to rape her. Lobato said she pulled a butterfly knife from her skirt pocket and "grabbed the man's penis and testicles with her left hand and cut it off."Then she "snapped and couldn't remember what else happened."


After the incident she said she took off her bloody clothing and drove to her ex-boyfriend's house naked. She then threw away the clothes and showered before driving back to her father's home in Panaca, Nev., which is 165 miles north of Las Vegas. She claims that was on July 2.Her lawyer says she didn't return to Las Vegas until the early morning of July 9, after Bailey had already been killed.


Special Public Defender David Schieck says Lobato believed she was admitting to her involvement in a different incident that happened around Memorial Day 2001."Our position is that Blaise was previously sexually assaulted shortly before Memorial Day weekend," Schieck said.


Although Schiek has been unable to substantiate the theory with hospital or police records, he said "most people aren't going to report that their penis was severed while they sexually assaulted a young woman."

Read rest of story here

SHOOTING SPREE AT MONTREAL COLLEGE--GUNMAN KILLED

MONTREAL, Quebec (CNN) — A gunman was killed by police and 20 students were wounded after a Wednesday shooting at Dawson College in downtown Montreal, police said.


Initial reports indicated that as many as four people, including two gunmen, had been killed, but Yvan Delorme, chief of Montreal Police Services, said only the single gunman was killed. Police were looking for other possible suspects, he said. Delorme would not comment on a motive, but said the shootings were not hate crimes or terror-related.


Three of the critically wounded were in operating rooms Wednesday afternoon, and three others were awaiting operations, a Montreal General Hospital spokeswoman said. Two other critically wounded victims were in the emergency room, she said. All surgeries should be completed by Wednesday evening, she said.


The spokeswoman said at least 14 victims had been brought to area hospitals. Eleven patients were transported to Montreal General and four or five more had been taken to two other area hospitals to ease the burden on Montreal General, she said.


Among the wounds being treated were gunshots to the head, abdomen, chest, arms and legs, she said. Police cordoned off the 12-acre campus after the incident and searched a nearby shopping mall for suspects, a police spokesman said. A SWAT team was in the college because "we believe there might be other suspects inside the Dawson College," a Montreal police spokesman told reporters.


Police were using search dogs in a door-to-door search for the gunman or gunmen Wednesday afternoon, another spokesman said. The shots were randomly fired in the cafeteria and atrium, and students said they didn't think anyone was targeted, said reporter Genevieve Beauchemin with the television station CFCF.


Students told Beauchemin that at least one of the gunmen was dressed in black. A student told Global News in Montreal that one of the shooters was in his early 20s and was wearing a trench coat. "He was saying nothing, just shooting. He told people to get away, and that was it," the student said.


Another student, Daniel Mightley, 21, said the shooting began outside the college. Mightley said he was heading to lunch when he saw one of the shooters to his right. The gunman, who was wearing a black trench coat and had a mohawk, fired a shot and "everybody just ran inside," he said."I saw his face and he had no emotion in his face whatsoever," Mightley said. "He was walking very slowly toward us and just shooting."Mightley said he saw at least one person get shot.


Police had not yet determined how many people were shot, said Sgt. Giuseppe Boccardi."My understanding, at this moment, is that most of the students have exited the college grounds," Boccardi said.


Video showed students streaming from the campus after the midday shootings."People were literally running for their lives," said Beauchemin, describing what the students told her was a "stampede." Emergency personnel and police, in bulletproof vests, wheeled people on two stretchers to ambulances. Boccardi said he couldn't provide a description of the victims.


A first-year student who didn't give her name said she saw one victim who had been shot in the leg being helped across the street, and another who had been shot in the stomach lying on the sidewalk."We were just sitting in class, and we were listening to the teacher and we heard guns going off," the student said. "We looked outside and everyone was screaming and crying and there were people that got shot that were running away."And then our teacher left, and he came back and said the gunmen were inside and we had to leave."


The college has 7,000 day students and 3,000 night students, according to the Dawson Web site. In Canada, students as young as 16 can attend colleges, which generally serve as bridges between high schools and universities.


This is not the first shooting at a Montreal college. About 17 years ago, Marc Lepine opened fire at Ecole Polytechnique. Fourteen female students were killed in the December 1989 shooting before Lepine killed himself. Lepine left behind a three-page letter blaming feminists for his not being able to get into the school.

ROCK BAND BUCKCHERRY COERCED 16-YEAR OLD INTO MAKING PORN VIDEO

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

THREE CHARGED IN RAPE VIDEO

This world has become a SICK SICK place to live...especially if you are a woman

*not actual footage

(Source)--Three students were charged yesterday by a prosecutor in Athens with the rape and attempted blackmail of an 18-year-old woman after allegedly posting a video of the assault on the Internet.


The students, aged 19, 20 and 22, allegedly drugged the teenager after she met one of the men at a party in February and then raped her at the suspect’s home. They are said to have recorded the incident and made it available for viewing on the Internet before demanding money from the victim to delete the video.


Police said that they also attempted to blackmail one of the woman’s relatives. The 18-year-old only recently reported the matter to police as she had been scared to go to authorities earlier due to the pressure put on her by the three alleged attackers, officers said. Police traced the suspects by obtaining their images from the video of the alleged rape. They raided their homes and found the video stored on four computer hard drives.

GIRLS GONE WILD FOUNDER JOE FRANCIS LOSES IN COURT

Joe Francis--Pig of the Decade

I am so ashamed that there are men out there like this. Joe Francis is nothing but a pig that has no regard or respect for women and freely exploits them for the almighty dollar. This judgment is a slap on the wrist considering he pulls in over $40 million a year.

Joe, karma comes back in very mysterious ways. Watch out for what is coming back around, you worthless piece of trash. I hope your mother cries everyday that she gave birth to a piece of shit like you.

WASHINGTON — The company that produces the "Girls Gone Wild" tapes of young women baring their breasts and acting in other sexual situations pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges and agreed to pay fines totaling $2.1 million. 

Mantra Films Inc., based in Santa Monica, Calif., made the plea in U.S. District Court in Florida on charges of failing to maintain proof of age and identification for its young performers in sexually explicit films. It also failed to label its DVDs and videotapes properly as required by federal law. 

A second company owned by Mantra's founder, MRA Holdings LLC, entered into a deferred agreement on charges of improper labeling. Under that agreement with prosecutors, the charges would be dismissed after three years if MRA Holdings cooperates with future government prosecutions, admits wrongdoing and pays fines. 

The two companies and their founder, Joseph Francis, will pay $2.1 million in fines and restitution, the Justice Department said. "My companies and I acknowledge that what we did was wrong and violated federal laws," Francis said in a statement filed in court. "We also acknowledge that as a result of these violations, footage of minors engaged in actual sexually explicit conduct appeared in at least two DVDs that were commercially released for sale to the public." 

Separate state charges in Florida alleging that two 17-year-old girls were videotaped by a "Girls Gone Wild" cameraman in sexual situations remain pending against Mantra and Francis. 

"Today's agreements ensure that 'Girls Gone Wild' will comply with an important law designed to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors and puts other producers on notice that they must be in compliance as well," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. 

An attorney for Mantra, Aaron Dyer, said the company would clean up its record keeping. The charges involved "serious record-keeping issues that occurred several years ago," he said. "Mantra takes these issues very seriously and has done everything it can to make sure this never occurs again." 

According to court papers, Mantra Films admitted to violating record keeping and labeling laws while distributing the videos during all of 2002 and part of 2003. 

Founded in 1997, Mantra released 83 different titles and sold 4.5 million videos and DVDs in 2002, according to Hoover's Inc., a business data firm in Austin, Texas.

Click here to read the Deferred Prosecution Agreement

MELINDA DUCKETT--ANOTHER SUSAN SMITH?

Melinda Duckett--Guilty Conscience? 

I highly doubt she killed herself over the media coverage. A mother's best friend who has a child missing is the media. Her family blames Nancy Grace for her suicide?

That is outright ludicrous. Nancy Grace grilled her like the ex-prosecutor she was. Melinda Duckett was caught her in lies and after the interview knew she was screwed. Nothing she said added up. Her ex-husband took and passed a lie detector test; however Melinda refused and would not cooperate with local police.

Doesn't sound like a mother who has a missing 2 year old.

Whens a missing child shen't just pass out fliers. She gets out there anearches for her child. She becomes proactive. She cooperates with local police and gives all the information she has. She couldn't account where she went the day her son went missing. I believe Melinda Duckett killed her son and then killed herself. She was having some major legal issues with her ex-husband regarding visitation of their son and other legal matters. Maybe she thought, 'I hate my ex...if I kill my son, he'll never see him again.' She obviously wasn't in her right mind. 

When she was caught in the lies, she knew she would be implicated in her son's disappearance and took the cowardly way out by killing herself. 

It doesn't take a rocket scie to figure this one out. The focus now should be on Trenton and finding him. He is either alive being hidden by a friends, or Mlinda killed her son.

(Source)--Two year-old Trenton Duckett was safe and sound in his bedroom at about 7:00 PM on the night of August 27. That's according to his mom Melinda Duckett, who told police she was in the same Windemere Villas apartment watching a movie with two friends. When she went to check on Trenton around 9:00 PM, he was gone. 

Police said they received a 911 call at about that time reporting Trenton missing. When investigators arrived, Melinda pointed out that the screen on the bedroom window had been cut. Suspecting that someone may have broken into Trenton's bedroom and grabbed him through the window, they sent the screen to the lab to examine it for further evidence. 

 Police in Leesburg initially questioned friends, relatives, neighbors and local sex offenders. They scoured the Windemere Villas apartment complex and nearby neighborhoods. With the help of volunteers, they distributed fliers with photos and information about Trenton throughout Florida and as far north as Georgia. And still no Trenton. 

So the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI joined in the search. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also lent a hand by sending out thousands of electronic fliers to area businesses. 

On September 6, advocate for missing kids Mark Lunsford arrived to support the Duckett family. His nine year-old daughter Jessica was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in early 2005. He's working with Trenton's father, Joshua Duckett to pass out fliers in The Villages, a large retirement and golf community. They're also expanding their efforts into neighboring Orange County.  

Authorities say that they're now focusing their attention on Trenton's whereabouts during the 24 to 36 hours preceding his disappearance. 

Trenton is about three feet tall and weighs about 40 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a blue and green striped shirt, or no shirt, denim shorts, and diaper.

NANCY GRACE GRILLS MOTHER--CAUGHT IN LIES BEFORE SUICIDE

(These are portions of interview between Nancy Grace and parents Melinda and Josh Duckett. Hours later Melinda committed suicide with a gunshot to the head.) 

First Inconsistency

GRACE: Would he have cried out if a stranger had taken him? JOSH DUCKETT: Most definitely. GRACE: Or he may have slept through it. JOSH DUCKETT: I find that one hard to believe because he was a very, very light sleeper. I mean, if you moved him while he was asleep, he automatically woke up.

-------------------- GRACE (to Melinda): Was he sleepy that night? Was he ready to go to bed, or did he resist? MELINDA DUCKETT: No. Extremely. He was tired. We had had a long day out. And my son is not a light sleeper whatsoever. You can move him from room to room, and he`ll still be asleep. And on top of that, he is very friendly and very outgoing to everyone. He can walk in a room full of strangers and make friends with people. And so I mean, if he met someone new, he would start playing with them. He wouldn`t cry. He never had tantrums or anything. ------------------- GRACE: Out to Trenton`s father, Josh Duckett. Have you taken a polygraph? JOSH DUCKETT: Yes. GRACE: You pass it? JOSH DUCKETT: They didn`t say whether you pass or fail, but the response was favorable, they said. GRACE: Who was there? JOSH DUCKETT: FBI agents. GRACE: Did you have a lawyer with you? JOSH DUCKETT: No. GRACE: Did you feel like you needed a lawyer? JOSH DUCKETT: No, not at all. GRACE: Do you currently have lawyer? JOSH DUCKETT: No. ------------------ GRACE: Out to Melinda Duckett. This is Trenton`s mom. Melinda, have you taken a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: I`ve spoken to the investigators, and Joshua is on the outside loop of it, and as far as the investigative techniques are concerned with polygraph, stress test, physical searches, interviews, et cetera, my family and I have fully cooperated with local law enforcement and... GRACE: Have you taken a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: ... the federal and everything... MELINDA DUCKETT: And locally, they don`t have enough necessary experience, and that`s why the FBI was called in to begin with. I`ve been instructed to only speak with them, with their unit, and anything that they release to the media or public is up to them. Now, as far as... GRACE: Have you taken a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: ... or anything -- like I said, I mean, anything that I do or anything is in cooperation with them. I`m doing everything they want me to. But as far as details and everything, I mean, I`m leaving everything up to them. GRACE: Right. Have you taken a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: I`ve done everything they`ve asked me to. GRACE: Melinda, my producers tell me police say they offered you a polygraph and you haven`t taken it yet. MELINDA DUCKETT: Well, I`m not sure what the police are doing. I`m not working with the police. But everything with the FBI is being handled. GRACE: Have the FBI offered you a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: I beg your pardon? GRACE: Have the FBI offered you a polygraph? MELINDA DUCKETT: Everything that they have done (INAUDIBLE) and asked and everything, we`ve cooperated with. Just like with my husband, obviously, you know, there`s nothing coming up with anything. ------------------- GRACE: To Josh Duckett. That`s Trenton`s father. You say the FBI poly-ed you? JOSH DUCKETT: Yes. GRACE: Did they offer it to you or tell you you had to do it? JOSH DUCKETT: They offered it to me. They asked if I`d do it voluntarily, that they couldn`t make me do it, and I voluntarily done it. --------------------- (To Nancy Grace) MELINDA DUCKETT: ...I`m not sitting down either crying my eyes out in my house not doing anything or gluing myself to the police department door. I`m actually physically doing things. GRACE: Tell me what you`re doing? MELINDA DUCKETT: In addition to all the flyers and everything, we`ve done -- we`ve dealt with the media many, many, many times, with the FBI on this case, with obviously the chain letters that are going through across the internet and everything trying to spread it out as far as we possible can. Not only that, but with our local churches, there`s prayer groups and everything like that. Also, one other thing, as far as the lawyers go, we have been ongoing for two years with this. Joshua does have a lawyer and I also have one. GRACE: For your divorce? MELINDA DUCKETT: No, for the entire thing. For the custody and everything and for the injunction. ------------------- GRACE: Ok. Josh, it`s my understanding you guys have had a very, very bitter split but I`m talking about lawyers as they relate to the disappearance of your son. You don`t have a lawyer for that, right, Josh? JOSH DUCKETT: No. I don`t have a lawyer for anything to do with the disappearance of my son. (fliers…sound familiar? Scott Peterson?) ----------------- GRACE: You stated you`ve been putting up fliers, where? MELINDA DUCKETT: We`ve been putting up flyers in restaurants and stores. We recently went down to discount and they`re doing a television ad throughout the nation on their commercials like that. Where I used to work we have trucks that go out and they`re putting flyers on the back of the trucks laminating them, different things like that. And even at church we`re putting fliers in the bulletins. GRACE: Melinda, where had you been with him that day? MELINDA DUCKETT: All we had basically been out is driving around. There is something about a convenience store. I don`t know where that came into play because whenever I go out somewhere, you know, I always have gas. I`m not shorthanded with anything. And I`m always prepared for it all. GRACE: So where had you been that day? MELINDA DUCKETT: We had been all through Lake county and up into Orange. GRACE: Doing what? MELINDA DUCKETT: Basically just shopping, going around driving. GRACE: Shopping where? MELINDA DUCKETT: Well we didn`t go anywhere specific. GRACE: Well I mean if you went shopping you had to go into a store. What store did you go into on Sunday? MELINDA DUCKETT: We went throughout the county. GRACE: Any store? I`m thinking of video cameras Melinda. I mean maybe they have a picture of someone watching you, following you back out to your car. I mean what store did you go to, Wal-Mart, JCPenney`s, what? MELINDA DUCKETT: I`m not going to get in any specifics. GRACE: Why? MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I`m not dealing with media very well. GRACE: Well can you remember where you were that day? MELINDA DUCKETT: I can remember perfectly well where I went that day. Just like I have spoken to the FBI with it. But as far as anything else goes we haven`t had very good dealings with any of them. GRACE: Well don`t you think it would be a great idea, for instance if you were at a local JCPenney`s or Sears Roebuck to tell the viewers right now this is where we were. Did you see anything? Did you notice anything? Here`s your child`s picture? Here`s my picture. Help me. Where were you? Why aren`t you telling us where you were that day, you were the last person to be seen with him? MELINDA DUCKETT: And we have already gone out and distributed the fliers and spoken to -- GRACE: Right, why aren`t you telling us and giving us a clear picture of where you were before your son was kidnapped? MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I`m not going to put those kind of details out? GRACE: Why? MELINDA DUCKETT: Because I was told not to. GRACE: Ms. Duckett, you are not telling us for a reason. What is the reason? You refuse to give even the simplest facts of where you were with your son before he went missing. It is day 12. MELINDA DUCKETT: (INAUDIBLE) with all media. It`s not just there, just all media. Period. (Source)

Family Blames Nancy Grace for Melinda's Suicide

(Source)--The grandparents of Melinda Duckett say the grilling that CNN's Nancy Grace gave their granddaughter contributed to her decision to commit suicide. 

(I gather the lies and guilt caused her commit suicide...not Nancy Grace.)

Now YOU tell ME...Is This a Woman With a Missing Child? Don't Blame Nancy Grace for possibly solving this case. She's a former prosecutor! What did she expect? I feel so sorry for the father...he didn't even have a chance to save his son.

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU'VE HEARD IT ALL...

More Wisconsin Freaks...

(Source) SEPTEMBER 6--When Nicholas Grunke last week spotted a newspaper photo of Laura Tennessen, the Wisconsin man apparently became so smitten that he plotted a rendezvous with the 20-year-old woman. But the photo Grunke saw accompanied an August 27 obituary of Tennessen, who died in a motorcycle accident.


Undeterred, Grunke allegedly plotted with his twin brother Alex and a friend, 20-year-old Dustin Radke, to rob Tennessen's grave so that he could have sex with her corpse.


Details of the trio's degenerate scheme are contained in a criminal complaint filed in Grant County Circuit Court. In a police interview, Radke said that he and the Grunke brothers stopped at a Wal-Mart to buy condoms on their way to the cemetery.


The necrophilia plot was disrupted Saturday night when police received a report of a suspicious vehicle near St. Charles Cemetery in Cassville, where Tennessen is buried. When confronted by a cop, an "very nervous" Alex Grunke admitted to the grave robbing scheme, noting that his cohorts were then digging up Tennessen's coffin. When police arrived at the gravesite, Nicholas Grunke and Radke were gone, though cops noticed that a hole had been dug down to the concrete vault encasing the woman's coffin, according to the complaint.


Nicholas Grunke and Radke were later arrested while walking about eight miles from the cemetery. The men are each facing sexual assault and theft charges that could land them in prison for more than five years.

Click to enlarge documents

CHARLES MANSON FOLLOWER DENIED PAROLE FOR 16th TIME

Leslie Van Houten, 1969

Leslie Van Houten, 2006

(Source)--Leslie Van Houten, the former Charles Manson follower convicted of taking part in a murderous rampage that terrorized Los Angeles 37 years ago, was denied parole Thursday for a 16th time.


The once raven-haired homecoming princess, now a gray-haired 57-year-old prison inmate, was convicted of murder and conspiracy for her role in the 1969 slayings of wealthy grocers Leno and Rosemary La Bianca.


The La Biancas were killed in August 1969, one night after Manson's followers killed actress Sharon Tate, celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, filmmaker Voityck Frykowski and Steven Parent, a friend of the Tate estate's caretaker. Van Houten did not participate in the Tate killings, but went along the next night when the La Biancas were slain in their home.


Prosecutors said at Thursday's hearing at Frontera's California Institute for Women that she had felt 'left out' of the first night's carnage. As she has during past hearings, Van Houten apologized to the victims' families, but the parole board wasn't swayed.


Board members determined she was an 'unacceptable public safety risk and a danger to society' and unsuitable for parole, said board spokesman Tip Kindel. Van Houten, Manson and two other followers of the cult leader were originally sentenced to death, but their sentences were reduced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after California's death penalty was briefly suspended in the 1970s. None of them have been released.


Although Thursday's ruling keeps her in prison, Van Houten won one small victory when the board told her she may reapply for parole in one year rather than the usual two. 'She can't do anything to change the day of the crime, but she improved herself and she is no longer a danger to society,' Van Houten's attorney, Christie Webb, said afterward.