Monthly Archives: October 2011

Sex Offenders Instructed to Attend AA or NA Halloween Night!

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 Please dont drag your kids to AA/NA Halloween night! Actually anytime is pretty scary………….Halloween

Sex offenders on probation across the state received unannounced visits Halloween night from their Probation Officers to ensure that they did not open their doors to trick or treaters.

Probation Officers had taken a number of precautionary measures to prevent sex offenders on probation from coming into contact with children, 16 and under, this Halloween.

In addition to the unannounced visits Sunday evening, Probation Officers began warning sex offenders over the past two weeks to not answer their doors, turn on porch lights, or set-up Halloween decorations outside of their homes.

 Probation Officers have also instructed the offenders to attend an AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting during the peak trick or treating time period.

http://www.mass.gov/courts/probation/pr110210.html

   Sex offender sign

 

Judge Joseph Will Shocked By Behavior Of Holly Hill PD

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Judge Joseph Will was not impressed with the way the Holly Hill Police Department handled the arrest of former Daytona Beach Officer Janet Hawkins. You be the judge!

Judge refused to drop charge even though information about arresting officer had been withheld

BY JAMES HARPER
DAYTONA TIMES

Judge Joseph Will says he was shocked by the behavior of the Holly Hill Police Department in the handling of the arrest of a former Daytona Beach police officer. However, he refused to dismiss charges against Janet Hawkins, sentencing her to 12 months’ probation for resisting arrest without violence. The sentence was for an encounter Hawkins had with two officers of the Holly Hill police force two years ago.

altJudge Joseph Will

Will acknowledged that the Holly Hill Police Department did not turn information over to the State Attorney’s office that might have resulted in a different verdict from the jury that found Hawkins guilty.

Hawkins’ attorney Gayle Graziano, a former Volusia County circuit judge, filed a motion on Aug. 19 prior to sentencing for dismissal of the verdict, citing a Brady violation.

Hawkins, 47, of Ormond Beach was arrested by the two Holly Hill officers on Sept. 23, 2009, after she was accused of running a stop sign at high speed. She also is accused of fighting with and injuring the officers.

Evidence withheld

A Brady motion is a defendant’s request for evidence concerning a material witness, which is favorable to the defense and to which the defense may be entitled. Favorable evidence includes not only evidence that tends to exculpate the accused, but also evidence that may impeach the credibility of a government witness.

altJanet Hawkins is shown after her arrest by the Holly Hill Police Department.

A Brady violation occurs where the failure to disclose evidence to the defense deprives the defendant of a fair trial.

Will agreed that Graziano was able to prove that evidence was withheld from the State Attorney’s office about arresting officer Romel Scalf.

Arresting officer fired

Graziano found the information on her own about Scalf’s illegal use of a Taser and other information about him while he was a police officer with Holly Hill.

“What we have is Romel Scalf. Look at his history. Thought he was God. When he approaches you, you better follow his order. … You better do what he says or else. Who does he target? They are Black people. He doesn’t do this with White people,” said Graziano about the officer who was fired by the Holly Hill Police Department (HHPD) soon after the arrest of Hawkins because of his actions while with the force.

Graziano told the judge that the “the prosecutor had the obligation to seek justice,’’ stating that the information should have been presented to the defense. “Government held back. Government did not provide us with all information.’’

The judge said the HHPD not providing the information “has nothing to do with the State Attorney’s office. The State Attorney did nothing wrong; the City of Holly Hill did.”

Matter of race?

Graziano later exclusively told the Times that she considered race a factor.

“You know how racist this community is. If she had been a White male, no charges would have been filed.”

However, the judge said during the sentencing: “I think the jury was fairly forgiving. If there is a racial overtone, I didn’t know anything about it,’’ adding that the jury is not asked to consider racial overtones.

“Two persons (who) did not mesh well ran into each other. I think attitudes led to the problem. We have a she-bear and a bully,” elaborated Will, referring to Hawkins and Scalf.

Hawkins said she never resisted arrest.

She was later fired for violating Daytona Beach police policies. Hawkins had been responding to a call from her son, Brandall Hawkins, who had been arrested on a charge of trespassing at an apartment complex. He later was found not guilty by a jury.

Went looking for son

Hawkins, a 15-year veteran of the Daytona Beach police, was off duty while on the way to the Holly Point Apartments parking lot on 15th Street, looking for her 25-year-old son.

“As a mother, I had a right to go to the police station. I didn’t understand. When this is over, I have to look at my son and say there is justice. I was victimized by him (Scalf). I can’t be bitter. My family has suffered enough. How did I get to where I was to where I am? I still believe there is justice.”

Scalf’s side of the story

Scalf, in his arrest report, described how he thought Hawkins was a danger behind the wheel. When she jumped back in her sport utility vehicle after being stopped, Scalf said he tried to place Hawkins under arrest but she resisted.

He and another officer, Walter Melton, used Tasers on Hawkins during her arrest.

Last April, an all-White jury found Hawkins guilty of resisting arrest without violence. Her sentencing was delayed until last week because of a death in Graziano’s family.

“This woman (Hawkins) has been punished enough. She was fired. She was terminated. Why wasn’t she suspended? She has fought racism and sexism. She has been punished more than anybody else. If you’re female, you have to be devastated,” said Graziano.

Attorney: Client probably overreacted

Graziano said she did not understand how the jury could find Hawkins guilty of resisting arrest without violence.

“The officer asked her to remove her vehicle. She was not obstructing traffic; the police officers’ vehicles were obstructing traffic. She parked in a place that was unobstructed. Jury misapplied the law if they thought she did,” said Graziano, who filed an appeal to overturn the verdict.

While doing so, Graziano also withdrew as Hawkins’ attorney because of what she said was an understanding with the former office when she took on the case.

Graziano admitted Hawkins could have probably behaved differently when she was stopped by the police.

“She is like a lot of mothers. She overreacted. When her son is in danger, she goes with vengeance. She was trying to get to the police station. She was familiar with how law enforcement treats young Black men,” added Graziano.

AA Member Threatens to Shoot Fellow AA Member At Cass City Church

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Churches need to ask AA Groups to obtain liability and sexual molestation insurance. Churches are taking on a lot of risk renting to violent felons and sexual predators.
Did AA members tell this man to go off his meds????????????
Be careful what you ask for!

Man sent for psychiatric exam after allegedly pointing gun at A.A. member in Cass City church

By Thomas Gilchrist
Published: Friday, October 07, 2011, 12:12 PM
     

CARO — A man accused of pointing a loaded revolver at another man at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting inside a Cass City Church will be examined to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial.

John R. Dillon, 74, of Tuscola County’s Almer Township faces 10 criminal charges in connection with the Sept. 5 incident at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 6820 Main, in Cass City.

Dillon “put a gun in someone’s face and threatened to shoot him,” said Trooper Ruth Osborne of the Michigan State Police post at Caro.

Osborne alleges Dillon also pointed the gun at a man’s back before handing over the weapon to one of the A.A. group members.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the alleged victim was the same person in both incidents. Osborne said she didn’t know the motive for the alleged crimes. She said Cass City Police Department Officer Bill Hartzell had taken Dillon into custody when she arrived to assist at the scene.

Tuscola County District Judge Kim David Glaspie, on Sept. 19, ordered Dillon to undergo psychiatric examination to determine if he is mentally competent and criminally responsible.

No date has been set for a hearing on the evidence against Dillon, who is charged with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and if convicted of either charge, would face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

He also is charged with four counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony, a charge that carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison that must be served prior to any other prison time ordered for other convictions.

Dillon also is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

The Saginaw News could not reach Dillon’s lawyer, Caro attorney Timothy M. Turkelson, for comment.

Tuscola County Magistrate Joseph Van Auken set a $100,000 cash bond for Dillon, who hasn’t posted bond and remains in custody.

Rommel Scalf Quits Holly Hill PD After String Of Taser Abuses

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Now after one reads this article, one is left with more questions than answers about the internal affairs of Holly Hill PD. Rommel Scalf  had numerous previous complaints over excessive force using a taser gun. Instead of firing him for so many infractions he was instead given a desk job by then Commander Mark Barker, to head the Crime Prevention Community Relations Department. This included the ‘ Explorers’ , a youth group learning about police work. Barker is quoted as saying he ” thrived” in that position. That is until he used excessive force again with a taser gun he was not even allowed to have.

This story is not just a reflection on Rommel Scalf behavior. It draws a bigger picture of of the inner workings and mindset of the top brass in the Holly Hill Police Department. You certainly come away from the article feeling like there were many standards of professionalism not followed at the department for quite some time. I doubt Scalf thought he would even lose his job over it, but it did catch up with him.

This information was suppressed involving Janet Hawkins and Scalf during her trial when he arrested her. Holly Hill was withholding evidence to protect there own as long as they could.

Officer quits after Taser misuse

BY LYDA LONGA, STAFF WRITER

April 29 th 2011

HOLLY HILL — The Holly Hill policeman who scuffled with a Daytona Beach detective he arrested resigned after a string of incidents in which he misused a Taser, according to documents obtained this week.

In the latest incident, former officer Rommel Scalf pressed the trigger of his supervisor’s Taser — while it was still in the corporal’s hand — stunning a domestic violence suspect. But Scalf was not supposed to handle that weapon. Misuse of his Taser in other incidents prompted his supervisors to prohibit him from carrying one, according to Scalf’s internal affairs file.

Scalf, a 13-year Holly Hill officer, shot suspect Troy Foster the first time on a February afternoon. Following that, Scalf yelled for someone to give him a Taser and he shot Foster once in the side and again in the back while the handcuffed man was being led away by another officer, an internal affairs report shows.

Besides shooting a handcuffed suspect three times, Scalf also placed one of his colleagues in danger, the report shows.

Scalf, who resigned from Holly Hill police on March 17, declined comment for this article. But news of his resignation surfaced last week during the one-day trial of former Daytona Beach detective Janet Hawkins. Scalf arrested Hawkins on Sept. 22, 2009, at a traffic stop. Hawkins, 47, is awaiting sentencing on a charge of resisting without violence, a misdemeanor.

Testimony at the Hawkins trial and an internal affairs file at Holly Hill police revealed that the 45-year-old Scalf was not permitted to carry a Taser because of complaints about his use of force in the past.

In 2007, according to his internal affairs file, Scalf deployed his Taser 16 times. After that then-Police chief Don Shinnamon wanted him monitored closely, the internal affairs file shows.

In early 2008, Scalf met with trouble again, however.

On Jan. 12, Scalf blasted a handcuffed suspect with his Taser while the man sat in a patrol car. Scalf also kicked the man and punched him in the abdomen, his internal affairs file shows.

That incident prompted Police Chief Mark Barker — who was a commander at the time — to strip Scalf of his Taser-carrying privilege.

Shortly thereafter, Scalf was placed in the police department’s Crime Prevention Community Relations division, where Barker said Scalf “thrived.”

Then, on Feb. 28, police received the domestic violence call at the Foster residence on 10th Street.

Scalf responded as a backup officer for Cpl. Jeff Traylor — Scalf’s supervisor on that call — Cpl. Chris Yates and Officer Jason Weiss.

When police arrived at Foster’s home, he had bolted after striking his girlfriend on the chest. The suspect returned to the house then ran back out and Scalf gave chase. As Scalf ran, he tripped on some vegetation and cut his face when he hit the ground. Foster then ran into his home and locked himself in a bathroom.

That’s when Scalf — according to the internal affairs investigation — lost it.

He yelled at Traylor — his supervisor — to “kick in the door,” the report shows. Before the door was opened, Scalf yelled “When you see that mother (expletive deleted) shoot him!”

When the door opened, Foster was not violent; he verbally resisted when Traylor tried to handcuff him. At that Scalf yelled at Traylor: “Shoot that mother (expletive deleted) Jeff!” Traylor pointed his weapon at Foster as he assessed the situation, the report says. But that enraged Scalf even more, the report shows. He then yelled an obscenity at his supervisor.

At that point, Scalf advanced toward Traylor and pulled the trigger on Traylor’s Taser, the internal affairs report shows. A barb penetrated Foster’s torso, the report shows. As the suspect was handcuffed and being led away by Yates, Scalf yelled, “Someone give me a Taser!”

The officer who was leading Foster to the patrol car had to move to avoid getting struck by the Taser’s barb, the report shows.

At the time none of the officers at the scene knew Scalf was not supposed to have a Taser, the report says. It’s not clear whether one of the officers handed him the weapon or Scalf grabbed it, but Scalf was able to shoot Foster in the side as he walked away with Yates.

When Foster suddenly stopped, Scalf shot him again, this time striking him in the back, the report shows.

The officers who witnessed Scalf’s actions were stunned, the report says.

“It appeared to other officers and supervisors present that Officer Scalf was out of control, emotionally unstable and highly agitated during the encounter,” the report says. “His use of the term ‘Shoot that mother (expletive deleted)’ escalated an already tense situation.”

Barker said his officers are supposed to deploy their Tasers only when a person physically resists an officer’s commands.

While he said Scalf was “highly intelligent” and had received several commendations throughout his career with the department, Barker also said he cannot tolerate such behavior.

“His conduct at the scene that day was obviously unacceptable,” Barker said this week.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/04/29/officer-quits-after-taser-misuse.html

Steve Smith Asked Rick Glass To Resign Over Sex Abuse Case

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 Steve Smith and Karen Wheatey asked Commissioner Rick Glass for his resignation after his employer The Arc Of Volusia fired him over allegations of sexual abuse of a disabled woman under his care. Even though he has not been charged, his employer must have felt that there was enough evidence to fire him,right? What was he doing alone with this disabled woman in a compromising situation?

Then Mayor Roy Johnson thinks this is just a personal matter?

Liz Towsley had complained about possible sexual misconduct in regard to Chief Mark Barker in the past and other Holly Hill employees as well that made the newspapers.No charges were ever filed,but it sure makes you wonder who is running this City?

City Manager Oel Wingo was fired less than a year ago amid multiple accusations from Liz Towsley-Patton,Rick Glass and Donnie Moore.Liz Towsley stated that “she destroyed our city”. They investigated illegal document destruction and she was said to have lied to many city employees.Now nothing had been proven at that time and she was fired.At least she was not accused of a sexual abuse incident that Karen Wheatley described as “despicable and vile”. Liz Towsley did not seem to want to wait for an investigation to be done on Manager Oel Wingo before she was fired.

Listen to it in it’s entirety 

http://www.justin.tv/cityofhollyhill/b/298408409

Holly Hill Commissioner Rick Glass draws jeers and support

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/10/26/holly-hill-commissioner-draws-jeers-support.html

Election would undo recent vote

BY ALAN SANDERFORD, HOLLY HILL

http://www.news-journalonline.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/2011/10/27/election-would-undo-recent-vote.html

Proposed Charter Amendments Heading To Holly Hill Voters

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/10/31/proposed-charter-amendments-heading-to-holly-hill-voters.html

PS-It Does not take a rocket scientist to realize how unjust this is!

 

Picture in 2008 when Liz Towsley was asked to resign!

Holly Hill Police Department Has Complaints Of Excessive Force

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Even though Officer Rommel Scalf was not allowed to have a taser because of past abuses with using a taser, it looks like Rommel Scalf was allowed to use a taser indirectly by just ordering other officers to do his dirty work. It is outrageous that Daytona Beach police officer Janet Hawkins was tasered. Janet Hawkens claims excessive force was used again by Officer Rommel Scalf. Why did the Chief of Police Mark Barker allow this behavior from his officers for so long? Is this the blue wall of silence at work in the Holly Hill Fl police department?

‘Blue wall of silence’ crumbles

Written by Fcadmin | 28 April 2011

In Janet Hawkins’ resisting arrest case, former officer treated like just another ‘angry’ Black woman

BY JAMES HARPER

DAYTONA TIMES

Janet Hawkins believes there were several factors going against her during her resisting arrest trial last week at the Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

alt                                                       Janet Hawkins

She is Black, female, and she was facing an all-White jury.

Another factor going against her that seemingly should have been in her favor is that she is a former Daytona Beach Police officer.

Unlike what is seen in the movies, the so-called “Blue wall of silence” came tumbling down as one officer after another testified against Hawkins on April 21.

The “Blue wall of Silence” is an unwritten rule among police officers in the United States not to report on another colleague’s errors, misconducts or crimes.

 Officers testify

In September 2009, Hawkins was arrested on a felony charge of resisting arrest with violence and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest without violence and careless driving.

The jury only found her guilty of resisting arrest without violence.

Two of the officers testifying against her were from the neighboring Holly Hill Police Department – Walter Melton and Rommel Scalf. The other officer was Lt. James Newcome from the Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD).

Hawkins also had officers testifying on her behalf, including retired Sgt. Robert Smiley of DBPD. The officers testifying against her were White while those testifying in her favor were Black.

There are more than 270 police officers with the DBPD, but among spectators in the courtroom, a Daytona Times reporter counted only two DBPD officers who came to support Hawkins.

How it started

Hawkins’ concern for her son on Sept. 22, 2009, was the beginning of her fall from grace.

She was fired Dec. 4, 2009, after almost 15 years with the DBPD.

“The reason they cited was because I was untruthful, professional misconduct, I was arrested and I caused department morale to go down. Even the termination paperwork says ‘No Disciplinary History’ ” Hawkins told the Times this week.

The incident that led to Hawkins’ firing involved her son, Brandall, who was visiting friends at the Holly Point Apartments in Holly Hill on Sept. 22, 2009.

When he arrived at the apartment, a number of his friends, according to testimony, were being harassed and arrested by Holly Hill police officers.

Heeded son’s call

Holly Hill’s Melton was on the scene at the apartment and testified during Hawkins’ trial.

Brandall called his mother who told him to leave the apartment scene. Hawkins testified that she overhead Melton talking to her son before the phone went dead. That worried her so she left her Ormond Beach home to go to the Holly Point Apartments.

Melton said in court that he was told by Brandall that his mom was on her way. The Holly Hill officer also said under cross-examination that Brandall told Melton he didn’t have to tell him sh..”

“I told officers to arrest Brandall Hawkins,’’ said Holly Hill Police Officer Rommel Scalf, who testified that he was asked to assist at Holly Point Apartments by a shift supervisor.

“I didn’t have anything to do with the arrest (of her son),” said Scalf, when asked by the prosecutor during the trial.

Son’s arrest

However, on cross examination by Hawkins’ attorney Gail Graziano, a former Volusia County circuit judge, Scalf changed his testimony and said he did direct officers to arrest Brandall.

“He attempted to incite people.  He was talking on the cell phone (to his mother),” Scalf said last week on the witness stand.

But Graziano said to Scalf: “He was exercising his right to free speech.’’

On cross-examination, Scalf admitted he was told that Brandall Hawkins was the son of then officer Janet Hawkins.

Brandall was charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing and obstructing an officer without violence. Last year, a jury found him not guilty on all charges.

Mom followed

After her son’s call, Hawkins went to the Holly Point Apartments to discover that he was not there and that he had been taken to the Holly Hill Police Station.

She drove from 15th Street down Center Street to LPGA Boulevard to get to the Holly Hill station, according to testimony during the trial.

As she was driving, Hawkins said she noticed no lights behind her but she had a hunch a Holly Hill officer was near because as she pulled out of the apartment complex, she noticed a marked police car in the parking lot.

‘Are you serious?’

During cross-examination last week, Scalf said he was following Hawkins with no headlights because she was speeding but said he had no speed detection device in his car. Yet he pulled her over at LPGA and Enterprise Court.

Scalf, who has 17 years experience with Holly Hill, retired on April 1.

He said Hawkins jumped out of a red Ford Explorer and asked: “Are you serious? Are you serious? I can’t believe you are doing this.”

After giving Scalf her license, she headed back to her vehicle and was talking on her cell phone to now retired Sgt. Robert Smiley.

Scalf says he told Hawkins not to walk away from him and asked her to get in her vehicle and follow him to the Holly Hill Police station.

Hawkins said she told him she knew where the station was located and could get their on her own.

“She made the mistake of not obeying Scalf. He throws her down and breaks her cell phone. She is under arrest for not hanging up her cell phone,” Graziano said in court.

Tried to taser

In reference to Hawkins’ identifying herself as a fellow officer, Scalf said: “I gave her the option to follow me to the police station. She wouldn’t listen to me. Just because you say who you are doesn’t mean you are who you say you are.’’

On police radio, Scalf refers to a “hysterical Black female claiming to be Daytona Beach police officer.”

Melton also testified that Hawkins was “angry her son had been arrested.” He was called to the Holly Hill street scene by Scalf and later asked Melton to taser Hawkins.

Hawkins was accused of calling Melton and Scalf “corrupt and rednecks.’’

Graziano told the jury: “Words are not a crime.’’ Graziano also said that when Melton used a taser on Hawkins he did so illegally.

Hawkins’ attorney also got Scalf to admit on the stand that passive or verbal resistance from a suspect doesn’t allow an officer to use a taser.

“The taser was unsuccessful. She had him (Melton) in a wrist lock. I tripped her legs and knocked them both to the ground,” Scalf continued.

Graziano said she learned prior to the trial that Scalf had at least seven complaints for excessive use of force, which the state did not produce as ordered by the judge.

Hawkins will appeal

On the stand, Hawkins denied she resisted arrest.

Hawkins said she knew when Scalf asked her to get back into her vehicle that she had to do so. She stated that when she attempted to do so, she was arrested.

Hawkins said she also recalls Scalf saying, “Your son is a thug and you are a thug.’’

“What good am I to my son if I’m locked up?” Hawkins asked, stating that she has been stopped before by other officers and she knew the routine.

“She had the right to speak loud, cuss, express her opinion to police and not be arrested for it,” Graziano said. “A crime involves conduct, not speech. There is no evidence her speech constituted resistance no matter how offensive speech is to police office.’’

Hawkins said she does plan to fight last week’s misdemeanor resisting arrest verdict.

“I do plan to appeal the verdict I can’t say much more about that. The penalty can be up to a year in jail. As for my job, because it’s a misdemeanor I can fight for the job, but that’s on the back burner,” she added.

http://www.flcourier.com/fldaytona-times/5184-blue-wall-of-silence-crumbles

Commissioner Rick Glass Fired Amid Sexual Abuse Investigation

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Here is our City Commissioner Rick Glass who voted for a special election this November 8th 2011, to change the 2 year term for commissioners, back to 4 years.Last November Holly Hill citizens turned out and voted for 2 year terms for commissioners !

Also Rick Glass is just one of the Holly Hill Commissioners that have failed to protect the children and citizens from threats of violence, harassment, assault & battery from Daytona NA Narcotics Anonymous and AA Daytona Alcoholics Anonymous(also known as the Volusia County Intergroup) members.

Holly Hill commissioner fired from job amid investigation into sexual abuse
BY PATRICIO G. BALONA, STAFF WRITER send an email to patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
 October 22, 2011 12:45 AM
Rick Glass

HOLLY HILL — A Holly Hill city commissioner was fired from his job at a local agency for disabled people after the state began an investigation into possible sexual abuse of a client, officials confirmed this week.

Clay LaRoche, spokesman for the Department of Children & Families, said the state agency is investigating a possible sexual-abuse incident at the Arc of Volusia involving Commissioner Rick Glass.

“I can confirm that we have an investigation going on,” LaRoche said. “I cannot discuss the details because it is an open and ongoing investigation, but I can tell you that we are investigating.”

DCF started investigating the incident Oct. 11, LaRoche said.

snip

‘According to the sheriff’s report, the incident was discovered by a Department of Environmental Protection police officer at Apalachicola Circle and Wachula Avenue in DeLeon Springs at 9:18 a.m. Oct. 10.

The DEP officer requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office after checking out a suspicious vehicle, a silver Ford van, parked in the area and after discovering the possibility of a “potentially inappropriate sexual encounter,” also referred to as a possible sex offense in reports, documents show.

The Arc’s King said the organization does own a silver Ford van.

The suspect, according to the report, was read a Miranda warning and was placed in the back of a deputy’s patrol car.

Due to the nature of the incident, the deputies who arrived on scene to help the DEP officer called the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Sex Crimes Unit, the report states.

Holly Hill Commissioner John Penny said Thursday that he had no knowledge of Glass being investigated, and the commission has not discussed anything as a group.

City Manager James McCroskey said he only knows that Glass told him he had been fired.

“I am familiar with the fact that he was fired from his job,” McCroskey said. “He said it was because of some event that happened at his job, but he didn’t give any details.” ‘

Full story here-

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/10/22/holly-hill-commissioner-fired-from-job-amid-investigation-into-sexual-abuse.html

Glass Investigation Not On Agenda

Mayor Johnson thinks that Rick Glass being fired for sexual abuse allegations is a personal matter,that has has nothing to do with the City of Holly Hill! REALLY? WOW!

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2011/10/25/glass-investigation-not-on-agenda.html

AA Midtown Groups Sexual and Financial Abuses Against Teens

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Washington Post-When Kristen was 17 and drinking out of control, her psychologist referred her to an Alcoholics Anonymous group that specialized in helping the youngest drinkers. In the Midtown Group, members and outsiders agree, young people could find new friends, constant fellowship, daily meetings, summer-long beach parties, and a charismatic leader who would steer them through sobriety.

But according to more than a dozen young people who structured their lives around the group, the unusual adaptation of AA that Michael Quinones created from his home in Bethesda became a confusing blend of comfort and crisis. They described a rigidly insular world of group homes and socializing, in which older men had sex with teenage girls, ties to family and friends were severed or strained, and the most vulnerable of alcoholics, some suffering from emotional problems, were encouraged to stop taking prescribed medications.

Kristen, now 26, said that for eight years, she was “passed along” from one middle-aged male leader of Midtown to another. She said her sponsor urged her to have sex with Quinones — widely known as Mike Q. — as a way to solidify her sobriety and spiritual revival. Kristen, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used in keeping with AA traditions, also recalled helping to persuade other teenage girls to sleep with older men in the group.

“I pimped my sponsees out to sponsors,” she said, referring to the AA members who agree to watch over a fellow member’s sobriety. “I encouraged them to sleep with their sponsors because I really believed that this would help with their sobriety.”

snip

Rest of article-

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/07/midtown_group_aa_group_leads_m.html

Former Members of Midtown Call it a Coercive, Cultlike Group; Were Cut Off

From Friends, Asked To Do Menial Chores, Date Only Group Members

Current Members Say ‘Midtown’ Saved Their Lives; Say Critics Resent Their

Success, Settling Scores

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newsweek-recovering-alcoholics-taking-sides-in-dispute-against-a-washington-dc-area-aa-group-58847522.html

Newsweek-

Recovering alcoholics say a Washington, D.C., group has hijacked the 12-step program’s name.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/05/06/a-struggle-inside-aa.html

IS Alcoholics Anonymous a Dangerous Cult ?

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A Newsweek article about ‘A Struggle inside AA’ the practices of the Midtown Group.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/05/06/a-struggle-inside-aa.html

 

MARK DOMBECK, PH.D.
ESSAYS AND BLOGS CONCERNING MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTHIt’s time for a follow-up on my AA is a Cult? Essay of about a year ago. Two reasons for this. First, profiling an AA group in the Washington DC area which has been accused of cult-like and abusive behavior. And of course, as AA is by design an open organization at the ground level, there are not really mechanisms in place to keep predatory sorts of folks from joining and then manipulating the organization. Some words on how to identify and avoid predatory behaviors and characteristics are perhaps in order. Second, because the comments on my original AA article keep on coming, and there are distinct patterns emerging therein which are worth commenting on.The Newsweek article first. The article concerns meetings held at Midtown, which is represented as one of the oldest and largest meetings in the DC area. According to Newsweek, Midtown members pressured a recent attendee, a young woman named “May”, to cut off ties with anyone outside the group, to stop taking doctor-prescribed medications for her bipolar disorder, and to date and become sexually involved with other group members. Apparently, newer group members were also pressured to do chores for more established group members, as though they were pledging for a fraternity. There are other accusations as well, but these listed here capture the tone of the complaints.Some of these behaviors, such as encouraging members to go off prescribed medications, become sexually involved with other members, and do chores for other members seem simply abusive, controlling and arrogant. They are against established AA guidelines as I understand them. Other behaviors such as the group’s efforts to socially isolate members may have started out with good intentions. Some social control can be a good thing when dealing with addictions. Addicts build up habit chains, which are series of linked behaviors that lead them down a path towards becoming intoxicated. For instance, seeing a friend with whom you used to drink can set off a chain of behaviors which culminates in you drinking again. The best way to cope with these sorts of habit chains is to avoid getting them triggered. It makes sense, therefore, for newly recovering alcoholics to avoid the people, places and things associated with their drinking habits which get the habit chains started. It similarly makes sense for an organization designed to promote sobriety to encourage newly sober members to avoid those triggering people, places and things as well. There is a line that can be crossed into abuse here as well. You can certainly attempt to control people too much. However, the bar is higher for calling this sort of social control abusive than for some of the other behaviors Midtown is accused of perpetrating.

Read the rest of this article……http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=12570  

Washington Post article-Seeking Recovery-Finding Confusion

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101356.html

 

 

 

 

City Hall Brawl Participants Keep Secrets-Like AA

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Richmond is taking a second look at allowing city employees to clam up to police after staffers refused to divulge details this week about a bloody brawl in their City Hall offices.

“Whenever you have your policies tested, that’s a time to evaluate them and see if they’re working,” said City Manager Bill Lindsay.

The issue arose Oct. 14 when paid participants in the city’s anti-violence program, the Office of Neighborhood Safety, fought at the department’s city office.

City policy allows that department’s employees to decline to speak with police in order to maintain the trust of the gang members they work with.

Police called to the fight found enough blood to indicate a felony-level assault might have occurred, but the apparent victim had left.

In the week since, Office of Neighborhood Safety employees have refused to divulge the names of all those present during the fight, police say.

The policy worked out between the office and the Police Department during the program’s formation in 2007 dictates that staff communicate with office Director DeVone Boggan, not police, in order to ensure confidentiality.

Boggan, the liaison between the office and police, has declined to speak with this newspaper for the past week.

Lindsay endorsed the existing policy this week in a letter to the City Council.

Snip

“We are not the police,” said peacekeeper Kevin Williams. “We have to use the same rules as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. If you give up the list of the people we’re trying to serve, then you erode the trust.”

Snip

*Here are government employees and the volunteers working for them keeping felony crimes under wraps to protect the criminals! This might explain why the Holly Hill PD protect the NA/AA members identity. Because they work with these people as well to obtain information. Even if citizens are threatened they protect criminals that attend AA/NA. This article shows to what extent Holly Hill City Hall and police will protect criminals. When will the City of Holly Hill put the local citizens and children first?

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19158519?nclick_check=1

We Have A Gang Problem In Springfield MO……

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Springfield, MO—

Sitting in Dickerson Park, a former gang member reflects on his life and his experiences.

“Gangs are everywhere,” said the man who wants to be known as Jay. “I’ve been shot, I’ve been robbed, I’ve been held for ransom against my will. People try to set me on fire, people shot up my mom’s house before. I’ve done some things myself. And it’s real.”

Born and raised in St. Louis, Jay became involved with the Bloods, a gang that ran drugs, stole property, and even killed.

“I’ve seen a lot of people die unnecessarily,” he said solemnly. “It wouldn’t be no thing to walk to school and walk over a dead body and say, “Oh, there’s another one.” When you grow up a certain way, it’s kind of like embedded in you. You don’t really care about it. It don’t move you as much when you get used to it.”

Jay was groomed by the gang very young and would do whatever the older members told him to do.

“It was like a family outside of family ‘cause they took care of you. I was always a small guy and I grew up an only child. I always wanted that big brother feeling and they gave that to me,” Jay explained.

His job in the gang was to sell drugs. At 16-years-old, he was caught by law enforcement with drugs for the first time. Although he spent time in and out of custody, he said the gang lifestyle was a hard one to leave.

“I was so used to doing it; I didn’t want to leave the lifestyle. ‘Cause the lifestyle can be addictive,” said Jay. “You didn’t want to feel like you were betraying people that loved you.”

Jay finally hit rock bottom when he was back in state custody and realized his family was gone all because of the gang. He said he moved to Springfield to start a new life and to put the Bloods behind him.

read rest of the story-  Jay turned his life around and now runs group meetings.

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/kspr-former-gang-member-we-have-a-gang-problem-in-springfield-20111018,0,1765350.story

Volusia County Fl Lead War on Internet Sexual Predators

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Law enforcement agencies partnering with the Florida Sheriff’s Association have started carrying out online stings to catch sex offenders, said Sheriff Ben Johnson, president of the association.

“The Internet makes the world so small that people are targeting children everywhere,” Johnson said. “We are going to go wherever we can to get them off the streets.”

On Sept. 12, the Florida Sheriff’s Association announced it was “declaring war on the online predator epidemic by sharing its Cyber Sexual Predator Initiative with any Florida law enforcement organizations that would like to implement this program in their communities.”

Six days earlier, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced it arrested 15 men in an undercover Internet sting in Volusia.

“The sad thing is how quickly these offenders jumped on it,” Johnson said. “It makes you wonder how many times they have gone out and made a victim.”

What was alarming about the sting was how willing the sex offenders were to accept offers of children for sex from detectives posing as parents.’

Now if these sexual predators of children are convicted,and they have any sort of drug or alcohol problem-where do you think the courts send them to? Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, with no warning to the groups or the minors. Both AA/NA promote people and minors to come to these meetings when they are fully aware the dangerous demographic make-up of many AA/NA meetings. The Sheriffs Office should investigate how many sexual predators are attending meetings with children and teens present in Daytona Beach Florida and the rest of the state.Actually this is a national issue. The judicial system needs to stop mandating AA/NA attendance to sexual offenders and violent felons,especially with the judicial system and probation officers having full knowledge of this practice that puts minors in great danger.Many minors have been harmed and will continue to until this practice of mixing sexual offenders and minors together stops.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/crime/2011/10/15/volusia-sheriff-leads-charge-in-war-on-internet-sexual-predators.html

NA MEMBER CONVICTED IN CHESIRE CONNECTITCUT MURDERS

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2011_10_jkosh.jpg

A Connecticut jury found Joshua Komisarjevsky guilty of 17 counts,including the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela Petit, nearly wrapping up the legal end of the horrific 2007 home invasion robbery-gone-wrong in Cheshire, Connecticut. Komisarjevsky now faces the death penalty in sentencing.

Steven Hayes who had already been convicted and was Komisarjevsky accomplice had met at Narcotics Anonymous meetings and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and also stayed at a halfway house together.                                              http://gothamist.com/2011/10/13/jury_finds_2nd_man_guilty_of_connec.php

NA MEMBER THREATENS TO KILL CHILDREN WITH AK-47

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Troy Kegel 47, threatened to use a AK 47 to shoot up his NA Meeting and children in a playground. He threatened to kill his sponsor etc etc. What is that expression AA/NA love to use? Oh yea-keep coming back! Cant wait!

http://newsok.com/schools-in-moore-oklahoma-city-put-on-alert-after-man-threatens-to-shoot-students/article/3520329                                                                                                              

 

 

NA AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

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Here is a day in the life of judges in Pittsburg PA ordering criminals to AA/NA left and right throughout the day.Where would AA/NA be without the free flowing unlimited amount of convicted criminals coming into their rooms? They would not have the financial support of our government by them mandating religious AA/NA meetings,and even going so far as to mandate that attendees get a sponsor!

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_700927.html

AA MEMBER WILLIAM BEEBE CONFESSES TO RAPE

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William Beebe confesses to raping Liz Seccuro decades ago wanting to make amends according to the 9th step of Alcoholics Anonymous 12 steps.But when Liz Securo decided to press charges of rape against William Beebe,she recieved hate mail from AA members upset with her choice to seek justice.Here is a statement from Liz Seccuro.

” I have never ever faulted Alcoholics Anonymous for William Beebe’s transgressions and crimes. Having spoken with various members of AA, they all believe that Beebe did what he did out of an incredible sense of entitlement, stupidity and selfishness (both the rape and the 22 years later fake apology). We believe that when you confess to a crime in AA, you should know that you can be held accountable and those witnesses can be subpoaened. Sometimes, that is not the case, as AA members can sometimes be protected under law as a priest/confessor or doctor/patient would be. In addition, I do think it’s wrong for us as a society to applaud people when they turn their proverbial ship around and shower them with accolades just because they are making adult choices with good consequences. That’s why my family rails against the hate mail from those in AA. We never said a word against the organization, yet many of its members take the time to write hate-filled missives to me. William Beebe didn’t rape me because he’s an alcoholic. He did what he did because he’s a narcissistic rapist with no soul.

Case in point, the Paul Cox murder case. This case almost had a different outcome and believe me, I knew Paul Cox – pictured – growing up (marginally), so imagine our surprise. His original murder conviction was overturned because he made his confession to fellow AA members (a group protected under “religious” or “spiritual” rules).Read this transcript to see my friend Mickey defending the judge’s ruling and read here the final ruling and sentencing.

Today, comes a story of a New Year’s baby who died at the hands of his father of shaken baby syndrome. Of his parents, “Craig Wilson and Crystal Twiddy, both recovering alcoholics, met about four years ago in a softball league popular with Alcoholics Anonymous members. The couple beamed in engagement photos shot in a garden setting before they were married in September. It was the first marriage for both.”

Don’t tell me AA fixes all of the demons for everyone. This innocent baby is dead – perhaps his defense attorney will use the “thoughtless alcohol fueled relapse” defense. Who knows? All I know is that the AA angle does not matter one whit.”

Also when Beebe was out on bail he was mandated to continue AA meetings!

She has since written a book ‘Crash into me’-the link is below.  http://www.readthehook.com/65457/painful-memoir-12-step-rape-victims-book-hits-shelves

AA MEMBER RAPES CHILD OF FELLOW AA MEMBER IN NORTH CAROLINA

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John Thomas Nackab

John Thomas Nackab an AA member, met a woman at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in North Carolina. He was a registered sex offender. Because he does not have to disclose this information to anyone in AA, the woman had no warning of what horrific sexual abuse was going to happen. The two started dating a few weeks later. The man ended up raping the womans daughter and sexually abusing her other children. He was convicted of first degree rape.

He was not happy with the light sentence he got for raping and sodomizing a little girl and tried to appeal his sentence!

Keep in mind that AA/NA headquarters are fully aware of these crimes and still tell teens to come to meetings.They water down any concerns to parents as well.

John Thomas Nackab (“defendant”) appeals from judgments entered upon jury verdicts finding him guilty of first degree rape of a child, first degree sex offense with a child, and three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. We find no error.

I. Background
In July 2006, defendant met a woman named Martha at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Defendant and Martha began dating a few weeks later. At that time, Martha lived with her five minor children: two boys and three girls, Catherine, Barbara, and Amanda (collectively “the victims”). While defendant and Martha were dating, defendant would frequently spend the night at Martha’s home. Catherine would sometimes sleep in the same bed with Martha and defendant. On several occasions while they were in bed together, defendant touched Catherine in her genital area over her clothing.On 19 November 2006, defendant and Amanda were alone together at defendant’s mother’s home. Defendant called Amanda into his room and told her to take her clothes off and lie on his bed.

The rest is just too graphic, but the Court report is here-

http://statecasefiles.justia.com/documents/north-carolina/court-of-appeals/10-1444-9.pdf?ts=1323904769

http://sexoffender.ncdoj.gov/details.aspx?SRN=003081S9

Gun Confiscated From Holly Hill Commissioner Liz Towsley

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Liz Towsley Patton voted yes to change 2 year terms that voters voted for last November ! She fails to support citizens asking for relief from harassment from Daytona NA/AA members……..but wants to stay 4 more years!

Gun confiscated from Holly Hill commissioner Liz Towsley

By judge’s order, a Volusia County sheriff’s deputy went to Towsley’s house Saturday evening and confiscated a handgun, magazine and some bullets, sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said.

Circuit Judge William Parsons issued the injunction order on Friday after court documents described stalking and harassment Towsley has exercised over the past two years against Police Chief Don Shinnamon and Cmdr. Mark Barker.

In this case, the stalking and harassment was in the form of repeated complaints Towsley has filed against the chief and the commander, alleging conspiracy, bribery, extortion and misuse of public office, according to the injunction.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/hollyhill/

Alcoholics Anonymous Member Beat Sponsor To Death With a Baseball Bat

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A court mandated mentally ill felon has murdered his sponsor in a horrific violent act using a baseball bat. Leslie Haun was considered to be schizophrenic among having other serious mental health issues. The courts will send any level of criminal to AA/NA meetings, regardless of the dangers it imposes on other members. But it is free to the courts, and it keeps AA growing with lots of Big Books to sell to the newly released prisoners. AA solicits the courts as well as the prisoners to attend these felon filled AA meetings.

COVINGTON – Shain Pierce returned to his apartment after having a toe amputated and found the man he was sponsoring in Alcoholics Anonymous drinking alcohol inside.

When Pierce tried to kick Leslie Haun and his son Robert Haun out of the Scott Street apartment, the elder Haun beat him with an aluminum baseball bat and table leg until he died, a Covington Detective testified Tuesday in Kenton District Court.

Leslie Haun, 47, who has long history of mental problems and a lengthy criminal record, is charged with murder. His son, 19, is charged with complicity to murder and tampering with evidence.

Pierce’s body was found Sept. 20 inside the first floor apartment, said Det. Mike Thompson. The upstairs neighbors told police that they heard a loud fight the night before.

When police interviewed the father and son, Robert Haun told police that his father beat Pierce and then ordered him to throw the bat and table leg used in the beating down the sewer, Thompson said. Police were able to find the bat but could not find the leg, he said.

Pierce, 54, often took in people that needed help, said his sister Tammy Callen.
“He took in I don’t know how many people,” she said. “He was well loved and well respected.”

Another article about this murder from The Fix-

http://www.thefix.com/content/aa-sponsor-murdered-his-pains-9200