The Forensic Nurse

A man who has been unofficially known as the “grim Sleeper” for the past twenty years has finally been arrested. The suspect, Lonnie David Franklin Jr., a 57 year old man from Los Angeles is alledged to have committed at least 11 unsolved murders dating back to 1985.

A judge has denied mr. Franklin bail. He will be arrained in a Los Angeles court in August 2010 on ten counts of murder and one count of attempted murder as of today.

The case has been very long and drawn out process spanning multiple decades. The break in the case finally came using DNA evidence. The DNA match was found using what is sometimes viewed a controverial tactic known as familial DNA Searching.

Everyone has their own unique DNA signature that specificly can be used to identify an individual, family members share enough common DNA markers to help identify family members as potential matches as well. 

In this case one of Mr. Franklins family has a previous unrelated conviction on a felony weapons charge. It has become standard procedure in many jurisdictions now to collect DNA samples on felony offenders.  Investigators were able to run a DNA sample found at a murder scene against the DNA database. a Partial hit was found on Mr. Franklins family member DNA sample.  Because it was only a partial match it ruled that individual out, but also was able to conclusively prove that a very close relative may have been involved in the murder, which drastically narrowed down the search.

The Grim Sleeper is suspected in at least 11 murders . He like most serial killers chose victims within his own ethnic profile, in this case targeting black women, some of which who worked as prostitutes. Prostitutes are often targets of serial killers because of the lower social profile. Friends and Families often don’t report the victim missing for longer periods of time allowing for more evidence to be lost during the critical hours after the murder.

Serveral years ago another arrest was made by police who claimed they had ballistic evidence for the murders, but that case did not lead to a conviction. Margaret Prescod, who founded the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders and worked with the families of victims in the case said that she is “cautiously optomistic” regarding this latest arrest.

Aerial footage was taken on Wednesday showing police searching cars in the garage of the suspect’s home in south Los Angeles.  The garage was not far from the corridor where the victims’ bodies were dumped.

The close proximity to the body dumping ground is another tell tale sign that the murderer may have personal and intimate knowledge of the area allowing him to elude detection for so many years. Serial killers often tend to be invisible to nearly everyone. Because they do not raise suspision they can lull people into trusting them, and allowing them to get victims to let their guard down, or be placed into vulnerable positions that they may not do with a person they feel uncomfortable with.

Sexual assualt knows no boundries. No matter what race, what nationality, what socio-economic status you hail from can spare you from the potential turmoil. 

 So is the case of Lawrence Taylor, the former NFL linebacker great for the New York Giants. Thursday morning the Hall of Fame linebacker was arrested in his hotel in Rockland County for soliciting sex from a 16 year old girl.

 Taylor was arrested when police were told that the minor had been delivered to his hotel room by another man, Rasheed Davis. Taylor stated at a news conference that he had paid $300 to the man for delivering her. He claims not to have engaged in sex with the minor girl. His Attorney Arthur Aidala state that Taylor is “a loving and family man” and that “My Client did not have sex with anybody. ”

The girl, who has not been identified because she is a minor, was reported missing back in march as a suspected runaway. ESPN.com reported “Early Thursday morning, Davis punched and kicked her, drove her to the hotel against her will and told her she had to have sex with Taylor, police said. When she refused, Davis handed her over to Taylor, who sexually assaulted her, they said. Taylor paid her $300, which she gave to Davis”.

After the alleged incident, she was somehow able to use a cell phone to get a message out. Her uncle received a text message from her with an address and contacted New York Police department to investigate. Officers found the girl along with Rasheed Davis at an address in the Bronx. Davis was charged with unlawful imprisonment, assault and endangering the welfare of a child. It was then when police were directed to Lawrence Taylors whereabouts. The hotel is located  about a half mile from the Spook Rock Golf Course, where Taylor frequently plays.

Mr. Taylor was released after posting a $75,000 bond and subsequently driven away from the courthouse by Mark Lepselter, a friend and business associate.

Ramapo Chief of Police Peter Brower said Taylor was cooperative when police took him into custody at around 4:00AM. Brower would not comment on if Lawrence Taylor knew the age of the girl, but did state that “Ignorance is not an excuse to an individual’s age”. In New York, third-degree rape is a charge levied when the victim is under the age of consent, which is 17 years of age.

Many victims of sexual crimes live the remainder of their lives, or a good portion of it, in fear that they will be victimized again. They often want to see their attacker locked up forever as punishment for the torment they experienced.

 Some states actually do have laws on their books to do just that. Most people dont even know such laws exist. They are called civil commitment laws and basically say that when a person becomes and has repeatly shown to be an emminent threat to the community as a whole, the govenment has the ability to incarcerate that individual indefinately.   

“The primary goal is incapacitation, that is, protecting society from people who are predicted to be dangerous in the future,” said Eric Janus, author of “Failure to Protect” and dean at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. “The second goal is to provide treatment to these individuals.”

In 1990, Washington state became the first state to pass a civil commitment law specifically for violent sex offenders. Twenty states now have civil commitment laws.

Indefinate confinement of individuals to mental hospitals or treatment centers for those with severe mental illness has been acceptable in the United States since its close to its birth as a nation. Around turn of the 20th century many laws dealing with sexual psychopaths were passed as women gained more and more rights. But as the century progressed the laws were either repealed or rarely applied.

This week the United States Supreme Court is re-evaluating its position on civil commitment based on an appeal. They have upheld the use of such laws in the past when the goal has been rehabilitation and not further punishment. These laws can mandate indefinate treatment even after their criminal time behind bars has ended. Some argue that these treatments could happen while the person is incarcerated rather than after their sentancing.

The case being heard by the Supreme Court this week centers around a lay that has been used in as many as 77 cases where inmates were held in a federal prison in North Carolina under indefinate commitment.  “The justices will decide whether the program enacted under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 is constitutional by infringing on a traditional state function”.

Alan DuBois, attorney for the federal prisoners, said it was wrong for the United States to claim a public safety argument when justifying continued incarceration.

“This statute is not written constitutionally,” he added. “It effectively does require no connection between the underlying criminal charge and the subsequent commitment. You can be in custody for any crime whatsoever. ”

Lawyer David Hargett convinced the Virginia Supreme Court that his client had a constitutional right to contest his civil commitment.

“I have found talking with people they are shocked to hear somebody can be sentenced by a judge, serve out that entire sentence and then say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not going to let you go,’ ” Hargett said, calling it a legal “black hole.”

The full story can be viewed on cnn.com

For well over two hours outside a school gymnasium in Richmond, a 15 year old california girl was allegedly beaten and gang raped while a a crowd of approximately 20 people stood by and watched. The crowd managed to stand by and watch, snicker, and even “tweet” about the incident on twitter, the popular social networking site. Not one of them intervened or called the authorities to report the crime.

The reasoning behind why no one got involved gets a little more complex. Some say there was fear of repercussions from the gang conducting the rape and beating. Others say the crowd was overcome with what is known as the bystander effect. The bystander effect is when individuals in a crowd see that everyone else in the crowd is doing or not doing something, and that behavior becomes the accepted social norm. In essense, because no one else was doing anything, it must be ok for me to do nothing.

Some of you may remember the story of Kitty Genovese who was brutally raped, beaten, robbed, and eventually stabbed to death in Queens New York back in 1964. The story gained national attention when it was later revealed that several witnesses heard her scream during the attack during the night, and no one notified the police. One man shouted from his window to leave the girl alone, and the attacker fled, only to return a few minutes later when the police never arrived, and dragged her into a stairwell and stabbed her again leaving her to bleed out in a stairwell.

California has a law that makes it illegal to witness a crime against a child and not report it to police. But in this case technically the crowd did not violate the law which specifies that age of the minor child is 14 or less. The victim in the California gang-rape case was 15 years old.

  “This just gets worse and worse the more you dig into it,” Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department. “It was like a horror movie. I can’t believe not one person felt compelled to help her.”

To date the AP is reporting that five people have been arrested so far in connection with the crime. Three juveniles and two adults.  Richmond police spokesman, Lt. Mark Gagan said that  the three juveniles will be charged as adults. While the complete list of charges is not final yet, the suspects will be facing felony charges like “rape in concert” which can carry a life sentance.

The police were eventually notified when a person called in who had overheard others who were at the scene of the assault talking about the incident. The girl was found unconscious and “brutally assaulted” under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday 

Police have posted a $20,000 reward for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in the attack.

Ben Roethlisberger, the two time NFL superbowl winner with the Pittsburgh Steelers was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a woman in Nevada.

According to court records, the woman, Andrea McNulty, has filed a civil suit against Roethlisberger. An attorney for Roethlisberger ,  David Cornwell denied Roethlisberger sexually assaulted McNulty. He issued the following statement:

“This weekend Andrea McNulty served Ben Roethlisberger with a civil complaint accusing him of sexually assaulting her in July 2008. Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone; especially Andrea McNulty. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct. If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated,” Cornwell said.

* State only pays for abortions when necessary to protect the woman’s life.

Source: Guttmacher Institute 2009

Source: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/aborlaws.htm

Danny Villa, a 12 year NFL veteran with the New England Patriots is currently wanted by massachusetts police in conjunction with the alleged rape of a child. Villa, now 44 had been working as a football coach at Walpole high school in massachusetts.

He resigned his position on tuesday after being confronted on the allegations by the superindentent of the school. The parents of the child had filed a misconduct suit the previous day. The Walpole football team was very successful, and just completed its undefeated season and captured the championship.

His whereabouts is currently unknown.

Two teenaged girls in Albert Lea Minnesota (19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson ) are accused of “taunting, spitting on and groping the genitals of residents who suffered from Alzheimer’s”.

The complaint alleges that the girls spat in the residents mouths, poked and grabed at genetalia, and then would at times mock them until they screamed. One other incident involved an aide getting into bed and simulating sex with the resident.

The father of one of the girls is disputing the charges saying that the media is distorting what really happened.  

The two girls worked part-time as aides at the Good Samaritan Society Care Center. Four other juveniles who also worked at the facility are also being charged for failing to report the incidents.

These types of elder abuse are often unreported or difficult to prove since the victims may have Alheimers or dementia.

For more information about types of elder abuse:

http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/FAQ/Basics/Types_Of_Abuse.aspx

A true Christmas miracle happened for a 9 year old girl in Pharr Texas. The girl wrote a letter to Santa Claus, but instead of asking for toys or dolls, she begged for Santa to get a family relative to stop touching her and her sister.

The girl wrote the letter and it was turned in at Cesar Chavez Elementary School. The school counselor reported the letter to authorities and the man was arrested.

Investigators familiar with the case believe that the molestation occured for as many as four years. The man was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a young child and could face as many as 99 years in prison if convicted.

Lets hope that Santa can see to that as well.

When documenting a SANE case, its important to use proper terminology when charting a patient. Some of those terms used to describe a level of sexual developmental maturity can be those from the Tanner Staging System. The Tanner stages look at three key components of sexual maturity: Pubic Hair, Breast development, Male Genetalia

Tanner Staging Levels