How to re-victimize a victim, Part 1

Last month, the mother of a 15-yr old girl filed a petition for injunction for protection against sexual violence on behalf of her daughter. The respondent was their 16-yr old next door neighbor and his father, appearing on his son's behalf. The teens had never dated. They do not go to the same school. She is home schooled because of physical and mental issues.

After reviewing the explicit allegations in the petition, Judge Keith White granted a hearing which was held earlier this month. So far, so good.

As you might imagine, anyone who has been forcibly raped - orally, vaginally and anally -  would be terrified to be in the same room with their perpetrator. To force a teenager (or anyone for that matter) to testify for over an hour about the ordeal because your mother cannot corroborate the actual incident (having not witnessed the crime personally) goes beyond the scope of what is necessary for a civil injunction. Judge White required this girl to go into excruciating detail in spite of the comprehensiveness of the allegations that were in the written petition (caution: graphic language).

Remember, the burden of proof in civil cases is a "preponderance of the evidence," and not "beyond a reasonable doubt," as is the requirement for criminal cases.

To make matters worse, the Respondent's father & the perpetrator laughed at the victim's allegations and claimed that the sex was consensual (not at all uncommon in these cases).  The victim denied consent.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge White told the Petitioner that the her job was to meet the burden of proof necessary for him to be able to grant an injunction.  You could almost see her holding her breath in anticipation of being denied the order for protection that she so desperately sought.

Judge White, however, did grant an injunction to the girl.

A six month, "no hostile contact" injunction.

So this perpetrator is currently not in violation of the court order if he chooses to contact her, as long as he's "not hostile" towards her.

For six whole months.

After that, the injunction expires. Unless of course she wants to go back before the same judge and request an extension.  How likely do you think she'll be to do that?

Judge White failed this girl. And he failed to do much to hold the perpetrator accountable for his actions.

Let's hope that law enforcement and the State Attorney's Office are able to prosecute this sex offender to the fullest extent possible.

We have more to report about Judge White in upcoming days.

Whatever happened to . . . ? #37

Jordan, Rodrick

2004-CF-012202-A-O

Sexual Battery (coerces victim) 2cts

Defendant was found guilty of a 1996 rape after DNA evidence linked him to the attack

Defendant was adjudicated guilty by jury of one count and sentenced to LIFE DOC w/credit 41 days time served

Smallwood, George Herman Jr

2010-CF-018273-A-O

Sexual Battery Vic<12; L/L Molestation Child<12 (2cts); Sexual Activity w/child (2cts); L/L Molestations (2cts); Use Child in Sexual Performance

Defendant allegedly raped a child for 2 yrs and claimed a demon made him do it.

Defendant pled no contest to Sexual Activity w/Child (2cts) & Lewd/Lascivious Molestation (2cts) and was sentenced to 20 years DOC w/credit 322 days time served;to be followed by 38 years probation

Garcon, Guytembert

2011-CF-009258-A-O

Lewd Act in Presence of Child

Defendant is one of 12 who allegedly sexually assaulted a 15-yr old runaway and forced another 15-yr old to prostitution.

Defendant pled guilty to L/L Battery and sentenced to 10 years DOC w/credit 224 days time served.

Chisena, Dale Pietro Jr

2010-CF-004423-A-O

Possess Material Depicting Sexual Performance by Child (50 cts)

Defendant's father taught 2nd grade at Lovell Elementary School for 33 years. They allegedly had over 1,000 child porn images on their computer, some appearing to be infant girls.

Pled no contest to 3 counts, all; other counts were nolle prossed.  Defendant was sentenced to 3 years DOC w/credit for 1 day time served; 5 years probation & was designated as a sex offender.

Thomas, David

2009-CF-010548-A-O

Sexual Activity w/child; L/L Battery; L/L Molestation

Defendant allegedly touched a 13-yr old boy in a wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon (see also 09CF10525) Defendant was found guilty after jury trial of L/L Molestation in 2009CF10525 and sentenced to 2y DOC + 5y prob in that case

Defendant pled no contest to L/L Molestation and was sentenced to 24 months DOC w/credit 727 days time served; 5 years probation.

Pfaender, Richard Emerson

2011-CF-006058-A-O

L/L Exhibition; Burglary of Occupied Dwelling; Att Sexual Battery 

Defendant allegedly stalked and followed a 15-yr old boy into the boy's home, removed his own clothing, and was quickly apprehended by the boy's father who returned home

Defendant pled no contest to Burglary and was sentenced to 15 months DOC w/credit 215 days time served; 5 years probation; ordered to undergo substance abuse evaluation & rehab.

Mangune, Michael

2011-CF-007468-A-O

Travel to Meet a Minor; Use Computer for Child Exploitation

Defendant allegedly agreed online to teach sex acts to a 14-yr old girl at the request of her "mother"

Defendant pled to use of computer for child exploitation and was sentenced to 2 days jail w/credit 2 days time served; 18 months community control; 3 years probation.

Brookins, Wilbert

2011-CF-002632-A-O

Sexual Battery Physically Helpless; Theft of Credit Card; Petit Theft

Defendant, a reservation clerk for Disney, allegedly lured a single mother to Central Florida with offiers of free park passes & bargain rate for hotel room, spent the day with her & later attempted to rape her after she fell asleep in the room

Defendant was acquitted by a jury

Maldonado, Damian E

2010-CF-005563-A-O

L/L Molestation Vic 12-15yrs old (9 cts); Att L/L Conduct (15 cts); L/L Exhibition (2cts); False Imprisonment; Battery DV offense date 12/1/09

Defendant is an Army recruiter who allegedly ordered a female recruit to partially disrobe for a body fat inspection & forced her to commit oral sex in 2010CF8555

Defendant was acquitted by jury Counts 1-7; no action was taken on other counts

Cabane, Utchey

2011-CF-008988-A-O

Sexual Battery; Child Abuse; Contrib to Delinq of Minor; Inflict Bodily Harm/Terrorize Victim

Defendant allegedly luried a girl who was on her way to the bus stop into his car and molested her after promising a ride

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Vargas, Jason

2011-CF-007469-A-O

Travel to Meet a Minor

Defendant allegedly agreed online to teach sex acts to a 14-yr old girl at the request of her "mother"

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Balderas, Roldolfo

2011-CF-014870-A-O

Sexual Assault Victim>12; Battery

Defendant, a transient, allegedly attempted to rape a woman behind a shopping center at Kirkman & Colonial

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Urich, Richie

2011-CF-010282-A-O

L/L Conduct

Defendant allegedly abuducted an 11-yr old Clearwater girl and brought her to Orlando where the L/L conduct occurred

Case nolle prossed.

Quillen, Paul Joseph

2010-CF-011559-A-O

Solicitation of Minor via Computer (3cts); Travel to Meet Minor

Defendant is a Georgia firefighter who allegedly solicited what he thought was the father of two girls (ages 11 & 13) for sex

Dismissed - Defendant deceased

Why blog?

There is so much happening in and to the court system, that I'm finding it tough to figure out how to communicate to our volunteers, supporters & the general public about what we see happening in our judicial system. A friend of mine suggested to me that this might be a good forum, so we'll see how it goes.

My most pressing priority at this time is to relate how deeply concerned I am about the funding cuts we're all facing. The school systems are well organized and have an abundance of PTAs that can make a significant amount of noise about the need to fund education. It's something I'm certain every citizen supports.

Unfortunately, the court systems around the State have not engaged the public to speak out on their behalf. Over the past year, I have seen the felony divisions in Orange County cut the number of prosecutors nearly in half. Where there used to be 5 or 6 assigned to a division (which typically has 600-700 cases), there are now 3 (not including the Sex Crimes Unit prosecutor which handles sex crimes & child victim cases in at least 2 divisions).

I'm not sure why Tallahassee continues to force us to close courtrooms (in fact, there are only 6 out of 12 felony divisions open for business this Friday, 3/27) and cut the staff needed in the State Attorney's Office, the Public Defender's Office, and other areas (interpreters, court reporters, victim advocates, case managers, etc). In future posts I will share some stories about how a lack of interpreters kept someone in jail for several weeks before he could even communicate with his public defender (who didn't have the money to pay for a specialized interpreter). Or the woman that was found not guilty by reason of insanity in a child abuse case who sat in jail because the mental health provider wouldn't accept her since her paperwork didn't show her as being adjudicated guilty! Or the victim of domestic violence who wanted to prosecute her abuser, but learned too late that he had accepted a plea offer without having been asked for her input. There are a lot of compelling cases in our courtrooms every day that do not make the 7am, noon, 5pm, and 11pm newscasts like Casey Anthony does.

The judiciary is the place where perpetrators of crime are supposed to be held accountable for their actions! If a criminal (adult or juvenile) does not face the discipline that our laws call for, they are likely to continue to re-offend and in fact raise the bar on the severity of their offenses. One judge said to me a few months ago that unless something is done soon, he fears the entire system will implode.

If we are to be a world class community (with a performing arts center, new arena, commuter rail, Lake Nona's medical complex, etc), we need to make sure our neighborhoods are safe. The courts are an integral part of providing public safety for our entire community. We all need to contact our legislators to let them know that the court system must be adequately funded.

And who out there really thinks our State needs to give US Sugar over a billion dollars for some swampland?????

Laura S. Williams
Board Chair / Program Director
CourtWatch Florida
http://www.courtwatchflorida.org/