TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Kerns trial rescheduled for April

    Kerns trial rescheduled for April

    Trial Of School Plot Suspect Delayed Until April:

    As I’ve previously mentioned, the trial of Tobin Kerns has been delayed while prosecutors work out possible immunity deals for two witnesses. Well, the judge has postponed the trial until April…

    Plymouth Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin on Wednesday granted a delay until April 13 to give prosecutors time to ask a Superior Court judge to grant immunity to the witnesses. Juvenile Court judges do not have the authority to grant immunity.

    Kerns’ lawyer is upset about the delay, saying the immunity issue should have been resolved before the start of the trial.

    I wonder how this is going to affect the trial of Joe Nee. I’m sure these two associates of his will be witnesses for his defense. Will Nee’s trial take place on time? And again, why didn’t the prosecution get these immunity deals, or no deals, done before the trial started? Are they trying to stall, pinning their hopes on a Nee acquittal so it would be easier to get Tobin convicted?

    Since Tobin’s trial is being decided by a judge and not a jury, the immunity deals I’m sure would not sway the judge as it would a jury. As each day passes, the whole situation stinks more and more of a screwjob.

  • New York piles on

    New York piles on

    Pirro continues pressure on MySpace website:

    Now the New York State attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro is jumping on the MySpace pile…

    Following two recent arrests by the FBI, New York State attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro, the former Westchester County district attorney, Monday renewed her call to Rupert Murdoch, owner of MySpace.com, to convene a forum immediately between social networking sites owners and managers, teacher and parent representatives, and law enforcement experts to tackle the problem of child safety on Internet social networking sites.

    Pirro refuted a recent statement by MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe that “this isn’t a MySpace issue.” Pirro said, “There are special obligations imposed on anyone operating sites where teens are admitted — whether the site is a playground, recreation center or a social networking website. Once site operators know that sexual predators are congregating there to prey on children, they must act immediately to protect them.”

    First off, MySpace is only a small cog of Rupert Murdoch’s giant empire. He pays people to handle situations like this. So calling him out is not going to win you any friends. Secondly, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe has a point, to a certain extent, that “this isn’t a MySpace issue.”

    Again, it comes down to that endangered species known as personal responsibility. Now, I am far from saying that any victims deserved what happened to them. However, if parents would teach their kids about the dangers of posting personal information online and would take the time to monitor their children’s internet activity, then this wouldn’t be a problem.

  • Grand Jury Indictments in Conn. Molestations

    Grand Jury Indictments in Conn. Molestations

    Grand jury indicts pair in MySpace molestations:

    The two scumbags that were arrested in Conn. for two unrelated incidents of child molestation of girls they met through MySpace have been indicted by a grand jury…

    Stephen M. Letavec, a 39-year-old father of two from Elrama, Pa., is accused in a four-count indictment of using the Internet to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity and three counts of crossing state lines to engage in sexual conduct with a minor.

    Letavec, who is being detained without bond, faces up to 30 years and a $250,000 fine on each count.

    The second man, Sonny I. Szeto, 22, of Nashua, N.H., is accused of using the Internet to entice a minor into sexual activity and traveling across state lines to have illegal sexual activity with a minor.

    Szeto, a recent college graduate, is accused of sexually molesting an 11-year-old girl in her parents’ home while they were asleep upstairs. He faces up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on both charges.

    The fact that one of them is a father of two is more than disheartening.

  • More on the Kerns trial delay

    More on the Kerns trial delay

    Yesterday, I talked about how the Tobin Kerns trial was delayed because two of the witnesses for the prosecution requested full immunity for their testimony.

    I have confirmed that the two witnesses are known associates of Joe Nee who a lot of people in the Marshfield community think should be on trial along with Nee. I won’t divulge their names, as they have not appeared in the media as of yet.

    If they are invoking their Fifth Amendment rights on the first day of trial, it’s obvious they have something to hide. My guess would be is that they were an integral part of the plot that was supposed to be carried out.

    I think their testimony would also incriminate Nee. You would think that if the DA was going to offer immunity, they would have done so by now. Now, there is a question of whether Fifth Amendment rights apply in juvenile court.

    Why isn’t the prosecution being reprimanded for not being prepared? I’m usually not one for conspiracies, but this whole situation smells of a screwjob. It sounds like that there are outside influences that are affecting this trial.

  • Klebold’s car on eBay

    Klebold’s car on eBay

    Klebold Columbine Car Pulled From Online Auction:

    The car that once belonged to Columbine killer and scumbag Dylan Klebold, which was carrying explosives the day of the massacre, was almost auctioned off on eBay.

    The auctioned was pulled from eBay for violating their terms of service in regard to “murderabilia”.

    The car was turned back over to Klebold’s parents a year later and its ownership after that point was not known.

    The seller of the car did not respond to e-mails from the Rocky Mountain News seeking comment but posted a comment earlier on eBay that the vehicle was purchased without knowing the previous ownership.

    “Once I found out it was Klebold’s I put it up here,” the seller wrote. He indicated the car is still in the Denver area.

    I wonder how many of the mutants will make the trek to Denver to try to find this car so they can live out their mutant masturbatory fantasies.

    Speaking of the mutants, this is what some of them had to say about the car being auctioned off…

    omg thats horrible. i wouldn’t buy it i might get haunted by dylan because it’s his personal belonging. i hear if you have personal belonging of a deceased person they will followyou around and haunt you. don’t know if it’s tue or not..

    All righty then. 🙄

    And then there was this…

    What are you all fussing about?! I *so* would have bought it if I could have! And most of you would be lying if you said you didn’t want it!

    There was no word if any of the female mutants wanted to conceive Klebold’s ghost babies in it.

  • Prank Nets Arrest

    Prank Nets Arrest

    Boys’ MySpace prank results in sex crime arrest:

    This amuses me to no end…

    FONTANA, Calif. – A group of boys who posed as a 15-year-old girl for an Internet prank ended up helping police arrest a 48-year-old man who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex, authorities said.

    The five boys had created a fake profile of a girl on MySpace.com, a social networking Web site, to cheer up a friend who had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

    But soon, a man began sending messages to the “girl” and their conversations began to have sexual overtones, said Fontana police Sgt. William Megenney.

    The man also sent the “girl” his picture and arranged to meet her at a public park. The boys went to the park and, when the man arrived, they called police.

    Michael Ramos, 48, of Fontana, was booked into West Valley Detention Center on Monday for investigation of felony attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a child and for an outstanding warrant, Megenney said.

    Kudos to these boys for putting this scumbag behind bars.

    This MySpace profile matches up with the suspect’s name, age, and location. That’s another reason why you shouldn’t post all your personal information on MySpace. Then assholes like me get to ridicule you for eternity.

    Link via Digg and LiLO.

  • MySpace gets ready to fight the law

    MySpace gets ready to fight the law

    In the wake of the two arrests in Conn. of two men who molested underage girls they met through MySpace, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is calling on MySpace to make changes to their site to make it safer for children.

    On the other hand, MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe says “People who put themselves at risk on MySpace, DeWolfe said, would be doing so elsewhere.” Trench says they’re both right.

    On the one hand, as LilO pointed out, MySpace is horrible when it comes to enforcing their own Terms of Service. On the other hand, parents are doing a great disservice to their children by not checking up on what they’re posting on their MySpace.

    Once a happy medium can be finally met, then maybe MySpace will be safe for children. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for it.

    H/T to Stephen.

  • Tobin Kerns’ trial starts tomorrow

    Tobin Kerns’ trial starts tomorrow

    MARSHFIELD HIGH: Who’s lying? Teen eager for judge to hear his side in school attack plot:

    For those of you that have been following my site for a while, you’re familiar with the case out of Marshfield, Mass. Well, the trial of Tobin Kerns finally starts tomorrow. I did not know this previously, but Tobin has waived the right to a jury trial and the trial will be decided by Plymouth County Juvenile Court Judge Louis Coffin.

    He’s facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder, promotion of anarchy and threatening to use deadly weapons at school. I really hope Tobin is found not guilty, and I’ll tell you why. Let me show you with the following quotes…

    Former classmate Joseph Nee, now 20, faces identical charges. Kerns was arrested in September 2004, Nee in October 2004. Both were indicted later that month and have been free on $20,000 bail.

    Benjamin Kerns was critical of authorities for continuing to blame his son as others suggested that Nee was the ringleader.

    ‘‘Within a day, the students all knew the truth,’’ Benjamin Kerns said. ‘‘By that time, the DA had already charged him and were racing forward with things.’’

    Within days of posting the original story, I received comments from Marshfield High students defending Tobin Kerns and naming Joe Nee by name as the true ringleader. It took months before someone came forward to defend Joe Nee.

    I’ve never met Tobin Kerns, but I am very anxious for his trial to be over and that he comes out ok. I think he is being railroaded by a questionable accuser. I still think that Joe Nee accused Tobin of being the ringleader in order to deflect blame from himself before Tobin went to police.

    What really scares me is that Tobin is being tried as a youthful offender, which means if convicted he could receive an adult sentence if convicted.

    I pray to God that Judge Coffin sees the truth and finds Tobin Kerns innocent.

  • Esmie Tseng pleads guilty

    Esmie Tseng pleads guilty

    Esmie Tseng pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter:

    In a shocking turn of events, shocking to me anyway, Esmie Tseng, the 16-year-old Kansas teen accused of stabbing her mother to death, has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter…

    Esmie Tseng, 16, pleaded guilty to the charge after agreeing to have her case moved to adult court. Sentencing was set for May 3.

    Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to recommend a sentence of 100 months in prison, or about 8 years and four months. The defense agreed it would not ask for probation.

    I’m curious as to why she pleaded guilty to an adult charge when so many people thought she should be tried as a juvenile?

  • Dumped boyfriend uses MySpace for revenge

    Dumped boyfriend uses MySpace for revenge

    Former Boyfriend Seeks Revenge On MySpace.com:

    (CBS) CLIFTON Police say Neftali Soto sent “intimate photos” of his ex-girlfriend to students at the Christopher Columbus Middle School in Clifton, NJ where she’s a teacher.

    They say the 26-year-old did it by setting up a sham account on MySpace.Com, pretending to be the teacher.

    “They were intimate photos they took on vacation, the kind lovers would take in this digital age,” said Joseph Del Russo, Passaic County’s Assistant Prosecutor.

    Authorities say Soto stole the photos from his ex’s computer because he was angry over their breakup.

    Then, according to investigators, he used MySpace’s search engine to identify students at the school.

    “When a mom found out, she forwarded the pictures to her own account and she was able to freeze time.” Del Russo said.

    That’s how investigators say they were able to link the photos to Soto’s computer.

    MySpace had the usual non-answer…

    When asked for comment about this story, MySpace.Com said they have all kinds of safety nets to make sure inappropriate material doesn’t make it on the site.

    Apparently, their safety net has Buick sized holes in it.