TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • 2007 SAFE Act

    Senator to propose surveillance of illegal images:

    Senators McCain and Schumer are at it again. Not being happy with trying to legislate MySpace they’re now trying to force ISP’s and websites that have any kind of user base to notify the authorities of any illegal images of real or “cartoon” minors. It’s called the Securing Adolescents from Exploitation-Online Act otherwise known as the 2007 SAFE Act. Because as I’ve mentioned before no legislation works unless it has a catchy acronym. Now don’t get me wrong. I am in no way defending child pornographers. However, I think this proposed law would do more harm than good and will be almost impossible to enforce. Not only that but the bill only offers suggestions and doesn’t offer any solutions about how the ISP’s should handle these issues…

    Details on how the system would work are missing from McCain’s legislation and are left to the center and ISPs. But one method would include ISPs automatically scanning e-mail and instant messaging attachments and flagging any matches.

    Wow, that doesn’t sound like government intrusion doesn’t it? Not only that but the cost passed on to ISP’s would be astronomical and would more than likely be passed on the consumer. Existing laws regarding child pornography are sufficient. Extra legislation is not going to make them go away overnight and will only get innocent people in trouble. We’ve already heard stories of people being arrested for taking innocent pictures of their own children. If this law is passed there will be more of that.

    Thanks to Aaron for the link.

  • Closure?

    Gunman’s Parents Don’t Object to Seal:

    Here’s a shocker. Eric Harris’ parents, Wayne and Kathy Harris, have no problem with their depositions being sent to the National Archives for 25 years.

    Depending on the final details, Wayne and Katherine Harris do not oppose storing the depositions under seal “in order to bring closure to this matter,” their attorney, Michael Montgomery, said Wednesday in a court filing.

    Closure for who? Not the victims’ families obviously. The Harrises don’t deserve closure. They let their psychopath son develop his deadly plan for over a year. As far as I’m concerned they’re just as responsible for the deaths of the 13 victims at Columbine as their cowardly son is.

    The depositions should be unsealed immediately.

  • Facebook’s first pedophile

    Online social site defends security:

    Facebook has its first pedophile. That must be a proud title to have. 🙄 Anyway his name is Michael Macalindong and he was arrested for trying to lure a 15-year-old boy to his home for sex. According to Facebook Macalindong stole the Facebook account of a high school girl. Then it gets disturbing.

    Authorities said Macalindong–posing as a girl–told the teen that for him to have sex with her, he had to first have sex with her male friend and have it taped so she could watch. In the ruse, Macalindong was the male friend, authorities said.

    Officials said Macalindong videotaped the first sexual encounter at his apartment in May. There were at least two more meetings at the home, Patricia Fix, head of the Lake County state’s attorney’s cyber-crimes unit, said.

    When the teen refused to meet again in January, Macalindong threatened to post the videos on the Internet unless he was paid $200, authorities said. The teen contacted police.

    Last week, a Lake County investigator went online posing as the teen and arranged a meeting in Wilmette, officials said. Macalindong arrived about an hour later and was arrested.

    Before I get to the linky goodness let me give the male teens out there some advice. No girl will have sex with you if you’ll have sex with her male friend. And trust me there is no girl out there that’s worth doing that for. No offense to any alternative lifestyle readers. It’s just not my bag.

    Anyway, I couldn’t find Macalindong’s (nice name by the way) Facebook but I was able to find Macalindong’s MySpace. Of course, it’s been set to private.

    Macalindong has had other victims.

    Investigators found a scanned image of the teen’s identification card along with lewd images and videos on his laptop computer, Fix said.

    Investigators also found other scanned ID cards and photos of Macalindong engaged in sexual activity with other teens, authorities said. Macalindong has been charged with six counts of producing child pornography, one count of indecent solicitation of a minor, one count of intimidation and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

  • Pennsylvania predator procures punishement

    Man admits victimizing teens, his mom says he isn’t really a criminal:

    27-year-old Bret Lepore (bare bones) of Berks County, Pennsylvania was sentenced to two years behind bars for having sex with two 14-year-olds he met on MySpace. Not enough time if you ask me. Anyway, Mr. Lepore says he’s not a criminal.

    “I don’t consider myself a pedophile or a threat to society,” Lepore said. “I will do whatever it takes to turn my life around and be productive again.”

    Several family members spoke on Lepore’s behalf, saying he was immature but has begun to change since his arrest and enrollment in therapy. His mother, Donna, asked Beltrami to keep her son out of prison.

    “I really feel he’s not a threat to society. I really feel prison is not the place for him to be. Prison is for criminals and he’s not a criminal,” she said.

    Let’s see here. Let me look through the Big Book of Perv Laws. Age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16. Yep, that makes you a criminal. The judge agrees.

    “Women are nothing more than sex objects to you,” Judge Anthony S. Beltrami said. “You use them and throw them on the scrap heap.”

    Beltrami admonished Lepore for preying on the teenagers, who he knew could be manipulated because they were dealing with “issues” of their own.

    “When children are unable to protect themselves you, as an adult, have the responsibility to protect them,” Beltrami said. “That’s where you dropped the ball here.”

    He may not consider himself a pedophile or a threat but the rest of society does.

  • Odgren warrants to remain sealed

    Judge denies request for access to Odgren search warrants:

    Luckily a judge has wisely decided that the search warrants used in the investigation of Lincoln-Sudbury stabbing suspect John Odgren will not be made public.

    Judge Paul Healy Jr. said in a ruling that releasing the information to the public would not be fair to the investigation or suspect John Odgren, 16, of Princeton.

    “At this time, it is believed that a blanket impoundment order is necessary to protect the rights of both the defendant and the Commonwealth and that there is no reasonable alternative,” Healy wrote in the two page decision.

    Thank God this exercise in media self-righteousness was put down quickly.

  • Odgren’s past

    School transfer of accused teen eyed:

    This is an article that chronicles the school history of Lincoln-Sudbury High stabbing suspect John Odgren. According to the article, he attended 5 schools in five years which also according to the article is not very conducive to an Asperger’s patient.

    Psychiatrists say children with Asperger’s often struggle with school transitions, and a move to a large public school with 1,600 students would not be easy. Youngsters with Asperger’s typically have poor social skills.

    “It’s difficult for these people to accept changes,” said Mohammad Ghaziuddin, a child psychiatrist at the University of Michigan and a specialist in Asperger’s. “They are used to having their own schedule, their own routines. It’s their desire for sameness.”

    At this point, it’s unknown why all those transfers took place. One of the schools said that anyone that has a tendency towards violence would not be allowed to remain there. Lincoln-Sudbury schools are also saying that records provided to them were missing documents that should have contained information regarding Odgren’s past “explosive episodes”.

    Was he shuffled from school to school because of his behavior? Or could it have been parental impatience? Were they possibly not satisfied with the pace he was progressing and held the schools responsible? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

  • Odgren investigation is worldwide?

    Judge to rule Monday on search warrants:

    In arguing whether or not the search warrants used to investigate the murder of James Alenson by John Odgren should be made public Assistant District Attorney Daniel Bennett had the following to say…

    “We’re attempting to gather evidence worldwide,” said assistant district attorney Daniel Bennett. If information about what was found when the four search warrants were executed is made public, “The information we’re seeking could be altered. It could be destroyed. The search of evidence is both worldwide and goes back 16 years.”

    Even though my curiosity levels are through the roof at this point there’s no real reason why the warrants should be made public until the investigation and trial are over.

    The judge is set to decide on Monday.

  • Tragedy to the Nth degree

    Lasting images:

    I know this article is way old but I’ve been waiting for when I had some free time to post it.

    This is the exact reason why I think graphic images and videos of actual deaths should be outlawed. Yes, I really mean outlawed.

    Lesli Catsouras hasn’t opened her e-mails in weeks.

    Her husband, Christos, dreads having to use the Internet , fearful of what he accidentally may see.

    They have banned their daughters , ages 15, 13 and 8 , from going online.

    Losing oldest daughter Nikki, 18, in a car crash on Halloween has been hard enough on the Catsouras family.

    Now, their heartache is compounded by outrage.

    Graphic accident-scene photos, including close-up shots of Nikki, who suffered massive head trauma, have been leaked onto the Internet.

    The images have turned up on hundreds of Web sites and in countless chat rooms and e-mails , from Australia to Italy. The photos often are accompanied by debates about the merits of the images, with many viewers even vilifying the dead teen.

    “We’re still just starting to deal with Nikki’s death, and now this,” said Christos Catsouras, 43. “People are sick.”

    The family blames the leak on the California Highway Patrol, the agency that is investigating the crash. The family has filed a claim against the state as a precursor to a civil lawsuit. The CHP is investigating.

    As they continue to grieve, members of the Catsouras family also find themselves struggling to restore some dignity to Nikki’s memory , and facing seemingly insurmountable odds to establish some decency in the sometimes insidious, unforgiving grip of the Internet.

    The photos are so pervasive, Nikki’s 15-year-old sister has stopped going to school out of fear of opening her locker and seeing a photo of her dead sister. She now is being home schooled.

    A 12-year-old neighbor who accidentally saw the images is seeing a counselor, according to Christos Catsouras.

    Some people have anonymously sent cruel, taunting e-mails to Nikki’s relatives , including one to her father that read, “From Dead Girl Walking: Woo Hoo Daddy, I’m Alive.”

    I do see the merit in pictures like this but only in the hand of trained professionals. Criminologists and such. Not the freakin’ death mutants who get off on seeing other people’s actual suffering.

    Free speech has its limits. This should be one of them.

    Link via digg.

  • Another victim testifies in Campbell County shooting

    Principal: Bartley had chance to flee:

    The other day I posted about Campbell County High Assistant Principal Jim Pierce testifying in the juvenile status hearing for shooter Kenny Bartley. Now it’s Principal Gary Seale’s turn. According to Seale’s testimony, Bartley had an opportunity to flee the office rather than loading the gun and firing it.

    Seale soon found himself distracted by a tardy student who showed up at the guard shack. Meanwhile, Bartley had arrived at Pierce’s office. Pierce again radioed Seale, who headed to Pierce’s office.

    “Mr. Bruce walked in behind me,” Seale said. “Little Kenny was sitting in a chair. I asked him what was going on.”

    Seale took a seat next to Bartley. Bruce stood near the door. Pierce was seated behind his desk.

    “I just told Kenny, ‘I want what you have in your pocket,’ ” Pierce testified.

    Bartley reached for his pocket. Seale did, too, but Bartley swatted his hand away and pulled out a gun, Seale testified.

    “Kenny stood up with the gun, waving it at all of us,” Pierce said.

    Bruce moved from the door to the back of the room, Seale said.

    “I was like, ‘Little Kenny, is that real?’ ” Seale testified. “He was like, ‘I’ll show you. I don’t like you anyway.’ ”

    Seale and Pierce testified that Bartley then reached into his pocket, pulled out an ammunition clip, loaded the gun and opened fire. Seale was struck in the groin. Bruce was struck in the chest. Pierce was shot in the side and hand while wrestling Bartley to the floor.

    As soon as Ken Bruce moved to the back of the room Kenny Bartley could have just walked out the door. Instead, he chose to fire his gun killing Bruce and wounding Seale and Pierce.

    An officer also testified that drugs played a major role in the shooting.

    Campbell County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Darrell Mongar testified that Bartley had 10 Xanax pills in his pocket. Xanax is a brand name for a prescription narcotic sedative.

    Under questioning by defense attorney Mike Hatmaker, Mongar described Bartley’s reaction once handcuffed.

    “He started crying,” Mongar said. “He stated that he had stolen his father’s gun and brought it to school to trade for Oxycontin (an opiate-based prescription painkiller). He said none of this would have happened if he hadn’t taken (two of) the Xanaxes.”

    Considering he was trying to trade the gun for OxyContin it’s safe to assume that the Xanax wasn’t prescribed to him.

    If Bartley is tried as an adult he’s looking at a minimum of 51 years. Since Bartley has a prior juvenile record that swings things in favor of him being tried as an adult since rehabilitation obviously hasn’t worked.

    A decision should be reached today.

  • SCMRPG almost makes it through Slamdance

    Columbine game blocked from receiving Slamdance special jury prize:

    It seems that attention whore extraordinaire Danny Ledonne tried to backdoor his game into the Slamdance Festival competition but as a documentary rather than a game.

    Ledonne showed a demo of his travesty of a game, Super Columbine Massacre: RPG, to Slamdance juror and filmmaker Brian Flemming. Flemming then discussed the “game” with two other jurors. The three jurors then decide they were going to award Ledonne an unofficial special jury prize. But their intention was to try to slip it past Slamdance director Peter Baxter by surprising the audience by announcing the special prize along with the film documentary award. However, Peter Baxter caught wind of it and put a stop to the award claiming that the award could not be presented to music clearance issues. The game contains midis of copyrighted music.

    How do we know all this? Ledonne told Joystiq himself. I’ll give Captain Smug this much. he definitely knows how to market himself.

    To make matters worse Ledonne says he’s going to make a documentary about the game and all the controversy surrounding it.

    If I didn’t know any better I’d say that was his plan all along. Create controversy and turn it around to a film career.

    If Mr. Ledonne is still serious about not trying to cash in on Columbine then he should put his money where his mouth is. If he successfully makes the documentary and money he makes from it should be noted to the Columbine Memorial fund. But then the Memorial isn’t dedicated to his heroes. Only the victims.