<p>Apparently the police were called by the neighbors at least once (as they saw kids in the backyard) and the police said that there was nothing they could do about it!! What’s up with that?</p>
<p>I wonder what the outcome would have been if that officer did check the backyard:</p>
<p>[Couple</a> faces 28 felony counts, life in jail for alleged kidnapping - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/28/california.missing.girl/index.html]Couple”>Couple faces 29 felony counts, life in jail in kidnapping - CNN.com)</p>
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<p>If everything is in the name of the elderly mother who has dementia, one thing the media could do is put pressure on her other heir to give up his claim to the estate. Everything should go to Jaycee and those two kids, either voluntarily or through social pressure. </p>
<p>Also, that woman has dementia now, but did she have it 18 years ago when all of this began? There must be some legal way to ensure that whatever assets there are, they all go to helping these poor people.</p>
<p>Finally, I recommend that everyone check out the pedophile’s blog. He is completely out to lunch. NUTS.</p>
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<p>(not to you, Bunsenburner, but in general…)</p>
<p>It is interesting how in a situtation such as this one, it is abundantly clear that officers of the law need some leeway in order to keep us safe. </p>
<p>As soon as something goes bad, the very same public which is so quick to condemn police officers for doing too much wants to condemn them instead for doing too little.</p>
<p>Oh, spideygirl, I agree with you! Level 3 sex offender? Released into the society? Cops should be able to have access to your property 24/7 no paperwork needed.</p>
<p>CNN breaking news headline:</p>
<p>“Authorities obtain search warrant for Phillip Garrido’s home in connection with killings in 1990s, police spokesman says.”</p>
<p>[The</a> Associated Press: Kidnap suspect’s home searched for murder evidence](<a href=“http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iBbUgkRg4gaNB7YROg0ym3XaAc7wD9AC47A80]The”>http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iBbUgkRg4gaNB7YROg0ym3XaAc7wD9AC47A80)</p>
<p>In the “interview”–Garrido called a news anchor at a local TV staion–how the sherriff allowed that to happen is beyond me–Garrido said that the station should ask for a very important document that he had given the FBI and which they were very “pleased”–I think that was the word he used–to get.</p>
<p>The cop who took the complaint did NOT KNOW Garrido was a registered sex offender. The woman who called said he seemed psychotic, obsessed with sex, and had women living in tents in his back yard. </p>
<p>The cop didn’t do any follow up.</p>
<p>I had several thoughts when I first heard about this- why was this monster ever let out of jail. sorrow for the step father, what type of abuse did the 11 and 15 daughters endure, what is wrong with his wife. I obviously had a lot of sympathy for the victim and her mom also.
I believe witness protection and a new identity is not a bad idea but it may not be practical.</p>
<p>I think they will need the support of their family, so don’t think witness protection is a good option. </p>
<p>The guy is obviously deranged and while I’m with PizzaGirl on the bullet being appropriate I mainly blame his wife (or ex-wife) who is supposedly NOT crazy, but was complicit in the whole thing. She should be minimally forced into hard-labor with any proceeds going to pay for some of the victims needs. Too bad that neighbor wasn’t a little nosier!</p>
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<p>Yeah, and to hell with the 4th Amendment’s injunction against unreasonable search and seizure. The Government should be able to enter and search your home or property for any reason whatsoever, especially if it finds anything you do or say “displeasing”…:rolleyes:</p>
<p>In the case of this monster, the police should have taken the reports of neighbors seriously and done just a little investigating. If they had, they would have quickly found out that this guy was a registered sex offender, and had ample reason early on to file a warrant for a legal search of his property.</p>
<p>poetsheart, please don’t roll eyes, you took my words out of context - I was talking about Level 3 sex offenders released from prison on certain conditions (registration as a sex offender, monitoring, etc.).</p>
<p>Here is the fiull quote:</p>
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<p>Oops! Sorry Bunsen, you’re absolutely right. I did fail to read your entire quote within context. Please forgive me.</p>
<p>Given the horrible recidivism rates of sex offenders, I understand why you feel that way. Perhaps the recidivism factor alone constitutes “probable cause”. I’m mightily tempted to agree with you on the 24/7 law enforcement access idea, but I’ll have to think on it a bit more. I take our Constitutional rights very seriously.</p>
<p>Life would not be the same without Poetsheart’s eye rolls. :)</p>
<p>I take our constitutional rights very seriously as well, but I am also a proponent of common sense. Had a cop along the way followed his intuition and bent the rules, that poor girl and her family could have been spared a whole lot of suffering. </p>
<p>I find it difficult to believe that anyone, no matter how much they love the Constitution, would disagree with me if they put all of it in the context of their own children. </p>
<p>Just imagine if it was your own child in that back yard. Trust me. You’d be more than ready to say, “Screw the Constitution!”. And if the Constitution could become animated and speak to you, it would say, “No Problem!”.</p>
<p>There are exceptions to everything.</p>
<p>Spidey, had the police taken the reports of neighbors seriously, had they performed a background check of the man in question, they would have quickly ascertained that they were dealing with a sex offender. They could have gotten a search warrant within hours on Probable Cause, and had social services standing by without compromising the 4th Amendment.</p>
<p>^What you say is very true. However, in a situation where those leads did not exist, and where the only way a police officer could rescue YOUR child was by bending the rules, I think you or anyone else would be OK with it (to say the least).</p>
<p>One other thing to consider - the victim and her children had been there for many years, completely cut off fromthe outside world and dependent on the perp… there is a demonstrated bond that forms so that the victim can survive. After all those years,had the police found her at that point and questioned her, she had probably been fed a line to use “Yes, my cousin lets us live here since my husband left” or some such.<br>
I hope a foundation is set up to fund the therapy they will need and the media/junk lawyers will back off and let them fade away into a regular life.
Let’s all promise to never buy a magazine/watch a newscast that details the lives of these three victims.</p>
<p>I’ll take you up on that, dragonmom. You can bet that, as we speak, someone is working on a " Lifetime Movie". I’ll not be a part of any of it.
And, since I haven’t chipped in with my two cents worth concerning this horrible monster and his disgusting wife, I’ll have it now. There is no place in hell hot enough for those two- she is every bit as guilty as he- and I would have no problem at all in hitting the switch, pulling the trap door, or whatever is necessary to rid the world of those two pieces of pond scum.
My heart goes out to the young woman, her parents and her daughters. May they be surrounded by nothing but peace and happiness from now on. The security guard and the police officer who made it possible to break this case are real heroines. They deserve national recognition for outstanding performance in their jobs.</p>
<p>The perp is scum and his wife isn’t much better. What I don’t understand is why there weren’t more people in the neighborhood calling the cops? It’s not like the guy lived on two acres without neighbors. How could you not know that there were three people (at one point babies) living in your neighbor’s yard?</p>