Domestic Violence Industry: Criminal
The domestic violence industry has a habit of attracting unsavory characters into its ranks. And now three former operatives are doing hard time.
Take Barbara Dehl of Nampa, Idaho. Ten years ago Dehl single-handedly lobbied for passage of Cassie’s Law, a bill aimed at stopping dating violence. That achievement landed her on the Montel Williams Show, and Sen. Mike Crapo hailed Dehl as the “Spirit of Idaho.†Her crowning moment came in 2002 when she was invited to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women.
But then Dehl got caught up in drug trafficking charges and a murder case. Two years ago Dehl was sentenced to 15 years in the slammer for the kidnapping and macabre torturing of a 20-year-old man and his girlfriend.
About the same time Cindy Lou Shores, director of the South Central Region Tribal Nations and Friends Domestic Violence Coalition in Oklahoma, was pilfering $106,000 from the coalition’s cookie jar. This past March, Shores was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison.
And two months ago the former head of Domestic Violence Emergency Services, John Scott, was sentenced to a year behind bars for stealing money from the Roanoke, Va. abuse shelter. After Scott leaves jail, he will serve another year of probation and pay $48,000 in restitution.
But the problem isn’t limited to shelter officials who enrich themselves at the expense of taxpayers. Shelter managers condone and even encourage a broad range of illegal activities within their own facilities.
Mistreatment of children appears to be widespread. Last October the life of toddler Myliak Dale was snuffed out when a woman backed out her car at the SafeSpace shelter in Stuart, Fla.: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080722 . Incidents of child abuse often go unreported to local officials, in violation of state law.
There’s the problem of harassment and sexual assaults. At Bethany House in Falls Church, Va., two house managers were forced to resign following sexual advances of shelter residents: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080902 .
Drug abuse is rampant at some shelters. A former employee at Another Way of Lake City, Fla. revealed, “I, on numerous occasions reported illegal drug use that I had witnessed take place on Shelter property and often my complaints were ignored…We always knew not to call the law unless you were prepared to be unemployed.â€
Some shelters forego background checks on job applicants. That policy helped Another Way land former shelter manager Wendy Pittman (four criminal charges of passing bad checks); Brenda Collins (one charge of aggravated assault and two counts of cocaine possession); and Gloria Taylor (nine misdemeanor convictions and three felonies): www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081009 .
Many shelters have lawyers who coach women to embellish their stories or even dream up incidents that can never be refuted (“Don’t worry, he’ll never be able to prove he didn’t threaten you with the knifeâ€). Then they file a series of baseless allegations that are designed to make the man’s life miserable.
That’s what they did to James Hall of McIntosh Co., Oklahoma: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080923 Convincing a person to commit perjury is called subornation of perjury — and that’s a crime.
Then there’s the slick shelter shake-down routine: Arrest the man on phony abuse charges and then plunder his house while he’s stuck in jail. That’s what happened to Bob Hartzog of Glendale, Ariz: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081117 .
Some managers believe their shelter is protected by a form of sovereign immunity — after all, our society is steeped in patriarchal privilege so women need to have a safe place.
So when 26-year-old Veronica Bullock sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy at the Brewster Center Domestic Violence Services, shelter workers not only barred the Tucson police from entering the facility, they even refused to disclose the rapist’s name.
And when the police arrest a woman for assaulting her husband or boyfriend, the shelter girls scoot over to the police station and have the woman released to their custody. Once ensconced at the shelter, the assailant is free to come and go as she wishes.
For illegal immigrants, sovereign immunity means a neon-flashing “Bienvenidos†sign. Just spend a night at the local domestic violence shelter — all you need to do is scream, “Abuse!†That will entitle you to a free pass with the immigration people – amazing but true: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/070912 .
Discrimination on the basis of sex is also illegal, but who cares about abused men?: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080817 . Racial bias has been documented as well: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081124 .
Rounding out the picture are uncounted incidents of embezzlement, record falsification, financial irregularities, and garden-variety malfeasance: www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-DV-Programs-Misuse-1-Billion-Tax-Dollars-Per-Year.pdf
One asks, Where are all the state attorney generals and federal inspectors who are supposed to be enforcing our laws?
| More from Carey Roberts
Stumble It!
December 7th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
“One asks, Where are all the state attorney generals and federal inspectors who are supposed to be enforcing our laws?â€
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That’s a good one – LOL!
When you make your living robbing the cookie jar, you can’t do anything to the people who’re helping to fill the jar.
I like the job you did of putting that all together in a concise manner.
Unfortunately, our whole system of government has turned into a cesspool of malfeasance from the very top, all the way down to the lowliest courtroom clerk. (With few exceptions) It’s become a matter of routine criminality at every level of government.
Monkeys see – monkeys do – criminality.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
“Change”, calls Obama. What ‘changes’ do the Dems want? As with ‘illegal’ drugs, which ‘everybody’ is doing for ‘recreation’, and illegal immigrants which ‘everyone’ ‘needs’ for the gardening, the change to illegalities, unConstitutionalities and all this ‘malfeasance’ in shelters, which is only the slightly messy oil for the machine that ‘protects ‘vulnerable’ woman from violent, abusive men, will be to legalise it.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Yes but our own gender have accepted the degenerate nonsense and have ourselves taken career advancing, economically and politically lucrative positions in the madness. Bidden is male, so is Obama. And so are a multitude of other own gender traitors creaming the system on the political left and right, in public and private.
An overwhelming majority of senior polititian, judge, policeman, legislator or other major tyrant and deputy tyrant of the misandric system is a representative of our male gender.
And these males forming the tyranous majority: They all with good concscience do what they do, to create this wretched atmosphere on their fellow citizen for personal power and profit.
Non of it however engendered a better society for women or children did it ?. You only need look at the mounting social, criminal and economic costs to society as a whole to get an answer. A mounting social, criminal and economic costs other chivalrous males and political statemongers will sell themselves by in the future. Again for personal power and position.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:18 am
Exactly Poiuyt.
The are first and foremost, politicians… And with women and ‘minorities’, illegal and otherwise, being the largest voting blocks… Just who else do you expect these asshats to ‘pander’ to?
TMOTS
December 8th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I think there is more to this then we realize. The VAWA has destroyed more homes then any other law including no fault divorce. It is also a very powerful back door way for gun control and I think there is a much deeper hidden agenda.
http://shatterdmen.com/Bitter.htm