Accused molester impaled on cactus

7-2-2002 Arizona:
.An accused child molester who fled Chandler three years ago was found beaten into a coma and impaled on cactus in Mexico. Mark Adam Younglove, 35, disappeared on July 4, 1999, after neighbors confronted him with allegations of molesting their children. On Sept. 23, 1999, a Maricopa County grand jury indicted Younglove on 11 counts of sex crimes with children, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Sonora police found Younglove on June 23, unconscious and lying in cactus in Empalme, Mexico. He remains hospitalized in Hermosillo with severe head injuries and might not survive, according to Chandler police.


The U.S. Consulate in Hermosillo found Younglove listed on the America's Most Wanted Web site and contacted Chandler police. Pamela Calimeri, whose daughter was one of Younglove's alleged victims, said she and another parent are "basically ecstatic" that he won't be able to harm children again. "You don't wish death on anyone," she said. "I do feel bad for being happy about it, but I call it a sick and tragic ending to a sick and tragic life." Younglove lived in the same Chandler neighborhood as Calimeri and Bobbie Redensek, whose two daughters also are alleged victims of Younglove.


"They're still in shock and trying to deal with it," Redensek said Tuesday. "But they're happy because now they feel like they don't have to hide anymore, and can go outside and he's not gonna come get them." Her daughters had told her Younglove "made it very clear to them that he would come back" if they reported the molestation. The Calimeri family was driving to Fourth of July festivities in 1999 when their daughter made explicit comments about Younglove.


They turned the car around and confronted the suspect. "We were trying to kind of make heads and tails on how we should handle things," Calimeri said. "It was kind of vague at that time and you don't want to jump the gun on something so serious." They told Younglove they were going to the police. He fled that night, Calimeri said. Since then, both families have been "hyper-vigilant" about their children's safety, she said.


Parents of some of Younglove's alleged victims sued Chandler, claiming that police knew on June 16, 1999, that their children were possible victims, yet did not notify the parents. The lawsuit sought $3 million and was settled last year for an undisclosed amount. Officer Emma Bribiescas, a Chandler police spokeswoman, said there is no evidence that Younglove molested children while in Mexico, or that angry parents are responsible for the beating. "People can obviously assume that could be a possibility," Bribiescas said. "At this point, Mexican police don't know what the motive was because they don't know who the suspects are." ..more.. : by Patricia Biggs, The Arizona Republic