FL- Flier alerts to "sex offender" - but isn't true

5-11-2003 Florida:

CAPE CORAL, May 9, 2003- A Cape Coral man is trying to clear his name after bogus fliers were circulated in his neighborhood accusing him of being a child molester. For Michael Wheeler, it's a living nightmare.

Imagine what it would feel like to find out your neighbors think you're a sex offender.

"The first thought that went through my head is how could I be accused of something I think is the worst crime anybody could commit," said Wheeler.

Wheeler is living in a nightmare.

"None of the neighbors wave at us or smile at us anymore," said Wheeler.

Officials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed Michael Wheeler is not a sex offender, even though dozens of fliers went to his neighbors saying he was.

Wheeler now believes the first fliers probably went out a year ago. The same time he said his neighbors started to act funny.

"The kids won't play with my son anymore," said Wheeler.

Some neighbors said they were fooled by the letter that looked legitimate

Ex-superintendent beaten

9-26-2003 New York:

Convicted pedophile Robert Sigler was viciously attacked by several inmates hours after being moved from Orange County Jail to the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill Wednesday, his lawyer confirmed yesterday.

Sigler, the former superintendent of the Middletown school district, suffered several broken bones in his face and bruising from head to toe from a beating that happened at about noon, William Tendy, his lawyer, said. Injuries around his eye may require surgery, he added.

Tendy said the attack took place after Sigler was placed in a holding cell with 30 other inmates, several who participated in the beating.

Sigler will require further medical treatment, but Tendy said it was too soon to tell if Sigler's injuries would affect his eyesight.

Law and order

9-24-2003 Pennsylvania:

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Ten inmates at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility recently spoke to The Reporter for two stories on prison life. Six inmates agreed to be identified by their first names. Four convicted sex
offenders are being identified by nicknames to protect their identities.

NORRISTOWN – It took inmates at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility about two weeks to learn by reading the newspaper that a fellow inmate was a sex offender.

“They asked me if it was me‚” said the inmate‚ who goes by the nickname “Merck.”

Merck said he initially denied that he was the person identified in the news accounts. But the inmates were not convinced. They questioned how he could have harmed the victim‚ then teased him and called him names.

But he was not attacked or abused by the inmates.

It was a different story for a 22-year-old inmate nicknamed “Mole‚” who said he was jumped by several inmates when they learned of his crime.

Mole is now in protective custody at the county prison‚ serving time for having sex with two underage girls. Mole claims the girls lied about their ages‚ dressed and looked older‚ and showed fake IDs that enabled them to get into a bar.

Inmates have a certain “code of honor” they follow inside the walls of a prison.

Wife accused of stabbing husband who's accused of sex with teen-ager

12-7-2003 Kentucky:

A Campbellsville husband and wife were both indicted Tuesday after the wife allegedly stabbed the husband after finding him in bed with a 14-year-old girl.

A Taylor County grand jury charged Shana Marie Coulter, 20, with first-degree assault and Tyrone Coulter, 26, with third-degree rape in connection with the incidents.

According to Campbellsville Police, the 911 Center received a call on Nov. 8 about a stabbing on Watson Court. Upon their arrival, police found Tyrone Coulter lying in the street with a stab wound to the abdomen.

During the investigation, Shana Coulter told police that she came home that night and found her husband engaged in sexual intercourse with the girl.

Bond for Tyrone Coulter was set at 10 percent of $20,000. If convicted, he could face as much as five years in prison.

Bond for Shana Coulter was set at 10 percent of $25,000 and she is to have no contact with her husband. If convicted, she could face as much as 20 years in prison. ..more.. by Rebecca Dial

Alleged molester attacked by victim's mother!

12-17-2003 Louisiana:

A man accused of molesting a three-year old boy is attacked by the child's mother, and ends up in the hospital. Investigators say the mom confronted the man at this home in southeastern Bossier Parish, where her child was being watched on Sunday. .

The woman hit the man with a wooden tray, putting a gash in the man's head The man had to be taken to the hospital to get stitches. Bossier Sheriff spokesman Ed Baswell says while being treated the man talked about killing himself, so he is now under observation. ..more.. by KTBS 3 News

'I've Been Treated Like A Monster'

4-16-2003 Washington:

ISLAND COUNTY - "People do think I'm a monster and I've been treated like a monster."

And this week, John Michael Isley's "monster" mug shot has been published throughout Island County. By law, a county must publish the name and photo of a dangerous registered sex offender when he plans to live there. Isley spoke exclusively with KOMO 4 News claiming it's a law that's "railroaded" him out of Island County.

Eleven years ago, when he was 15, he had sexual contact with a 13-year-old female cousin. He was charged with Indecent Liberties which means unwanted sexual contact but not sexual intercourse. After serving 52 weeks in a juvenile facility he has been considered, for a decade, a Level 1 sex offender, the least likely to re-offend.

But Island County decided this week, when it was learned Isley was moving to Oak Harbor, that the county considers him a Level 3 sex offender, the most dangerous level indicating a high potential to re-offend. By law, his picture and the street where he was planning to live were published.

"When I registered, the island railroaded me and sent me away," said Isley. He says the sudden change got him fired from the construction job he'd been commuting to for three weeks on Whidbey Island. "To go and change someone's level just to make sure they don't come to their island is not right," said Isley.

As the sheriff reads the law it is something he can do.

L.A. County to pay $2.8 million in inmate's beating

12-22-2006 California:

Board of Supervisors votes unanimously to settle lawsuit by a man, charged with molestation, who wasn't segregated in custody.

.The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pay $2.8 million to a former jail inmate who was severely beaten after other inmates learned he was an accused child molester — the most the county has paid to resolve a lawsuit involving a jail attack. Attorneys for Jose Beas, 41, had contended that sheriff's employees endangered the married father of three by placing him in a dormitory with 80 general population inmates instead of isolating him as department policy required.

Beas, of South Los Angeles, was a machinist and part-time soccer referee who volunteered at his children's school. He was arrested in December 2003 and charged with molesting a 5-year-old girl that his wife was baby-sitting. The charges against him were dismissed because of the extent of his injuries, court records show. Beas had denied molesting the girl, saying he playfully patted her bottom with an open hand. He had no prior criminal history, his lawyers said.

Assembly Bill Documents various incidents against registered sex offenders

4-9-2003 California Legislature: ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY: AB 1184 (Spitzer) - As Amended: April 9, 2003

Consider the recent case of an offender who spent 21 years in custody after molesting a four-year-old child. In September 2003, David Phillips was released from Patton State Hospital after the Court of Appeal ruled that the trial court lacked jurisdiction when it committed him in 1982. After moving to Riverside and registering as a sex offender, the police distributed fliers to area residents. According to a September 26, 2003 article in a local newspaper, ". . . Phillips has moved three times in the week since he was released from Patton State Hospital near Highland. Each time, authorities have alerted his neighbors that a high-risk sex offender has moved into the area. Each time, Phillips said, the news has prompted his landlord to ask him to move out." After moving into his second residence, there was a public protest involving a group of approximately 100 citizens. Because the residence was less than one mile from an elementary and middle school, school officials issued thousands of letters to parents whose children attended public schools within a five-mile radius. After moving to a third residence, a sober-living 12 step residential program, the owner asked Phillips to leave "because she did not want his presence to create problems for the other people living there." A group of citizens had begun planning a further protest. Two weeks after being released and attempting to find housing in Riverside, Phillips moved to San Bernardino and registered as a 'transient' sex offender.

In October 2000, more than 100 residents of Norco, California gathered to protest the presence of a convicted sex offender who had been released to the community. According to press reports, upon his release in May 2000, members of the community began to "galvanize efforts to force him out." For several months, residents in the neighborhood had posted signs in front of their homes and collected petitions. Some of the signs pointed to the home where the person was living with his mother and identified him as a child molester. One sign read, "child molesters are a dying breed". On the day of the community meeting, a person had spray-painted 'fagit' on the driveway of the convicted offender. According to his mother, she was attempting to raise money through a garage sale he move him out of the neighborhood. Residents of the neighborhood defaced the garage sale signs with anti-child molester slogans and the sale was a failure.

In November 2000, Assemblyman George Runner (Sponsor of Prop 83) and city officials in Lancaster picketed outside an apartment where a registered sex offender had moved in with relatives. In addition, more than one dozen residents passed out fliers alerting members of the public that that he had moved there and demanding his eviction.

Assemblyman George Runner and city officials in Lancaster including Mayor Frank Roberts and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford have picketed outside an apartment where Andre Bradford, 41, a registered sex offender, has moved in with relatives. ..more.. : by California Legislature

Onorato's Wife's Car Burned In Driveway

8-9-2003 Vermont:

GROTON VERMONT: Groton resident Virginia Onorato -- wife of convicted murderer and rapist Robert Onorato -- was awakened between midnight and 1 a.m. Friday by Groton Fire Chief Jeremy Darling.

Darling told her that her car was ablaze in her driveway.

Some of her neighbors were driving home from a movie and spotted the fire, drove to the nearest neighbor's house up the road, and called the fire department.

They later returned and were compassionate and supportive of her, Virginia Onorato said.

The fire department responded promptly, she said, and put out the fire quickly so that the car is not a total loss.

The fire happened hours after an emotionally charged meeting of concerned Groton townspeople, who were gathered to learn about Robert Onorato's past and how they can deal with his release into their community.

Onorato was convicted of robbing and killing a 19-year-old Sunoco gas station attendant in 1978 when he was 20 years old, and of raping a 9-year-old boy in 1980.

Virginia was shaken and scared by the car fire.

"I stayed up all night because I was scared every time the cat jumped," Virginia said.

She moved to Groton from White River Junction on June 28 and has been enjoying her new home, which used to be a schoolhouse, books from the Groton town library, painting, and weekend visits to see her husband, Robert.

Robert and Virginia met in 1990 through a ministry to prisoners that Virginia was involved in. They met and corresponded for six years before they were married.

"Bob is caring, witty, and intelligent and it wasn't hard to fall in love with him," Virginia said in describing her husband.

They chose to live in Groton because Robert had had a tentative job in Berlin, and so they chose a 25-mile range and looked for houses within that area. When they saw the Groton house, they fell in love with it, and liked the small town atmosphere.

The recent car fire disheartens Virginia and makes her concerned for the day that Robert is released.

"I've waited 12 years for him to come home and I'm scared," Virginia said. She doesn't know what to expect on Aug. 15 when her husband will be released.

"I can handle this (referring to the fire)," she said, adding, "but I am scared for what's going to happen when Bob is released and comes home."

After Thursday night's events Robert didn't want Virginia to be alone and so her sister-in-law is going to be with her for a few days.

Virginia wants people to know that the crimes Robert did were terrible, but they were years ago, and they were done during a period when he was young and using drugs. She also said that although drugs are available in prison, Robert has always come up clean.

Virginia understands that some people are upset about Robert's past and understands that they want to know about it, but she hopes that people will give him a chance.

Husband and wife will be meeting with citizens who are concerned about his past and would like to them ask them questions about it.

News of the meeting and the fire spread quickly throughout Groton.

"I couldn't believe it," said Constable Milton Lamberton about the fire, adding, "They haven't given her a chance; it's like we are in the Ku Klux Klan days."

Others agreed with Lamberton.

"They need to give him a chance," said Sara Caccararo, 18, of Groton.

Mandy Darling, 19, of Groton concurred and said, "His wife hasn't done a thing."

Many seem to agree with those opinions, but not all.

"I hope they leave," said Susan Emerson of Groton, who doesn't believe that Onorato could have been rehabilitated and fears for the lives of those in the town.

Virginia Onorato has rented a car and is hoping the situation calms down so she and Robert can live a quite and normal life.

"I won't hold any grudges when they find out who did this," Virginia said, adding that she understands that people can do wrong things when emotionally worked up. ...more... by SETH POWERS, Staff Writer

Convicted sexual predator finds no post-prison solace: Self-professed 'monster' has been ostracized, bullied

7-27-2003 Multi-States Michigan to New Mexico:

This is the worst case of mass multi-state hysteria and stalking, initiated and fueled by a Michigan Prosecutor (Bill Forsyth, Kent County, Mich., prosecutor), in which the police, the public and even the Albuquerque, New Mexico Mayor Martin Chavez took part: The David Seibers story.
.ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- From the crest of his property in the Sandia Mountains, David Siebers can look out at the scrub pine and cactus of New Mexico's high desert. It is a desolate land, dry and remote, where a man could get lost -- or hide. For 10 months, the press chased the Michigan man across the country. Someone slashed his tires. Someone else kicked in his ribs. Police followed him around the clock. Churchgoing parents held signs telling him to "go back where you came from -- Hell." And here, where he retreated into the mountains, they burned down his home.

"I understand their concern," said Siebers, standing on the cement foundation where his home once stood. "I'm America's No. 1 monster." The soft-spoken Grand Rapids man served more than 20 years in Michigan prisons for a series of violent sex crimes. FBI profilers think he will commit more. So far, the only crimes committed have been against Siebers. The balding 45-year-old has become a symbol of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation's sex-offender registry laws and the moral quicksand surrounding a bad man to whom bad things are being done. When has a person paid the price for past crimes? How far should parents go to protect their children? Where does a man go when he's not wanted anywhere? Questions of civil rights and justice have different answers when a sexual predator lives next door.

Prisoner No. 162811 packed methodically, stowing 10 years of life into two foot lockers. "All I wanted was to start a life," Siebers said later. "My grand intention was to be average." To Bill Forsyth, Siebers was far from average. The Kent County, Mich., prosecutor glared at an FBI report warning that Siebers would commit more crimes. It was a thought that made Forsyth shudder. "I've convicted (people of) some pretty heinous crimes, but none of them have bothered me like these," Forsyth said. Siebers had been a star at Northview High School in Grand Rapids, lettering in track and cross country and being named Outstanding Senior Chemistry Student.

But by age 22, things had gone wrong. Facing marital and financial difficulties, "he snapped," said Dr. Robert Krangle, who has befriended Siebers in recent months in New Mexico. "He snapped bad." In August 1979, Siebers walked into a Get It and Go grocery store in Grand Rapids, pointing a gun at a frightened female clerk. Siebers took money from the cash register, then raped the clerk. More horrors followed. At a Wendy's restaurant, he allegedly ordered four employees into a back room, forced them to undress and raped one of the women. During another robbery, he allegedly sexually assaulted a female employee while holding a gun on the male workers.

Police believe beating that left Sarasotan in coma was revenge

11-21-2003 Florida:

.SARASOTA, Fla. - Police say an 18-year-old who has been in a coma for two weeks was the victim of a vigilante beating. Detectives said Timothy Kriner repeatedly was punched in the head by 22-year-old Damien Coccaro, who suspected Kriner of raping a family member, said Sgt. Chuck Lesaltato, Sarasota County Sheriff's spokesman. The Sheriff's Office has not determined whether Kriner and the girl had sex, either consensual or forced, Lesaltato said.

"This is a perfect example of someone trying to take the law into their own hands," he told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "That's not the way you should handle it, because now he's in jail. He should have waited for the Sheriff's Office to do our job." Coccaro, arrested a few hours after the beating, was freed on $5,000 bail Wednesday. He is charged with aggravated battery. Kriner was in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg Thursday.

According to a law enforcement report, Kriner and the 17-year-old girl were at a party on Nov. 8 when they went into a room together. Accounts differ as to what happened next. Detectives said witnesses told them the girl, as she left the room, said "she felt bad because she had cheated on her boyfriend with Kriner." She later told people at the party that she had been raped.

Coccaro's attorney, Derek Byrd, said the girl has told everyone all along that Kriner raped her. He said she didn't even have a boyfriend. Her torn clothing and horrified look persuaded the people at the party that she was telling the truth, the attorney said. "It's not like he decided, 'I'm going to kill him.'" Byrd said of Coccaro. "If that was his intention, he would have gone to get a weapon ..." Byrd said Coccaro works as a cook and had no criminal record. ..more.. : by Associated Press