The tale of the Gallatin Co. sheriff’s sex offender box…

What we see here is a bit of corruption and it makes me think, could this be going on elsewhere? How many fees are being charged nationally, and how are they accounted for. Is there a system of checks and balances? I doubt it, its just sex offenders...

8-17-2011 Illinois:

GALLATIN CO.—While the headline sounds somewhat suggestive, this post is literally about exactly what it states: a box in the Gallatin County sheriff’s office labeled “sex offender.”

And there it is, as shown above.

Astute observers will note that the handwriting on the post-it affixed to said box belongs to none other than the former sheriff of Gallatin County, Raymond Martin….and this is the genesis of this little tale.

While we were in Gallatin last week, we happened to get into a conversation with a public official regarding some of the disparaging remarks made about the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Department and whether or not the deputies knew what Raymondo was into.

The more vociferous among GallCo residents have opined repeatedly, since Raymondo’s arrest May 19, 2009, that “everybody” at the SD “had to have known what Raymond was doing; hell, they were prolly all in on it at one time or another.” Many were so convinced of it, and so convincing when they spoke about it, that there for awhile, we were tending to believe them….after all, how could they have possibly NOT known what was going on in their own evidence lockers, their own office purchases, right under their own noses?

Yet we sat through hours upon hours of testimony last year at the federal trial, and we heard two of the deputies (Shannon Bradley and Bobby Glover) give testimony that, through their own words and the very delivery of them, were very, very conclusive: Raymondo had an iron hold over operations in that office, and it was highly likely that while deputies had some suspicion of him, they had no way of proving anything by looking into it themselves: their sheriff had total control over keys, locks, items, EVERYTHING. That was the way it was done, and he wasn’t gonna let it go down any other way.

So when Shannon Bradley became interim sheriff upon Raymondo’s arrest, he found himself taking over operations of sections of the courthouse in Shawneetown that he’d never had access to before, such as the old jail in the basement, where Raymondo was keeping his experimental pot-growing operation, as well as evidence such as POUNDS of pot that he was filching in order to sell.

Bradley also found some interesting items right there in the office, however….one of these being the sex offender box.

The story as it was related to us went that Bradley was inventorying things and opened the box, labeled in Raymondo’s own handwriting, which inside held a little more than $100 cash.

He walked across the hall to Treasurer Pat McGuire’s office and asked her what to do with the money. McGuire said she had no idea; she’d never seen the box or any cash from it before.

So McGuire called the state, and they advised her that it was fees posted by registered sex offenders in Gallatin: $10 per offender per year. Since Gallatin is so small (and seems to be so lacking in anyone resembling a prosecutor for so many years), they didn’t have a whole lot of sex offenders paying such a fee, and the money in the box appeared to represent every fee ever posted by the local offenders, at least, perhaps, over the past couple of years.

So McGuire was directed to set up a bank account into which that money was to be deposited, and Gallatin was to keep half, while the state was to be disbursed the other half, and that mystery of the box was solved.

However, Bradley’s actions sort of fly in the face of those who want to disparage his honesty and integrity.

He didn’t have to turn over that box or the cash in it. Apparently, no one else in the world knew it was there except Raymondo, and no one else knew he was taking in fees except the sex offenders. And apparently, Raymondo had no intention of using the money that was in it like it was supposed to have been used, especially if Ms. McGuire had never been apprised of the situation. So that was one of those things that Bradley could have just ‘let slide’ and maybe bought himself some choice steaks next time he was having a cookout instead of settling for drumsticks. But he didn’t. He turned it over, the thought never occurring to him to do anything different with it.

We’ve gotta wonder how many years of this fee thing Raymondo did go out and buy steaks with (or maybe just more pot seeds). But this little anecdote, to us and to the person who related it to us, goes a long way to show that Gallatin really is in good hands with Shannon Bradley in the office of sheriff. Good job, Shannon. And thanks to the kind gentleman who shared this tale with us. ..Source.. by Jack Howser

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Morally corrupt law lets sex-offender cop off hook

8-8-2010 New Jersey:

When Jeremiah Hupka took the oath as a Hunterdon County Sheriff’s officer, he placed a hand on a Bible and vowed “to support and comply with the Constitution of the United States of America, and the constitution and laws of the state of New Jersey,” among other things.

So help him, God.

In the end, this was just theater for family and friends and the taxpayers who pay him to keep them safe, because that oath (and others) have been rendered farcical by the state Supreme Court.

Choosing bad law over common sense, the court ruled that Hupka, despite pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a former girlfriend — and thereby violating the laws he vowed to uphold — can keep his two law enforcement jobs. The reasoning: The crime occurred while he was off-duty and had nothing to do with his positions as a sheriff’s officer or part-time officer in Frenchtown.
It’s preposterous. This wasn’t a speeding ticket. Hupka pleaded guilty to molesting a woman while she was asleep or passed out from alcohol, and there is evidence he might have done much more than that.

Hupka originally denied having sex with the victim, but changed his story and said he touched her private parts for personal gratification. Important details were omitted when he was allowed to cop the plea, however: After the assault, the victim, after finding she had been sexually violated, discovered she was pregnant. A DNA test established there was a 99.9 percent probability Hupka was the father, according to the pre-sentence report.

As we all learned in sixth grade: Women don’t get pregnant from “touching.”
Even though Hupka resigned as part of his plea, his attorney argued the state’s dismissal statute only applies when there is a direct link between the offense and the job, and in a 3-2 decision, the court agreed. But that ruling is morally flawed.

We agree with dissenting Justice Stuart Rabner, who said the aim of the forfeiture statute is “to bar those who have once violated the public trust from (having) a second opportunity.” The majority missed another point: The law is designed to protect the public, not the offender.

The court’s ruling, however, tells law enforcement officers they can violate serious laws and keep their paycheck. And the insistence that there’s no link to Hupka’s job is silly: To be effective, cops must enforce and obey the law. Who wants Hupka investigating a sex crime, or trusts him anywhere near a female victim?

The law should be changed. Now. Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to keep sex offenders or other felons on the payroll.

..Opinion of: Star-Ledger Editorial Board

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WI- Panel: Gableman ad spots misleading, but not illegal

Hummm, does this really say "It is OK to use child molesters for POLITICAL GAIN?" I Never though it would come from mouths of judges, but now we have proof that such is condoned!

11-13-2009 Wisconsin:

by Alicia Yager

Panel of judges says Wis. Supreme Court should drop charge

A judicial conduct panel recommended Thursday the Wisconsin Supreme Court drop a complaint against one of its justices for questionable ethics in regard to a campaign but did agree the ad was not in good taste.

The panel — composed of Justices Harry Snyder, Ralph Fine and David Deininger — was reviewing a complaint filed against Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman in October 2008 by the Judicial Commission, according to court records.

The Judicial Commission asserted Gableman willfully violated Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct by running an attack ad on then-incumbent Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, court records said.

According to the complaint, the ad insinuated that as an appellate state public defender, Butler “found a loophole” to put a child molester back on the streets.

The court records state the Judicial Commission based its complaint on two rules of conduct that say the judicial candidates should maintain a certain level of dignity in their campaigns and they shall not say anything untruthful or misrepresent the facts.

All three panel members decided to recommend dismissal of the complaint, but said this does not mean the ad was not improper.

Snyder and Deininger said they agreed the content of the ad was not against code because it was not false, just misleading for those watching because of the way the facts were presented. Fine, however, said the content of the ad was false but said the rule restricting the speech of judicial candidates is unconstitutional.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the nonpartisan political monitoring group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said he did not see Fine’s conclusion as valid.

“His view of the rule is that it’s against the First Amendment; I don’t agree,” McCabe said. “The First Amendment is important, but not absolute. You need balance against other rights, like right to due process.”

McCabe said campaigns with aggressive, warring candidates can demonstrate bias and those entering a courtroom may not feel assured of having a fair trial.

McCabe added it is a “foregone conclusion” that Gableman will not face any discipline for the questionable ad when the matter comes before the Supreme Court itself.

Jay Heck, executive director of nonpartisan citizen lobby Common Cause in Wisconsin, agreed the court will not punish Gableman for the ad, because they are hesitant to punish fellow justices.

“I’m not surprised about the decision because of the makeup of the panel and because justices are wary to impose harsh penalties on essentially their colleagues,” Heck said.

Heck said the Impartial Justice Act, recently passed by the Legislature, will be a step in the right direction because it provides limited public financing for justice campaigns. ..Source..

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MI- GH cop won't be on sex offender list

Unbelievable, but there still may be justice. Michigan has a catch-all statute (MCL 28.722) which should cause this man to be forced to register, that statute is not under the control of the prosecutor.

10-30-2009 Michigan:

Thomas Carey to be sentenced Nov. 2

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - A former Grand Haven police officer lost his job and could lose his freedom for his on-duty sexual encounters, but one of his victims says she can't understand why his name won't appear on the state's sex offender registry.

She thinks Thomas Carey belongs there to warn other women.

"He's just a sick person that takes advantage of women that can't help themselves," the woman told 24 Hour News 8.

Carey, 47, a 20-year veteran and one-time Grand Haven Officer of the Year, could face up to five years in prison when sentenced on Nov. 2 in Ottawa County.

But it was a deal worked out between Carey's attorney, Charles Rominger, and Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth that will keep him from the sex offender registry.

Rominger said his client, who is married, is not a predator and doesn't belong on the list.

"I think it does a disservice to characterize this as a renegade police officer who was using his badge and authority to obtain sexual favors from non-consenting adult women," Rominger said.

That's not how state police saw it -- at least originally.

They investigated the case as first-degree sexual assault involving two vulnerable women -- ages 43 and 67 -- and an officer abusing his authority for sex, according to state police reports obtained by 24 Hour News 8 through the Freedom of Information Act.

The reports provide new details on the investigation -- and raise new questions.

Carey pleaded no contest to misconduct in office and gross indecency, the same kind of charge two consenting adults would face for having sex in public.

First-degree sexual assault carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; the most he can get now is 5 years.

Rominger said the officer agreed to gross indecency because it's not among the charges that land people on the sex offender list.

The 43-year-old victim said Carey first targeted her in early 2008, when she called police to report a suspicious person. Officer Carey -- the city's K-9 handler -- responded.

"I'd seen this cop before," she told 24 Hour News 8. "I've had other incidents and he was, you know, I could tell he had a crush on me, you know, that he liked me."

She had been diagnosed with mental health problems -- major depression, a dependent personality -- and other health issues, including insulin dependent diabetes, state police records show.

The officer was especially nice, the woman told police. He hugged her, told her a shower would make her feel better.

An hour or so later, he returned, providing more comfort, she said.

"He was holding me, rubbing my back," she said.

Then, the visits became regular -- Carey tapping on her window late at night, within view of the Grand Haven police headquarters.

Once, he appeared suddenly, in uniform, in her bedroom at 2 or 3 a.m, standing in the dark, she told police.

She couldn't undertand why his bosses didn't know.

"It's evident, I mean he come knocking on my bedroom window at 1 o'clock in the morning," she said. "I mean, how can you hide, you know, a police officer, you know, in his uniform, dressed, banging on someone's bedroom window?"

She felt obligated, she told police, to give him what he wanted: Oral sex -- up to a dozen times during the course of 14 months, almost always while he was in uniform and with a gun on his belt.

Each incident "was pretty much the same," lasting 15 to 20 minutes, and "when he was done, he would leave," the woman told police. He never used force or threatened her, she said.

He called her "his girl," and told her, "You want it, don't you?" she told police.

"When asked why she didn't resist or say no, (her) response was she felt she had to and that he was a figure of authority, a police officer," wrote the state police detective who interviewed the woman.

"He has a gun," the woman told 24 Hour News 8. "I asked him one time: What would happen if his gun was to go off? I said, then you've got some explaining to do."

The victim kept the secret until March 2009, when she told her psychiatrist and her Ottawa County Mental Health caseworker, reports show. The allegations reached Grand Haven Public Safety Chief Dennis Edwards, who asked state police to investigate.

"I blame myself," the woman said. "I mean, I could have said no, but what do you say? He's a cop."

Carey denied the allegations when he met with a state police sergeant on June 4 at the Grand Haven Municipal Marina. The frequent visits with the woman, he said, were good public relations.

State police interviewed neighbors, who thought the officer's frequent visits were to check on the woman.

They also searched Carey's police locker and his Grand Haven Township home. It appears they found no evidence of sexual assault. Among the evidence they sought: Green or blue men's bikini underwear described by the victim.

But it was another detail the victim described -- a blue, oval tattoo -- that convinced state police she wasn't making it up.

State police got a search warrant for Carey's body. And, there it was -- a tattoo on his upper arm in honor of fallen Grand Haven Officer Scott Flahive, shot in 1994 in the line of duty.

Then, the biggest breakthrough for police, in August: Rumors about a similar relationship with a 67-year-old woman.

This started in 2005 -- about the time Carey was named Grand Haven Police Officer of the Year. She had called police to report a fraud; Carey helped investigate.

First came the compliments -- he said she looked sexy -- then hugs and kisses, she told police. She described the first visits, some in the middle of the night, as uncomfortable. She described their last encounter as "repulsive."

The sex acts -- 50 to 60 in all -- weren't consensual at first, she said, but it developed into a relationship that lasted several years.

She told police, "He would keep his uniform on and that he would just unzip his pants."

State police described this victim also as vulnerable; she'd been seeing a psychiatrist for 20 years for a chemical imbalance and clinical depression, records show.

Without the second victim, prosecutors would not have filed charges at all, sources told 24 Hour News 8.

Carey's attorney said he negotiated a deal with Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth before charges were filed.

"My assessment was there was just as good a chance of an acquittal as there was a conviction," Rominger said.

Forsyth, who'd been asked to handle the case as a special prosecutor, wanted a felony sex crime conviction, and for Carey to never work again as a police officer.

Carey wanted to stay off the sex offender registry.

They both got what they wanted.

Carey got quick service in court: Charged and arraigned in Grand Haven District Court, then pleading no contest in Ottawa County Circuit Court -- all on the same day.

Forsyth wouldn't comment on the case.

Carey's former boss, Grand Haven Public Safety Chief Dennis Edwards, said he was satisfied with the charges. State Police Lt. Curt Schram, whose office investigated the case, said he believed the charges were appropriate.

Prosecutors would have had a difficult time proving the women were too vulnerable to consent, they said.

"At what point is somebody so incapicitated that they can't choose for themselves?" Edwards said. "It's better to get some conviction than to have a trial and end up with no conviction."

Carey's attorney agreed.

"They made knowing choices, willful choices," he said of the women. "There was benefit in the relationship to them."

The victim tells 24 Hour News 8 she plans to attend the sentencing, and has written to the judge, but she won't make a statement in court.

She no longer trusts police, or the system, she said.

"If he gets any jail or prison time, I don't think he's going to get the maximum that he should, being a cop," she said. ..Source.. by Ken Kolker

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PA- Pa. Supreme Court Throws Out Thousands of Juvenile Delinquency Cases

10-30-2009 Pennsylvania:

Court Says Cases Tainted by Alleged Kickback Scheme Involving Corrupt Judge

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled late Thursday that almost all juvenile delinquency cases heard by an indicted former judge must be thrown out. The ruling means cases heard by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella from Jan. 1, 2003 to May 31, 2008 are in question for fairness and impartiality.

Ciavarella faces criminal charges that accuse him of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks from owners of private detention centers in exchange for placing juvenile defendants at their facilities, often for minor crimes.

In one reported case, a college-bound high school student served three weeks in juvenile detention for making fun of the school principal on a Web site.

The court said that it "cannot have any confidence that Ciavarella decided any Luzerne County juvenile case fairly and impartially while he labored under the specter of his self-interested dealings with the facilities," and called Ciavarella's actions a "travesty of juvenile justice."

The decision could impact up to 6,500 Pennsylvania youth, whose juvenile detention records will now be erased and their cases dismissed without the possibility of retrial.

Most of the affected youth have already served their time. In Pennsylvania, juvenile criminal records are not automatically expunged when children turn 18, so Thursday's ruling could give thousands of kids a clean slate, said Marsha Levick, deputy director of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia and an attorney for the children. About 100 Pennsylvania children could now be released from juvenile detention or taken off of probation, according to Levick.

"The court's far-reaching order is an exceptional response to the most serious judicial scandal in the history of the United States," Levick told ABC News.

The ruling is the latest stunning development in a story of corruption that first shocked Luzerne County residents in January 2009. Federal prosecutors announced that respected county judges Ciavarella and Michael Conahan had pleaded guilty to tax evasion and honest services fraud. However, their plea deal and relatively light sentence were later rejected by a federal judge who ruled that Ciavarella and Conahan had failed to accept responsibility for their crimes. In fact, Ciavarella had previously told "20/20" that "we would never agree that [the kids' sentencing] was improper."

Now, the two former judges face much more serious federal racketeering, bribery, and extortion charges. All of this is the result of a lengthy investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. Ciavarella and Conahan have pleaded not guilty.

"They sold their oath of offices to the highest bidders and engaged in ongoing schemes to defraud the public of honest services that were expected from them," Deron Roberts, chief of the FBI's Scranton office, said at a late January news conference announcing the case.

The judges' arrests shed light on a mystery in Luzerne County: Why were so many kids getting sent directly to juvenile detention after seeing Ciavarella in his Wilkes-Barre juvenile court? And why were those kids sent away in such a rush? ..Click for the remainder of this story.. by FRANK MASTROPOLO, LAUREN PEARLE and GLENN RUPPEL

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OH- Dann's office benefited family, report says

12-25-2008 Ohio:

You can say this much about Marc Dann: He took care of his family.

As attorney general, Dann had his children chauffeured by state agents in state cars, took them on rides in the state plane, arranged family vacations around legal conferences and let his wife make key personnel decisions, including ones that led to Dann's undoing, according to investigative documents released this week.

Dann resigned May 14 in a hastily arranged news conference, accompanied only by adopted daughter Mavilya Chubarova.

But an exhaustive investigation of his 17 months in office, headed by Inspector General Thomas P. Charles and made public Monday, showed that Dann's entire family was immersed in the attorney general's office to an unusual degree. And family members -- wife Alyssa Lenhoff, daughters Jessie Dann and Chubarova and son Charlie Dann -- were willing or unwilling participants in many of the events that precipitated scandals in the office.

It began with the January 2007 hiring of Anthony Gutierrez, a neighbor of the Dann family near Youngstown. Gutierrez and his wife, Lisa, were friends with Dann and Lenhoff; their children played together.

The attorney general's office hired Gutierrez to a key management position even though he had been hit with numerous tax liens and at least one drunken-driving conviction that Dann knew about.

More than a year later, Gutierrez was the target of sexual-harassment charges that ballooned into a full-blown scandal that forced Dann to admit mismanagement and his own affair with an underling.

Although Dann and Gutierrez were friends, Gutierrez credited Dann's wife with landing him the $87,500-a-year job in the attorney general's office.

"I'm not sure if Marc wanted me here or anything else, but really, you know, I believe (Lenhoff) really pushed me," Gutierrez told investigators, according to transcripts released this week. "She helped me do my resume. She helped me with my on-line application."

In a phone interview Wednesday, Lenhoff didn't deny that she went to bat for Gutierrez.

"I foolishly now deeply regret suggesting to Marc that I thought Tony would be good," she said.

Lenhoff also recommended her former newspaper boss, Edgar C. Simpson, who became Dann's top administrator despite no experience beyond journalism. Simpson was forced out when the sexual-harassment scandal revealed numerous management lapses.

Gutierrez and others interviewed by the inspector general said Lenhoff was deeply involved in the operations of the attorney general's office. Lenhoff denied that, saying the suggestion smacks of sexism.

Dann, 46, and Lenhoff, 45, have been married since 1987. A former investigative reporter, Lenhoff directs the journalism program at Youngstown State University, runs an Internet-based tableware business and serves on the board of the Liberty Local Schools. Dann's first elected office was on the same board.

The inspector general's report said Lenhoff's tableware business, Zesty Dishes, got $12,263 from an account Dann had set up for his transition to office. Lenhoff got a $9,955 personal check from the same fund that ended up in the couple's personal bank account, according to the report.

In the phone interview, Lenhoff said the payments to her business were for more than 400 gifts and gift baskets for campaign supporters and that Zesty Dishes realized no profit.

The couple's children also benefited from the trappings of Dann's office, according to the inspector general. Their two younger children, Jessie, now 14, and Charlie, now 17, received campaign-paid cell phones, as did Lenhoff, the report said. Chubarova got a job in the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who like Dann is a Democrat.

Charlie Dann practiced for his driver's license test in a state vehicle with on-duty agents from the attorney general's Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation. Jessie Dann and her friends went to a Miley Cyrus concert in Cleveland in a state vehicle driven by bureau agents, the report said. Jessie also accompanied her father on the state plane.

The family also took vacations in California, Arizona and Utah that were built around conferences or other attorney general business, with Dann's campaign account picking up thousands of dollars in travel expenses, according to the inspector general. Dann has since reimbursed expenses relating to his children.

The family's Youngstown-area home underwent $40,610 in security improvements, paid for by Dann's campaign account, which the inspector general said was intended to add value to the home.

Dann and Lenhoff defended some of those items and disputed others. Lenhoff said Jessie got official protection because a pedophile had threatened her. Dann said Jessie's travel on the state plane didn't create any extra cost.

Lenhoff said the family's security bubble was a burden more than anything.

"In no way was it a perk at all," she said. "It was a huge, huge, bizarre inconvenience." ..News Source.. by James Nash, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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