Hilary Foretich – And the mother who protected her from sexual abuse
Hilary Foretich, the little American girl brought to Christchurch two decades ago to grow up in hiding, is now a professional singer in Hollywood using her talent to speak for child victims of abuse.
Foretich — now known as Elena Mitrano — was smuggled to New Zealand by her grandmother after her mother, Elizabeth Morgan, claimed during a tough custody battle that Hilary, 5, was being sexually abused by her father, oral surgeon Eric Foretich.
Dr Morgan, a plastic surgeon, spent more the $US1 million fighting the original custody order, but Hilary was deemed too young to testify in court and the allegations were dismissed. Hilary's mother refused to force her to participate in unsupervised visits with her father, and was jailed in August 1987 for contempt. But her daughter was already on the run with her grandparents, retired psychologists William and Antonia Morgan. They took the child on a 2-1/2 year-journey, eventually settling in Christchurch. During this time, Dr Morgan spent 26 months behind bars, then secretly moved to NZ to live in hiding with her daughter.
When the child's location was discovered and became news around the globe, a New Zealand court gave Dr Morgan sole custody, but the case was complicated by rulings from US courts. Dr Morgan and Hilary returned to Washington in 1997 to be with the doctor's mother, but only after the US Congress passed the Elizabeth Morgan Act in 1996, allowing the girl to decide whether to see her father.
"She gave up everything, always believed me, never questioned me, and fought for me tooth and nail for years," Mitrano told the Daily Breeze, a Los Angeles newspaper. "I was living in a hell that no child should ever have to live in," Mitrano said. "It was inescapable. Either I was going to be saved or going to be completely destroyed. I survived, and I think that it made me really strong."
She still lives with her mother in Beverly Hills, but said that life after her return from New Zealand was hard. "During my late teenage years, I was feeling very, very lost, and I started doing drugs. "I definitely had some very dark days when I was a teenager." She struggled for more than 20 years to find her voice, but now at 26, uses it to speak for those who can't.
Her debut album, Rescue Me, was released in June and features a mix of upbeat dance tunes and soulful ballads. "No five-year-old should have to be terrified of one parent, and then lose the other one," Mitrano said. "But I was very fortunate, and I'm stronger for it. There are children who aren't as lucky as I had been, and I wanted to do something for them."
Mitrano hasn't seen her father since he attended a court hearing on her 18th birthday. She remembers screaming: "Get away from me!" when he tried to sit next to her, but that moment made her realise she no longer had to be afraid. "I was expecting this big, huge, scary guy to walk into the room. But he wasn't. He was a tiny, shrivelled old man."
Elizabeth Morgan Act
on December 31, 2008 at 3:28 pm Leave a Comment
Matthew Bynum _ Internet Predator
A 24-year-old man from Denver has been arrested by the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit of the Colorado Springs Police Department, on a variety of charges related to allegedly luring and meeting juvenile girls for sex.
Matthew Bynum was taken into custody last Saturday, and is being held in the Larimer County Jail, awaiting transfer to El Paso County Jail.
if (self['plpm'] && plpm['Mid-Story Ad']) document.write('
');if (self['plpm'] && plpm['Mid-Story Ad']){ document.write(plpm['Mid-Story Ad']);} else { if(self['plurp'] && plurp['97']){} else {document.write("); } }if (self['plpm'] && plpm['Mid-Story Ad']) document.write('
');
Information gathered by investigators shows Bynum allegedly contacted a number of juvenile girls and convinced them to e-mail him explicit photos of themselves.
Bynum also is accused of meeting some of the girls in person for illegal
sexual contact.
The charges he faces include Sexual Exploitation of Children, Sexual Assault on a Child, Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Internet Luring of a Child.
Internet Crimes Against Children
Internet Predator
Joseph Anthony Catlin – Internet Predator
The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit arrested a Baltimore man in connection with the sexual solicitation of a minor.
The accused is identified as Joseph Anthony Catlin, 31, of the 200 block of South Collington Avenue in Baltimore. He is being charged with one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. If convicted, Catlin could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.
A trooper assigned to the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force had been conducting an online investigation into Catlin for the last several weeks. The investigation culminated with his arrest after investigators set up a meeting at an undisclosed location in Howard County yesterday evening.
Catlin was taken to the Waterloo Barrack for processing and was taken before a District Court Commissioner who set his bond at $75,000. Catlin is currently being held at the Howard County Detention Center.
The Computer Crimes Unit's primary mission is to protect children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. The unit works cooperatively with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to provide resources to combat these crimes. The unit is also charged with helping to prevent the spread of these crimes through education and community awareness.
Child Predator
on December 31, 2008 at 12:41 pm Leave a Comment
Dell Vanderschuit – Captured Internet Predator – Pedophile
Between 8/30/08 and 11/6/08 the Phoenix Police Department's Drug Enforcement Bureau Vice Unit conducted an internet crime investigation showing that Dell Vanderschuit was soliciting an undercover officer to have sex with both her and a 10 year old girl for $1500.
Ironically, the initial information about the suspect came to us from a Phoenix "pimp" who was infuriated that this suspect wanted to have sex with a young child. Subsequently, undercover investigators made contact with the suspect and began the investigation. On 12/10/08 a warrant was issued for Vanderschuit's arrest for attempted child prostitution, a class 3 F.
During the course of the investigation Vanderschuit moved to Chico, California from an apartment at 4950 E. Van Buren in Phoenix. Investigators believed Vanderschuit had in his possession in California evidence material to the case.
Our Vice Unit investigators worked with investigators from the FBI Innocence Lost Task Force, the Phoenix Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
The Innocence Lost Task Force put us in contact with the Chico Police Department. Phoenix Police investigators traveled to Chico on December 19th, 2008. With assistance from Chico P.D. and the FBI a search warrant was served and evidence was obtained, but the suspect was not there.
On Christmas Eve, 12/25/08, Vanderschuit was arrested by I.C.E. in a port of entry in San Francisco for the existing arrest warrant, while re-entering the United States after vacationing in Puerto Vallarta. He now faces extradition back to Arizona.
Filthy Pedophile
on December 30, 2008 at 11:46 am Leave a Comment
James Duke – Repeat Sex Offender Sexually assaults woman at school
Police have arrested a registered sex offender on suspicion he tried to sexually assault a woman at Gilbert High School on Christmas Day.
James Duke, 53, was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on charges of attempted sexual assault, theft of means of transportation and attempted kidnapping.
Duke approached an 18-year-old woman who was at school caring for some animals, said Sgt. Mark Marino of the Gilbert Police Department.
"Duke grabbed the victim as she was leaving a gated area on the Gilbert High School grounds," Marino said.
The victim stabbed Duke in the chest with one of her keys, which she had placed in her hand as she saw Duke approaching, Marino said. She also activated her "panic car alarm" as Duke wrestled with her, Marino said.
Duke fled the scene leaving his vehicle behind.
Marino said Duke later stole a semi tractor-trailer which was eventually recovered in north Phoenix. Gilbert police detectives managed to locate and apprehend Duke at 17th Avenue and Union Hills Drive.
Christopher Sefakis – Repeat Sex Offender – Internet Predator
"He's a predator and my personal thought is he needs locked up and he needs to stay locked up again, what kind of remorse when he comes in a registers and then goes and does the same thing that he just registered for. He has no conscience,"
Investigators say a Tri-State sex offender went right from updating his sex offender registry information, to allegedly committing another sex crime.
Detectives say this case shows how offenders so often re-offend.
According to the Warren County Sheriff's Office, Christopher Sefakis came to the sheriff's office Tuesday to re-register as a sex offender.
Sefakis was ordered to check in at this spot annually after he was convicted of using the internet to try to meet a teenager for sex last year.
"He's came in here, registered and goes right down the street and does something he's already been convicted of," said Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss.
Investigators say just 30 minutes after Sefakis was registering… he was back on the internet, setting up a sexual encounter with who he thought was 15 year old boy.
Turns out, it was Hamilton Township detectives on the other end of the chat.
When the officers showed up to meet Sefakis at a shopping center on State Route 48 in Hamilton Township, they did not know they were dealing with someone they'd arrested before in same spot.
"We realized it was him when he pulled in. It was quite shocking to us it was the same guy that would not only come to the same area but to came to the same exact location two times for the same crime," said Hamilton Township Police Lt. Jeff Braley.
When Sefakis was arrested during Christmas week last year.
He served five days in jail after he was convicted.
Now, he's charged again with importuning and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
He's registered as a sexual offender he's immediately going online to solicit sex again. I don't know what the answer is. It shows there is an addiction, there is a sickness but it shows for all of us that we have a huge problem.
"He's a predator and my personal thought is he needs locked up and he needs to stay locked up again, what kind of remorse when he comes in a registers and then goes and does the same thing that he just registered for. He has no conscience," Braley added.
Sefakis is currently behind bars at the Warren County Jail.
If found guilty, since it would be his second conviction, he'll spend at least six months in jail.
Compulsive Sex Offender