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Crime cases were set back by Katrina
Ann M. Simmons
27 Nov 2006 12:00 am
As Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, the body of Joe Wong was found in a warehouse-district apartment behind a restaurant, a single gunshot wound to the back of his head.
His was the last homicide recorded before the storm hit.
Police dusted for fingerprints, examined the scene for signs of a struggle, collected blood samples, and checked for hairs. They found one bullet casing on the floor of the apartment. It was placed in an evidence bag and taken to police headquarters. Wong's body was zipped into a bag and loaded into a coroner's van for the trip to the city morgue. The crime scene was sealed.
Detectives expected to be back as soon as the storm had blown over. They couldn't return for five months.
The onslaught of Katrina essentially shut down crime investigations in New Orleans for weeks, in some cases months. And when they were able to start up again, law enforcement officers faced unprecedented challenges.
Witnesses and suspects had moved to other cities. Evidence was damaged or lost after sitting in water for weeks. Crime scenes had been washed away or gutted.
And since the hurricane, the number of officers on the force has dropped from 1,668 to 1,424 — leading to a perception that the department is understaffed to deal with current and pre-storm crimes.
Rolling confessed to 3 more murders before execution
Associated Press
27 Oct 2006 2:04 pm
Shortly before he was executed in Florida this week, serial killer Danny Rolling handed his spiritual adviser a handwritten confession to three more murders.
He admitted to a grisly triple murder 17 years ago in his hometown of Shreveport, police said Friday.
"I, and I alone am guilty," said the one-page note.
"It was my hand that took those precious lights out of this ole dark world," the note continued. "With all my heart & soul would I could bring them back."
Rolling, the son of a Shreveport police officer, was executed Wednesday for killing five college students in Gainesville, Florida, in a ghastly string of slayings in 1990.
Police have long suspected that Rolling stabbed 55-year-old William T. Grissom, his 24-year-old daughter Julie and 8-year-old grandson Sean as they got ready for dinner on November 4, 1989, in Grissom's home.
In 1997, Rolling sent a detailed confession, including a description of the crime scene, to the woman he had married in prison. She gave it to police, said retired police detectives Don Ashley and Danny Fogger, who had worked on the case.
Since Rolling had pleaded guilty in Florida and his execution was expected, Louisiana authorities saw little reason to try him.
Still, police said was a relief to have a signed, public confession.
Man stabs toddler, wife in La. traffic
Associated Press
23 Sep 2006 10:57 am
A man repeatedly stabbed his toddler and estranged wife along an interstate while horrified people watched from their cars in rush-hour traffic Friday night, police and witnesses said.
The 2-year-old girl was in a car with her parents when her father started stabbing his wife with a kitchen knife along Interstate 110 near the Governor's Mansion, said Cpl. L'Jean McKneely, a Baton Rouge Police spokesman.
When the 26-year-old woman got out and ran for help from an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy in squad car just ahead of them, her husband stabbed his daughter, McKneely said.
"He kept stabbing her until the knife was stuck in her head," witness Gloria Spears told WAFB-TV.
The man then put the girl on the highway and drove off, side-swiping the deputy's car and striking his wife, police said. He sped into downtown Baton Rouge and knocked down at least three utility poles before his car hurtled through the air and overturned on top of another vehicle.
All three were taken to Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center. The child was in "extremely critical" condition, with a cut "along her midsection and a kitchen knife lodged in her head," McKneely said.
Her mother, who was thrown 20 to 40 feet by the impact of the car, also had numerous stab wounds, he said. She was expected to live. The man was being treated for minor injuries, McKneely said.
Donation helps local fight against Web sex offenders
19 Sep 2006 12:00 am
The value of the Crime Stoppers program was enhanced recently as the organization joined with other law enforcement agencies in the battle against sexual predators on the Internet. The donation of a computer and software by the Crime Stoppers board of directors will allow local agencies to retrieve deleted files from seized computers. This is a key procedure in tracking sex criminals in cyberspace.
The advance in technology is indicative of the incredibly widespread use of the Web for malevolent purposes such as the exploitation of children.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offers some alarming statistics: One in five children ages 10 to 17 receives unwanted sexual solicitations on the Internet, one in 33 is asked to meet the predator, one in four is exposed to pornographic images by e-mail and one in 17 is threatened or harassed.
The threat is so massive that local, state and federal agencies combined cannot guarantee protection. Parents must take an active role. Talk to your children about the problem. Be sure they understand that a chat room acquaintance may not be the person he claims to be. Learn about your child's favorite online destinations and maintain access to your child's e-mail account.
Position the computer your child uses in your main living area with the monitor clearly visible. Do not allow use of a computer in the privacy of a bedroom. Use parental controls provided by your Internet service provider. Remember that your child could make contact with a sexual predator at school or at the library. Learn what safeguards are used there.
Set rules for your children that include a total ban on arranging a meeting with anyone met online, posting pictures of themselves or giving out personal information such as name, address, phone number and name of school.
According to the center, 10 percent of children stalked online become real-world stalking victims. It is comforting to know local law enforcement agencies are increasing their efforts and expanding their technical capabilities to better protect our young people.
Local authorities involved in statewide sex offender sweep
Janelle Rucker
01 Sep 2006 12:00 am
For the next 30 days, Louisiana state troopers are on the hunt for sex offenders who haven’t registered with the proper authorities.
Other authorities in the state’s 64 parishes hope to do the same thing and get the state sex offender registry up to date.
“If it’s not accurate, it’s meaningless,” said Louisiana state police spokesman Doug Pierrelee. “We want people to have faith that the registry is accurate.”
Prisoners of Katrina
Olenka Frenkiel
10 Aug 2006 3:42 pm
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, while thousands fled New Orleans, the city's prisoners were trapped. Fresh eye-witness accounts reveal what really happened to those left behind, and how crucial forensic evidence was simply washed away.
In September 2005, long after most people had fled a devastated city, inmates of Orleans Parish Prison - many of them shackled - were still waiting to be rescued from the blazing heat and the stinking floods.
"They basically abandoned the prison," says Vincent Norman, a chef arrested for an unpaid fine who found himself locked in a cell for days.
Norman should have been there no more than a week. Instead, abandoned without food, drink or sanitation as the waters rose, he was in prison for 103 days.
"We were just left there to die," said Cardell Williams, a prisoner who spent two months in jail without ever being charged.
In the days before the hurricane, when other citizens of New Orleans were ordered to leave, city leaders were asked: "What about the prisoners in the jail?"
"The prisoners will stay where they belong," replied Marlin Gusman, the criminal sheriff in charge of the city jail.
But it was a gamble he would regret.
Judge sets deadline for rapist's castration
Bruce Hamilton
08 Aug 2006 12:00 am
A child rapist who volunteered more than a year go to undergo surgical castration must have the procedure done by Oct. 3 or his case will proceed to trial, a judge ordered last week.
He has not changed his mind about his punishment, according to Rick Wood, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish district attorney. "The delays have got nothing to do with the defendant's willingness to follow through," he said.
Keith Raymond Fremin, 53, pleaded guilty last year to forcible rape and molestation in a case involving an 11-year-old girl and her 13-year-old sister who lived near him in Mandeville in 1999.
Fremin, whose most recent address was in Covington, had faced four counts of aggravated rape, more severe charges punishable by a life sentence. But as part of a plea agreement, Fremin agreed to undergo castration and to serve 25 years in jail instead.
Former day-care worker booked in rape
Mary Swerczek
08 Aug 2006 12:00 am
A former employee of a Kenner day-care center has been booked with aggravated rape of a 2½-year-old girl at the center.
Police say the incidents happened between August and December 2004. They say the girl, now 4, told a social worker about incidents involving "Mr. Ronald," whom she identified as a teacher at her school. In April, the social worker reported her information to police, according to the report.
Rape/Kidnapping Suspect Arrested in Shreveport
04 May 2006
In December of 2005, Galberth kidnapped a 15-year-old black female from the 2700 block of Grassmere. He took her to another location and sexually assaulted her. He then drove her to a third location and
released her.
In March of this year, he kidnapped an 18-year-old black female from Hillcrest and W. Canal streets. She was taken to another location and sexually assaulted. He then drove her to a location near where he picked her up and released her.
Women Admits to Having Sex with Stepson
03 May 2006
A 39-year-old Tyler woman pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child for having a sexual relationship with her teenage stepson. Carla Kay Dinger was also sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ten Sex Offenders Register During Amnesty
02 May 2006
Shreveport Police say 10 sex offenders registered during this past week's amnesty program. If convicted offenders don't register with the Shreveport Police Department before Friday's deadline, they will be sought and arrested for non-compliance.
Political games not helping issue
27 Apr 2006 12:00 am
Louisiana lawmakers may have their heart in the right place, but they should use caution when considering the more than two-dozen bills dealing with sex offenders.
Proposed measures include a litany of changes, from longer mandatory prison sentences to the possibility of electronic monitoring for life.
Another bill would allow for the chemical or physical castration of a convicted sex offender. Given the number of murder cases that have been overturned years later, the liability the state would assume in doing this seems great.
With 30 proposed bills on the plate, lawmakers are obviously engaging in a bit of political one-upsmanship, too.
Being tough on sex offenders is a politically popular thing to do right now, and for good measure.
Associate pastor charged with indecent behavior
Vickie Welborn
24 Apr 2006
An associate pastor of a Mansfield church who is alleged to have inappropriately touched a teenage girl last year remains incarcerated in the DeSoto Detention Center without bond.
330 sex offenders fail to re-register following storms
State police are looking for 330 sex offenders who fled hurricanes Katrina and Rita and failed to notify authorities of their new addresses as required by law.
Detectives have arrested 24 of the 354 sex offenders who did not update their registration with the sex offender registry after the storms, said Trooper Johnnie Brown, a state police spokesman.
Cenac child-molestation case settled for $2 million
A prominent Terrebonne Parish businessman has settled a child-molestation civil lawsuit against him for $2 million, according to court documents.
'Kiss me, touch me, feel me, rape me'
"Kiss me", "Touch me", "Feel me", "Rape me" – the invitations flashed across the photo of a scantily clad young woman on one of the most popular teen Web hangouts in the world – MySpace.com.
In Lafayette, La., four teen girls were sexually assaulted by a local pervert who found them on MySpace.
In another Louisiana case, a predator lay in wait for a teen girl in the parking lot of her place of employment, which he had found on her profile page.
