Posts Tagged ‘ Child ’

Guardian-Brevard,  Feature

On a steamy, Saturday morning in early September, a  group of people rendezvous in a parking lot on the edge of a small, residential neighborhood.

They shake hands and hug. Standing between two cars they pass white plastic bundles from one vehicle to another.  Each bundle contains 100 copies of the Guardian newspaper, rolled and banded and ready to toss on lawns.

A white-haired man touches the hand of  a woman in a pink tee shirt:  “Are you nervous?”

“A little…” she answers, giving his hand a quick squeeze, and setting back to the work with the bundles.

Soon, two cars head into the little community, a cul-de-sac rectangle with a mix of mobile homes and wood frame houses.  They turn down a street located near the middle of the enclave, and park in front of a neat, plainly-appointed unit.

“…This is it.” The lady gets out from behind the wheel and someone hands her a Guardian. “Just cock it back behind your ear like a catcher throwing to second. I’ll get the shot O.K.”

She rears back, launches the paper and it cartwheels through the wet air, coming to rest just short of the front steps.

“Cool, that’s it…let’s do the toss.”

The woman turns slowly, her body moving before her eyes break their gaze upon the front door.  She looks at the others standing silently behind her.  Tears inch their way down her cheeks.

“I feel like I’m finishing something…” she says.

Twenty-nine years ago she started something.  She was twelve when she told police her stepfather had been sexually abusing her and her sister, for nearly five years. He admitted to the crimes and received a lengthy probation sentence.  A few years later, he went to jail for abusing yet another young girl.

The woman in the pink shirt sighs as she slides behind the wheel of the aging S.U.V.  Her husband is in the passenger’s seat, her teenaged son sits in back.  One of the white packages is broken open beside him, and rolled papers are spilling out onto the seat.

Volunteers from Protect Our Children watch them move away.  Black and white tubes fly from the rear window, landing on lawns cluttered with bicycles.  The papers skid along driveways, over which battered basketball hoops preside.  Two little girls stare wide-eyed, pressing their hands against the screen of an aluminum porch.

The three will work the streets to the south, volunteers will toss the homes to the north. In all, about 250 residents will be notified.  They need to know, since their sex-offender neighbor is not on the state registry. Due to the age of his convictions, he is exempt from the requirement to report his address, and the police are not compelled to warn parents nearby.  His home is located less than 300 yards from an elementary school.

Three days later, Protect Our Children received an anonymous letter in the mail.  It was from the offender - the subject of our community alert.  In angry tones, the hand-written note called down God Almighty on the little band of volunteers.  He never mentions his victim who, by tossing a special newspaper on to his front lawn,  began the finish of a mighty work.

____________________________________________________________________________

See the note below:

Police are searching for a man suspected of sexually assaulting an eleven year-old girl, in Palm Bay.  William M. Clark, (81), of Okeechobee,  is accused of touching the child’s genitals inside her clothing, December 17th, while seated next to her in his vehicle.

The child disclosed the abuse to her mother several hours after the alleged incident. The next day, specialists with Brevard’s Child Protection Team, recorded a statement in which the child identified Clark as her abuser.

Palm Bay Detective David Coulter, confirmed that the matter is under investigation, but would not say whether a warrant has been issued for Clark’s arrest.

The child’s mother told The Guardian-Brevard that police have been unable to locate the retired railroad worker.  They said his home in Okeechobee appears to be vacant and his whereabouts are unknown.  She said Clark has acquaintances in Cleveland Ohio;  Indianapolis, Indiana; and Davie, Florida.  He is said to be an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Clark may be driving the large, brown and white van, in which the assault allegedly occurred.

The grandmother of a young girl who was sexually assaulted, says the child’s abuser doesn’t deserve to be released.

Richard Lee Brown, 63,  stood silently, listening to the woman’s sob-choked comments to Judge Robert T.  Burger, on June 23rd, in Viera. Brown was sentenced to serve 354 days in jail followed by eight years of probation, for sexually abusing a four year-old girl.

Brown was arrested by Cocoa Police in September 2010, charged with one count of Lewd Conduct with a Child, and one count of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation of a Child Under 12. Defense Attorney Michael Kelley negotiated a plea agreement calling for Brown to plead guilty to the “Lewd Conduct” charge, in exchange for the probation sentence.  State prosecutors dropped the second count, which could have sent Brown to prison for life. The State Attorney agreed not to file charges relating to child pornography, reportedly found in Brown’s possession.

Due to the age of his victim, Brown will be registered as a Sexual Offender for the rest of his life.  He must wear a G.P.S. tracking device, and complete a sex offender therapy program. Brown was given credit for 275 days of time served in jail since his arrest. Judge Burger agreed to waive the costs of supervision for the first year of his probation.

His attorney said he expects Brown to be “homeless” when he is released from custody.  Local ordinances prohibit Brown from residing in his Cocoa home because it is located within 1.000 feet of a school. Kelley said his client, who has awaited sentencing in the Brevard County Jail since pleading “Guilty” in May,  might relocate to Georgia to complete his sentence.

The tearful grandmother – the only family member to address the court, hurried from the Moore Justice Center after making her statement.

Court Monitors from Protect Our Children were present for the hearing.

View Richard L. Brown’s current status: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/ActiveOffenders/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=448003557