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Domestic Violence Industry: Criminal
The domestic violence industry has a habit of
attracting unsavory characters into its ranks. And
now three former operatives are doing hard
time.
Take Barbara Dehl of Nampa, Idaho. Ten years ago
Dehl single-handedly lobbied for passage of
Cassie’s Law, a bill aimed at stopping dating
violence. That achievement landed her on the Montel
Williams Show, and Sen. Mike Crapo hailed Dehl as
the “Spirit of Idaho.” Her crowning
moment came in 2002 when she was invited to serve
on the National Advisory Committee on Violence
Against Women.
But then Dehl got caught up in drug trafficking
charges and a murder case. Two years ago Dehl was
sentenced to 15 years in the slammer for the
kidnapping and macabre torturing of a 20-year-old
man and his girlfriend.
About the same time Cindy Lou Shores, director
of the South Central Region Tribal Nations and
Friends Domestic Violence Coalition in Oklahoma,
was pilfering $106,000 from the coalition’s
cookie jar. This past March, Shores was sentenced
to 17 months in federal prison.
And two months ago the former head of Domestic
Violence Emergency Services, John Scott, was
sentenced to a year behind bars for stealing money
from the Roanoke, Va. abuse shelter. After Scott
leaves jail, he will serve another year of
probation and pay $48,000 in restitution.
But the problem isn’t limited to shelter
officials who enrich themselves at the expense of
taxpayers. Shelter managers condone and even
encourage a broad range of illegal activities
within their own facilities.
Mistreatment of children appears to be
widespread. Last October the life of toddler Myliak
Dale was snuffed out when a woman backed out her
car at the SafeSpace shelter in Stuart, Fla.:
www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080722
. Incidents of child abuse often go unreported to
local officials, in violation of state law.
There’s the problem of harassment and
sexual assaults. At Bethany House in Falls Church,
Va., two house managers were forced to resign
following sexual advances of shelter residents:
www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080902
.
Drug abuse is rampant at some shelters. A former
employee at Another Way of Lake City, Fla.
revealed, “I, on numerous occasions reported
illegal drug use that I had witnessed take place on
Shelter property and often my complaints were
ignored…We always knew not to call the law
unless you were prepared to be
unemployed.”
Some shelters forego background checks on job
applicants. That policy helped Another Way land
former shelter manager Wendy Pittman (four criminal
charges of passing bad checks); Brenda Collins (one
charge of aggravated assault and two counts of
cocaine possession); and Gloria Taylor (nine
misdemeanor convictions and three felonies):
www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081009
.
Many shelters have lawyers who coach women to
embellish their stories or even dream up incidents
that can never be refuted (“Don’t worry,
he’ll never be able to prove he didn’t
threaten you with the knife”). Then they file
a series of baseless allegations that are designed
to make the man’s life miserable.
That’s what they did to James Hall of
McIntosh Co., Oklahoma: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080923
Convincing a person to commit perjury is called
subornation of perjury -- and that’s a
crime.
Then there’s the slick shelter shake-down
routine: Arrest the man on phony abuse charges and
then plunder his house while he’s stuck in
jail. That’s what happened to Bob Hartzog of
Glendale, Ariz: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081117
.
Some managers believe their shelter is protected
by a form of sovereign immunity -- after all, our
society is steeped in patriarchal privilege so
women need to have a safe place.
So when 26-year-old Veronica Bullock sexually
assaulted a 12-year-old boy at the Brewster Center
Domestic Violence Services, shelter workers not
only barred the Tucson police from entering the
facility, they even refused to disclose the
rapist’s name.
And when the police arrest a woman for
assaulting her husband or boyfriend, the shelter
girls scoot over to the police station and have the
woman released to their custody. Once ensconced at
the shelter, the assailant is free to come and go
as she wishes.
For illegal immigrants, sovereign immunity means
a neon-flashing “Bienvenidos” sign. Just
spend a night at the local domestic violence
shelter -- all you need to do is scream,
“Abuse!” That will entitle you to a free
pass with the immigration people – amazing but
true: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/070912
.
Discrimination on the basis of sex is also
illegal, but who cares about abused men?:
www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/080817 . Racial
bias has been documented as well: www.renewamerica.us/columns/roberts/081124
.
Rounding out the picture are uncounted incidents
of embezzlement, record falsification, financial
irregularities, and garden-variety malfeasance:
www.mediaradar.org/docs/RADARreport-DV-Programs-Misuse-1-Billion-Tax-Dollars-Per-Year.pdf
One asks, Where are all the state attorney
generals and federal inspectors who are supposed to
be enforcing our laws?
Carey
Roberts probes and lampoons political correctness.
His work has been published frequently in the
Washington Times, Townhall.com, LewRockwell.com,
ifeminists.net, Intellectual Conservative, and
elsewhere. He is a staff reporter for the New Media
Network. You can contact him at E-Mail
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