-Caveat Lector- from alt.conspiracy ----- As always, Caveat Lector. Om K ----- <A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy:522671">Atlanta Ritual Abuse trial starts Monday </A> ----- Subject: Atlanta Ritual Abuse trial starts Monday From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ohnoapr) Date: Thu, May 13, 1999 2:20 PM Message-id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Next Monday, May 17, 1999, former Hapeville Elementary teacher and whistleblower, Carolyn "Lyn" McCullers' trial for criminal trespass by Fulton County Solicitor's office (Case # 93-Z-207466-H) in behalf of Cheryl J. Bogrow, Principal of State Bridge Crossing Elementary, Fulton County School System, who sought a warrant for Lyn's attendance at a PTA meeting in October, 1997. Interested individuals and children's advocates available for a courtwatch are invited to attend Lyn's criminal trial, at 185 Central Ave., Justice Center Tower, State Court of Fulton County/Criminal Division, 9:00 AM Courtroom 3, Judge Albert L. Thompson presiding. We would like to fill the courtroom to capacity to show the court and prosecutors our interest in child abuse prevention and the adults entrusted as mandatory court reporters protected from prosecution. The following hyperlink is a post I made after a Fulton County judge sealed the records of the Walt West Hapeville Molestation case. This is not just another "flakey" debunked McMartin Daycare or Wenatchee SRA spin, as there are actual photos of West's molested kids that were confiscated from the trunk of West's car and said kids recently won an $8.5M judgment against the City of Hapeville. (See followng AJC story) According to sources, Walt West, a former police officer with Fulton County Schools, took children off school property to various metro locations, sexual abused them, photographed, videotaped, caged and performed Satanic Rituals with other adults, including other police officers and the Principal of Hapeville Elementary, Cheryl J. Bogrow. (AJC story follows) Lyn's arresting officer at State Bridge Elementary was Larry Bussey, who has an extensive criminal record, himself, and was recently fired as the new Assistant Director of School Security in DeKalb. (See following AJC story) Lyn's crime, of which the Fulton solicitor is seeking a three year jail sentence, consisted of her attending a PTA meeting and giving a Biblical passage concerning child abuse to Bogrow. (See following passage) Lyn has since lost her teaching job for refusing to stop disclosing details of Bogrow's and other school officials alleged participation in child ritual sexual abuse. Please pass this information on to anyone who might be interested in attending our courtwatch. Victoria Pierce, GA Activist National Alliance for Family Court Justice <A HREF="http://youthofamerica.org/NAFCJ/Features.htm">N.A.F.C.J. Features</A> School Watch Security official fired over record BYLINE: Diane Loupe, Staff DATE: 04-29-1999 PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution EDITION: Home SECTION: DeKalb Extra PAGE: J7 In an effort to beef up school security, DeKalb School officials recently hired a new director and an assistant director of school security. But the assistant director, Larry W. Bussey, was fired from his $60,228 a year job due to an "unsatisfactory criminal background report," which turned up almost four months after he was hired. The information was contained in a letter from Robert L. Tucker, executive director for personnel services for the school system. Although Tucker would not reveal the specifics of Bussey's arrest record, a search of public records uncovered two bad-check charges in Fulton County, which were dismissed, and a 1990 arrest for domestic violence, including pointing a pistol at another, criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and creating a turmoil. He was cited in a 1995 DeKalb County court order for failure to pay child support, and he agreed to have $675 deducted from his paycheck to pay his ex-wife $6,650 in unpaid child support. In a recent interview, Bussey denied many of the charges. He agreed to discuss the matter with a reporter, but he failed to show at a scheduled interview. © Copyright 1999,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, All rights reserved. Diane Loupe, Staff, School Watch Security official fired over record., 04-29-1999, pp J7. *************************************** BROKEN TRUST: Allegations overlooked: Officials were told on numerous occasions of: possible child abuse by a Hapeville police officer but failed to act. Walter P. West Jr.'s resume runs 3 1/2 pages and lists the accomplishments of a police officer on the way up: Emory University graduate, juvenile officer for the Hapeville police, youth minister for United Methodist Church, member of several police policy committees. It is the resume of a child molester. Pedophiles seek out jobs that give them power over vulnerable children, experts say. They devote months or even years to seducing children, and they often escape scrutiny by building a shield of respectability. For years, West lived a double life, sexually abusing the children he was supposed to help. When he was finally arrested in 1993, many people were shocked. "We thought he was great," said the Rev. James Scarborough, then minister of United Methodist Church in Hapeville, where West worked with children. West pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes in Fulton County in June 1993, and was given probation. He was arrested in Clayton County a few months later, and in June 1994 he pleaded guilty to 33 counts of child molestation and abuse. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. West, a 38-year-old native of Atlanta's Southside, would not be interviwed for this article, twice turning down requests submitted through the Georgia Department of Corrections. But a frightening picture of the man emerges from interviews with some of his victims, prosecutors, experts on child molestation and in court documents. "Walt West is no different than most sex offenders walking the streets today," said Bill Maleug, who led the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's unsuccessful investigation of West in 1992. "They get away with it for years." Surrounded by children West always worked with kids. One of his first jobs was as a group care worker at United Methodist Children's Home in DeKalb County. He also served as associate minister at Hapeville United Methodist Church. West has not been charged with molesting children at either facility, but Tracy Gladden, the Clayton County assistant district attorney who prosecuted West, said he's suspected of molesting a boy at the Methodist children's home. West started working for the Hapeville police as a juvenile consultant in 1981 and joined the force as a fulltime officer in 1984. He quickly became the juvenile officer, working with troubled youth and acting as police liaison with the state Division of Family and Children Services (DFACS). West appeared to be doing an excellent job: He was named Hapeville police officer of the year three times, and was well known to most of the children at the city recreation center. The kids were drawn to the friendly man in uniform. West would befriend young boys, many of them troubled kids from broken homes and starving for attention. He would take them to fast food restaurants and buy them clothes. Parents were happy that he paid attention to their sometimes wild children. "I trusted him," said the mother of one the boys West molested. "I thought Walt would be the perfect one because he was a police officer and could explain the right and wrong of the law." Her son is now in a facility for troubled adolescents. Like many of West's victims, he has had severe problems since being abused. Some victims turn to crime Among West's admitted or suspected victims, two have been convicted of murder, one has attempted suicide several times, and one has been accused of drive-by shootings. Some became drug and alcohol abusers. Others have severe nightmares. Yet, only a few of West's many suspected victims have received intensive therapy. "Any youngster who has been significantly abused sexually, if not treated, is probably going to have long-term ramifications," said Ralph Comerford, executive director of the Devereaux Institute, a juvenile psychiatric facility in Cobb County. West's badge gave him his power. "Back then I wanted to be a cop; being around a cop was neat," said a 17-year-old boy who was abused by West and is now serving a life sentence for murder. "You're supposed to trust a police officer, but I've come to learn not to trust no police officer." As West's relationship with the boys turned from friendship to sex, the victims thought they were above the law, said the 17-year-old. He asked not to be named because he fears being attacked in prison if inmates learn he was sexually abused. "My mama raised me good," the boy said. "But [West] turned me to the life." West protected the boys from punishment to maintain control over them, according to victims, parents and Lyn McCullers, a teacher at Hapeville Elementary. As the boys got older, their own crimes escalated to robbery and drug trafficking. It was during a robbery that the 17-year-old committed murder. Gladden believes sexual abuse turned the youth into a killer. "I absolutely believe he wouldn't be in jail for murder if West hadn't done what he did." Because of the pending lawsuits, Hapeville police officials referred all questions about West to city attorney Steve Fincher. He said none of the warnings about West were totally ignored, and the information received about him did not seem conclusive. "Once you hear the entire story, it's not as open and shut as it appears to be," Fincher said. The first warning about West came from Atlanta Police Sgt. Gordon Earls, who in 1987 investigated allegations by two sisters, ages 3 and 4 at the time, that they had been forced to have sex with several adults. They said one of them was a policeman named "Wes." Their mother identified him as a Hapeville officer named West. Because the alleged molestations occured in Hapeville, Earls turned videotapes of the girls' statements and his notes from the investigation over to Hapeville police. "They advised they would investigate this complaint," Earls wrote in his report. Teachers anbd lawyers involved in the case say Hapeville police never interviewed other youths with whom West had contact, and there is no record of police having searched West's home or car, even experts recommend such steps in molestation investigations. "A child sex ring operator cannot be stopped unless law enforcement is willing to evaluate the allegation, do background investigation, document patterns of behavior, review records, identify other acts and victims and develop probable cause for a search warrant," Kenneth Lanning, a special agent at the FBI Academy, wrote in a law enforcement manual on child molesters. Earls said he thought the information he gave Hapeville police warranted a full investigation of West, and he thought one would be conducted. He was wrong. Fincher said the girls were so young at the time of their complaint that their credibility was dubious. Six years later, when West was arrested, both girls picked him out of a photo lineup. The next allegation against West came in 1989 when a boy told then- Hapeville Police Chief Melvin Denney and other officers that West had forced him to have sex. Fincher said the complaint was investigated, but the case was closed when the boy refused to sign an affidavit after making his initial allegation. "His complaint, in a vacuum, could be viewed with a skeptical eye," said Gino Brogdon, an Atlanta lawyer representing West's five admitted victims and two other alleged victims in a lawsuit against the Hapeville Police Department. "But against the backdrop of those two little girls, they should have listened." A year later, then-internal affairs investigator Daniel E. Anderson followed West for several weekends because he had come to suspect West was a pedophile. "I personally felt that Walt West spent too much time with little boys," Anderson said in a deposition. Anderson, who refused to be interviewed for these articles, said in his deposition that he saw West drive boys out of town in a police car while West was off duty. Anderson said he reprimanded West for unauthorized use of a vehicle, but never told his superiors about the boys or ordered a full departmental investigation. The GBI investigated West in 1992, after DFACS forwarded information it had been given by McCullers. But Anderson never told the GBI what he had seen, or informed them about the information obtained from Officer Earls in 1987. In his deposition, he said the decision not to tell the GBI about the earlier incidents was a "judgment call." Children had a `secret club' The GBI would have looked at West more closely if Hapeville police had told the agency about the allegations that had been made by the young Hapeville sisters, said Maleug, supervisor of the GBI office that investigated West in 1992. "I don't know if it would have caused a difference in outcome, but it would have made a difference," Maleug said. "Anytime you have prior complaints, it strenghtens your position." Maleug said the GBI conducted a proper investigation based on what agents knew about West at the time. Although teachers at Hapeville Elementary had suspicions about him, none of the children who were interviewed said West had abused them. When the children refused to talk, the GBI dropped the 1992 investigation. Prosecutors said West would probably still be molesting children if not for McCullers and Dara Dziepak, teachers at Hapeville Elementary School. They began to suspect West in 1991 because of emotional outbursts by some boys who spent a lot of time with him. As they talked to the children, McCullers and Dziepak heard troubling references to nude photographs and a "secret club." "They were hinting as much as they could," McCullers said. "You'd have to be a fool not to listen." Finally, in 1992, a boy at the elementary school complained that West had tried to pull his pants down. McCullers contacted prosectuors in Fulton County, and this time the children began to talk. The effort to uncover West's activities took a toll on McCullers. After he went to jail, she continued to make allegations that adults in the school system were involved in his sex ring, although prosecutors say there is no such evidence. McCullers was transferred out of Hapeville Elementary last year. On June 12, the Fulton County school system initiated termination procedures against her. School administrators said McCullers has become obsessed with the Walter West case. "I am obsessed with it," she said. "And I can't understand why nobody else is." Chart: A chronology of abuse Oct. 1984: West joins Hapeville Police Department. Dec. 1986: Two sisters, ages 3 and 4, tell Atlanta police they were sexually abused by a uniformed officer named "Wes." Mother identifies him as a Hapeville officer named West. March 1987: Atlanta police deliver report to Hapeville officers Lt. Dan Anderson and Detective Richard Adams, who say they will investigate. 1987 to 1989: West borrows pornographic materials from a U.S. postal inspector and several metro Atlanta police departments, saying he needs it to teach a police training course. March 1990: West rents a post office box and uses a false name to order materials from the North America Man Boy Love Association. He tells a postal inspector this is part of a police investigation. Feb. 1992: Teacher Lyn McCullers tells superiors West may be molesting students. March and April 1992: McCullers calls the Georgia Council on Child Abuse to relate suspicions about child pornography involving a student. The council reports the case to Department of Family and Children Services. April 1992: DFCS refers the case to the GBI. School counselors interview the children and GBI agents interview West, who denies wrongdoing. June 1992: GBI closes its investigation because no children will say West abused them. July 1992: McCullers contacts Fulton assistant DA Dee Downs. Students talk to the DA's office and again to GBI agents. Dec. 1992: West is removed as a juvenile officer in Hapeville and placed on adminstrative duties. June 1993: West indicted in Fulton and pleads guilty to one count of enticing a minor for indecent purposes. Gets probation, quits his police job. Sept. 1993: West indicted in Clayton on six child sex abuse counts. May 4, 1994: Clayton Grand Jury returns a 40-count indictment accusing West of sexually assaulting five children. June 20, 1994: West pleads guilty to 33 counts in Clayton, is sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered never to have contact with children again. Chart: GETING HELP By the time criminal charges were brought against Walter West in 1993, he had been sexually abusing several of his victims for years. Today, some still have not gotten any counseling. The state of Georgia does not have a uniform policy on treatment for such children. Victims must rely on a patchwork system of private and government agencies. The Georgia Council for Children operates a helpline that can refer victims to available resources statewide, including mental health centers or counselers who charge according to ability to pay. If you know a child who has been abused sexually or physically, you can get them help through the Georgia Council for Children Hotline, 1-800-532- 3208. Illustration: a child holding a police officer's hand, two women on the sidewalk outside Hapeville Elementary, and the Clayton County police mugs of Walter P. West Jr. / Walter Cumming / staff Copyright 1995, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights reserved.Copyright 1995, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights reserved *************************** Hapeville molestation lawsuits could cost town $8.5 million: Details still kept secret: Community's taxpayers will foot much of the: bill. Paying for the damage done by one bad employee might cost one of metro Atlanta's smaller municipalities more than the annual budget for the entire city. Nearly four years after a decorated former police officer in Hapeville was imprisoned for molesting children, Hapeville taxpayers are still paying the bills for Walter P. West's crimes --- and for the failure of Hapeville to act on complaints about West's pedophilia that began at least five years before his arrest. It appears that this town of 5,400 people, tucked along the western edge of Hartsfield International Airport, will be paying for years to come, but the public may never know the full particulars of the city's negligence. Court files in lawsuits brought by 11 of West's victims have been sealed from public view. After being rebuffed for months by the city for information about the cases, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed a motion Friday in Fulton County State Court asking that the court order be modified to permit access to city records about the settlement. Meanwhile, despite the city's secrecy, some financial details have emerged. Peter Kintz, a lawyer for one of the city's insurers, said recently that the payout in the 11 cases will total $8.5 million, an amount the city would not confirm. By comparison, Hapeville's annual budget is $7.6 million. Documents obtained by the newspaper suggest that the plaintiffs' lawyers will get 40 percent of the settlements. In a small note filed with the city's annual financial statement of June 30, 1997, Hapeville disclosed that it has agreed to pay $3.5 million of the total settlement from taxpayer funds, though it will continue to fight to get insurers to reimburse the city for some of that. That $3.5 million is $1 million more than the annual budget for the town's police department and does not include the city's legal bills. City Attorney Steve Fincher says the city will find a way to pay without wrecking the budget. "We don't anticipate any significant financial dislocation," he said. It could have been worse. The size of the settlement suggests that the city believed it had significant liability exposure had the case gone to trial. However, neither the taxpayers who are footing the bills nor West's victims may ever know the entire story. West did not go to trial. In 1994 he entered guilty pleas in Clayton County Superior Court to 33 counts of sexually abusing children and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Records in the civil lawsuits filed against the city --- two in Fulton County State Court and nine in federal court --- were sealed. The judges said they wanted to protect the identities of the victims of sexual assault, most of whom were minors, and to keep the public from knowing the victims' emotional and financial conditions. In its motion, the Journal-Constitution asks the court "to clarify the seal order" to confirm that Hapeville may not use it to withhold public records. "We do not want to invade the privacy of the victims; they have suffered enough," said Peter Canfield, the newspaper's attorney. " But we believe the public and the taxpayers are entitled to know more about the decision-making that allowed Mr. West to continue as a juvenile officer for nearly six years after the allegations first surfaced. We do not believe the court intended to shield the city's conduct from the public." According to City Attorney Fincher, Hapeville officials would be violating the judges' orders if they talked about the case or released documents in their possession that duplicate papers in the sealed court files. Fincher also contends that the city can withhold records because of the attorney-client privilege. The victims' lawyers supported the sealing of the files. "It was a hard-fought and contested confidential agreement," said Scott Commander, an Atlanta lawyer who represented West's victims. "We had as much interest in keeping the file sealed as (the defense) did." Since the beginning, the West case has been marked by secrecy and accusations that weren't followed up. West, now 41 and an inmate at Wayne State Prison in southeast Georgia, worked from 1984 to 1992 as the juvenile and training officer for the police in Hapeville, a 1.5-square-mile town that is home to Delta Air Lines' headquarters and the Ford Taurus manufacturing plant. West was an Emory University graduate, police department chaplain and officer of the year three times. But West also was using his position as a police officer to help him molest children. Authorities said he used his police car to take children and teenagers to an apartment in Clayton County, where he had sex with them, forced them to have sex with each other and used them to make pornography. Allegations that West had been molesting children were first communicated to Hapeville officials in 1987 by Atlanta police. The incident involved two girls ages 3 and 4. Hapeville police didn't investigate. Two years later, a boy told then-Chief Melvin Denney and other officers that West had forced him to have sex. The case was investigated, Fincher said, but closed when the boy declined to sign an affidavit. In 1990, the internal affairs investigator for the Hapeville police saw West driving boys out of town in his police car on several weekends, the investigator said in a deposition. The investigator said he reprimanded West for unauthorized use of a vehicle but never told his superiors about the boys. Of the prior warnings, Fincher said back in 1995, "Once you hear the entire story, it's not as open and shut as it appears to be." In 1998, the city attorney said he is still precluded from disclosing the entire story. The case against West finally came together after Lyn McCullers, who was then a teacher at Hapeville Elementary School, and another teacher heard children talking about nude photographs and a "secret club." Following an inconclusive GBI inquiry, McCullers went to a Fulton County assistant district attorney, and the children began to talk. The City of Hapeville will be paying for the West case for 10 years. Divided equally among Hapeville's citizens, the taxpayer portion of the settlement would amount to $648 per person. According to Kintz, the 11 victims who sued West will receive between $50,000 and $1.4 million each. But the money hasn't saved them from serious emotional and legal problems. Among West's admitted or suspected victims, two have been convicted of murder. One boy attempted suicide and several became drug and alcohol abusers. Others still have nightmares. McCullers, the former teacher whose persistence brought West to justice, said she's angry that the whole story about West has never been told in criminal or civil court. "How are they protecting the children by sealing the files?" McCullers said. "That's only protecting the guilty." West is not the first police officer to get in trouble and be protected by the Hapeville city government. In November 1991, two Hapeville officers killed a knife-wielding man by shooting him 10 times. They were charged with murder, but never had to spend a night in jail because Chief Denney and other police officials signed their bonds. Sympathetic city officials let them stay on the city payroll until three weeks after their October 1993 conviction for voluntary manslaughter. The Supreme Court reversed the sentences in 1996 and the two were not re-indicted. The city later settled with the dead man's wife for $285,000. "We stood behind them all the way," Denney said recently. Denney retired from the police department on Nov. 1, 1993, after 32 years, but continued to influence city government. The day after retirement, he was sworn onto the Hapeville City Council, having run uncontested for a seat. Because he was named as a defendant in the lawsuits, he abstained from voting last August when the city council approved the settlement. Denney, who also said he could not comment on the settlement, was voted out of office in November. Metro Final Today's News Copyright 1998, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights reserved.Copyright 1998, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights reserved Ralph Ellis, Hapeville molestation lawsuits could cost town $8.5 million: Details still kept secret: Community's taxpayers will foot much of the: bill.., 05-18-1998, pp A01; A01. Visit the Electric Library! Lyn's Offending Flyer Who is the Greatest? 18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And Jesus called a little child to Him, set hiim in the midst of them, 3 and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. Jesus Warnes of Offenses 6 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. "For this -- an arrest and restraining order." Lyn McCullers ===== Subject: Re: Atlanta Ritual Abuse trial starts Monday From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Abemarf) Date: Thu, May 13, 1999 9:54 PM Message-id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ohnoapr wrote : >This is not just >another "flakey" debunked McMartin Daycare or Wenatchee SRA spin, *********************************** The McMartin and Wenatchee child- molestation/Satanic Ritual Abuse allegations were TRUE!!!! Those children WERE abused!! You need to do more research- - the information verifying these atrocities is available! For more info about the McMartin child moles- tation case, check out Alex Constantine's website. For more info about the Wenatchee case, check Karen Jones' Satanic Ritual Abuse website. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
