Mother gets up to 4 years for posing (Pennsylvania)

Allentown Call ^ | 12/16/2006 | Tyra Braden

[Graybeard58]

She had her children take photos of her nude, prosecutor says.

A former Allentown woman struck seductive nude poses and ordered her 12-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter to photograph her showed up in court Friday wearing jeans with ''Booty'' emblazoned on the left rear pocket and ''Licious'' on the right in what appeared to be rhinestones.

Northampton County Judge Stephen G. Baratta sent Julie Figueroa, 43, to state prison for nine months to four years. Figueroa's adult daughter jumped to her feet as deputy sheriffs clamped handcuffs on Figueroa's wrists. ''Excuse me!'' she shouted. ''Can I say goodbye to my mother?''

''Ma'am,'' Baratta said sharply, ''Be quiet.''

''This isn't fair,'' the sobbing daughter screamed.

~snip~

Assistant District Attorney Patricia C. Broscius said Figueroa, when confronted, claimed she posed topless. However, Broscius said, the photographs police recovered showed Figueroa nude and in sexual positions. Figueroa's attorney, Gilbert J. Negrete Jr. of Bethlehem, told the judge Figueroa had her children take the photos so she could put them on the Internet to find a boyfriend.

He added that ''it wasn't her intention for her son to have the pictures.''

Baratta said the boy not only had the photos but showed them to some of his friends. Figueroa was charged when her estranged husband saw the pictures and notified police. Negrete told Baratta that Figueroa takes full responsibility for what happened. He suggested that Figueroa needs psychiatric care and not prison.

~snip~

Baratta said if he didn't send Figueroa to prison, other parents would feel free to commit similar crimes. Figueroa said she knows she was wrong, but that having her children taken away was punishment enough.

''I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't be allowed to have children,'' Baratta said. ''It's all about you. It's all about you and your fun and games.''

[ReignOfError]

Been to any funerals lately?

Not a formal one. The last "funeral" I attended was a half-dozen people scattering the ashes in a remote spot in the woods. We were dressed appropriately for the woods.

Unfortunately, I have. I have found that when wearing a suit, I am the most dressed up person there, other than those officiating.

I haven't been to many funerals, but I've been to a few weddings (I guess that's kind of a stage-of-life phenomenon, isn't it?). Lucky for me, I have my sister to ask for fashion advice -- actually, she usually offers without being asked -- so I'm dressed appropriately for an afternoon or evening wedding (they differ).

It just seems normal to me to wear not just a suit, but a dark-colored one with a neutral or white shirt and a dark tie, to a formal funeral. Call me old-fashioned. Hell, I even own a tuxedo, and the jacket still fits, though I haven't worn it in more than a decade (I was a music major for a while).