Experts see fertile ground for appeals In Westerfield Trail

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/20020919-9999_1n19appeal.html ^ | September 19, 2002 | Greg Moran

[pinz-n-needlez]

And who has an explanation for the pool of blood found in and around the Van Dam's garage floor?

Glad to hear all is well, and that you're still thinking hard on this.

[John Jamieson]

I never heard it described as a pool, but there was a lot of blood blown off as "not human" in the van Dam house. Damon admits to the dog running into his foot ..... right! I'm writting a white paper on the porno ring and how it might fit into the DW case.

The dates are very interesting:

LE tipped off to Whitmore on 1/25.
Whitmore arrested on 1/27.
Danielle missing 2/1.
Westerfield under 24 hour watch 2/4.
Whitmore hearing on 2/15.
Rowland arrested near midnight on 2/15.
Danielle dumped about 2/15.
Damon says look closer to San Diego 2/18.
Brenda says a big break in the search should be soon 2/20.
Westerfield arrested 2/22.
Danielle found 2/27.

[John Jamieson]

On all the players in this case, Whitmore lived closest to Dehesa Rd. Grantville, CA is about 6 miles away, but he should have been in jail. But was he?

[alexandria]

You Have Mail!

[BARLF]

Hi John, hope you are doing well. Congrats on your new grandbaby!

Don't forget Damon made his three day trip to the desert 16,17,18 Feb. even tho LE advised against it.

Interesting indeed.

[John Jamieson]

I've always wondered if that banner Damon hung over I-8 in the early morning hours of Saturday the 16th, saying "Where's Danielle" had an arrow on it?

Most of the members of "The Club" caught in "Operation Hamlet" had been sexually abusing their own children for fun and profit.

[John Jamieson]

August 10, 2002 10 charged in U.S. in child porn ring
By Joyce Howard Price
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Twenty adults have been charged with sexually abusing and exploiting children — including their own — and circulating photographs of the sexual activity on the Internet as part of an international child pornography ring.
"I've rarely seen crimes as despicable and repugnant as the crimes involved in this investigation. These crimes are beyond the pale," U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, a former federal prosecutor and judge, said at a Washington news briefing in which he announced the charges involving 10 Americans and 10 foreigners.
He said more arrests are expected.
Mr. Bonner said "at least 45 children," between the ages of 2 and 14, were victims of sexual abuse and exploitation by the international "ring of pedophiles" uncovered by an investigation called Operation Hamlet. "Thirty-seven of those children reside here in our country," he said.
"What's particularly disturbing about this case is that the majority of the people who have been charged were actually the parents of and were sexually exploiting their own children. In many instances, parents forced their children to commit sex acts that were then photographed and posted on the Internet. With the power of the Internet, what may have once been an isolated crime became a global crime," Mr. Bonner said.
Eighty percent of the children were molested by one of their parents, usually the father. Of 15 defendants whose sealed indictments were opened yesterday in a federal court in Fresno, Calif., only one is a woman, and she is Danish, not American, a Customs Service spokeswoman said.
All 45 abused children have been removed from the care of those indicted, whether the offender was a parent, guardian or other caregiver. Most of the children are in the custody of another parent or relative or are in foster care.
"The people who engage in these kinds of acts, sexually exploiting children, especially their own children, should be removed from their children forever and incarcerated for as long as the law allows," Mr. Bonner said.
According to the indictment unsealed yesterday, the defendants referred to themselves as the "club." They circulated sexually explicit photos of children among themselves, e-mailed each other as to images of sexual poses they wanted to see, "and, in at least one case, exchanged children to be sexually abused and depicted."
In one case, the indictment said, a man requested an audiotape so he could hear crying by a child being spanked.
Charges of sexual exploitation of children, conspiracy to exploit children, and receiving and distributing child pornography each carry a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years. Mr. Bonner said some defendants could receive 60 years if convicted of all charges against them.
The U.S. Customs chief said law enforcement authorities got on the trail of the child pornography ring last November when the nonprofit group Save the Children discovered "images on the Internet depicting a child, apparently in Denmark, being sexually abused."
Save the Children immediately notified the Danish National Police. The Danish police investigated the complaint and arrested a Danish man in connection with molesting the child whose picture he had posted on the Internet. "The child was his own 9-year-old daughter," Mr. Bonner said.
Police examining the man's computer "discovered a web of pedophiles throughout the world, many of whom were here in the United States," Mr. Bonner told reporters.
The U.S. Customs Service CyberSmuggling Center, based in Northern Virginia, got its first information about the case from Danish police in January and opened the Operation Hamlet investigation.
"This led to search warrants and arrests of 10 individuals in the United States — individuals that lived in California, Florida, Texas, Idaho, New Jersey, South Carolina, Michigan and Washington state," Mr. Bonner said.
Ten U.S. citizens have been charged since January, including the nine named in the indictment, Mr. Bonner said. The list includes chiropractor Lloyd Alan Emmerson of Clovis, Calif., who has pleaded not guilty; Paul Whitmore and Brooke Rowland, both of San Diego, who also have pleaded not guilty; Tracy Reynolds of Longview, Texas; Leslie Peter Bowcut of Burley, Idaho; Michael David Harland of West Palm Beach, Fla.; Harry Eldon Tschernetzki of Spokane, Wash.; John Zill of Greenville, S.C.; and Craig Davidson of Chanute, Kan.
One of the 10 Americans, Jeffrey Naimo of Killeen, Texas, has already pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
An 11th American, Sean Bradley of Reno, Nev., committed suicide after his arrest, Customs Special Agent Mike Netherland said.
Outside the United States, there were 10 more arrests. Six adults from Denmark, Switzerland and Holland also were indicted in Fresno yesterday. The Justice Department is seeking their extradition to the United States to face charges.
The six are Eggert Jensen and his wife, Bente, of Denmark; Jean-Michael Frances Cattin, Marcel Egli and Peter Althaus of Switzerland; and Dirk-Jan Prins of Holland.
Customs officials said four other foreigners were charged abroad as part of the joint investigation with the Danish police and others that also reached the United Kingdom and Belgium. They declined to identify the four.
In his remarks to the news media, Mr. Bonner reflected on the "rash of abductions, molestations and murders of innocent children" that have occurred in the United States this summer.
"America's most precious asset is its children, and our children must be protected at any cost. At the root of many child abductions and child murders and child sexual molestations is a twisted desire for sex with children. This desire of pedophiles is fueled by child pornography, which today, unfortunately, is more available than ever via the Internet," Mr. Bonner said.

[John Jamieson]

I need HELP from local SD researchers:

Paul Whitmore, 43, Grantville, CA was arrested on 1/27/2002 for distributing photos of himself having sex with a girl under 10 on the internet, and had a hearing on 2/15.

WAS WHITMORE IN JAIL ON THE WEEKEND OF 2/1/2002
OR DID HE MAKE BAIL?

[pinz-n-needlez]

Good snag, John.

As much as I don't want to know about the particulars in this issue, :-( I'll do what I can to help you gather info.

How about starting a new thread on this topic, so we have a place to stash what we find?

I've seen speculation on whether the real reason for the pr firm to be brought into Danielle's case at the beginning was to see that it wasn't connected with the porn ring busts. Makes you wonder is a decision was made somewhere to leak the 'swinging' info to get the sheeple on a sex, drugs and rock & roll, so that they wouldn't think to hard about what else was going on in the same metro area that month. I wouldn't be surprised.

Separating the two would also explain why the drumbeat has gone on, and been strengthened regarding DW's 'creepiness,' instead of just rejoicing that the threat is identified and behind bars, and life can go on again. The vd's are still obviously concerned about their children's safety. That came across very clearly in that interview the other night.

[verity]

Legal experts in death-penalty work said the way the Westerfield case was tried provides fertile ground for an appeal, which is automatic because it is a capital case.

Before the concept of Justice is eviscerated by the 'Law system', perhaps a fellow inmate will eviscerate Westerfield.

[John Jamieson]

Yes, your PR firm thoughts seem right on. Many people think this a very simple case, it seems to me to be exactly the opposite. Many players contributed to Danielle's death, so much had to be hidden. Even DW may not know the whole story.

I want to get a few more facts for my white paper and then I'll start a new thread.

[BARLF]

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