Posted on 02/24/2004 11:08:39 AM PST by woofie
A 35-year-old man is charged with child prostitution and kidnapping after his 15-year-old daughter told police he sold her for crack.
The man was arrested Saturday after the girl's mother reported the kidnapping to police. The Journal is withholding his name to protect the teen's privacy.
Police on Monday called the crime "despicable" and "heinous."
"It's a horrible thing that any parent would even consider putting their children in a position such as this," Albuquerque Police spokesman Jeff Arbogast said.
The girl told police she was walking home from a friend's house late Thursday when a car and a truck pulled up behind her. First her father got out of the truck, hugged her and said, "I love you." A large man then got out of the car and grabbed her.
"She tried to break free from the male by scratching and kicking him, but she was not able to get away," a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court states.
They put her in the back of the car, and she said she saw her father walk up to a "skinny" man, who handed him a small packet.
"My daddy sold me for crack" the teen told police. The two men then drove off with her in the back, leaving her father. She told police she tried the doors but couldn't unlock them. She also tried to call her mother by cell phone, but one of the men took her phone.
They drove her to a parking lot, where she said she was sexually assaulted by both men.
"She tried to get away from both males, but in order to control her they would hit her in the face and head," the complaint reads.
At one point, she was knocked unconscious. When she woke up, she was lying behind a garbage bin with her shirt off and jacket torn, the complaint reads. Still dazed, she walked toward her home where she made contact with a neighbor, who got in touch with the teen's mother. Her mother called police.
The girl, whose face was swollen, agreed to a medical exam. Investigators noted the word "bitch" was written on both of her arms. The complaint did not give further details.
Police spokesman Arbogast said Monday that detectives had worked through the weekend on the case and were following any leads that might identify the two men.
He said he'd known of many cases in which parents had acted irresponsibly toward their children. But this one, he said, is particularly appalling "with not only the physical damage that they exposed their child to, (but) the psychological impact that something like this would have for years to come, if not their entire life."
The girl's father is charged with sexual exploitation of children by prostitution, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
He remained in the Metropolitan Detention Center on Monday. Bond is set at $200,000 cash or surety.
So, if you include the above family listing, I think your tables will change dramatically. I would submit that the drug use in 1924 was significanly less than the drug use today. Today, heroine is relatively insignificant, but due entirely to the War on Drugs, we now have families of addictive narcotics that would never have materialized if the gov't had kept out of the picture. I can provide examples of alcoholic beverages that were created as a response to the Prohibitionist period in US history, to futher illustrate if you like.
The point of this is that as you create a contraband, several economic principles kick into existance. First is the supply vs. demand, which drives the profit through the roof. Then we have the criminal element who now has been given a profit rich commodity and competition is eliminated by further criminal activity. Next, we have the increased appeal of the 'forbidden fruit'. Then, we have the increased potency and concentrated new forms of the drug that occur in the attempt to maximize profits, while minimizing exposure to confiscation. Then there is the whole 'buying the police force' routine. And of course, we have the newly created criminal element of the addicts who are forced to obtain stolen goods (or prostitution) in order to feed a habit.
So, we went from a well intentioned viewpoint of protecting the stupid derelict who has sucessfully poisoned himself, to a glamorous 'gangsta' lifestyle full of fast cash, flashy cars, and a lavish lifestyle.
To go from 200K addicts to 130K addicts while doubling the population is not a "backfire" in any sense of the word.
The US DOJ says the following about heroin addiction numbers:
There were an estimated 980,000 hardcore heroin addicts in the United States in 1999, 50 percent more than the estimated 630,000 hardcore addicts in 1992. Heroin Addicts, 1999: US DOJ
That's about a 70% increase in the rate of heroin addiction compared to when it was banned.
I have to agree. When and where I grew up, a drug user was considered a low-life, a loser, a degenerate and someone to shun. Today, he's considered a role model.
If the War on Drugs were stopped today, the allure of a heroine addict, cocaine user or crack-head would be about the same as the drunken derelect found laying face down in his own puke. Reality is a harsh mistress.
Hmmm, maybe I misunderstood your previous statement.
Are they active? Are they on methadone? Have they quit?
Once a person is an alcoholic, for example, they always describe themselves as an alcoholic, even though they may no longer drink.
According to reporting from the 1999 NHSDA, an estimated 3.1 million individuals in the United States aged 12 and older had tried heroin in their lifetimes. The increase in the number of hardcore addicts in the United States likely is attributable to higher heroin purity, lower prices, and ready availability.
Canadian authorities report that there are an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 hardcore heroin addicts in Canada consuming between 1 and 2 metric tons of heroin annually. Most reside in major metropolitan areas, chiefly in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.
I'd say the DOJ is citing current users, based on my reading of the entire article, but you'd have to ask the DOJ.
Interesting to note the rate of heroin addiction in Canada is between .08 and .17% of the population (using 30,000,000 for the population of Canada).
The rate for the US is .34%, using DOJ figures.
Behind the woodshed won't do in this case, these guys should be hung in public for an especially heinous rape. IMHO the girl was raped, and the dirtbag father is as guilty of rape as the 2-legged animals who performed the actual act.
As I posted on another thread concerning this incident, maybe if this sorry excuse for a father and the other two men were shown on TV dancing on air at the end of a rope on the courthouse lawn it would make other dirtbags think twice before swapping their child's body for a bag of drugs.
You haven't spent much time in the company of addicts or even someone who is physical pain needing a pain killer. Break a leg and then see what you would do for a mere 1/8th morphine shot. I bet you'll sell your dog for that shot.
Not my definition of "victimless".
I never got into illegal drugs so I don't really know. I've seen kids and adults abuse just about everything else, food, free time, friendship, money, alcohol, you name it. So, you probably are right. Given the chance there would be a percentage of idiots who expect you and me to pick them after they abused drugs.
I guess you can tell my back is sore from bending over to help too many fools stand again. What I really don't like is when our Congress says we MUST help them.
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