Posted on 05/01/2002 4:03:29 PM PDT by FresnoDA
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Thomas K. Arnold
Talk show host Rick Roberts made headlines with his KFMB-AM radio show about Damon and Brenda van Dams allegedly swinging lifestyle. But he wasnt the only radio personalityor media outletto cast a critical eye on the backstory of the Danielle van Dam kidnapping case.
John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, whose John and Ken Show airs weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m. on Los Angeles station KFI-AM, devoted three shows to the case, even traveling to San Diego to broadcast from the van Dams Sabre Springs neighborhood. The week before that, they were the first to cast aspersions on the van Dams, a full day before the Roberts broadcast.
The Millennium Childrens Fund had just announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Danielle. Fund administrator Douglas Pierce had visited with the van Dams, and the next day he called a press conference in Los Angeles at which he voiced suspicions about the couples behavior. For an hour, Pierce blasted the van Dams for their apparent lack of emotion and general rudeness to him.
I dont know how much was true and how much was hysterical, but thats what made it fascinating. We tried to unravel it on the air, Kobylt says. In retrospect, I think he did peg their personalities very wellthe lack of emotion, the detachment, the obsession with the media messageand perhaps he got the vibe that they live a different life than most people.
As soon as Pierce finished on-air, John and Ken introduced their next guests: an angry Damon and Brenda van Dam, who lambasted Pierce as a nut case. We had scheduled them in advance, but when they heard Doug was on the show, they canceled, only to change their minds right before show time, Kobylt says.
After the interview, John and Ken picked apart the conversation and spoke critically about the van Dams lack of emotion and their defensiveness about questions pertaining to their own behavior and actions the last night Danielle was seen. The next day, the swinger story broke in The San Diego Union-Tribunefurthered that evening on San Diego radio by Rick Roberts.
Its a very dramatic story, says Kobylt. Everybody got obsessed with it pretty quickly... We have a pretty fair audience in San Diegoweve even made it into the top 10 on occasionand we started getting calls from people who live in the neighborhood and know the van Dams. As a result, it might as well have been in L.A. I tend to look at the whole [Southern California] area as the same, anyway.
(By press deadline, the van Dams could not be reached for comment by San Diego Magazine.)
Quoting the proverbial unnamed sources close to the probe, the Star reported that later-arrested suspect David Westerfield was aware of the van Dams sexual activities and had approached Brenda about hosting a sex-swap party in his house. The Star said Brenda had admitted to police that the couple belonged to a swingers club called Club CB and that sources say she flirted outrageously and danced with Westerfield the Friday night Danielle disappeared. He [Westerfield] knew that Brenda and her friends were sexually involved, and he wanted to be part of the action, but for whatever reason, he was not invited by Brenda to accompany her and her four friends back to her home that night for more partying and sex, the Star says it was told by a source.
Pedophiles possess no tidy criminal profile. They come from all walks of life. Some are married, some single; some professional, some blue-collar; some young, some retired. Some prefer boys, and some prefer girls. Some are attracted to young children, others to older children. In short, pedophilia, or sexual attraction to children by an adult, is a sickness that does not discriminate by race, class, or age. It knows no bounds, and afflicts people in every segment of society.
Most pedophiles do, however, share several characteristics. The overwhelming majority of pedophiles are male. Only a very small percentage of women abuse children sexually, and they are usually cooperating with a male aggressor.
Few pedophiles are able to resist their powerful urges to initiate sexual contact with children. As a result, child molesters often make efforts to gain access to or authority over children. They take jobs where children are easily approached, or they actively pursue youngsters by befriending parents (particularly single parents), attending events for children, coaching children¹s sports, chaperoning camping trips, frequenting video arcades, or offering baby-sitting services to friends, family, and neighbors with children.
The majority of pedophiles prefer children on the brink of puberty and prey on a child's sexual ignorance and curiosity. To quote one molester, "Give me a kid who knows nothing about sex, and you've given me my next victim."
Small groups of militant and highly organized child molesters operate worldwide through pedophile organizations, whose members claim genuine concern for the welfare of children. Their belief is that sex with children is harmless; some even claim that sexual relations are healthy for children. These groups' goals include decriminalizing child molestation and lowering the age of consent.
The actual number of members in these organizations is unknown, though one, the Rene Guyon Society, is listed in the Gale Encyclopedia of Associations as having five thousand members. Other major pedophile organizations include NAMBLA (The North American Man-Boy Love Association) and PAN (Pedophile Alert Network) in the Netherlands. Members receive monthly magazines and newsletters that include seduction techniques and advice on avoiding detection and prosecution. One group¹s "Lure of the Month" column gives advice on approaching and seducing children. In one month¹s column, soap crayons were praised for their effectiveness: "Children undress themselves!"
NAMBLA's "Entrapment of the Month" column has alerted members to covert government child-pornography sting operations. In one newsletter alone, NAMBLA correctly identified ten sting operations in five different states. In just three years, NAMBLA exposed and compromised four federal sting operations as well, including Project Looking Glass, Candy¹s Love Club, Project Sea Hawk, and Project Borderline. Clearly, these organizations have connections.
In addition to attending pedophile conferences and conventions, some child molesters meet via the Internet where they may swap methods, success stories, even names, descriptions, and images of children. Customs officials indicate that the anonymous nature of Internet communication is quickly replacing the printed pedophile newsletter.
While the average child molester does not belong to a pedophile organization, we would be foolish not to take seriously any group whose members are committed to sexual activity with children. Indeed, pedophiles are often difficult to detect and can be found in the most unlikely of places. Knowing this, we must provide our children with the tools to recognize and avoid potentially abusive individuals and situations.
Good grief! How deluded can one person be? You are really out in the open now. A flaming out of the closet van Damiac! The van Dam boys are going to hear some pretty vile things about their parents, that is for sure. And whose swinging fault is that? Who left whose children home alone and in shopping centers? Who stayed out til two A.M. and then neglected to take one good night look at their precious little daughter? Who invited other women to her husband's bed. Who has admitted fondling another woman in his own bed with his children in the next room? And since the van Dams have had to admit to much of it already before the trial has even begun you can bet there is even more that we have not heard. And it is a fact that little pitchers have big ears. The van Dam kids know what their parents are. I am sure that they have overheard or peeked in on some of the filthy episodes. It is a shame that the kids have not been removed from that whorehouse before now. Get off your precious little pulpit and read the tea leaves. The parents of Danielle did not protect their daughter and that may have led to her death. The father may have had something to do with her death. Your denial of that truth is beginning to seem more like you are somehow involved with the van Dams. Your act is really getting stale.
20 Q. Do you know Patricia Le Page?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Do you know a woman named Cherokee?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Ryan Tyrol?
25 A. No.
26 Q. With regard to those three individuals, did you
27 invite any of them back to your house on the evening of the
28 1st of February, ma'am, after -- or when you were ready to
Page 691
1 go back to the bar -- I'm sorry -- did you invite any of
2 those three individuals back to your house when you
3 prepared to leave the bar on or about February 1st?
4 A. No.
These witnesses are under subpoena for the defense and will impeach the testimony of the clear-headed parent.
RNM...you got a time out? Whatever it was for, I'll bet the risk was worth it! :~)
sw
Excellent rant...I agree the kids all knew and they should be removed . the parents are in the end responsible for the death of their daughter
SAN DIEGO ---- Court papers outlining defense arguments to suppress statements made by accused child murderer David Westerfield to police and evidence collected from his property will remain under seal for now, a judge ruled Thursday.
Other court papers, including a defense motion to sequester the jury when the case goes to trial, will be released Monday, Superior Court Judge William Mudd ruled. The prosecution is opposed to keeping a jury in a hotel for what is expected to be a three- to five-week-long trial.
Westerfield, 50, is accused of kidnapping and murdering his 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle van Dam. Her body was found nearly four weeks after she was reported missing from her Sabre Springs home Feb. 2.
Westerfield faces the death penalty if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection is scheduled to begin May 17.
On Thursday, Mudd said a prosecution request to limit testimony about the lifestyle of Danielle's parents also will remain under seal until he decides what, if any, aspects of their private lives will be open for discussion during the trial.
At Westerfield's preliminary hearing, Brenda and Damon van Dam testified about smoking marijuana the night they last saw Danielle and Damon van Dam said that he kissed one of his wife's female friends who came to the house that night.
Mudd said releasing the documents now could "excessively invade the privacy of Mr. and Mrs. van Dam." He will make public the prosecution's request to limit questions about drug and alcohol use.
Most of the motions Mudd ordered to remain under wraps deal with hard facts of the case. One of the documents lays out the evidence prosecutors will use to try to convince jurors to recommend the death penalty, if Westerfield is convicted. Several documents center on what evidence jurors will be allowed to hear at trial.
The motions also give glimpses into the legal strategies that the prosecution and the defense likely will present during the trial.
In contrast, the papers being released Monday are more run-of-the-mill process issues, such as whether jurors will be allowed to see crime scene photographs, hear the 911 call Danielle's mother made to police, and what attorneys can address in their opening statements.
An attorney representing the North County Times and other media groups said the court has to meet a high standard to seal such documents.
"This is a sweeping seal order, and I have concerns that not all of the documents sealed can constitutionally be sealed," attorney Guylyn Cummins said.
Next week, Mudd has scheduled a series of hearings to consider the attorneys' requests. Some of those hearings may be closed to the public. Mudd said he will make that decision on a "motion by motion basis."
As for the motion to sequester the jury, private defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt said he thinks there is a good chance Mudd will grant it.
"I think that's a reasonable request in light of all the reports coming out in the press, some accurate, some not accurate," Steigerwalt said. "It's a perfect way to preserve the integrity of the jury, because the jury is supposed to decide the case only on admissible evidence.
"Sometimes in cases as high profile as this, it's impossible not to absorb information from outside the courtroom," he said.
Another motion hints that the defense is going to try to argue that a person other than Westerfield committed the crime. The prosecution has asked for a hearing to determine whether the defense has any evidence of third party culpability.
Westerfield's attorneys have previously made an issue about the number of people in and out of the van Dam house the last night Danielle was seen alive.
At Westerfield's preliminary hearing, Westerfield's defense attorneys tried to question the van Dams about whether they were engaged in a "swingers" lifestyle. A judge cut off the questioning. The defense also has hinted that whoever killed Danielle would have to have known the van Dams' house.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday.
They are LIARS Kim, they lied with a straight face, from day one, about their association with Westerfield. (We know they lied, because of the PH).. Why? Answer me, why would they lie? What motive did they have? There's got to be one.
Give it your best shot.
sw
On February 26, 2002, 50-year old David Westerfield was formally charged with kidnapping and murdering seven-year old Danielle van Dam. Westerfield, a self-employed engineer who lives in the same neighborhood as the van Dam family, is being held in the county jail without bail. A Special Circumstance allegation of "murder during a kidnapping" has also been filed. The charge carries with it a potential death penalty sentence. Arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on March 28, 2002.
Prosecutors: Jeff Dusek and Woody Clarke
The Complaint
San Diego Police Department Press Release
Superior Court Gag Order - March 8, 2002
Alleged???? alleged???? YOU JUST DID IT! The people have admitted it in open court and you still say it is alleged???
Let's just see how good Feldman is, I can't wait.
sw
Spectre, will see you when I get back..sent ya a freepmail.
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