[Vision2020] shamelessness [including an escape]
Jennifer McFarland
jmcfarland at latah.id.us
Mon Jun 12 09:29:40 PDT 2006
All:
This is my last response to any posts regarding the Sitler case. I simply
do not have the time to keep restating the facts of the case—especially when
people are ignoring them and spinning the case (in either direction) for
their own (?) purposes. I am not going to answer the questions posed below
namely because I think it disrespectful and disingenuous to put words into
my mouth (having never implied that Sitler had escaped jurisdiction, for
example), or to presume to know “LCSO’s feelings” on this case. My lack of
response is not an endorsement of any statements made below any more than my
lack of response to the baseball vs. soccer debate indicates lack of
interest or an opinion on that topic (I prefer watching baseball—live
only--and playing soccer, obviously also live). I generally resent it (as
do most people) when I am told that unless I do X, it will be assumed that I
think Y. I prefer not to be the dog that is being wagged. I suggest in the
future that those wanting to know the opinion of a person or entity ask for
that opinion directly as opposed to saying (in effect), “This is what your
opinion is, but if it is not, you have to prove that it isn’t.”
--Jennie
PIO Jennifer L. McFarland
Latah County Sheriff's Office
Public Information Officer
PO Box 8068
Moscow, Idaho 83843
(208) 882-2216
Fax (208) 883-2281
<http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm>
http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm
Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.
***Ralph Waldo Emerson
_____
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Art Deco
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 17:43
To: Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] shamelessness [including an escape]
A thank you to Jennifer for supplying at least partial answers to the
questions presented to her.
Before commenting on the most astounding revelation found in her answers, I
should point out that I have not criticized the LCSO in this matter. Two of
the reasons appear below. But first:
Several months ago Sheriff Wayne Rausch courageously and openly spoke of his
personal experiences with the general subject at hand in a column in the
Daily News.
I do not have any direct knowledge of any LCSO members' feelings on the
Sitler case. However, based on Sheriff Rausch's column, I will hazard the
following guess:
Neither Sheriff Rausch, the able detectives on his staff who are experts in
this area, Jennifer, nor most other LCSO officers are at all happy about:
1. How a pedophile was allowed to escape Latah County jurisdiction by
those who appear to have had a statutory duty to prevent it, and thus the
LCSO was prevented from bringing its expertise into the investigation of
horrific crimes committed in Latah County, and forced to investigate other
attendant sexual abuse allegations without the direct assistance of Sitler.
2. That despite the fact that an application for a felony warrant was
applied for by an LCSO officer, Sitler apparently was footloose and fancy
free in Stevens County, Washington for months after being caught in the act
here before returning, a sweetheart plea agreement in pocket. Who knows
what he did while free in Stevens County?
3. That a serious pedophile was given only one year of jail time, with
most of it to be served in the county jail. Note that we are not talking
about an eighteen year old boy who slipped his hand up the skirt of a
seventeen year old girl. We are talking about an egregious serial pedophile
who confessed to numerous child molestation episodes in three different
states!
4. That now this serial pedophile is now allowed unescorted out of the
Latah County Jail to drive about in three counties in two states. Saundra,
Terry, and Keely have already discussed the absurdity and the public peril
attendant to this excursionary freedom. More importantly, Terry and Saundra
have discussed the fact that Sitler's website contained photos until very
recently suggesting that Sitler's compelling sexual interest in and sexual
proclivities toward children are unabated. Apparently unabated despite
Cultmaster Wilson's assurance to the court and now the public that Sitler
has confessed and repented, and therefore is no longer a threat. [Note that
these photos apparently were still there after his conviction with the plea
bargain conditions, his stay at Cottonwood, and the beginning of his sojourn
at the Latah County jail. I wonder if this is a violation of his probation
in some way?]
If the general tenor of this guess is wrong, I invite anyone from the LCSO
to tell us so.
Also, does anyone know if the Latah County Prosecutor brought forth the
facts about Sitler's online photo exhibition of children and possibly
samples therefrom to Judge Stegner during the plea bargaining, sentencing,
and the sentence restructuring processes?
Astounding Answer from Jennifer:
On what date did Sitler first confess his pedophilic acts to local law
enforcement authorities?
Sitler was not interviewed by local law enforcement authorities (local=any
law enforcement agency in Latah County)
Sitler was either caught in the act and/or confessed. Why wasn't he held by
those who caught him or heard his confession (and/or their several agents)
until local law enforcement agencies could place him in custody?
That and how he escaped Latah County jurisdiction is one of the great
mysteries in this case. Enabling a suspect in a felony case to escape seems
to me to be a serious matter. Perhaps I am very naive, but such enabling
would appear to be a crime.
That Sitler escaped prevented the very able investigators from the LCSO from
working this case. Instead, personnel from an out-of-state county (and one
not known for its law enforcement precociousness) worked the case and
supplied the Latah County prosecutor with the material used to develop and
to negotiate this wonderful plea bargain
http://www.tomandrodna.com/CR_2005_02027/Plea_Agreement.pdf.
Further, once Sitler escaped from Latah County, why wasn't he extradited
back so that the LCSO could work the case with its experienced and skilled
investigators?
It's nice that the ovine, obedient boys of the Wilson & Family's Cult & Cash
Machine are now flooding us with posts on various sports -- an effort to
drown out our concerns with the Sitler miscarriage of justice and its
attendant perils to the community.
Perhaps, it is too much to expect these playful boys to appreciate in
perspective the seriousness of children being sexually defiled multiple
times by a male member of their cult -- male supremacy, you know.
But one might expect them to be a little concerned about the obstruction of
justice that occurs when someone caught in the act and/or who confesses to a
felony is allowed to escape local jurisdiction. One might also expect that
they might put their bowling balls down long enough to wonder what kind of
general deterrent one year of jail time with excursionary privileges is for
serial pedophilia.
Wayne A. Fox
1009 Karen Lane
PO Box 9421
Moscow, ID 83843
(208) 882-7975
<mailto:waf at moscow.com> waf at moscow.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Jennifer <mailto:jmcfarland at latah.id.us> McFarland
To: 'Art Deco' <mailto:deco at moscow.com> ; 'Vision 2020'
<mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2006 9:29 AM
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] shamelessness
All:
I will answer as may of these questions as I can with the information I have
in the case file. Court records and prosecutorial records must be gathered
from those entities. This will be my last posting about this case; I simply
do not have time to do the job of an investigative reporter, court clerk,
and secretary in addition to my duties at the Sheriff’s Office. I suggest
if you are truly interested in this case you take the time to gather the
court documents yourself and base whatever opinions about this case off of
those rather than off anecdotal comments from parties not involved in the
case. I once again must note that decisions about charges and sentences are
not made by law enforcement.
On what date did Sitler first confess his pedophilic acts to local law
enforcement authorities?
Sitler was not interviewed by local law enforcement authorities (local=any
law enforcement agency in Latah County)
To what agency and to whom?
See above
Were there more than one confession to law enforcement authorities? If so,
on what dates were these made, to what agency, and to whom?
Again, Sitler was not interviewed by local law enforcement. There are no
reports from other agencies in the case file.
On what date(s) was the Latah County Prosecutor first made aware of this
confession or confessions?
The PA’s office would have to answer this question
Is it true that Sitler's confession indicated that he molested other
children in the same family of the single victim from whence his conviction
arose?
Although the detective’s report alludes to having spoken to someone who
mentioned Sitler had made a confession and was cooperating fully with
agencies in Colville, there are no reports in the case file detailing the
confession
Is it true that his confession indicates that he may have sexually molested
as many as 120 children?
See above
On what date was Sitler first arrested or a criminal complaint issued? Was
there an arrest or a criminal complaint? Was there ever bail request or
set?
The detective wrote an affidavit for a warrant of arrest that was notarized
on 6/28/2005. There is no indication in the file that an arrest warrant was
issued or served
Please tells the dates of when Sitler first was jailed (including
pre-conviction incarceration).
I can only report those days he has been at the jail as LCSO. I do not
have any special access to jail or prison records in other jurisdictions.
Sitler was incarcerated at LCSO jail on 9/26/2005 after being sentenced on
the felony charge. He was released to the custody of the State on
10/3/2005. He arrived back at LCSO jail on 2/21/2006 on an order of return.
He remains in this jail.
After his initial conviction, was he sent to the penitentiary?
When he was released to the custody of the State the DOC and judge decide
where to house the inmate. They don’t tell the Sheriff’s Office that sort
of detail.
When did he start his post conviction sojourn in the Latah County Jail?
See jail dates above
Is it true that he is allowed to drive himself unescorted to both Pullman
and Clarkston for "counseling?"
By order of the judge, Sitler is allowed to do so
Is it true that he was recently allowed to go unescorted by local law
enforcement to renew his driver's license?
The only in/out comments on Sitler’s jail activity record indicate being in
and out for treatment four times since he has been here
Where else has he been allowed to go unescorted by local law enforcement?
The records only indicate him being released for treatment
When he is out unescorted does he wear any kind of working electronic
monitoring devices?
Not that I am aware of
Does the LCSD intend to widely circulate posters with Sitler's photo asking
for parents of other possible victims to communicate with the LCSD?
LCSO (we are an office of an elected official, not a department) does not do
this in general. As with all sex offenders, when Sitler is released, his
picture will appear along with the other sex offenders. He will be given
the same treatment by law enforcement as we give all sex offenders.
Privileges like work release and treatment release are not given by jail
staff or by LEOs; they are given by judges. If Sitler were to escape
jurisdiction (like Rossignol) we would send his photo out on the media
circuit just as we did with Rossignol. We do not have the money or the
resources at LCSO to print and distribute flyers, posters, etc. on every
case that offends our sensibilities.
If you are outraged by the response from law enforcement in this case, I
suggest you lobby the BOCC for more officers to be added to the force.
Currently we all have an average of 43 hours comp time on the books and 154
hours of vacation, each. Our 50 sworn and non-sworn personnel collectively
have accumulated 2,140.38 hours or comp and 7,666.35 vacation. The jail is
perhaps the most egregiously overworked and underpaid.
I think there is a distorted perception, too, that I have special access to
information that I do not and that I have a duty to report about certain
things that I do not. I would love to be an endless source of information
for you, but I simply do not have the time or resources to get all the
information you want. I am swamped from the moment I get in the office
until after I was supposed to leave—like most of our officers here, I also
come in on days off to take care of details and am called at home at all
hours of the night to respond to calls (without monetary compensation,
often). Further, a lot of questions I am asked are about areas that are not
my responsibility to report upon. Essentially people are asking the Baker
for a side of beef. If I had an assistant to help me compile stats,
records, records from other agencies or entities, and someone to help my
sort that information, you’d probably be happier with the results. However,
since I do not have those people helping me it is not unreasonable to take
the entities that do have the information you seek to task.
I realize I did not provide much information, but this is what I have access
to with our in-house records.
--Jennifer
PIO Jennifer L. McFarland
Latah County Sheriff's Office
Public Information Officer
PO Box 8068
Moscow, Idaho 83843
(208) 882-2216
Fax (208) 883-2281
<http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm>
http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm
Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.
***Ralph Waldo Emerson
¯¯¯¯¯¯
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