Month: March 2008

UPDATED: One of the s-bags that abducted Stafford boy turns himself in.

UPDATE: Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

The Free Lance–Star: UPDATE: Suspect charged in child’s abduction:

One of three suspects in the abduction of an 8-year-old Stafford boy turned himself in last night.

Varun Sethi, 24, is charged with abduction, assault and battery and conspiracy to commit abduction. He’s being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Police are still searching for Jacob and the two other people authorities believe are responsible for his disappearance.

03/10/2008 Donna Blanton retrial news #2

The Free Lance–Star: Blanton verdict may come today:

The jury could reach a verdict this afternoon in the case of the Caroline County woman charged with murder in the shooting death of her state trooper husband.

[…]

Donna Blanton has said since her husband’s death that an intruder broke into the home about 6 a.m. while she was in the bathroom. She told police that intruder then grabbed the gun and shot Taylor Blanton four times, killing him, before fleeing. Blanton said she then grabbed the gun the intruder had dropped on the ground and fired shots at him as he ran away.

Spencer, though, in his closing arguments, pointed out pieces of evidence testified to by witnesses throughout last week that he thought disproved that theory: a towel, found in the bathroom, with an imprint that matched that of the murder weapon; that there was no sign of forced entry into the home; no footprints found in the dew-covered grass; and the lack of dogs barking when everyone who knew the family said dogs barked when someone came into the home.

[…]

Spencer also addressed the motive for about half of his remarks, focusing on why he thought Blanton would have felt compelled to kill her husband. He said she had surmounting financial debt and a fear that her husband would leave her poor and homeless if he found out.

Spencer throughout the trial has said that Donna Blanton had not only her own high credit payments, but also that she took out credit cards in her husband’s name as well. Blanton’s daughters testified last week that they would hide the statements for those bills at their mother’s request.

[…]

This afternoon, Spencer will give a rebuttal to Murphy’s closing remarks and the jury will begin deliberations.

Why you should support Delegate Bob Marshall for United States Senate…

This is what Delegate Bob Marshall, a Republican, had to say about the Republican leadership (or lack thereof) in the House of Delegates:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJgV1um1b0]

“[…] given the mere courtesy of even having a hearing in one of these secret subcommittees where they kill bills without a record of votes.”

Oh, that’s priceless.

H/t: Assembly Access

UPDATED: FBI called in for abducted Stafford boy.

UPDATE #3: Jacob McHale returned safety, mother turns herself in, Matthew Borowski still at large.

UPDATE #2: One of the s-bags that abducted Stafford boy turns himself in.

9News Now: Police Looking For Abducted Stafford Boy:

The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children have been called into the case of Jacob McHale. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office says the 8-year-old boy was abducted Thursday night from his granparents’ home.

Bill and Freida McHale have had custody of Jacob since shortly after he was born. They say the boy’s mother, Carianne McHale, was at their home for a regular visit Thursday night when she grabbed Jacob and ran. The McHale’s say Carianne was assisted by her boyfriend Matthew Borowski and his friend Varun Sethi. The two men are accused of holding and assaulting the couple.

Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy says it is possible the boy is still in the area. Kennedy asked that anyone who sees the boy or the people who took him to call 540-658-4400.

UPDATE #1: The Free Lance–Star: Police seek third suspect in case of missing child:

A third suspect has been identified in the Thursday night kidnapping of an 8-year-old Stafford County boy who is still missing.

Varun Sethi, 24, of no fixed address, is accused of assisting the child’s mother and her boyfriend in forcibly abducting Jacob McHale from his home on Fence Post Road.

[…]

Stafford Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy said authorities are becoming increasingly concerned in part because Jacob has chronic asthma and his abductors took neither his medication nor his nebulizer.

"I will go down with this ship…"

That’s a reference to Dido by the way.

Anyway: NBC4: Lawmakers Kill Abusive Driver Fees:

Lawmakers working overtime in Richmond voted late Saturday night to kill Virginia’s much-reviled abusive driver fees as soon as possible.

The law, which went into effect last year, will be repealed the moment Gov. Tim Kaine signs the bills. The move became assured in early January when Kaine conceded that after six months, the fees had failed to approach the estimated revenue yield and that highway deaths had soared in 2007 in spite of them.

Drivers who have paid the $6.5 million in penalties so far will get their money back.

The fees were expected to generate $65 million a year for highway maintenance projects. But the fees were instantly rejected by Virginia motorists, in part because they didn’t apply to non-residents.

The fees were billed as punishment for bad drivers and averaged $1,000 to $3,000 for traffic offenses such as speeding and reckless driving.

The repeal is a second big blow for Virginia transportation officials in days. Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled that a Northern Virginia taxing authority for transportation officials is unconstitutional, costing the state millions in construction funds.

Want the names of the morons that voted against repealing the “abusive driver fees”?

  • House of Delegates:
    • Voted twice against repealing:
      • House Majority Leader, Delegate Morgan Griffith (R-Salem)
    • Voted once against repealing:
      • Delegate Watkins Abbitt (I-Appomattox) [Caucuses with the Republicans]
  • Senate of Virginia:
    • Voted twice against repealing:
      • Senate Republican Leader pro tempore/Senator Ken Stolle (R-Virginia Beach)
      • Senator Richard Stuart (R-Montross)
      • Senator John Watkins (R-Midlothian)
    • Voted once against repealing [Note: All of these guys decided within a span of thirty (30) minutes to change their minds — that’s what we call leadership]:
      • Senator Harry Blevins (R-Chesapeake)
      • Senator Bob Hurt (R-Chatham)
      • Senate Republican Caucus Chairman, Senator Steve Newman (R-Forest)
      • Senate Minority Leader, Senator Tommy Norment (R-Williamsburg)
      • Senator Fred Quayle (R-Suffolk)
      • Senator Frank Ruff (R-Clarksville)
      • Senator Walter Stosch (R-Glen Allen)
      • Senate Republican Party Whip, Senator Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach)

And since the Republicans heart the “abusive driver fees”:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNe2xy5YRLo]

Funeral Arrangements for Yvonne Reedal

The Free Lance–Star: Yvonne N. Reedal:

Yvonne Newton Reedal, 39, of Port Royal died Friday, March 7, 2008, at home after a long battle with cancer.

Yvonne was born April 18, 1968, at Mary Washington Hospital. She graduated from Caroline High School in 1992. Yvonne was a very community-minded and loving person. Since she was 15, she volunteered her time to many fire and rescue organizations and rose through the ranks in the Port Royal Volunteer Fire Department to captain and life member. She worked as a 911 dispatcher for Caroline County since 1993. She married Mike in April 1994 and had a beautiful son in January 1995.

She is survived by her husband, Mike, and son Kyle; her father, Ronnie “Nubby” Newton Sr. and his wife, Kathy, of Stafford County; her stepfather, Buck Caldwell of Port Royal; a sister, Rhonda Parrish and her husband, Scotty, and their three sons, Bradley, Christopher and Cody, of Henderson, N.C.; three brothers, Ronnie Newton Jr. and his wife, Kathy, and their two sons, Dylan and Ryan, of Ladysmith, Dana Newton, and his friend, Kaci, and Baby Collin of Stafford, and Justin Newton of Stafford; her maternal grandmother, Margie Serrett of Woodford; her paternal grandparents, George and Ruby Newton of Stafford; and three stepbrothers, Chris Caldwell of Florida, Patrick Caldwell of Kentucky and Jason Carter of Kentucky. She was preceded in death by her son Jonathon Newton and her mother, Betty S. Caldwell.

A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 11, at Bowling Green Baptist Church with the Rev. Willis Dempsey officiating. Burial will follow in Greenlawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, March 10, at Storke Funeral Home, Bowling Green.

The family requests that memorial contributions be made to a fund established for Kyle Reedal, c/o Union Bank & Trust, Box 446, Bowling Green, Va. 22427, or at any Union Bank & Trust branch.

Sign register book online at storkefuneralhome.com.

Read the whole thing before you leave a death threat…

AP via Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia law takes aim at adults who French kiss minors:

Adults who French kiss a child younger than 13 would be required to register as a sex offender under legislation passed out of the General Assembly on Saturday.

Those convicted of tongue-kissing a child would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

The House passed the legislation 96-1 and the Senate 39-0. It now heads to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Del. Riley Ingram, R-Hopewell, introduced the legislation on behalf of a woman whose 10-year-old daughter was French-kissed by the 62-year-old husband of her babysitter. The only crime prosecutors could charge the man with was contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which did not require that he register as a sex offender.

What parent allows their 10 year-old daughter to be French-kissed by a 62 year-old without someone ending up dead?

And according to my reading of § 18.2-371, contributing to the delinquency of a minor would not apply: § 18.2-371:

Any person 18 years of age or older, including the parent of any child, who (i) willfully contributes to, encourages, or causes any act, omission, or condition which renders a child delinquent, in need of services, in need of supervision, or abused or neglected as defined in § 16.1-228, or (ii) engages in consensual sexual intercourse with a child 15 or older not his spouse, child, or grandchild, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Regardless, it’s only a Class 1 misdemeanor and no registration as a sex offender to have sexual intercourse with someone 15, 16, or 17 years of age.

Ingram and other members of the House fought to make the crime a felony, but in the final day of the 2008 General Assembly session gave in to senators who thought that punishment was too harsh.

Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, cast the lone opposing vote, refusing to back down from his belief that the crime should be a Class 6 felony.

“I think that type of behavior is so egregious it warrants a felony,” Hamilton said.

Ingram said he was satisfied that a conviction would land someone on the sex offender registry.

Here are the sex crimes that are considered Class 1 misdemeanors, items marked with an asterisk (*) indicated the offense would not require registration as a sex offender, items marked with a dagger (†) only require registration and are felonies on third offense:

  • indecent exposure† (§ 18.2-387)
  • consensual intercourse
    • with child 15 years old or older [also known as contributing to the delinquency of a minor]† § 18.2-371
  • masturbation in public* §18.2-387.1
  • photographing nonconsenting nude person in restroom, etc.
    • photographing adult† § 18.2-386.1
  • prostitution:
    • assisting in transporting* § 18.2-348
    • bawdy place:
      • maintaining/frequenting* § 18.2-347
    • generally* § 18.2-346
    • give information to enable prostitution* § 182.-348
    • offering money for sex* § 18.2-348
    • procurement:
      • generally* § 18.2-348
    • solicitation of prostitution* § 18.2-346
    • transporting to place of prostitution* § 18.2-348
    • vehicle, owner permitting use* § 18.2-349
  • sexual battery [requires three convictions or one conviction “where the victim is a minor or is physically helpless or mentally incapacitated as defined in § 18.2-67.10” for registration as a sex offender]:
    • generally § 18.2-67.4
    • inmate being victim § 18.2-67.4
    • parolee being victim § 18.2-67.4
    • pretrial offender being the victim § 18.2-67.4
    • posttrial offender being the victim § 18.2-67.4
    • probationer being the victim § 18.2-67.4
  • solicitation of prostitution* § 18.2-346

Sources: Appendix B of Virginia’s Magistrate’s Manual, § 9.1-902 of the Code of Virginia