Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012 Page: 9 of 10
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www.crowleystar.net
Thursday, December 20, 2012 ★ Crowley Star ★ Page 9
LEGISLATION
Child advocate groups praise more stringent law
By BRIAN PORTER
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
Those engaged in the fight
against child pornography, sexual
predators and human traffickers are
raving about a new federal law that
provides for a stiffer penalty and
help to courts and law enforcement.
The Child Protection Act of
2012, sponsored by U.S. Sen. John
Cornyn, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. La-
mar Smith, R-San Antonio, among
others, will enhance federal, state,
and local efforts to bring offenders
to justice. It increases the penalty
for the possession of child pornog-
raphy depicting a minor under age
12 from 10 to 20 years imprison-
ment.
“I think people need to under-
stand you don’t get here by acci-
dent,” said Tammy King, executive
director of the Johnson County
Children’s Advocacy Center.
An offender in possession of
child pornography gets it through
websites where photos are embed-
ded, she explained.
“It’s horrible,” King said. “I can’t
even think how many thousands
and thousands of child pornogra-
phy sites there are.”
Other elements of the new law
include authorization for U.S. Mar-
shals to issue administrative sub-
poenas to obtain time-sensitive
documents in their investigation of
fugitive sex offenders and a require-
ment for federal judges to issue a
protective order for child witnesses
who are harassed or intimidated by
attorneys for their abuser or traf-
ficker.
“We need to provide law en-
forcement with every tool they
need to crack down on the most
vile criminals - child sex preda-
tors and traffickers - and protect
the innocent young people who fall
victim to these heinous crimes,”
Cornyn said. “I’m pleased to say
this was the product of bipartisan
work and wide support from both
sides of the aisle in Congress, and
I’m glad to see the President quick-
ly signed this measure into law to
bring greater justice and protection
to victims and allow law enforce-
ment to take immediate steps to
stop child predators and traffickers
in their tracks.”
Currently, the maximum prison
term for the possession of child por-
nography depicting minors 18 years
of age and younger is to years. The
new law stiffens the penalty for
child pornography of victims ages
12 and younger.
Another element of the new
law is reauthorization of funds for
the Internet Crimes Against Chil-
dren Task Forces, which train ex-
ecutive and judicial officials how
to deal with cases of child sexual
abuse.
“Protecting Texas children from
online predators and child pornog-
raphers is my top priority,” said
Texas Attorney General Greg Ab-
bot. “With predators increasingly
utilizing technology to prey upon
children, it is critically important
for law enforcement to gain new
tools in our battle to protect Texas
children.”
Since the launch of Texas’ Cyber
Crimes Unit in 2003, state investi-
gators have arrested 304 criminals
for child pornography and using the
Internet to prey on children. Anoth-
er 1,247 child sexual predators have
been arrested by the attorney gen-
eral’s Fugitive Unit. Together the
Cyber Crimes and Fugitive Units
have arrested 1,551 child sexual
predators since 2003.
“In child pornography cases, well
more than 90 percent of victims are
never identified,” King said. “But
several children have been iden-
tified through collaboration. You
see these images and see horrible
things happening, but you can’t find
them.”get rid of evidence.”
LAW ENFORCEMENT
F.W. woman
jailed for
bad check
A Fort Worth woman was
arrested on a Crowley war-
rant and a second woman
was questioned in the pass-
ing of a forged check at the
Crowley Walmart two weeks
ago.
According to a police re-
port, a man met with an of-
ficer of the Crowley Police
Department to explain that a
check was cashed at Walmart
from his account that he did
not authorize.
In investigating the case,
the Crowley PD received
video from the day and time
of the alleged incident and
Demil Lashawn Peoples was
seen attempting to alleg-
edly pass a forged check of
more than $400, the report
states.
According to the report,
the records showed that
“seven different checks were
used each with a different
Texas Driver’s license num-
ber. It was also clear that the
cashier was working with the
suspect.”
The report indicates that
Peoples and the cashier,
who hasn’t been charged,
went to high school togeth-
er. The cashier stated that
“Demil would randomly text
her and ask if she was at
work.”
In the report the cashier
also stated Peoples would
always go through her line
because Peoples knew the
cashier “wouldn’t ques-
tion her about the different
checks.”
The cashier also stated
that she knew what Peoples
was doing was illegal and
claims the only benefit she
received from helping Peo-
ples was a single package of
diapers, the report states.
Peoples was later ques-
tioned by police and said
“she had fallen on hard times
a few months back and began
using stolen and or forged
checks for food, clothes, and
the essentials,” the report in-
dicates.
LADY:
FROM PAGE 1
his cellphone, but later de-
leted it.
The release says one of
the suspects made a full con-
fession and led officers to the
scene of the crime. Wallace
said the bloody bat, bloody
knife and bloody clothing
were found in a shallow hole
approximately 100 yards
from the scene.
The body of the dog was
never recovered.
The report says Mayden
made a walk-through at the
Tarrant County Jail Tuesday,
and Clark was arrested in his
home in Crowley Tuesday
evening.
If convicted, the crime,
which is a felony, carries the
maximum of two years in a
state jail but no less than six
months and a fine not to ex-
ceed $10,000.
JAY HINTON/CROWLEY STAR
Ryan Wiggs, second from right, a sixth-grade teacher at Sue Crouch Intermediate was named the Crowley ISD Heartbeat Team
Award recipient for the month of December. Dr. Trent Lovette, left, chief of school operations, Cayla Bland, principal at Sue Crouch,
and Dr. Dan Powell, superintendent of Crowley ISD, make the presentation Tuesday.
Toys
for Tots
Summer Creek Middle
School cheerleaders Char-
lotte Schuetze, left, and Jor-
dan Williams sort through
the more than 400 toys
donated during their Toys
for Tots event at the North
Crowley Ninth Campus last
Saturday afternoon.
COURTESY PHOTO
CISDAG-STUDENTOFTHEWEEK
Meg Middlebrook
Parents: Alison and Mike Middle-
brook
Grade/School: Senior/ North Crow-
ley High School
Adviser: Kady Donaghey
FFA activities: Raising a market goat
(named Goatilocks); Public Relations
Leadership Development Event.
Other activities: Works at Mira Vista
Golf Course as a "bag staff" managing
landscape; NCHS cheerleader; NCHS
choir.
Future plans:"After high I plan on at-
tending Texas State University and pur-
sue a career in nursing. I want to be an
Emergency Room nurse."
Favorite FFA memory: "I love FFA
and I'm so glad to be involved. I wish I
had joined when I was a freshman. Going
to state for the Public Relations competi-
tion was my favorite memory. It was so
fun to make it that far and bond with my
new friends for 3 days during the time
we spent at Sam Houston State Univer-
sity. I am very proud of how far we got,
especially since it is my first year in FFA.
Reason chosen: Meg Middlebrook
has shown excellent leadership as a first
year member in the Crowley FFA. She is
a senior at North Crowley High School
and has done an excellent job being a
mentor for younger FFA members. She
competed on the State Competing Pub-
lic Relations team in which they placed
19th in the state out of 316 teams across
the State. She worked very hard to per-
fect her speaking skills and has made a
point to participate in all FFA activities.
Meg is doing an outstanding job work-
ing with her market goat project that
she will be showing at the Ft. Worth and
Tarrant County Livestock shows. Meg is
very outgoing and is a great leader for
the Crowley FFA.
The Crowley ISD ag-science student of
the week is chosen by the ag-science/FFA
advisers.
LEGISLATION
Lawmakers
to tackle
immigration
By JULISSA TREVINO
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
Local lawmakers appear
to be taking on immigration
and government assistance
requirements next year, ac-
cording to bills filed for the
upcoming 140-day 83rd Tex-
as Legislative Session.
Nearly 400 bills and reso-
lutions have been filed by leg-
islators across the state since
early November for the 2012
session. The 83rd Texas Leg-
islature convenes Jan. 8.
So far, state Rep. Bill
Zedler, R-Arlington, whose
district includes the Tarrant
County portion of Burleson,
has introduced two bills, and
state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-
Granbury, has already filed a
bill regarding government as-
sistance.
State Sen. Wendy Davis,
D-Fort Worth, whose district
includes the Tarrant County
portion of Burleson, and state
Rep. Rob Orr, R-Burleson,
have not yet filed any bills.
Zedler’s bills take on ille-
gal immigration.
HB 180 would require
public institutions of higher
education to determine the
resident status of students,
and HB 181 would prohibit
“the construction or opera-
tion by a local government en-
tity of a day labor center used
to facilitate the employment
of aliens not lawfully present
in the United States.”
A Birdwell co-authored
bill would change require-
ments for the Temporary As-
sistance for Needy Families
program.
Under the bill, each ap-
plicant, or those applying for
a child, would be required to
pass a “controlled substance
use screening assessment,”
and it would require retailers
to ensure that TANF funds
aren’t being used for “al-
coholic beverages, tobacco
products, lottery tickets, adult
entertainment, firearms, am-
munition and bingo.”
The bill also covers work
requirements and cuts down
on the amount of time an in-
dividual or family can receive
benefits.
The current TANF pro-
gram already requires anyone
receiving benefits to work or
perform work-related activi-
ties and limits assistance to
60 months in a recipient’s
lifetime. The program also
already requires parents to
sign a “personal responsibility
agreement” that includes not
abusing alcohol or drugs.
Birdwell will file the ma-
jority of his bills in the first
few weeks of January, said
Ben Stratmann, Birdwell’s
Chief of Staff, but his legis-
lative agenda isn’t being re-
leased yet.
“We’re trying to make sure
that constituents have enough
time to reach out to him,”
Stratmann said.
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Hinton, Jay. Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 20, 2012, newspaper, December 20, 2012; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth808377/m1/9/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.