Florida Girl Beating and Hypocrisy
jan....@yahoo.com
Everyone by now heard about the Lakeland girl beating incident,
everyone has seen the video in which the Florida cheerleader is
beaten.
If you wish to understand the immense hypocrisy that has surrounded
this case from the start, read on.
American Justice in Polk County, Florida
"... this is a fantastic criminal justice system—the best in the
world. "
- Polk County Sheriff Grady
Judd, 23 Apr 2008
* In Polk County on the evening of March 30th, 2008, Cara Murphy
witnessed
a 16-year old girl being repeatedly beaten. She knew this was wrong
and yet
she failed to stop it.
# In Polk County one night in the fall of 2004, William Shepherd, a
law
enforcement officer, witnessed his boss having sex with a 16-year-old
girl.
Shepherd knew the girl was on parole and he knew that what he was
witnessing was immoral because his boss had the power to send the
girl
to prison. And yet William Shepherd did nothing to stop it and never
reported it.
* Cara Murphy probably knew the beatings were against the law;
perhaps
she even knew that she is witnessing battery, a misdemeanor.
# William Shepherd, a police officer, certainly knew that he is
witnessing
a crime, a first-degree felony -- his boss was 35 years old and
Shepherd later
said he knew the girl was only 16. Shepherd, a police officer, never
tried
to stop the felony in progress and never reported it.
* Cara Murphy knew that the victim, Victoria Lindsay, could be
seriously
hurt during the beatings. And yet Cara failed to stop the beatings.
# Shepherd knew that his boss could be blackmailing the young girl,
that
this may be a de facto rape. Shepherd knew that the girl could be
further
exploited sexually and otherwise. Shepherd knew that a man so
ruthless
might also knowingly or unknowingly infect the girl with the HIV
virus,
and so perhaps sentence her to a slow death. And yet Shepherd never
tried
to talk to the girl and find out the truth about the relationship.
* We do not yet know why Cara Murphy failed to stop the beatings.
She was in jail, then under gag order, now still under house arrest
with a long list of restrictions. And even if she speaks up now, it is
likely the most of the media will ignore what she has to say.
# We do know why William Shepherd never tried to stop the sexual
exploitation of a young girl by a police officer. William Shepherd
explained
that he felt intimidated by his boss and that he feared losing his job
if he
reported the incident.
* Polk County Sheriff's Office was informed about the beatings and
investigated them at once. One of the girls voluntarily gave the
sheriff
a recording of some of the beatings.
# Florida Department of Law Enforcement recently determined that
Shepherd‘s boss forced the 16-year old girl to have sex with him by
threatening to have her probation revoked otherwise. Shepherd told
FDLE that he knew the girl was only sixteen and that he knew that
she was on parole. Shepherd admitted that he did nothing to stop the
felony in progress and that he never reported it.
* Cara Murphy was promptly arrested.
# Shepherd was NOT promptly arrested.
* Cara Murphy was automatically withdrawn from public school after
she was charged with felony by sheriff Grady Judd.
# William Shepherd is still employed as a detective with the Polk
County
Sheriff's Office. William Shepherd was placed on paid suspension
pending
the outcome of an administrative investigation.
* Soon after the arrest of Cara, sheriff Grady Judd called a
conference
and denounced the behavior of all the girls as animalistic.
# Sheriff Grady Judd did not call a conference to denounce the
cowardice
of William Shepherd, a detective now working in his office.
* Sheriff Grady Judd and the media told millions of people that the
girls
lured Victoria into a friend's house, that they jumped her there and
that
they six to one beat her unconscious.
# A couple of local newspapers simply reported what William Shepherd
told FDLE.
* A sworn statement from the victim, Victoria Lindsay, given already
on
April 2, directly contradicts most of what sheriff Grady Judd and the
media
have told millions of people around the world.
# There is no reason to believe that anything so far reported about
William Shepherd is untrue. All that was reported is what he told
FDLE.
* Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called for drastic changes on the
Internet
so that young people are not desensitized to violence by videos hosted
on
sites such as YouTube and MySpace.
# Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd did NOT call for drastic changes in
his
own county so that young people on parole are not sexually exploited
by
law enforcement officers.
* Victoria stated under oath clearly that, "Cara did not hit me at
all". And
yet Cara Murphy was and still is charged with battery.
# William Shepherd need not worry about being charged with a crime
he did not commit. He apparently need not worry about being charged
with any crime at all.
* Cara quickly became one of the most hated girls in the world. A
huge
wave of hate rose up against her on the Internet. Many hundreds of
posters
on various forums wrote they hoped Cara will be violently beaten,
even raped
or killed. Hundreds of calls for vigilante justice listing Cara's
home phone
number and address were posted as well.
# There is no wave of hatred against William Shepherd on the
Internet.
* A video still available on Google Video and AOL Video shows Cara's
photo
along with her home address and urges the viewers to "do your worst".
It is
just one of many such videos, and the targets include the 14-year-old
child
April Cooper. Sheriff Grady Judd did NOT express any fear that such
videos
may desensitize people to violence against children.
# There are no videos on the Internet showing a photo of William
Shepherd
along with his address and urging people to "do your worst".
* When families of the accused girls started receiving death threats,
they
were reportedly refused any help by Polk County law enforcement. An
open
letter in the local newspaper asked the sheriff to speak up against
vigilante
justice. At a time when the media listened to Sheriff Grady Judd's
every word,
the sheriff ignored the plea and chose not to call for any restraint.
# William Shepherd need not worry about any death threats.
* Cara Murphy is likely to be beaten up within the next five years by
young people prone to violence because these people were told the lie
that
she jumped someone together with five other girls and beat her
unconscious,
and because law enforcement and the media have sent a clear signal
that
they do not care about the safety of Cara Murphy. Unlike Victoria
Lindsay,
Cara may suffer permanent injuries from the attack. And the media will
probably never report it.
# William Shepherd need not need worry about being beaten for his
cowardice.
* The victim stated that, "Cara Murphy is not saying much at this
point,
I think she feels bad”.
# We do not know if William Shepherd felt bad when he saw a police
office
sexually exploit a sixteen-year-old girl on parole.
* Cara's lawyer recently said that Cara did try to stop the beatings
but failed.
Cara tried to do so several times verbally and once physically. Only a
single
journalist reported this.
# William Shepherd admitted he never tried to stop the felony in
progress.
* Cara Murphy, a juvenile, has been charged as an adult with a
misdemeanor
battery and a felony kidnapping. She faces life in prison.
# William Shepherd is on paid suspension.
Cara Murphy may have to serve time in an adult prison. So may April
Cooper
and Kayla Hassel. After prison the girls will be on parole. Perhaps
they will be
sexually exploited by Polk County law enforcement officers and perhaps
William
Shepherd will be there to discreetly witness their rape.
April Cooper is 14. Kayla Hassel is 15. Cara Murphy is 16.
-----
Some of the Sources:
Video: Sheriff Discusses the Beating
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080408/NEWS/417248312
Victoria Lindsay Beating Statement
http://www.theledger.com/article/20080423/BREAKING/715147272/1039
Sheriff's Deputy Arrested on Sexual Battery, Other Charges
http://www.theledger.com/article/20070822/BREAKING/70822002
---
P.S.
No journalist has been willing to simply point out that most
of what law enforcement told the media is directly contradicted by
what the victim said under oath. No journalist is willing to tell the
truth -- that law enforcement in Polk County has intentionally
mislead the media and even told them outright lies.
No journalist is willing to point out that law enforcement has
deliberately acted in ways that endanger the lives of children
and that it refuses to do anything to protect the children.
No journalist has been willing to point out the immense hypocrisy
that allows children to be treated far more harshly by the judicial
system than adult law enforcement officers are treated by it.
If you can help, then please do. Do not be like William Shepherd,
do not just watch when children are judicially raped.
===
mick...@gmail.com
I am sorry to see you compare it to the William Shepherd incident.
First, I was a child that was beat repeatedly by classmates and upper
classmates, just because I was the one picked for the semester. A
whole class and a half would circle the gravel and take turns hitting/
punching me and throwing me down to the sharp gravel below. Teachers
would round the corner and see, and then turn back as if they didn't
see my beatings. I hadn't done anything to "earn" the beatings ...
rather, I was shy and quiet normally, but had made the mistake of
singing "Country Roads" with a friend during a talent contest for our
class, which got me noticed enough to be picked as the one who would
be beat and harassed the rest of the year ... including having my
lunches ruined or spilled.
Why am I saying this? Only to say that I have forgiven not only the
teachers that turned away, but have forgiven the students who beat and
harassed me. I have become a better person as a result.
I am NOT saying that violent behavior or lies are warranted nor should
they be tolerated. They should not. They should be dealt with.
I am saying that the William Shepherd incident and the beating
incident are 2 different things that need to be dealt with in 2
different ways. I am also saying that I do not know why Cara Murphy
failed to stop or help a beating, or why William Shepherd didn't
report the sexual crime. But, I also do not know why I allow certain
things to slide either. Or, if I was put into such situation, would I
do the right thing? I always hope that I would ... but, there are
times I surprise myself and do not do what I should do. I have
secrets. (No, I have not murdered, raped, or witnessed such crimes.)
You have secrets. You, too, are not perfect. You do not want people to
know certain things about you. Please, let it go. For your sake, let
it go. Do not let it eat you. I know only too well what it is to let
something like that eat at me, anger me, and make me ill. But, I also
know what forgiveness and understanding does for not only the guilty,
but for the victim.