Brooke Bennett, 12 years old Randolph VT #19

[CarpeDiem]

This is Mr Bennett's quote about her myspace page:


http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/604791185

What kind of posted text/photos(?) would have caused him to change her password? My personal interpretation was that they were of a mature nature (couldn't think of another plausible reason), and he was uncomfortable with it.

Of course I could be wrong!

We don't allow our teens to use myspace yet (don't know if we will ever), but if/when they are on there, vulgarity/swearing/fighting would be reasons they would lose the privilege.

 

[LI_Mom]

How do you make the huge leap from her dad shutting down her myspace to her being sexually active?!

Her father said he didn't like who she was talking to or something to that effect, IIRC. I think if he read her my space messages and there were some he felt came from strangers (such as MJ playing his stupid parts), then Jim did what ANY good father SHOULD do and shut it down! There is nothing to indicate he did it for ANY overt sexual reasons at all.

Phones, cell phones, IMs, PMs, emails, library computers, friends' computers, WI-FI connections....

it's IMPOSSIBLE for a parent to keep their child in a bubble these days.

Technology is here to stay. The best we can do is learn how to RECOGNIZE the way predators will also use these technologies & learn to protect our loved ones as well as ourselves.

Child AND adult.... we have a false sense of security chatting with people anonymously & it doesn't take long to develop a 'bond' with complete strangers.

We MUST rethink the definitions of stranger in this new day & age & how that affects all our lives.

 

[DianeB]

We don't allow our teens to use myspace yet (don't know if we will ever), but if/when they are on there, vulgarity/swearing/fighting would be reasons they would lose the priviledge.

I hadn't considered the profanity angle - yes, bad language could also have been the cause of her dad's action.

I don't use myspace - is there a lot of profanity on there?

 

[CarpeDiem]

Kevin G was NOT charged. Gagnon was. Correct?

I'm sorry, you said KG and I read RG. My apologies.

 

[Busylady]

I will go back and try and find the article, but IIRC he mentioned he didnt like the language and there were some people too old that he didnt know on her friends list that he wasnt comfortable with.

This is Mr Bennett's quote about her myspace page:


http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/604791185

What kind of posted text/photos(?) would have caused him to change her password? My personal interpretation was that they were of a mature nature (couldn't think of another plausible reason), and he was uncomfortable with it.

Of course I could be wrong!

 

[SeriouslySearching]

ITA!!!

This "castration" idea is brought up time & time again in order to placate the public, imo.

The brain is the most important sex organ.... maybe in the future, when science has advanced their understanding of brain functions psychosurgery will be the answer... because we certainly can't count on mentally ill or sexually deviant people to take medications.

Of course, there's that slippery slope.... in the wrong hands, power like this can be a real horror for lots of innocent people.

I am waiting on the day when science can narrow down the brain at all. We know so little about our original "computer" at this point.

Until then, locking them away or the DP is the only "cure" for pedophiles. It is obsessive thinking with a combination of innate behavior, retarded sexuality, and several psychological disorders, imo. How do they really expect to find a cure for them when we can barely cure mere depression in people?!

 

[LI_Mom]

This is Mr Bennett's quote about her myspace page:


http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/NEWS/604791185

What kind of posted text/photos(?) would have caused him to change her password? My personal interpretation was that they were of a mature nature (couldn't think of another plausible reason), and he was uncomfortable with it.

Of course I could be wrong!

If a person sets their MySpace profile to "private" then the only people who can leave pics or messages are friends you approve. And then it depends on what YOUR kid does & what kind of friends he/she has.

If you set it to public, you can get all sorts of SPAM that's not suitable for children.

I don't understand why MySpace doesn't clean up it's own act & stop allowing spam & questionable posts EXCEPT maybe in an adults only area.

It's hard to believe how kids speak these days anyway.... and I'm not talking about bad kids. Ick.

 

[InsomniacWoman]

We don't know whether Cassandra works & what HER schedule was that day. QUOTE]

I just found this news transcript on a TV3 CAX website, (not sure if this has been posted here earlier):

http://tv3.wcax.com/n/sat6p.htm

But in part there is a quote (among many) by Cassandra as saying: "Gagnon: "They have no idea. I could have been right next to her and someone could have grabbed her. I was at work and I knew where my children were. They always talk to me, so if people want to judge me, that's their choice, but to hell with them."

What I'm puzzled about is if Cassandra means she was at work on June 25th.
Then again, she probably was. She also mentions that she never allowed her daughter to visit MJ's house if another adult wasn't present.

As I've said, I'm not sure if the quotes from TV3 CAX website had been posted earlier here, I just found it now, after doing a Google search on Cassandra's name, to see if something came up as to if she worked and where.

 

[DianeB]

I will go back and try and find the article, but IIRC he mentioned he didnt like the language and there were some people too old that he didnt know on her friends list that he wasnt comfortable with.

But wouldn't that be all the more reason that LE would want to know whether she was sexually active? Wasn't that the angle they were pursuing before she was found, that she'd run off with someone she met on myspace?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

They managed to get through to the State Lottery Commission too. The Alert was printed on all VT Lottery Tickets.

I think this is a great idea! I haven't checked to see if we do that, but we should. We sell tons of Lottery tickets and people read them. (Give away millions to get people to take notice of our missing...but if it works? Why not?)

 

[becca]

I think this is a great idea! I haven't checked to see if we do that, but we should. We sell tons of Lottery tickets and people read them. (Give away millions to get people to take notice of our missing...but if it works? Why not?)

I like that idea. I don't think we do that here. But all states with a lottery should. Its one more way to inform the public of a missing child.

 

[DianeB]

If a person sets their MySpace profile to "private" then the only people who can leave pics or messages are friends you approve. And then it depends on what YOUR kid does & what kind of friends he/she has.

Do we know if either of Brooke's myspace pages were private, or were they made private when she went missing?

 

[Busylady]

James Bennett said there had been some tension a month ago regarding Brooke's MySpace page. He actually helped her set up the page originally, but then had taken it down due to some inappropriate language. But he said overall she is really a good kid and had no reason to run away.

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=8558608&ClientType=Printable

So he had shut down the one myspace account towards the end of May. The last log on date for the account that I thought was shut down was 3/20/2008. I wonder if there was even more myspace accounts, than the 3 we knew about?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

But wouldn't that be all the more reason that LE would want to know whether she was sexually active? Wasn't that the angle they were pursuing before she was found, that she'd run off with someone she met on myspace?

While I agree with discussing things pertinent to a case to the max, I honestly don't believe that Brooke being abducted, tortured, and murdered has anything to do with if she was active or not. I don't think we need to be going there personally. Since when is a victim's prior sexual behavior part of such a case? We don't even go there when we discuss a hooker being abducted/tortured/murdered.

 

[DianeB]

But in part there is a quote (among many) by Cassandra as saying: "Gagnon: "They have no idea. I could have been right next to her and someone could have grabbed her. I was at work and I knew where my children were. They always talk to me, so if people want to judge me, that's their choice, but to hell with them."

I always thought that was a strange thing to say - how could someone grab your child from your side?

I attributed her self-defensiveness to recriminations she must have been receiving privately, and questions she was being asked by LE.

 

[LI_Mom]

I am waiting on the day when science can narrow down the brain at all. We know so little about our original "computer" at this point.

Until then, locking them away or the DP is the only "cure" for pedophiles. It is obsessive thinking with a combination of innate behavior, retarded sexuality, and several psychological disorders, imo. How do they really expect to find a cure for them when we can barely cure mere depression in people?!

I wonder if they ever CAN map out the brain completely so it can be 'tweaked.' There might be too many variables that make it impossible.

I worry if you make pedophilia a death penalty offense... does an anti-death penalty leaning legal system make it even harder to convict pedophiles?

Anyway.... another thought.... how about segregation like they used to do with leper colonies. IF this was strictly by choice & security was of the highest priority... I think that might be one way to deal with the problem in a humane way.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

James Bennett said there had been some tension a month ago regarding Brooke's MySpace page. He actually helped her set up the page originally, but then had taken it down due to some inappropriate language. But he said overall she is really a good kid and had no reason to run away.

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=8558608&ClientType=Printable

So he had shut down the one myspace account towards the end of May. The last log on date for the account that I thought was shut down was 3/20/2008. I wonder if there was even more myspace accounts, than the 3 we knew about?

Sadly, they didn't have to be myspace accounts. They could be AOL, Yahoo, etc. They could even be on sites we aren't aware of that her friends were. She could have been anywhere on the internet.

 

[Busylady]

Maybe I live in a different world, but language and having 16 or 17 yr olds on their myspace would not make me question if they were sexually active. She was 12 yrs old!!!!

But wouldn't that be all the more reason that LE would want to know whether she was sexually active? Wasn't that the angle they were pursuing before she was found, that she'd run off with someone she met on myspace?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

I wonder if they ever CAN map out the brain completely so it can be 'tweaked.' There might be too many variables that make it impossible.

I worry if you make pedophilia a death penalty offense... does an anti-death penalty leaning legal system make it even harder to convict pedophiles?

Anyway.... another thought.... how about segregation like they used to do with leper colonies. IF this was strictly by choice & security was of the highest priority... I think that might be one way to deal with the problem in a humane way.

Who cares about being humane to people who rape children?! I am for the DP all the way. I know of a cure for it...it is to put that brain out of commission for good. Either DP or Lobotomy. Or both.

 

[VTNance]

While I agree with discussing things pertinent to a case to the max, I honestly don't believe that Brooke being abducted, tortured, and murdered has anything to do with if she was active or not. I don't think we need to be going there personally. Since when is a victim's prior sexual behavior part of such a case? We don't even go there when we discuss a hooker being abducted/tortured/murdered.

It has nothing to do with Brooke's kidnap & murder. But it may have something to do with Jacques and his activities. That's how I see it, I surely don't mean any disrespect to Brooke in any way, shape or form, if I bring up such questions.