This exchange is an excerpt from Sex Offender Issues, an Interview with Patty Wetterling-June 27, 2008-From the book "Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions" The interview is conducted by Richard Wright.
Wright: As you know, the media has a major impact on all of these stories. There are times when the media can report on sexual offending in a very thoughtful way, in a very deliberate way, and there are times when they can be very sensational. Can you think of examples from your experience where the media dealt very well with Jacob's disappearance or in some cases where they dealt very poorly with it?
Wetterling: We had one TV station which did a series. It was a 5-night series on the problem, the victims, the perpetrators, the hopes. Actually it might have had one part on solutions or treatments and the hope. They really took time to show the depth of it. It was really, really well done and very thoughtful. We did a lot of shows on the national level, too, that were hour-long programs, that I thought delved into the reality that we as families are facing and the challenges. My basic statement for years has been somebody knows who took Jacob, somebody did this and you know, somebody knows. They may have a piece of information that we still need. We have got to find the man who took Jacob. There is somebody out there who steals kids. He's got my son. Did he do it again? I don't know.
I'm not soft on these guys, but I just know that they're not all the same. They're not all the same and we can't treat them as such. There was one time when a man was arrested in St. Paul. My mother called, we were all up at the lake, and she said, "There's a break in your case." I said, "I don't think so. I've talked to the sheriff's department. They know where we are and they haven't called." She said, "Well they've been promoting it all day on TV. There's a break in your case. Watch the news tonight." So we did.
This man was arrested in St. Paul and they said that he had knowledge of Jacob's kidnapping. The media said that when the police did a search they found *advertiser censored*. They found a digital camera. They found movies. They found clothing. They found a container which appeared to be a container with testicles. They said that the suspect had been involved in a search for Jacob done at Fort Snelling. I'm sitting there with kids and I'm like, "What the hell?" I was livid. I was livid, because, first of all, that our sheriffs didn't know about it. The sheriff didn't call because he didn't know about this media report.
The St. Paul police officer didn't seal the search warrants. The reporter didn't verify their facts. The testicles were dog testicles. I was really worried about my other son. He wasn't with us; he was staying with a friend. I was so scared Trevor was going to watch and see that report, and what would Trevor think? I didn't sleep for days.
It was absolutely glamorizing the horrible act that could have happened. We went through 6 months of anxiety because the man who had been arrested had a boy's jock strap. We went through 6 months of waiting for DNA. Today they act like you get DNA back in 10 minutes or in an hour. We waited 6 months, and that's still not uncommon
I'm wondering if the Fort Snelling comment is in reference to Weiss but also curious that the sheriff's dept was unaware of this
Yep, that is David Paul Weiss. Also - I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my original post about Weiss - but I want to point out that he had a handgun violation in addition to the charges of molesting young boy(s).
Just in the news (in MN), and the latter link was a response shortly after. I know this doesent have any connection to JW, but never the less..it is someone to keep in the back of your mind if you follow other cases in MN. Ya never know! If posting these links are not appropriate to post here, then by all means someone can delete them.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...sight-for-years-retired-quietly-to-new-prague
http://thecatholicspirit.com/archdi...om+(Latest+Content+from+TheCatholicSpirit.com)
I graduated from Catholic High School. I can tell you from first hand experience, the church will lean on the faithful in LE to "sweep things under the rug" or "turn a blind eye" It has been going on for many years. They can apply a lot of pressure and guilt upon an individual.
An example of how they insulates children from the monsters is abundantly clear when you consider St. John Vianney Center is located directly across the road from Bishop Shanahan High School.
http://www.sjvcenter.org/index.php
You could not put the two closer together if you tried, with the exception of the same room.
In my personal opinion, it violates the law putting sex offenders in proximity to school children, yet here it is, right in plain sight and not a word is uttered in protest.
A bitter point with me.
Trackergd,
Are you still a practicing Catholic?
I read in our local newspaper last week that MN will be releasing sex offenders from Moose Lake into a facility adjacent to a neighborhood....if heaven forbid, something happens to a child, who is liable for this?
Just in the news (in MN), and the latter link was a response shortly after. I know this doesent have any connection to JW, but never the less..it is someone to keep in the back of your mind if you follow other cases in MN. Ya never know! If posting these links are not appropriate to post here, then by all means someone can delete them.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/di...sight-for-years-retired-quietly-to-new-prague
http://thecatholicspirit.com/archdi...om+(Latest+Content+from+TheCatholicSpirit.com)
snipped by meI think MPR has more clout and research devices than we likely do. I hope they take the priest scandal even further and try to link it to JW and JG disappearances. Maybe we can contact MPR to see if they can help connect the dots.
One other thing regarding 'connecting the dots'....this is simply an analogy....in the days prior to the Titanic sinking, the wireless radio operator received many many ice warnings from various ships in the area. As wireless was a new invention and only a convenience, the passengers personal messages trumped any messages from other ships. The wireless operator never transmitted the ice warnings to the captain. Had these messages been forwarded to the bridge and plotted on their course they would have seen that they were entering a field of icebergs. My point being: there's a long sequence of messages on WS...lots of valuable 'dots' of information....is there any way to compile this information so that rather than going back in previous threads to retrieve one piece of information....could there be a 'clearinghouse' of organized info? I ask because it appears to me that this forum is simply a chronological sequence of postings(valuable though they may be) but nothing that allows posters to access basic information already researched + documented. For example, their could be a category of 'suspects' or maps or theories, timeline, etc. Maybe it's not possible on this forum and some of you posters with great computer skills may have an answer....but was just thinking that if all of the 'dots' were arranged to date, maybe a picture would start to emerge.....just an idea for consideration.
One other thing regarding 'connecting the dots'....this is simply an analogy....in the days prior to the Titanic sinking, the wireless radio operator received many many ice warnings from various ships in the area. As wireless was a new invention and only a convenience, the passengers personal messages trumped any messages from other ships. The wireless operator never transmitted the ice warnings to the captain. Had these messages been forwarded to the bridge and plotted on their course they would have seen that they were entering a field of icebergs. My point being: there's a long sequence of messages on WS...lots of valuable 'dots' of information....is there any way to compile this information so that rather than going back in previous threads to retrieve one piece of information....could there be a 'clearinghouse' of organized info? I ask because it appears to me that this forum is simply a chronological sequence of postings(valuable though they may be) but nothing that allows posters to access basic information already researched + documented. For example, their could be a category of 'suspects' or maps or theories, timeline, etc. Maybe it's not possible on this forum and some of you posters with great computer skills may have an answer....but was just thinking that if all of the 'dots' were arranged to date, maybe a picture would start to emerge.....just an idea for consideration.