What Do We Do NOW???

[wallflower67]

If this helps: Doug Stewart was convicted of murdering his wife Venus in 2010 despite her remains not being located. Just days ago a trooper awarded for his work on this case stated:
http://www.wwmt.com/articles/msp-1401365-newschannel-case.html

Yes, that does help. Thank you.

 

[Jacie Estes]

You guys are all wonderful. Those of you who have been getting the word out to your elected officials about VAWA, thank you so much! Keep up the good work. These unspeakable crimes don't have to happen. We know that supervised centers for visitation work to protect children.

Jacie, thanks so much for sharing your story. As a fellow survivor, what you said about the mismatched glasses and the used furniture really hit home with me. That feeling of peace that I was able to discover in our first place after I left was priceless. I want that for every abused woman and traumatized child.

Diphi, you're not selfish at all. Thank you for helping to keep Susan at the forefront of our minds over time. I read a lot of cases here on WS, but I can be found most often on the Unidentified threads. Susan is on the radar of people over there, and I do believe eventually she'll be found, and we'll do whatever we can in that forum to help bring her home. It's small comfort after all of this, but it's one thing I refuse to let Powell have the ultimate say on.

Irish_Eyes...you understand the frustration and utter helplessness that one of our 'sisters', Susan, isn't here to share in our victory over abuse. Those of us who have come through it would move heaven and earth to have her and others like her, here, free and alive. That her babies are now gone makes it that much more sorrowful; they should all be here, not just us. Our counsellors would tell us it is a survivors' guilt but we know better. Susan, Charlie and Braden deserved so much more; we wanted that for them. Now we can only take comfort that they are together again but still it is so damned unfair. What is left now is to fight for those who still need help. There are more people out there who need a hand extended to them; we can extend that hand to them to get them out of a desperate situation.

National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−SAFE (7233) or TTY 1−800−787−3224

 

[jmarple]

Yes, you have always been here, keeping the spot warm. I joined WS because of this case. I have believed JP to be guilty from the very beginning. I checked these pages every day, hoping, praying for some kind of miracle or at least that her body be found so her parents can at least know what happened and put her to rest. I am heartbroken over this.

I, too, joined WS because of this case. It is heartbreaking! I am a local here in Washington and have friends and family who know Susan and her family. We are all devastated.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Apparently, JP WAS ordered to have his visits at a supervised center originally. He was able to convince the judge at a later point to have the visits moved to his house because of his notoriety. I'm guessing the argument was that he was recieving looks/comments from others who used the center and felt that might harm the children.

I wasn't there, so I don't know the extent of his arguments and of the families opposition to those arguments, if any. Certainly words can hurt, and children are definitely affected by such things. Even if nothing is directly said, children are pretty intuitive.

However, a child who is in a supervised visitation situation under these circumstances had a lot more to be fearful of than mere words. The risk of physical harm should have been weighed against the risk of emotional harm. In a case like this, where the father had been named a person of interest by LE in the probable death of the children's mother, I think the risk of physical harm has to be considered to be significant.

Kimster has opened a discussion thread on how to balance the rights of a parent to have a relationship with their children with the right of a child to be shielded from violence and its effects - worth checking out.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Received an e-mail response from Senator Sherrod Brown's office. The response just said thank you for your opinion, while not really answering the question I asked as to whether Senator Brown would vote for, or even consider sponsoring, VAWA.

Any of you all in Ohio want to help him make up his mind??? )

 

[rockyriver]

Thank you for this post. I have also sent an e-mail to Senator Sherrod Brown to fully support and fund VAWA and am waiting for a reply.