CA - Child 🤬🤬🤬🤬 charges against John Mark Karr dismissed

[i.b.nora]

Karr rejects plea deal

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, September 21, 2006

(09-21) 14:56 PDT SANTA ROSA -- John Mark Karr, whose confession in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey was deemed bogus, has rejected a deal offered by Sonoma County prosecutors that would have set him free in exchange for a guilty plea in a child case, his lawyer said today.

The offer would have required Karr to plead guilty to two of the five misdemeanor counts of possessing child that he was arrested for five years ago when he lived in Petaluma.

The offer, made by Joan Risse, the chief deputy district attorney, would have put Karr on three years' probation and required him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. In exchange, he would have been released from jail.

"My client has maintained his innocence throughout these proceedings, and he is not going to plead guilty to a crime that he did not commit," said Karr's lawyer, Robert Amparan. "We have no intention of accepting that offer."

"Amparan, meanwhile, said he intends to hold prosecutors to the Oct. 3 trial date.

"As long as my client remains in custody, we are going to seek the earliest possible date for trial," he said. "Jail is especially difficult when there are restrictions placed on you for security reasons, as is the case with my client.""

 

[panthera]

Thanks so much for posting the latest news! I've been quite busy the last few days and haven't had the time to check on the updates. Not a surprise that he'd reject the plea deal considering his proclaimation of innocence. This should be interesting now with a Oct. 3 trial date and a missing computer. I wouldn't want to be the prosecutor right now!

 

[scandi]

OMG Too :laugh: or pathetic , depending on how you look at it! I was watching Greta and had to get up out of bed to post this. In the prelude to her spot on Karr tonight, she said

His attorney calls him a Southern Gentleman;
You might be calling him your Neighbor !



Scandi

 

[Camper]

OMG Too :laugh: or pathetic , depending on how you look at it! I was watching Greta and had to get up out of bed to post this. In the prelude to her spot on Karr tonight, she said

His attorney calls him a Southern Gentleman;
You might be calling him your Neighbor !

Scandi

--->>>Noted and digested Scandi. HE donut want to register as a SEX pervert. He wants to roam as free as a bird.

I am so sorry for his three young sons.

.

 

[2sisters]

While I believe Karr is a very sick and perverted man and should probably be institutionalized, he has never been accused of child molesting as the thread title states.[/QUOTE/]

Anyone who enjoys child is a molester in my book. Maybe (and this is a big maybe) he hasn't touched a child physically, but being turned on by child porography can only lead to that and I am sure in this case it already has. he has publicly stated that he is attracted to little girls. Anyways, here is an update on this story.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215110,00.html
John Mark Karr Rejects Plea Deal in Child Case
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — One-time JonBenet murder suspect John Mark Karr rejected a deal from prosecutors that would have freed him on probation in exchange for a guilty plea on child charges, his lawyer said Thursday

 

[mssheila]

Wasn't his behavior suspicious in Thailand? I thought that's why the Thai officials had given him the deporation status as "an undesirable"... or whatever. Correct me if I am wrong. I remember reading that the people who were staking him out had observed him acting "innappropriately" in the classroom where he had just started teaching, and that's why they decided to move so quickly. I believe it was Mary Lacy who said it.

 

[Elberethe]

:laugh: :laugh:
"My client has maintained his innocence throughout these proceedings, and he is not going to plead guilty to a crime that he did not commit," said Karr's lawyer, Robert Amparan. "We have no intention of accepting that offer."

:doh:

 

[Nova]

Anyone who enjoys child is a molester in my book. Maybe (and this is a big maybe) he hasn't touched a child physically, but being turned on by child porography can only lead to that and I am sure in this case it already has. he has publicly stated that he is attracted to little girls.

I enjoy having money to spend. Doesn't make me a thief.

If we are going to say that having a desire is the same - legally - as acting on that desire, then there will be no incentive for one to restrain one's behavior.

(Possession of child is a grayer area. Looks like the legal system will run its course.)

 

[panthera]

OMG Too :laugh: or pathetic , depending on how you look at it! I was watching Greta and had to get up out of bed to post this. In the prelude to her spot on Karr tonight, she said

His attorney calls him a Southern Gentleman;
You might be calling him your Neighbor !



Scandi

OMG that Greta has a way with words!!!
:laugh: :laugh:

 

[2sisters]

I enjoy having money to spend. Doesn't make me a thief.

If we are going to say that having a desire is the same - legally - as acting on that desire, then there will be no incentive for one to restrain one's behavior.

(Possession of child is a grayer area. Looks like the legal system will run its course.)

I see your point but enjoying money and enjoying child are 2 very different things. There is a reason his ex wife tried to keep his children from him. i totally understand what you were getting at but this man deserves no slack from any of us.

 

[Bobbisangel]

I really can't believe they're giving this guy anything after the runaround he gave LE in Boulder, CO.

I have to hand it to the guy though...he avoided jail time overseas in a foreign country and did it in style: first class flight with champaign.

If you run you are rewarded. That is the way our justice system works.

 

[Details]

Posessing child is a crime - and fleeing the country to avoid court is one too - I'm glad he's going to court on this - let's get the truth out there.


He's still a pedophile to me, just because of the ages of his wives, and his behavior towards them.

 

[aussieblue]

Wasn't his behavior suspicious in Thailand? I thought that's why the Thai officials had given him the deporation status as "an undesirable"... or whatever. Correct me if I am wrong. I remember reading that the people who were staking him out had observed him acting "innappropriately" in the classroom where he had just started teaching, and that's why they decided to move so quickly. I believe it was Mary Lacy who said it.

Nope you're wrong. The Thai's actually said he was never on their radar until the Americans contacted them. They arrested him only because of the info the Americans gave them (he was held for the American LE).

They did check with the school/s after they got the American info and checked out his hotel/apartment etc.
I watched a interview with some of the staff at the place where he lived. They stated that he never had anyone visit him and that he sat at the same table every night for his meal etc. He had staff clean his room everyday and they said he was very habitual (they said that was very weird).

In the same interview they talked to some mothers of the kids he taught and they said they didn't like him to much because he was so strict on the kids.
To strict for their ages. Their kids and others were talked to by the police and school staff and there was no sign that he was ever inappropriate with any of them.
They also mentioned that they checked all his computer usage (home,school etc)

~aussieblue

 

[aussieblue]

While I believe Karr is a very sick and perverted man and should probably be institutionalized, he has never been accused of child molesting as the thread title states.

Totally agree with you Maral

~aussieblue

 

[lighthouselover]

lhl, from that article:

Edmonds said detectives haven't found evidence on Karr's other computers.

A laptop returned with Karr from Thailand is in the hands of federal authorities, and Sonoma County detectives are working with them to determine whether there may be any evidentiary value in it, Edmonds said.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/NEWS/609200304/1033/NEWS01http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/NEWS/609200304/1033/NEWS01

The very fact that Karr had another computer was a violation of his bail agreement. The fact that he accessed the internet to email Tracey was yet another violation. Why was he not charged with that as soon as he was returned? That would have been instant conviction, especially since the agreement he signed and therefore agreed that any violation would be the same as him pleading guilty and he would serve at least six months.

Instant conviction, that although a misdemeanor, would still show up on a background check. Sonoma only needed to show that he had a computer in violation of his bail agreement. Karr would have automatically been sentenced to at least six months. During that time, the laptop could/would have been examined and should anything be found, they would know exactly where Karr was.

And Sonoma practically begs him to plead guilty to TWO of the FIVE images, with no mention of any bail violations? As it stands now, he'll probably be acquitted of he 2001 charges and free to go wherever he pleases. And should the Thailand computer yield any evidence of a crime, do you honestly think they'll be able to find him?

This is why I firmly believe the Thailand laptop is missing also and it is not in the hands of either the feds or Sonoma.

 

[i.b.nora]

Sheriff orders probe into handling of Karr case, evidence
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Saturday, Sep 23, 2006

By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

"Sonoma County Sheriff Bill Cogbill has launched an investigation into his department's handling of the John Mark Karr case, with an emphasis on how evidence was handled - and lost."

and

"Cogbill's disclosure of the investigation into the high-profile case comes in light of the Sheriff Department's admission this week that it lost a computer belonging to Karr that reportedly contained images depicting children in sexual situations.

Officials said the computer may have been accidentally thrown out with more than 40,000 other items of evidence when the department changed buildings in 2002.

Printed copies of five images that led to the charges and a detailed report of the hard drive contents were retained, officials said.

Cogbill said Friday that the loss of a key piece of evidence caused him to open an internal investigation.

But he acknowledged other issues have come to his attention that prompted him to expand the scope of the inquiry going back to 2001 when Karr originally was arrested. Cogbill would not elaborate, citing the Karr court case and potential personnel matters.

"We found there were some mistakes made, so let's look at the whole case," he said.

Investigators so far have found no problems with the original arrest, Cogbill said.

"The original report looked pretty good - the arrest, the gathering of the information at the time. So far we haven't found anything inappropriate," he said.

An investigation team that includes managers is leading the inquiry, Cogbill said. The department's internal affairs unit is on "standby" should any violations of policy merit disciplinary action, he said.

The department also may request a formal separate audit of its procedures and may hire an outside team to examine its evidence management techniques, he said.

"We are looking at bringing in someone from the outside who is an expert in evidence storage to make sure that we are doing everything possible," he said.

Karr's attorneys have said they believe the missing computer may contain evidence that clears Karr."

 

[i.b.nora]

Karr unlikely to serve more jail time
San Francisco Chronicle
Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, September 23, 2006

"John Mark Karr, 41, has already served almost all the time he could get if he were convicted of 5-year-old misdemeanor charges of possessing sexually explicit photographs of children, said Larry Scoufos, the assistant district attorney in Sonoma County.

"By the time this gets to trial, he will have served all the time that the law permits," Scoufos said.

Prosecutors are pursuing the case mainly so Karr will register as a sex offender, he said. Karr would have to do so if convicted, and that would show up on background checks should he apply for a job in a field involving children, Scoufos said.

Karr served about six months in jail after sheriff's deputies allegedly found five child- pictures on his computer in 2001, when he was a schoolteacher in Petaluma. He skipped town after being released on his own recognizance.

Combined with the time he has spent behind bars since confessing last month to killing 6-year-old JonBenet in Colorado in 1996, Karr has been in jail a few weeks short of eight months. Scoufos said that if a jury convicted Karr of the child- charges, the most he could be sentenced to is one year.

"Typically on a one-year sentence, if you get all the credits you are entitled to, you would be released after serving eight months," Scoufos said."

 

[txsvicki]

Karr just hasn't been caught molesting a child. I still think that he has molested and probably murdered a child before. Any police dept. that would lose the evidence probably wouldn't even be competent to link Karr to any other crimes. I'm beginning to wonder if Johnny Gosch's mother Noreen isn't right about her allegations. Too many pedophiles are just given slaps on the hand, and yes, I would still call privately fantasizing about a child and looking at the but never acting on it, a dangerous pedophile.

 

[Floh]

It certainly would appear too many paedophiles aren't dealt with legally as they ought to be. however, as far as people know Karr is not a child molester - LEGALLY!

there are countries which imprison people with no legal reason, let America not become one of them.

a second point i'd like to make is he wasn't deported by the Thais to The USA first class, it was on a $6K business class ticket.

the fact he "sipped champagne, dined on fried king prawns and roast duck" may be gaulling, but it's neither here nor there as it comes with the price of a business class ticket. a ticket which Karr didn't elect to have, but which L.E. elected to spring for. so if Karr's tickets were $6K, that would make the same price for each of the detectives accompanying him in business class - not sure how many.

my understanding is he wasn't under arrest until he was set back in the United States.

Karr may disgust me, but everything must be done according to the law of the land. would you vote to rescind the Bill of Rights?

 

[kazzbar]

It certainly would appear too many paedophiles aren't dealt with legally as they ought to be. however, as far as people know Karr is not a child molester - LEGALLY!

there are countries which imprison people with no legal reason, let America not become one of them.

a second point i'd like to make is he wasn't deported by the Thais to The USA first class, it was on a $6K business class ticket.

the fact he "sipped champagne, dined on fried king prawns and roast duck" may be gaulling, but it's neither here nor there as it comes with the price of a business class ticket. a ticket which Karr didn't elect to have, but which L.E. elected to spring for. so if Karr's tickets were $6K, that would make the same price for each of the detectives accompanying him in business class - not sure how many.

my understanding is he wasn't under arrest until he was set back in the United States.

Karr may disgust me, but everything must be done according to the law of the land. would you vote to rescind the Bill of Rights?

Good post , Floh. If we all tried people for what they "might' do there would not be enough jails to hold them! .It is tough to know what should be done with him. Family need to get him some pshychiatric help but if he refuses then he cannot be forced.I hope someone keeps a close eye on him.