FL - Police Chief Daniel Saylor for child rape coverup, Windermere, 2011

[Steely Dan]

Link

Florida police chief charged with thwarting rape case against friend
By John Couwels, CNN
January 13, 2011 11:12 a.m. EST

...Windermere, Florida, Police Chief Daniel Saylor, 44, was arrested Wednesday morning on felony charges of official misconduct and unlawful compensation for official behavior, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Windermere is a small central Florida town adjacent to the exclusive gated community where Tiger Woods lives. Saylor was in the news after the car accident that precipitated news of the golf star's infidelity. Saylor was one of the few officials who would give reporters details about the November 2009 incident.

Saylor's friend Scott F. Bush, 50, also was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual battery of a minor under 12, a capital offense, along with lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor, a third-degree felony. The alleged sexual battery occurred on a young girl between 2000 and 2003....

In cases like this I think that LE should be sentenced to double the longest sentence for the crime they cover up. The problem is that I think fewer cops would come forward to point out corruption.

 

[not_my_kids]

Maybe not double, but harsher than normal.

 

[Nova]

Link

Florida police chief charged with thwarting rape case against friend
By John Couwels, CNN
January 13, 2011 11:12 a.m. EST

...Windermere, Florida, Police Chief Daniel Saylor, 44, was arrested Wednesday morning on felony charges of official misconduct and unlawful compensation for official behavior, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Windermere is a small central Florida town adjacent to the exclusive gated community where Tiger Woods lives. Saylor was in the news after the car accident that precipitated news of the golf star's infidelity. Saylor was one of the few officials who would give reporters details about the November 2009 incident.

Saylor's friend Scott F. Bush, 50, also was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual battery of a minor under 12, a capital offense, along with lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor, a third-degree felony. The alleged sexual battery occurred on a young girl between 2000 and 2003....

In cases like this I think that LE should be sentenced to double the longest sentence for the crime they cover up. The problem is that I think fewer cops would come forward to point out corruption.

I understand your feeling, Dan, but your source says the friend is charged with "a capital offense." So what punishment are you proposing for the cover-up, that they kill the chief twice?

 

[White Rain]

I saw this on fox the other day....
Here is MOO....I love my friends to death...but the only way I would help hide sexual battery of a minor under 12 was if I was into that kinda thing myself.
I think this guy's background needs to be VERY fully investigated...computer confiscated and checked for child and things of the like....thats just me though.

 

[Steely Dan]

I understand your feeling, Dan, but your source says the friend is charged with "a capital offense." So what punishment are you proposing for the cover-up, that they kill the chief twice?

:crazy: I didn't think of that.

While I believe people who kill deserve to die, I'm not a fan of the death penalty. So two life sentences would be my answer.

 

[impatientredhead]

I understand your feeling, Dan, but your source says the friend is charged with "a capital offense." So what punishment are you proposing for the cover-up, that they kill the chief twice?

Capital in this case means the victim was under the age of twelve.

Florida is aggressive in their use of the death penalty, but even they aren't using it for sexual battery cases!

 

[2goldfish]

I voted harsher than normal - but this kind of thing .... I understand it even less than lots of other crimes. End of the day...no matter how much I might like or love someone, I dont like or love them after learning something like this! I agree with the previous poster who said they ought to check dude's background verrryyy carefully. a police chief cant be that delusional I would think?

 

[newone]

I saw this on fox the other day....
Here is MOO....I love my friends to death...but the only way I would help hide sexual battery of a minor under 12 was if I was into that kinda thing myself.
I think this guy's background needs to be VERY fully investigated...computer confiscated and checked for child and things of the like....thats just me though.

I agree with you that his 'motivation' is questionable and unacceptable under any circumstances. I voted ''harsher'' penalty.

 

[Steely Dan]

I just think that when you are put into a position of public trust that you should be held to a higher standard. I think the same standard should be held for lawyers who bilk their clients too.

 

[impatientredhead]

Absolutely, it is a matter of ethics.
Most states now hold teachers raping a child as a more serious offense (stiffer sentence) than joe blow molesting a twelve year old. It is an abuse of power.

Like a prison guard raping a prisoner.
A teacher abusing their access to your child.
A prosecutor or a judge letting their friend of the hook instead of excusing themselves from the role. I am actually surprised this isn't already addressed in the sentencing guidelines.

 

[tlcya]

I am thinking there should be additional charges and time that an LEO would be facing having to do with the abuse of their power and position. Think about it, without misusing their power as LE they wouldn't be in a position to cover it up. That should bring charges in addition to if you were just a regular person who was aiding in the coverup of a crime. So the punishment I would think, should already be harsher, yes?

 

[Nova]

:crazy: I didn't think of that.

While I believe people who kill deserve to die, I'm not a fan of the death penalty. So two life sentences would be my answer.

Mine, too. I'm opposed to the d.p. in all circumstances, but I'm particularly opposed to applying it to child molesters. Why give the molester more incentive to eliminate the witness?

 

[ohiogirl]

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...ce-town-manager-cecilia-bernier-daniel-saylor

 

[ohiogirl]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-windermere-police-20100502,0,4802616.story
Nice department. And they guard the wealthiest community in Florida?

 

[ohiogirl]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...ief-daniel-saylor-cou20110113,0,5202694.story
Chief released. Mr. Nejame is sticking up for him, like any good defense attorney should.

 

[Nova]

Capital in this case means the victim was under the age of twelve.

Florida is aggressive in their use of the death penalty, but even they aren't using it for sexual battery cases!

You are correct about the statute, but "capital crime" doesn't mean "committed against a victim under 12."

In fact, I can't find an online definition--legal or general--of "capital crime" that says anything but "carries the death penalty as punishment."

So it appears Florida is playing word games here and has simply decided to take a dog and call it a cat. Perhaps the the mandatory life-without-parole sentence is considered the equivalent of a death sentence. Another possibility is that capital offenses typically carry no bail and have no statute of limitations; perhaps by calling their sexual assault against children law "capital", the State of Florida avoids having to grant bail or recognize time limitations.

 

[impatientredhead]

It is a capital felony as compared to a life felony, and it is determined by age in the state of Florida:
[SIZE=-1]

794.011 Sexual Battery
[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1](2)(a)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] A person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony, punishable as provided in ss. 775.082 and 921.141.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
(b)[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] A person less than 18 years of age who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a life felony, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, s. 775.084, or s. 794.0115.[/SIZE]

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ery&URL=0700-0799/0794/Sections/0794.011.html


It was written this way to allow for stiff sentences on first time offenders, extend statute of limitations, etc.... Also referred to as a "One is a Enough" felony.

 

[Nova]

We should have a category of felony called "crimes against language."

It would be reserved for lawyers and bureaucrats.

 

[kgeaux]

I had to take a couple of days to think this one over. In NO way am I supporting the chief! So please don't think I'm going "there!" :crazy: (LOL) Hear me out!

I am not a huge supporter of the relatively new genre of "HATE CRIMES" because I think ALL CRIMES are hate crimes, and I don't necessarily believe that if hatred fuels the crime, it makes the action worse than if stupidity or insanity fuels the crime.

IOW, I don't believe that a crime against a woman is more horrible if committed by a misogynist. If, for instance, I was raped and murdered by some idiot, I wouldn't give a hoot whether his motivation was hatred of women in general, hatred of me, or just circumstantial. Whether I (as a hypothetical victim) were a target because of who I am or what I am doesn't mean as much to me as the fact that I am now raped and murdered!

HOWEVER, after much thought, I am left with my original first impressions. When a person has sworn to uphold the law and protect the public, and then they dishonor that oath and put the public at further risk, then yes, the punishment should be harsher.

 

[impatientredhead]

I share your opinion of hate crime laws and the similar themes. I am usually in the minority here when legislation in a victim's name is suggested. So few of them cover truly new territory that I don't see their value other than making people *feel* like the victim didn't die in vain, and that something has changed because of the tragedy.

It is my firm belief that most of these laws clog up the books with technicalities and in some cases benefit the criminal when the appeals roll around. Murder is already illegal. We already allow for aggravating circumstances to be considered during sentencing.

I make the same argument about breed ban laws. Having a vicious dog is already illegal. If you want to change things force the prosecutors and the judges to actually enforce the laws on the books. Don't plea don't murder cases to manslaughter and turn them loose. Charge owners criminally and penalize them financially when their dogs harm people. The legal system does not have to be as complicated as it is. The statutes for any given state don't have to four thousand pages long.

But to me that is different than cops covering up crimes, teachers raping students, bankers stealing money, lawyers solving personal grievances by burying someone in so much paperwork they can't afford to fight it..... those are abuses of power. Using your position and access to victimize someone.

Of course circling back on my own logic that should be covered largely under existing laws and judges should be able to address it through sentencing allowances. It is much more cost effective for the voters to approve changes to the sentencing guidelines than to create new laws for each individual circumstance, rewrite the statutes, let every single one of them go through an appeals process the first handful of times the new statute is use.
et
A cop who covers up a crime for a friend should do more time than a plumber who covers for a buddy who committed the same crime. The cop voluntarily said they would perform their job ethically, they are directly betraying the victim of the crime in a way that the plumber is not, they have access to cover the crimes in a way that the plumber does not.

A teacher has access to your child that joe schmoe does not. A teacher has a level of built trust and authority that joe schmoe does not. It is a betrayal to the victim that is different than a stranger harming them. The sentencing guidelines should allow the judge to punish them more harshly in my opinion.