GUILTY SC - HT, 4, Johns Island, 13 Feb 2018 *Arrest*

[TieDyeJedi]

Also, there has been a LOT of trouble in the entire Charleston metro area with daytime break-ins and men pretending to be cable/electric/insurance/etc reps as a way to case or gain entry to houses. I don't ever answer the door if my husband isn't home at this point.

 

[Gardener1850]

His picture and there is no face tattoos

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/po...arching-for-missing-4-year-old-girl/699623269

That picture is from his last prison sentence in 2009. I think the tattoo guy has been stated to be a different person though.

 

[Steelslady]

Oh that's right. But didn't mom say her attacker was a skinny hispanic guy?

Yes, she did. We don't know right now if a second person or not was involved. For now, we know that Thomas Evans kidnapped HT. We don't know if he acted alone or was even involved in the beating of the mother LE hasn't clarified that yet. So for now, I am just going to wait until more facts are given.

For all we know, the Hispanic guy may have attacked the mother, HT ran outside for help maybe, and Evans saw her and took her. JMO.

 

[Gardener1850]

[h=1]Suspect in HT abduction was on community supervision after prison release, records show[/h]

The man suspected of kidnapping 4-year-old HT was released from prison Feb. 1 on community supervision in Upstate South Carolina, state records showed.

Though he was supposed to be living in Spartanburg County, Thomas Lawton Evans, 37, wound up earlier this week in Charleston, where authorities alleged he took the girl and brutally beat her mother.

Pete O'Boyle, a spokesman for the state agency that was keeping tabs on Evans, said it's standard by law for such prisoners to serve the final 15 percent of their terms for violent offenses while on community supervision. But in the short time Evans had been free, he hadn't missed any requirements of his release, and agents from the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services had no visits with Evans, O'Boyle said.
"He literally just got out two weeks ago," O'Boyle said. "It was early in the process. ... This guy just started."

His release came after escalating disciplinary issues behind bars, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an armed robbery and burglary in 2009. S.C. Department of Corrections paperwork indicated 14 disciplinary actions against Evans, with 11 of the measures coming in the past two years.
Most recently, Evans was punished Dec. 18 for taking a hostage in prison. Other accusations against him as a prisoner included threatening prison employees, possessing contraband and having a weapon.

https://www.postandcourier.com/news...cle_b41c5272-125f-11e8-a7ed-eff537cca0f1.html

BBM. Someone explain to me why the heck this man was free!?!? :banghead:

 

[DakotaMayi]

Suspect in HT abduction was on community supervision after prison release, records show



https://www.postandcourier.com/news...cle_b41c5272-125f-11e8-a7ed-eff537cca0f1.html

BBM. Someone explain to me why the heck this man was free!?!? :banghead:

Sorry, wtf? I'm sorry Gardener, I don't think anyone on this earth can explain that to you with an excuse that is satisfactory.

 

[kkdj]

[h=1]Suspect in HT abduction was on community supervision after prison release, records show[/h]

https://www.postandcourier.com/news...cle_b41c5272-125f-11e8-a7ed-eff537cca0f1.html

BBM. Someone explain to me why the heck this man was free!?!? :banghead:

This makes me wonder if it was an intended robbery gone bad. I just can't understand why he took the little girl unless his plan was to sell her, as he probably would have other stolen goods.

 

[fraudqueen]

Thank goodness for the police chief who spotted this little girl and saved her. We don't know why this man attempted to kill this woman and then kidnapped her child and fled across state lines....plus we have 17 hours missing in the timeline that anything could have happened. I'm thankful she is safe, but we don't know, and will never know, what happened to her during this time. I believe the child was the target the entire time and the Mom fought for all she was worth to save her child.

 

[thesensitivechild]

Question. In instances like this where the victim is a child how do they make sure there was no sexual trauma. The child is so young it seems invasive to do an exam and yet wouldn’t they have to? Sorry- I feel sketchy and weird having to figure out a way to ask this gracefully, which I clearly didn’t do. I’m just wondering protocol here.


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[bwt42]

Has le definitively stated how he got in the house?

 

[Blef]

She's such a sweetheart. So relieved she was found safe

 

[SweetCaroline]

I think before any invasive medical exam was done, they'd have a trained professional just talk to the child first to get an idea of what happened.

Question. In instances like this where the victim is a child how do they make sure there was no sexual trauma. The child is so young it seems invasive to do an exam and yet wouldn’t they have to? Sorry- I feel sketchy and weird having to figure out a way to ask this gracefully, which I clearly didn’t do. I’m just wondering protocol here.


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[Abp5]

“It all began when two Norfolk Southern employees ,who just happened to be working on the railroad tracks at Riverside, spotted a vehicle parked too close to the railroad tracks. To access this location, the vehicle would have used a private road that leads to the railroad's tracks, said railway spokeswoman Susan Terpay.”

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2018/02/missing_south_carolina_girl_fo.html


This statement really stood out to me. Evans has been in Prison since 2009/2010 until 15 days ago. I haven’t seen any info that he spent time in Alabama and he was local to SC. It makes me wonder if he came in contact with someone in prison, perhaps a trafficker, or began working with someone that put a plan to traffic in motion, that would have given him information etc. It doesn’t seem just anyone would know about that road. Given its proximity to Birmingham, could this have been where he was meeting someone with H? I hate to even think that but it just seems odd that he would have had to know about that road to access the area.

 

[bevyofbagels]

Question. In instances like this where the victim is a child how do they make sure there was no sexual trauma. The child is so young it seems invasive to do an exam and yet wouldn’t they have to? Sorry- I feel sketchy and weird having to figure out a way to ask this gracefully, which I clearly didn’t do. I’m just wondering protocol here.

I was thinking about this. IIRC she was released from hospital very quickly. They might not have seen any overt physical or behavioral signs and have elected not to subject her to exams? I hope that was the case, and that she hasn't been harmed beyond the inherent trauma of an abduction. I'm guessing a child that young, who hasn't suffered abuse of that nature before would show, in some way or another. Maybe not, I don't know. I imagine they've had experts talk to her.

And Gardener1850, I always get so mad whenever I hear about this. In my own country a man was on parole from psychiatric detention and killed a woman just last year. Some people you can't see it coming from but guys like this? And not to monitor them extensively after release? I hope some people will be held responsible for such gross lapses in judgement. It's almost like freaking Philip Garrido kidnapping and raping a woman, then going for decades without thorough parole visits. We all know what came of that.

 

[lonetraveler]

If this was an episode of Criminal Minds....Evans would have been about 3 to 5 years old when he and his similar-aged sister witnessed their mother being brutally attacked. As an adult he's fallen into crime, and one day he is burgling a house when a woman and her three young children walk in the door as they return from the school run. A ton of adrenalin is released into his body, he's been rifling through draws looking for money, he demands money from the woman...she screams, he hits her and keeps on hitting her--she reminds him of his evil adoptive mother who adopted him after his mother died, so he's particularly violent with head and facial injuries. As the attack tapers down and his adrenalin levels fall off he can hear a small child whimpering, just like him and his sister after their mother was attacked. For reasons he doesn't even understand himself he scoops up the child and takes her with him. Starts driving, partly to escape police and partly to get away from what he's just done. Every now and then he looks over at the small crying child in the passenger seat crying for her mother and that she's cold and hungry, he takes off his grey hoody and puts it on her to keep warm, he doesn't know why he took her nor what he's going to do with her now...he can't take care of a child when he's on the run from the cops, and he doesn't even know anything about caring for a child his age, but for some reason he doesn't feel any desire to hurt her, so he keeps going. Then he stops for a sleep and a cop comes up to the car, he's actually relieved that he can now hand off the child to a responsible adult who's going to care for her...and the cop was kind enough to leave the car keys in the car so he'll make up an excuse to go back into the car (to get his documents) and drive off, finally alone.

I always wonder about those back stories in that show, they always seem too neat and tidy?

You've just given this guy's attorney a defense. LOL

 

[GigTu]

Suspect in HT abduction was on community supervision after prison release, records show

https://www.postandcourier.com/news...cle_b41c5272-125f-11e8-a7ed-eff537cca0f1.html

BBM. Someone explain to me why the heck this man was free!?!? :banghead:

So wait.....
"His release came after escalating disciplinary issues behind bars, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an armed robbery and burglary in 2009. S.C. Department of Corrections paperwork indicated 14 disciplinary actions against Evans, with 11 of the measures coming in the past two years.
Most recently, Evans was punished Dec. 18 for taking a hostage in prison. Other accusations against him as a prisoner included threatening prison employees, possessing contraband and having a weapon."

He is violent and has been disciplined for it, and as a punishment they released him? On to the general public? So we could handle him instead? Isn't imcarceration for such a violent threat what are tax dollars pay for to keep locked away? He wasn't on good behavior, he should not have been out. Someone messed up and ultimately they will have to have some responsibility in this guy being where he was. I don't get it either, gardener.

 

[morena2003]

“It all began when two Norfolk Southern employees ,who just happened to be working on the railroad tracks at Riverside, spotted a vehicle parked too close to the railroad tracks. To access this location, the vehicle would have used a private road that leads to the railroad's tracks, said railway spokeswoman Susan Terpay.”

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2018/02/missing_south_carolina_girl_fo.html


This statement really stood out to me. Evans has been in Prison since 2009/2010 until 15 days ago. I haven’t seen any info that he spent time in Alabama and he was local to SC. It makes me wonder if he came in contact with someone in prison, perhaps a trafficker, or began working with someone that put a plan to traffic in motion, that would have given him information etc. It doesn’t seem just anyone would know about that road. Given its proximity to Birmingham, could this have been where he was meeting someone with H? I hate to even think that but it just seems odd that he would have had to know about that road to access the area.

Yes, I wondered that too. Given the information, I do wonder if he planned to traffic her. Maybe he hatched the plan in prison. Although kidnapping a child from a home probably wouldn't be the easiest way to traffic a child, criminals don't always think things through logically. Maybe he thought it would be easy. Idk. Of course, this is JMO. It strikes me as odd that the mother was assaulted so severely yet the child seems at least physically unharmed. Maybe he restrained himself from harming the child because he planned to sell her.

Some ppl mention that the mother could have been assaulted and the child because of revenge. I guess it is possible but I don't see that as being likely with him just being released from prison. Plus, I read someone that the family is a relatively recent to the area. And, if that were the case, what would keep him from harming the child out of revenge?

About the assessment for sexual assault, I used to work in an emergency room in a psych role and I have worked with trauma victims. Usually, they would have a mental health professional do an assessment of the child to determine what type of trauma was experienced. Plus, a physical exam will probably be done by a physician. Maybe they would not do a sexual assault exam unless they suspected something based on those two assessments. Idk, every medical facility is different. JMO.

In any case, I am so glad that the child is alive.

 

[finine]

Looks like Evans is still in custody with Lauderdale County Sheriff Dept in Mississippi (found on Vinelink). No mugshot there or on Sheriff Dept site on Mobile Patrol app.

 

[Reba]

I found this article on human sex trafficking through Birmingham. The NS railroad tracks look to me to be in very close proximity to Hwy 20.

“[Interstates] 65 and 20 are the busiest interstates for trafficking, and they meet right here,” said Krulak, a former president of Birmingham-Southern College. “Those people who think we’re a relatively small Southern city, don’t realize that Birmingham sits right on two of the most traveled trafficking interstates.”

I-20, due to its direct connection between Atlanta and Birmingham, is one of the main routes for traffickers. And I-65, I-59, and I-459 all interconnect with major ports and cities, making it a magnet for illegal trafficking activity.

https://www.birminghamtimes.com/201...rafficking-industry-flows-through-birmingham/


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[MzOpinion8d]

Also, there has been a LOT of trouble in the entire Charleston metro area with daytime break-ins and men pretending to be cable/electric/insurance/etc reps as a way to case or gain entry to houses. I don't ever answer the door if my husband isn't home at this point.

But what if the person then breaks in because they think no one is there?!

 

[MzOpinion8d]

So wait.....
"His release came after escalating disciplinary issues behind bars, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an armed robbery and burglary in 2009. S.C. Department of Corrections paperwork indicated 14 disciplinary actions against Evans, with 11 of the measures coming in the past two years.
Most recently, Evans was punished Dec. 18 for taking a hostage in prison. Other accusations against him as a prisoner included threatening prison employees, possessing contraband and having a weapon."

He is violent and has been disciplined for it, and as a punishment they released him? On to the general public? So we could handle him instead? Isn't imcarceration for such a violent threat what are tax dollars pay for to keep locked away? He wasn't on good behavior, he should not have been out. Someone messed up and ultimately they will have to have some responsibility in this guy being where he was. I don't get it either, gardener.

The DOC is gonna have to pay out big big money for this mistake. And rightly so.