Parents who sexually abuse their children

Tuesday morning Metro announced the arrest of a couple on 30 counts of incestuous sexual assault. I am chosing not to identify the parents at all, because that might identify the victims. (Although you can find their names and mug shots on at least one local website as I write this; and you can be sure it will be on KVBC.com after it airs on one of our newscasts.)

Metro officers have told me many times that 72-80% of all sexual assaults are "acquaintance related." That means the victim knows, and often trusts, the pepetrator. Most often they are direct relations, like a brother and sister; in this case, it appears a mother and a step-father perpetrated various acts on multiple children. Metro's news release reads "...one of the couples children revealed they had been the victim of various forms of incestuous sexual assault for approximately the past 12 years."

There are cases where only one parent is accused. Sometimes the other parent is permissive; sometimes the other parent has no idea abuse is happening. And there are uncles, aunts, coaches, teachers, neighbors, and any other number of trusted adults who use their position of trust to abuse children. It becomes incumbent on parents to teach children that their bodies are their own. Parents need to teach children that they need to feel safe and comfortable. That it is okay to say no to an adult when they make a child feel uncomfortable. And that may be a difficult lesson to teach, since it is hard enough to get some children to listen to adults at all.

Metro's Crimes Against Youth & Family bureau has some resources and advice for parents.

Manhunt Monday - Dazaeth Rojasperalta

This week's "Manhunt Monday" suspect is a man on the run, accused of attacking his girlfriend and daughter.

Dazaeth Rojasperalta is a hispanic male adult, 21 years of age, standing 5'9" tall and weighing approximately 160 lbs with brown hair and brown eyes. He also uses the separate last names of Rojas and Peralta. His last known address was in the 4000 Block of Silver Dollar in Las Vegas.
On December 6 , 2009 Rojasperalta was arguing with his girlfriend in front of her 2 year old daughter. When the infant became fearful and started crying, Rojasperalta violently attacked the child, causing injuries which required emergency medical transportation to an area hospital for
treatment. When the child’s mother attempted to intervene, Rojasperalta attacked and injured her as well.
Rojasperalta, who normally works as a laborer, then fled the scene in an early 90's white Nissan Pathfinder, which he may still be driving. Prior to this event, Rojasperalta’s only known criminal history was traffic related offenses.
Because of his violent criminal actions on December 6th, 2009, Dazaeth Rojasperalta is currently wanted on an outstanding warrant for Felony Child Abuse/Child Endangerment.
If you has any information as to the whereabouts of Dazaeth Rojasperalta you are encouraged to contact the L.V.M.P.D. Fugitive Detail at 702-385-3578 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

There's a new "kid" in town.

A new week brings a slew of new duties. Up until now, my job at Channel 3 was to produce the Crimetracker 3 reports with Sophia Choi. As of today, add Kids First with Kendall Tenney to my agenda.
It is a little difficult making the transition. I had set up a routine with my Crimetracker efforts, and now I need to make big adjustments to accomodate my new responsibilities. Today I prepared our Manhunt Monday report for Crimetracker 3, as I made sure editing was going well for our Make a Wish Monday report on Diana, who wished for the "Rock Star treatment." We previewed it a bit last Wednesday, and on this blog. You can catch the full report during First News 3 at 4.
Photographer Preston will likely give up some of his lunch to finish editing so we can head over to a nearby school for a shoot for an upcoming "What's Right with Kids" story, to air on Friday.

Quicker Help for people who may not even know they are at risk

Metro's Crimes Against Youth and Family Bureau is trying to become more proactive in all of its areas. One statistic Captain Vincent Cannito would like to see come down is the 44 homicides in 2008 identified as "intimate-partner related." Many are the result of Domestic Violence.

In an attempt to identify which victims of domestic violence are most likely to become future homicide victims, Cannito and his team looked at research out of Maryland, based on 25 years of crime data. They boiled it down to eleven questions.

1. Has your partner (or whoever the aggressor is) ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon?
2. Has he or she ever threatened to kill you or your children?
3. Do you think he/she might try to kill you?
4. Does he/she have a gun or can he/she get one easily?
5. Has he/she ever tried to strangle you?
6. Is he/she violently or constantly jealous or does he/she control most or all of your daily activities?
7. Have you left him/her or separated after living together or being married?
8. Is he/she unemployed?
9. Has he/she ever tried to kill himself/herself?
10. Do you have a child that he/she knows is not his/hers?
11. Does he/she follow or spy on you or leave threatening messages?

This list of questions will be given to the patrol officers, who are usually the first to respond to a domestic violence call to police. If the person answers yes to any three questions, the officer will offer to make a phone call and put the victim in direct contact with one of several service agencies in the area. This can all happen before a detective even starts investigating. Since the suspect often runs before police arrive, placing the phone call at this point can get the victim needed help before the suspect returns and potentially commits more violence.

Ditto

Our viewers did it again.

As Metro officers say, one crime at a time, one suspect at a time.

First Arrest

This is a proud day for the Crimetracker 3 team. Since we started this feature back in March 2008, we've featured dozens of suspects for some very serious crimes. We've even heard about some of them landing behind bars. Metro would tell us that none of the arrests were directly attributed to "Manhunt Monday," but they told us that some of the criminals had seen the reports, and the pressure lead to mistakes that put them in custody.
All that changed last week. A tip from a viewer led Metro detectives to an arrest. We finally have it, proof that "Manhunt Monday" works.

Helping the Community

I loved "All the Presidents Men." I got into journalism out of a desire to help people while telling stories. As a former boss once said "We're here to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable."

I've been reminded of our power to help our viewers twice this month. The first instance will be highlighted in tonight's "Manhunt Monday" report at 5pm and 10pm. The other came in an email to Sophia. A viewer detailed her experience as a victim of Cyber-stalking, and then asked for help. Sophia and I responded with the same advice we heard from the experts we've interviewed: call the police and they can help. I won't reveal the details of her story, and I don't even know where she lives, other than somewhere in the 702 area code. But I plan on taking her email to police and some social service agencies to see if they can offer any more advice.

On days when I wonder what I'm doing here, I'll be able to think about these two little victories.

Stalking Survey

A Department of Justice study on the prevalence of stalking resulted in some surprising numbers.

AP-Stalking
Survey tracks scope of stalking

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal crime experts say an estimated 3.4
million Americans have a disturbing thing in common -- they've
identified themselves as victims of stalkers.
Victims tend to be young women. The stalker is most commonly an
ex-boyfriend.
It can be aggravating and terrifying. About 130,000 victims said
problems related to the stalking caused trouble at work, with some
people saying it ended up costing them their job.
About half of the victims experienced at least one unwanted
contact per week. Eleven percent had been stalked for five years --
or more.
More than one-third of the victims reported being followed or
spied upon; some said they were tracked by electronic monitoring,
listening devices or video cameras.
The Justice Department report looks at a 12-month period in
2005-06.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

A personal stalking experience

January is National Stalking Awareness month. So in light of that, I wanted to share a couple of personal experiences I've had with stalking. During the course of my job, I get a lot of people mailing, emailing and sending gifts. It's all very nice. But on rare occassions, a fan will go overboard. For example, one fan started sending me roses. I didn't think it was a big deal or anything to worry about until he sent me nine dozen, at once! That's when security at CNN, where I used to work, stepped in. They tracked him down and questioned him. I'm not sure what happened after that. But he stopped sending me roses.
In college, I had an ex boyfriend follow me. He would also call at all hours, to make sure I was home. I never got a restraining order. Looking back, maybe I should have. I just cut off all contact, moved and never saw him again.
I'm sure my stories are not unique. So many women (and men) are victims of stalking. But they don't always realize it, when it's happening. Stalking is more than just someone lurking and following you around. It's any unwanted attention and harassment. It can happen to anyone. It happened to me.

Amber Alert Awareness Day

January 13 is Amber Alert Awareness Day. The Amber Alert is the single most well known law enforcement tool when a child is missing. We did a story in July 2008 on when an Amber Alert is activated in Nevada. The rules are quite stringent, and the authorities that I've spoken with are proud that they are sticklers for the tough rules. Nevada's Amber Alert system launched in 2003. Since then there have been 23 activations involving 30 children with 29 children safely recovered.
On January 13, 1996, Amber Hagerman was abducted while riding her bicycle and then brutally murdered. The AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert network was created after her tragic death to provide emergency broadcast messages to the public when law enforcement determines that a child has been abducted. AMBER Alert broadcasts include information about the child and the abductor, including physical descriptions and information about the abductor's vehicle, which could lead to the child's recovery.
According to the federal Department of Justice, the Amber Alert system is about 90% successful.
Each of the 50 states has its own distinct Amber Alert plan, coordinated with bordering states, and operating under federal rules.
Today I learned something new: the DOJ also operates the National Missing and Unidentified Person System, NamUs. It has two distinct but connected missions: finding the missing and identifying remains.

Behind the Scenes - Crime Tracker 3 Alert

Our promotions guru, CJ Boisvert, is trying new locations to tape our Crime Tracker 3 Alerts. This time, she set us up in her edit bay.

Maxx update

Maxxaline's surgery went well. Our crime fighting cat has got a two inch cut on his neck with stitches. But he's already running around looking for intruders, as if nothing happened. He also had three teeth pulled. Who knew cats got cavities?!

Comments now welcome AND accepted

So we've been very eager to get comments from our readers. But we recently discovered some problems people are having with some browsers. We've been working with Craig, our web guru, to get our comments working again. Of course by "working with" I mean "praying that Craig would take care of it all by himself." Turns out he turned to his own guru, a guy named Ian. The point is -- it's all working now. At least we think it's working. If not, email us at crimetracker3@kvbc.com

Manhunt Monday - Jahmal Devon McKenzie

A search for drugs ends with a spray of bullets into a neighborhood. Now, the search is on for a suspect who got away.
This all started back on July 25, 2008. Police say the suspect was trying to buy drugs, but got in a fight on the 2600 block of Caselton.
Police say Jahmal McKenzie and a buddy came back later and fired shots into several nearby residences, then drove off. McKenzie is wanted for attempted murder, firing into a structure, and carrying a concealed weapon. He's 22 years old, six foot one, and 150 pounds.

McKenzie has several distinct tattoos:
• The number “702" on his chest. This is the Las Vegas telephone area code.
• The words “G Shit 4 Life” on his left arm. "G shit" is a term meaning "the gangster lifestyle. "4 life" is obvious.
• The letters “GP” and a drawing of a crown on his chest. According to Urbandictionary.com, "GP" refers to the "general population" of a jail or prison. Thus, this tattoo boasts that he runs any prison he's in.

UPDATE: A viewer advises us that "The GP and the crown (can also appear as GPK) stands for Gershen Park Kingsmen, a gang originally located in North Las Vegas. Since the projects known as Gershen Park were demolished, members of the GPK have been spread throughout the valley. However, they continue to refer to themselves by their former neighborhood."

• “While 369" on his right forearm. This refers to a sex act involving one man and two women.

Jahmal Devon McKenzie also uses the first names Jahmar, Jahral, and
Jahamar. If you've seen him, call Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

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Off Topic: Bunny Bailout

So a lot of stuff comes into my e-mail box, like this release from the world famous Bunny Ranch.
----------------------------------
BunnyRanch Asks for Government Bailout for Nevada's Oldest Profession

CARSON CITY, Nev., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The owner of the 53-year-old World Famous Moonlite BunnyRanch, home of HBO's CatHouse Series, Dennis Hof, has seen the effects of the economy on many businesses nationwide. Although the BunnyRanch is seeing an increase in potential prostitutes Hof says, "the BunnyRanch needs the bailout money to guarantee success for the oldest profession in Nevada."


The BunnyRanch is seeking bailout money just as automakers, insurers, securities dealers, and property developers have requested. Congress needs to consider the BunnyRanch as an equally important business. For many years the BunnyRanch has provided services to men and women from all walks of life. Historically many of our customers have included Washington insiders and Wall Street executives, but with the current recession those customers are not visiting the BunnyRanch. Due to the illegal actions of those such as prior Governors and Senators our financial support from the government has decreased as many fear the ramifications of the public learning of their visits to the legal side of prostitution at the BunnyRanch. The 111th Congress being comprised of the Democratic majority will further decrease our congressional visits as the Republicans spend more money.


The BunnyRanch may not feel the same dramatic effects such as the automakers, but, "we too can use the financial support that the government is willing to issue other companies," says Hof. A bailout amount of $1 Billion will see that the BunnyRanch makes it through these trying times and can further the success of the silver states oldest profession. This business is part of American culture and the United States government should support its culture.


Fulfilling fantasies may be the farthest thing from some people's minds as they continue to lose money, which may lead many individuals into a state of depression. As Maslow's hierarchy of needs depicts, sex is a primitive physiological need. As a nation we need to find the positive in life and fulfill those basic needs during these difficult times. That is precisely why the BunnyRanch needs the support of the government to revitalize those individuals who require that their needs are met.


Dennis Hof's World Famous Moonlite BunnyRanch

Stalking

January is Stalking Awareness Month, and the Crime Tracker 3 team wants to help get the message out. So we're going to do stories during our "Family Focus" segment every Friday on News 3 at 6:00. Here's the story from Friday, Jan. 2.

I assumed that our first story would cover some of the basics, like defining stalking, and covering how many people get stalked in the area each year. Instead I learned something surprising: nine men died last year in confrontations with men who were stalking a former intimate partner.

Captain Vincent Cannito, the head of Metro's Crimes Against Youth & Family Bureau, had quite a lot to say on the subject of stalking, particularly when it comes to prevention. Here's a portion of our interview.



A Crime Journalism website I subscribe to had a link to a very interesting story from the New York Times about stalking and youth dating.

For some more information on stalking, you can start with the Stalking Resource Center.

Locally, you can get help from the Rape Crisis Center, WestCare, and SafeNest, among others.

Crimefighting Cat Catastrophe

My poor Boo. Maxxaline's having surgery in the AM. He has some sort of cyst on his neck. And it kept growing. And growing. It's about the size of a nickel. Now, it's going to get cut out. His first clue that something's up will be tomorrow morning when he doesn't get fed on time. Doctor's order: No food after midnight. That, my friends, will be a nightmare. Trust me. He won't stop yapping and nagging. That's his M-O if I'm not right on time with the food. So wish me luck, because he doesn't go in until 9 AM and he normally gets fed at 6 AM. Oh, boy! Three hours of harassment. My little Junebug, as I call him, will be at the Gentle Doctor Animal Hospital. The vets there rock! I'm sure he'll be fine, but prayers are definitely welcome. We'll keep you posted on our Crimefighting Cat. Here's some video of Maxxaline, before his trip to the vet.

MAXXALINE-THE CRIME TRACKING CAT

We thought we'd introduce you to yet another member of the Crimetracker 3 Team. It's Maxxaline. He's a crafty kitty, who tracks down home invaders (like bugs and other critters). He sounds the alarm (a quack, more than a meow) whenever something's wrong.. like when someone's coming, going or even just sitting. But more than likely, it's a call for more food. Maxx is in direct competition with another member of the News 3 Team. Sparkle Reagan Jacobs.

We think Sparkle is the reason Alicia, our entertainment correspondent, gets so many hits on her blog. We hope Maxx will do the same for us. But first, we have to fix our computer comment problem. Turns out, we have no comments because the dang thing wouldn't accept any. Ugh. But we think that problem has been fixed. And now Maxx is on board. We hope you are too.

News at the end of creation

Things are picking up a bit in the special projects unit. The new year doldrums might be over. This afternoon photographer Preston Jeffrey Mullins III (author of the "Hollywood and Beyond" blog) went out to the Metro Firing Range. It's at the end of the world. Here's a map, followed by a little vLog of our trip out there.

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Behind the Scenes: Manhunt Monday

One of the cooler things the Crime Tracker 3 team does is our "Manhunt Monday" report. It airs live in our 5pm news, and we tape it for our 10pm newscast on the CW, cable channel 6. We also tape a 15 second version that appears several times during the week, in all sorts of programs at all hours of the day. That way, we can even get some of our Manhunt faces in front of people who may not even watch our newscasts. All of that requires some cooperation between our team, the KVBC production staff, and our promotions guru, Carol Boisvert. She's the person you see first in this behind the scenes vLog.

AH, MONDAY

Why do I always have a headache on Mondays? Eric thinks it's from the sugar overdose from eating too many jellybeans out of our candy jar. He's here to remind me though, he doesn't have a headache. So our theory might not be spot on. Anyway. We never got any comments from you about our web blog. What gives? We're in a competition to get comments from as many viewers as possible. So far, Zilch! Okay, even one would be good. So get typing, would ya?!

Manhunt Monday - Tyrone McClinton

Metro arrested more than 26,000 people on domestic violence charges last year. Many are repeat offenders, and a good number of those decide to jump bail.

Arrests in 2000 and 2004 were apparently not enough to teach Tyrone McClinton a lesson. The 29-year old is accused of punching his girlfriend in the face and head in an argument in September. He was arrested, then released on bail. Since then, he's skipped all his court dates.

Tyrone McClinton is five foot six inches tall and 160 pounds.
He has numerous tattoos, including:
• The name “Duewa” on the ring finger of his hand,
• The name “Alexis” on his neck,
• The name “Amiyah” and the word “Lucky” on his wrist,
• The names “Precious” and ‘Alyah” on his chest,
• The word “Bicci” on his forearm, and
• The name “Vicci” on his right arm.

Since this is his third domestic violence arrest in seven years, McClinton faces a potential felony conviction. Besides convictions for Domestic Violence Battery, McClinton's record also includes:
• Battery with a deadly weapon,
• Three different arrests for obstructing a Police Officer,
• Possession of a controlled substance,
• Possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell,
• Multiple charges of contempt of court, and
• Numerous other misdemeanor traffic offenses.

If you have any information concerning the where-abouts of Tyrone Anwarn McClinton please contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Fugitive Detail at 828-3578 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

McClinton’s last known address was in the 5200 Block of Broadlake Lane in Las Vegas.

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TGIF

TGIF! We've had a long, hard week with the New Year's Eve America's Party 2009 show and the Crimetracker 3 Special Report. Whew, am I glad all that's over. Doing specials like that seem so overwhelming. But once it's done, it's done. And that's the great thing about this biz. We rarely take our work home with us. Sure, we have to prepare. But once the deadline hits.. that's that. Deadlines, for me, by the way, are a double edged sword. You work furiously to meet it. But once it goes over the airwaves, it's over.

What we can take home to work on these days is our new blog. We've had it going for a couple of weeks now. So... what do you think? Let us know what you like, what you don't like, what you think is missing. I personally like Eric's Vlogs (that's video blogs for those who are new to all this).

Preventing Sexual Assault

(See the associated TV story on www.kvbc.com.)

Sex Crimes are horrible. And that may be the understatement of the year; and only two days in, that may still remain the understatement of the year after all the other days pass.

Preventing crime is tough; preventing sex crimes is even tougher. Especially when you consider that between 80 and 85 percent of victims know the perpetrator. This kind of crime almost always includes an element of broken trust. Teaching people to be wary of people they are also supposed to trust is difficult. But that's exactly what you need to do to try to make any kind of effort to stop sex crimes.

On Wednesday, I interviewed Sgt. Misty Pence with Las Vegas Metro's Sex Assault Detail. She's part of the team that developed a two new presentations aimed at preventing sex crimes. One is for parents of toddlers and young children. The other is designed for parents and teenagers to attend together.



Metro has the presentations ready, now it needs an audience. You can call Metro's Crimes Against Youth & Family Bureau at 702-828-3421 to request a prestentation. Ask about the Sexual Assault Prevention Program. The office is open weekdays from 7 am to 4 pm.