Somer Renee Thompson #2 10/29/09 - 4/26/10

[fatcatlurker]

Just to add further I think they are finishing up putting the garbage truck route and evidence collected at dump together.  And not positive but I think there are two potential places for the Harrell character to potentially dump (hate to put it that way) Sommer.  One being the home on Gano or IIRC a restaurant in the area that he was working at???  Anyway that is what I gather from what I have read.

I believe or want to believe they have something in that trash found around the body that will nail the perp.  It's been awhile but I can hope.   

BTW - Welcome back Wyks!  Nice to see you again.

Hi FCL!     And thanks, it's nice to see you too!  I missed being around and am glad to be back. 

It will sure be interesting if they can pinpoint the location for sure. 

This Harrell scuzbag, didn't he work at some point with the garbage company, in some way?   I can't remember now when or where that was.

 

It was rumored that he worked at a garbage/trash company I believe, but I recall a relative of his saying she worked there, and he never did.

I could look up specifics for you if you want them. I don't have them handy atm though.

Thanks Brandi!  I was digging thru for the post a couple of days ago and couldn't find it - about Harrell's work.  But than I found an article that stated that the trash trucks were followed from the neighborhood. 

I just hope they nail him good if it is him...I am so sick of these guys getting back out to do this again and again.  Brings to mind---Joseph Duncan - Absconded, Couey - Absconded.  I don't understand why we are so concerned with the states and these guys rights and why we do not already have a National Sex Offendor Registry for all the states.  And when they abscond we hunt them down just like they do their victims.  They lost their right to privacy when they committed their crimes...Rant over... 

[Brandi]

Child protection begins with recognizing the lures
Somer Thompson case prompts seminar on predators' tricks.
By Paul Pinkham * Story updated at 12:19 AM on Sunday, Mar. 7, 2010

ORANGE PARK - In the same church where 7-year-old Somer Thompson was memorialized after her October abduction and murder, about 300 parents came together Saturday night to learn how to protect their children.

Child protection expert Ken Wooden didn't disappoint, providing parents with a list of the most common lures that predators use to attract and seduce their victims.

"If predators are using lures, shouldn't we be teaching our kids the lures?" Wooden asked. "You can lure anybody if they don't know the lure."

Pastor David Tarkington of First Baptist Church of Orange Park said the two-hour seminar was prompted by Somer's murder, just a few blocks away. He said a member of his church, Kim Hurse, led a grassroots effort to bring Wooden to Clay County.

Hurse said she was pleased that representatives of state and local government, the School Board, law enforcement and the justice system showed up. The event was simulcast by First Coast News.

"Obviously, our long-term goal is to get this curriculum in the schools," she said.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Wooden offered valid, common-sense suggestions for parents.

"I was sitting here playing back in my mind cases I remember where these lures were used," Beseler said. "There weren't any surprises, but this was just good information that people don't always think about."

Wooden said he first got interested in child protection when he classified fingerprints for the New Jersey State Police in the 1950s. Each week, he said, he would find a half-dozen fingerprints from pedophiles applying to drive school buses.

Later, as a reporter, he covered the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre and was sobered by the number of children murdered in that tragedy. That and other stories he covered, such as the Catholic priests' sex scandal, prompted him to use his journalistic talents to protect children by exposing the lures.

He now runs an organization called Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention from his Vermont home. He said his program is used by the U.S. Secret Service, State Department, military and FBI.

The most common lures, he said, prey on children's need for affection or attention and their desire to be helpful or obedient to authority.

But young children aren't the only ones at risk, Wooden said. He gave examples of lures being used on college campuses and even military bases.

"College kids are our children, so let's not neglect them," he said.

He urged community leaders to put together a child protection plan that would include a teen TV newscast, in-service training, a TV news series and a school program.

That's the goal of Children's Safe Passage, a volunteer organization founded by Atlantic Beach businessman Mike Williams after Somer's slaying. He and his colleagues attended the seminar and are hoping for a similar grassroots groundswell to convince school officials in Northeast Florida.

"It's all about prevention," Williams said. "We just have to sleep easy at night knowing that we're doing everything we can to prevent another Somer Thompson tragedy."

Members of Somer's family also attended.

"It was very compelling," said her grandmother, Debbie Bowling. "It's too late for us, but hopefully it will help other families."
Most common lures Affection: Preys on child's need for attention and affection. Identified by inappropriate behaviors. Assistance: Appeals to helpful nature of children. May also offer assistance and insist on providing it. Lost pet: Enlisting child to help find lost pet. Authority: Posing as authority figure, using fake badges. Wooden advised to teach children to ask to see a marked police vehicle. Bribery: Offering something for nothing, rewards for keeping abuse secret. Ego/fame: Appeals to ego using modeling school, talent search. Emergency: Telling child there's an emergency, offering or asking for assistance. Fun and games: Hiding prizes, tying or locking up, undressing give excuse for inappropriate touching. Threats and weapons: Verbal threats, seldom use weapon. Pornography: Exploits child's curiosity about sex and desensitizes them to sexual behavior. Drugs: Incapacitates young children, used to bribe older kids. Online/electronic threats: Predators, peers, self-exploitation in form of sexting. Source: Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-03-07/story/child_protection_begins_with_recognizing_the_lures

[trimmonthelake]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2010-03-07/story/first_coast_linked_to_growth_in_child_porn
First Coast linked to growth in child porn
Authorities fear easy access to the material is leading to an increasingly large audience.

    * By Kate Howard
    * Story updated at 6:48 AM on Sunday, Mar. 7, 2010
More children are in danger than ever before. And more people interested in child pornography are being caught than anyone ever knew existed.

If it seems like reports of child porn are growing, it's because they are. In Florida, a federal task force dedicated to rooting out child exploitation from Jacksonville to Orlando brought more cases last year than any other district in the country. And the only person linked to the slaying of 7-year-old Somer Thompson is in jail on unrelated charges of possessing child porn, producing it himself and abusing a young girl.

The Internet and cheap technology have made creating and sharing the illegal images easier than ever, fostering what authorities fear is a growing audience.

Research has consistently shown a strong connection between viewing child porn and sexually abusing children. But in the so-far unsolved case of Somer, who went missing on the Orange Park street where the person of interest was living, experts caution against drawing too many conclusions about what having child porn means a person is capable of.
"These are two awful crimes, child porn and the murder of a child, and they may be associated in people's minds," said David Finkelhor, executive director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. "But the truth is that we don't really have any evidence that they're any more connected to each other than any other two sets of crimes."

So far, the Clay County Sheriff's Office has kept quiet about what evidence might link Jarred Harrell, 24, to the girl who was killed in October. Her cause of death has not been made public, and Harrell has not been charged in her death.

Harrell was staying on Gano Street when Somer went missing there on her way home from school, and when the team of investigators looking for her killer learned his girlfriend had reported to authorities the child porn found on his computer, they turned their glare to him
Research over the decades has established a profile for people who are perversely attracted to children. Often they've been raised in non-traditional environments or experienced a childhood trauma, Finkelhor said.

As a result, they often didn't have productive relationships with their peers. Court records have shown that Harrell was raised in a bizarre environment with several different stepfathers, including one who publicly declared that he had married Harrell's then-8-year-old sister.

Another stepfather has said he found pornographic images of children in a locked box in Harrell's room when he was 16. The girls in the picture were under 6 years old - about the same age as the girls investigators found pictured on Harrell's computer.

And though the specific evidence in the Somer Thompson case may remain secret for some time, those in the field of sex offender enforcement and treatment agree that viewing child porn itself has no proven link to violent offenses like child kidnapping, murder and other physical harm.

That's "exceptionally rare," said Elizabeth Letourneau, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Murder is nearly impossible to predict in these cases because they're so random, the researcher said. Harrell would certainly be a person of interest to her, given all the circumstances known to police thus far, but crimes like Somer's slaying cannot be foreseen.

"The problem is, thousands of people access child porn every day," she said, "and some of them never even commit contact offenses - 99.99 percent of them will never kill a child."

When Jacksonville attorney Jay Howell was deeply entrenched in the fight against child porn, the trail was familiar. When you found a video, you'd check out the few major suppliers in Amsterdam to try to find and help the victim.

Now the parameters of that search include anywhere camera phones and digital cameras are sold.

"One thing we never knew in the early days is how many pedophiles were out there," said Howell, a founder 25 years ago of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "With the Internet, we learned there are a whole lot more out there than any of us imagined."

Though generally linking the viewing of the illicit images to child homicide is decidedly a stretch, research is consistent that the compulsion to watch is strongly linked to the compulsion to act out.
All the experts and professionals in the area have concluded this is not just 'someone looking at pictures,' " Howell said.

Nationally, the federal government prosecuted about 100 cases per year nationwide in the early 1990s. Investigations have ramped up steadily since, and more than 2,200 suspects were taken to federal court in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

There were 86 cases of child exploitation- and pornography-related charges prosecuted in the Middle District of Florida last year, up from 50 cases five years before. Although some cases - including Harrell's - are tried by the state attorney, a recent change in federal law allows the U.S. Attorney's Office to go after virtually any child porn-related offense and impose a mandatory minimum sentence of between five and 15 years.

Karen Gable, a federal prosecutor in Orlando, said that doesn't necessarily mean there's more of it happening here; just that the resources dedicated to catching and punishing offenders are vast. But she acknowledges the field has grown substantially since she began prosecuting sex crimes a decade ago.

Gable, regional coordinator for the nationwide movement known as Project Safe Childhood, attributes this in part not only to the ease of using the Internet but the support system it provides to people who used to often think they were alone in their feelings.

"Society has a very strong more against abusing children," Gable said. "But now they can find each other and start validating what they're doing. I think people talking to each other - file-sharing images they no longer even have to buy - has really contributed to the increase."

She says she's seen a mixed bag of offenders, some with criminal records of contact offenses against children and others without. But she stresses that child sexual abuse is the most under-reported crime, and there's no way to know for sure how many child porn consumers are acting on their urges.

Even if they never do, the damage has been done, Gable said.
Not only do these offenders view crime scene photos of children being abused, they're creating a demand for more and more abuse to be recorded and put out on the Web forever.

"They always fear someone will recognize them," Gable said. "It's a whole other level of victimization."

 

[cookie]

thanks for the article Trimm


bunch of sickos out there...

[Bearlyhere]

Child protection begins with recognizing the lures
Somer Thompson case prompts seminar on predators' tricks.
By Paul Pinkham * Story updated at 12:19 AM on Sunday, Mar. 7, 2010

ORANGE PARK - In the same church where 7-year-old Somer Thompson was memorialized after her October abduction and murder, about 300 parents came together Saturday night to learn how to protect their children.

Child protection expert Ken Wooden didn't disappoint, providing parents with a list of the most common lures that predators use to attract and seduce their victims.

"If predators are using lures, shouldn't we be teaching our kids the lures?" Wooden asked. "You can lure anybody if they don't know the lure."

Pastor David Tarkington of First Baptist Church of Orange Park said the two-hour seminar was prompted by Somer's murder, just a few blocks away. He said a member of his church, Kim Hurse, led a grassroots effort to bring Wooden to Clay County.

Hurse said she was pleased that representatives of state and local government, the School Board, law enforcement and the justice system showed up. The event was simulcast by First Coast News.

"Obviously, our long-term goal is to get this curriculum in the schools," she said.

Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Wooden offered valid, common-sense suggestions for parents.

"I was sitting here playing back in my mind cases I remember where these lures were used," Beseler said. "There weren't any surprises, but this was just good information that people don't always think about."

Wooden said he first got interested in child protection when he classified fingerprints for the New Jersey State Police in the 1950s. Each week, he said, he would find a half-dozen fingerprints from pedophiles applying to drive school buses.

Later, as a reporter, he covered the aftermath of the Jonestown massacre and was sobered by the number of children murdered in that tragedy. That and other stories he covered, such as the Catholic priests' sex scandal, prompted him to use his journalistic talents to protect children by exposing the lures.

He now runs an organization called Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention from his Vermont home. He said his program is used by the U.S. Secret Service, State Department, military and FBI.

The most common lures, he said, prey on children's need for affection or attention and their desire to be helpful or obedient to authority.

But young children aren't the only ones at risk, Wooden said. He gave examples of lures being used on college campuses and even military bases.

"College kids are our children, so let's not neglect them," he said.

He urged community leaders to put together a child protection plan that would include a teen TV newscast, in-service training, a TV news series and a school program.

That's the goal of Children's Safe Passage, a volunteer organization founded by Atlantic Beach businessman Mike Williams after Somer's slaying. He and his colleagues attended the seminar and are hoping for a similar grassroots groundswell to convince school officials in Northeast Florida.

"It's all about prevention," Williams said. "We just have to sleep easy at night knowing that we're doing everything we can to prevent another Somer Thompson tragedy."

Members of Somer's family also attended.

"It was very compelling," said her grandmother, Debbie Bowling. "It's too late for us, but hopefully it will help other families."
Most common lures Affection: Preys on child's need for attention and affection. Identified by inappropriate behaviors. Assistance: Appeals to helpful nature of children. May also offer assistance and insist on providing it. Lost pet: Enlisting child to help find lost pet. Authority: Posing as authority figure, using fake badges. Wooden advised to teach children to ask to see a marked police vehicle. Bribery: Offering something for nothing, rewards for keeping abuse secret. Ego/fame: Appeals to ego using modeling school, talent search. Emergency: Telling child there's an emergency, offering or asking for assistance. Fun and games: Hiding prizes, tying or locking up, undressing give excuse for inappropriate touching. Threats and weapons: Verbal threats, seldom use weapon. Pornography: Exploits child's curiosity about sex and desensitizes them to sexual behavior. Drugs: Incapacitates young children, used to bribe older kids. Online/electronic threats: Predators, peers, self-exploitation in form of sexting. Source: Child Lures and Teen Lures Prevention
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-03-07/story/child_protection_begins_with_recognizing_the_lures

Yes, as Americans get busier and busier the children are needing that affection and attention and a sense of belonging.  I can't tell you how many children I have met that are starved for attention.  They have gigantic houses and are always in the beautiful finished basement with no adult supervision or interaction with parents throwing  money at them to go entertain themselves.  It is also why we have children joining gangs.  It is truly sad to see the children of the "me" generation.

 

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.wesh.com/news/22794595/detail.html
Person Of Interest In Somer Case Faces More Charges
Speculation Grows As Charges Mount
POSTED: 5:53 am EST March 10, 2010
UPDATED: 6:10 am EST March 10, 2010
The only person of interest in the killing of Jacksonville-area girl Somer Thompson is facing new charges.

Jarred Harrell goes before a judge Wednesday morning on child molestation charges.

Harrell is not charged with Somer's death, but speculation against him is growing as these additional charges involve his interactions with a girl around the same age as Somer.

Two weeks ago, Harell, 24, a fugitive, had just been brought to the Clay County Jail after authorities found him in the state of Mississippi with charges against him.

Suspicion now in Somer's community is growing as the charges mount
against Harrell.

In addition to having child pornography on his computer, authorities filed 26 additional counts against him.

Those counts do not involve Somer, whose body was found in a landfill near her home, but are based on accusations of molesting, videotaping and photographing a girl between the ages of 3 and 5 in the same home investigators searched after Somer's disappearance, according to a Jacksonville newspaper.

Court records reveal the video and images show the young girl partially naked posing and Harrell's hand in some shots exposing the girl.

A family member identified the girl as someone the Harrell family knows and said the images were taken in Harrell's bedroom.

His arraignment is set for later Wednesday. Harrell is being held at the Clay County Jail.

[Missiontoconvict]

Jarred Harrell faces more child sex counts
Set to be arraigned on child porn charges in court Wednesday.

* Story updated at 9:49 AM on Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

An additional charge of child molestation and 12 counts of using a child in a sexual performance were filed today against Jarred Mitchell Harrell, the Clay County man also named as a person of interest in the Somer Thompson slaying, court records show.

The 13 new charges against Harrell, 24, were added to a case in which he was charged two weeks ago with molesting the same unidentified young girl and promoting a sexual performance involving the girl. There are now 26 counts against Harrell in that case, which investigators said did not involve Somer.

The case centers on accusations of molestation and graphic videotaping and photographing of a girl between the ages of 3 and 5 in a home once owned by Harrell's stepfather at 1152 Gano Ave. in Orange Park. The incidents occurred between May and November of 2008, records said. The images were found on a digital camera taken by investigators during a search of the Callahan home of Harrell's mother, records show.

The video and still images show a partially naked girl, known to Harrell's family, being asked to pose in a number of positions, court records show. Other images show Harrell using his hand to expose parts of the girl, the records said.

A family member identified the girl and Harrell's bedroom where the images were taken.

That case was brought on top of 29 counts of child pornography filed against Harrell Feb. 11. He was arrested in Meridian, Miss., on a warrant in the 29-count case, which stemmed from graphic images found by Harrell's former Orange Park roommates on his laptop and computer discs last summer.

Harrell is set to be arraigned in Clay County Circuit Court Wednesday. He is being represented by the public defender's office. Harrell has not responded to a Times-Union request for an interview.

Sheriff Rick Beseler named Harrell a person of interest in the Oct. 19 disappearance and slaying of Somer Thompson, 7, whose death remains unsolved. The announcement came after Harrell's Feb. 11 arrest on the child-pornography charges, but the sheriff has not said what evidence investigators have that may link him to the slaying.

Somer disappeared while walking home from school on Gano Avenue, having last been seen near the Harrell family home. Investigators have also obtained DNA samples from Harrell and his father as part of the case, his father said.

Harrell is being held in the isolation in the Clay County jail without bail.

http://jacksonville.com/community/clay/2010-03-09/story/jarred_harrell_faces_more_child_sex_counts


Wonder why mommy dearest, who has an alibi for him, hasn't gotten him an attorney?  Similar to JAG's case ...........the mothers are nonexistent.

[Nut44x4]

Person of Interest In Somer Thompson Case Charged In Child Porn Case
Updated: 3/10/2010 12:09:11 PM

Green Cove Springs, FL -- Jarred Harrell, the person of interest in the Somer Thompson murder case, has officially been charged in another case involving molestation and production of child porn.

Harrell pleaded not guilty to all 55 counts against him on Tuesday. Police say this case is not related to the Thompson investigation.

Harrell's charging document, filed Tuesday, revealed he is now facing 26 charges stemming from 12 photos and one video police say they found in a camera in Harrell's home.

Harrell is also a person of interest in the death of Somer Thompson. Thompson disappeared on her walk home from school on October 19. Her body was found a few days later in a Georgia landfill. Harrell has not been charged with Thompson's death.

Somer's father, Sam, lives in Graham, NC. He spoke with WFMY News 2's Meghan Packer on the phone after Harrell was announced as a person of interest in the case.

Thompson said the news of Harrell's arrest brings up new feelings of fear and anxiety. He said he hopes Harrell is the person responsible for his daughter's death, so there can be an end to the waiting and uncertainty he and everyone else involved in the case has been feeling.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=138666&catid=57

[Brandi]

Jarred Harrell pleads not guilty to child porn, molestation charges before Clay County judge
Man of interest in Somer Thompson slaying received recent jail visit from mother, records show
By Jim Schoettler * Story updated at 12:32 PM on Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010



GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Jarred Harrell pleaded not guilty this morning in Clay County court to 55 counts of child pornography, including two counts of molesting a young girl. His next court appearance was set for April 8.

Harrell, 24, has been named a person of interest in the Oct. 19 Somer Thompson disappearance and slaying, but no charges have been filed against him in that unsolved case. He has been in custody since being arrested Feb. 11 in Mississippi on a child pornography warrant and extradited to Clay County a few weeks ago.

This morning's one-minute arraignment involved two separate cases in which Harrell is represented by the public defender's office. Assistant public defender Kate Bedell, who heads the agency's office in Clay County, stood next to Harrell and entered the not guilty pleas before Circuit Judge John Skinner.

Harrell, wearing a grey-and-white jail jumpsuit, shackles and handcuffs with a chain around his waist, said nothing before being returned to his isolation cell in the Clay County jail. He is being held without bail.

Clay County jail records released to the Times-Union today show that Harrell has had two sets of visitors: his public defenders and, last week, his mother, Annis Dailey. Those meetings were not recorded, authorities said. Dailey, in a phone call she had with her son when he was being held in Mississippi, spoke of providing him an alibi if he was ever charged in the Somer Thompson case. Dailey has not returned several Times-Union messages seeking comment.

Harrell was arrested Feb. 11 in Meridian, Miss., on a Clay County warrant charging him with 29 counts of possession of child pornography. Those charges came after Harrell's former Orange Park roommates went to police in August with graphic images they said they found on his laptop and computer discs. Police did not complete processing the material until after Somer's death.

The second case, filed two weeks ago and enhanced with additional charges Tuesday, involves allegations that Harrell molested a young girl in 2008 and used her in pornographic video and digital pictures. The images were found on a digital camera taken by investigators during a search of the Callahan home of Harrell's mother, records show.

The girl, between the ages of 3 and 5, is known to Harrell's family and her mother told police the incidents occurred in Harrell's bedroom at 1152 Gano Ave. in Orange Park.

Harrell has not responded to a Times-Union request for an interview.

Sheriff Rick Beseler named Harrell a person of interest in the disappearance and slaying of Somer, 7. The announcement came after Harrell's Feb. 11 arrest on the child-pornography charges, but the sheriff has not said what evidence investigators have that may link him to the slaying.

Somer disappeared while walking home from school on Gano Avenue, having last been seen near the Harrell family home. Investigators have also obtained DNA samples from Harrell and his father as part of the case, his father said.

Ann Dugger, executive director of the Justice Coalition victim's advocates group, appeared in court today on behalf of Somer's mother, Diena Thompson. After the appearance, Dugger called Thompson and softly spoke to her about the proceedings and what to expect next. Across the street, about a dozen motorcyclists and supporters of Somer's mother waved at cars in front of signs demanding "Justice for Somer."

"Do you hear all those horns blowing?" a smiling Dugger said into the phone.

http://jacksonville.com/community/clay/2010-03-10/story/jarred_harrell_pleads_not_guilty_to_child_porn_molestation_charges_b

[Brandi]

Jarred Harrell Pleads Not Guilty to 55 Molestation, Porn Charges
By Jared Halpern, Reporter @ March 10, 2010 10:08 AM

As a group of bikers waving banners reading "Justice for Somer" attracted honks from passers-by outside the Clay County Courthouse, the man labeled a person of interest in the seven year old's murder pleaded not guilty to dozens of counts of child molestation and child pornography.

Jared Harrell, 24, said nothing in his short court appearance. His public defender, Kate Bedell, entered not guilty pleas on all 55 counts Harrell is charged with by Clay County prosecutors.

Harrell was arrested in Meridian, Mississippi last month, charged with possession 29 images and videos of child pornagraphy. Later in the month, the Clay County Sheriff's Office added a single count of child molestation of a victim younger than seven-years-old and 12 counts of producing child pornography.

The second set of charges carries a life sentence if Harrell is convicted.

Tuesday, the list of charges grew again. Prosecutors added a second molestation charge and a dozen more counts of producing child pornography.

"Charging in the most prudent way, and using all laws that have been violated in our opinion and charging it accordingly. So, it's the same incident, just charged a little bit more thoroughly," says Chief Assistant State Attorney Dan McCarthy.

McCarthy says the victim is a female relative of Harrell's and younger than seven years old.

Court records show the incident occured in 2008 at Harrell's stepfather's home on Gano Avenue in Orange Park, the same neighborhood Somer Thompson lived and went missing last October.

Two days after Somer's kidnapping, her body was found in a south Georgia landfill.

None of the 55 charges Harrell is facing in Clay County are related to the Orange Park girl's death, but when Sheriff Rick Beseler announced Harrell's arrest, he immediately labeled the 24-year-old as "a person of interest" in Somer's case.

Beseler has not said what evidence may link Harrell to Somer Thompson's kidnapping or murder or indicated how quickly additional charges may be filed.

Harrell is due back in court for pre-trial motions next month.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/03/jarred-harrell-pleads-not-guil.html

[Missiontoconvict]

Thank you for the updates Brandi 

[Brandi]

Thank you for the updates Brandi 

[fatcatlurker]

http://www.wesh.com/crime/22800665/detail.html

POI video in court

[Brandi]

http://www.wesh.com/crime/22800665/detail.html

POI video in court

Article at same site:
ORANGE PARK, Fla. --
The single person of interest in the kidnapping and slaying of Somer Thompson appeared in court on Wednesday.

The court appearance came one month after Jarred Harrell was arrested. Police said he took lewd pictures of a girl younger than 12 years old inside his bedroom. Harrell pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Harrell didn't say anything in court on Wednesday. He's faces 55 charges in connection with the case.

In the latest documents released, they indicate Harrell took pictures of a young girl around the same age as Somer Thompson in a bedroom in the home on Gano Avenue. That's not far from where Somer was last seen in October.

In some of the pictures, authorities said Harrell's hands are visible.

Neighbors hope Harrell will soon no longer be person of interest in the slaying of Somer. They want him to become the primary suspect.

"Knowing that 55 charges of child molestation and videos and things like that, it turns my stomach because I have young kids," neighbor Doug Cline said.

Cline lives just a few houses down from Somer's home, where a memorial still stands.

"If you're innocent, why not talk to police and clear your name from that part of the investigation from being a person of interest," Cline said.

The state attorney's office said the 26 new charges stem from a memory stick found in a home where Harrell was arrested in February in Mississippi.

Officials with the Clay County Sheriff's Office said they can't talk about why Harrell is a person of interest, and neighbors are hoping they will very soon.

"Lets all sit back and find out exactly what they have, and if he did it, let him have it," Cline said.

After Harrell's arraignment, he was returned back to his isolation cell. He remains jailed without bond and is already looking at a life sentence in prison.

[Brandi]

Trash truck backup caused delay in Somer search
By Jim Schoettler * Story updated at 8:31 PM on Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010

GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Somer Thompson’s body may have been found at a Clay County trash site rather than a Georgia landfill if not for a decision to end the local search primarily because of a backup of trash trucks, records and an interview with the county manager show.

An agreement by Alan Altman, Clay’s director of environmental services, and sheriff’s deputies combing the trash site on Oct. 20 ended the search, County Manager Fritz Behring said. That prevented an immediate opportunity to find the truck that picked up Somer’s body, learn the truck’s route and possibly narrow the location where she was killed and dumped.

Investigators later tried to identify the specific trash truck after Somer’s body was found Oct. 21, two days after she disappeared. The Sheriff’s Office said that search, which they called a potential key to helping solve the case, was complicated because the body had been mixed with tons of trash transferred from the Clay site to the Chesser Island Road landfill in Folkston, Ga.

A further complication: Behring said there are no known records of which trash trucks were unloaded into which of the tractor-trailers that were hauled to Georgia the next day.

Trash is picked up daily from around the county and taken to the Rosemary Hill Solid Waste Management Facility, also known as a transfer station. The trash is normally dumped in a building, searched briefly for anything that’s not household debris and then loaded into large truck trailers. Those trailers are then hauled to Folkston.

Police have said they know which tractor-trailer drove Somer’s body to Georgia. Authorities have not said whether the smaller trash truck that first picked her up has been found, though investigators sought specific records two weeks ago for one of those trucks.

Somer, 7, disappeared while walking home from school on Oct. 19. Sheriff Rick Beseler credited a detective with coming to him early the next morning and suggesting that Dumpsters and trash trucks be searched for her body and items she was carrying.

Beseler assigned detectives to follow the trucks. The search at Rosemary Hill began about 9 a.m. on Oct. 20. Trash already transferred to Folkston was also searched.

Altman met with a deputy assigned to the county’s solid waste division about 3 p.m. “to discuss how we could effectively process the rest of the trucks that were waiting on site to be dumped,” according to a sworn statement taken by the Sheriff’s Office.

Altman estimated it would be another 8 to 10 hours to search the 20 waiting loads and that the transfer building at Rosemary Hill was not big enough to hold them all at once.

The loads were dumped onto the floor of the building, picked up by a front end loader and transferred into nine trailers that were stored overnight at the facility. The trailers were then driven to the Georgia landfill Oct. 21. Somer’s body was found that afternoon.

Behring said Wednesday he believes Altman’s concerns about the backup and need for more space were legitimate.

“I think he [Altman] made the best decision given the situation at the time,” Behring said.

Altman declined to comment for this story. Beseler also declined to comment, saying he didn’t want to compromise the unsolved case. Diena Thompson, Somer’s mother, also declined to comment.

Johnny Davis, an Orange Park trash truck driver, said Wednesday he was in the long line of trucks waiting to dump at Rosemary Hill Oct. 20. Davis said trucks routinely come and go within minutes after dumping in a transfer building. He was told the backup was caused by authorities searching each load for evidence in Somer’s disappearance.

Davis, 59, said he saw a group of people, including some deputies, leave the building in the afternoon, shed their boots and drive off. Davis said he took that as a sign Somer had been found elsewhere. He said he was puzzled after later learning Somer hadn’t been found at that time.

“If they would have kept on searching they probably would have found her before they found her in Georgia,” Davis said.

Although no arrests have been made, Beseler has named a person of interest in the case.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2010-03-10/story/trash_truck_backup_caused_delay_in_somer_search

[cookie]

still makes me sick that this baby was found in a trash pile at all....You didn't deserve any of this Somer...you will have justice.....

[trimmonthelake]

http://jacksonville.com/community/clay/2010-03-10/story/trash_backup_caused_delay_in_somer_thompson_search
Trash backup caused delay in Somer Thompson search
Backup of trash trucks, lack of space at a Clay waste station led to authorities’ decision.

    * By Jim Schoettler
    * Story updated at 7:34 AM on Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010
GREEN COVE SPRINGS — Somer Thompson’s body may have been found at a Clay County trash site rather than a Georgia landfill if not for a decision to end the local search primarily because of a backup of trash trucks, records and an interview with the county manager show.

An agreement by Alan Altman, Clay’s director of environmental services, and sheriff’s deputies combing the trash site on Oct. 20 ended the search, County Manager Fritz Behring said. That prevented an immediate opportunity to find the truck that picked up Somer’s body, learn the truck’s route and possibly narrow the location where she was killed and dumped.

Investigators later tried to identify the specific trash truck after Somer’s body was found Oct. 21, two days after she disappeared. The Sheriff’s Office said that search, which they called a potential key to helping solve the case, was complicated because the body had been mixed with tons of trash transferred from the Clay site to the Chesser Island Road landfill in Folkston, Ga.

A further complication: Behring said there are no known records of which trash trucks were unloaded into which of the tractor-trailers that were hauled to Georgia the next day.

Trash is picked up daily from around the county and taken to the Rosemary Hill Solid Waste Management Facility, also known as a transfer station. The trash is normally dumped in a building, searched briefly for anything that’s not household debris and then loaded into large truck trailers. Those trailers are then hauled to Folkston.
Police have said they know which tractor-trailer drove Somer’s body to Georgia. Authorities have not said whether the smaller trash truck that first picked her up has been found, though investigators sought specific records two weeks ago for one of those trucks.

Somer, 7, disappeared while walking home from school on Oct. 19. Sheriff Rick Beseler credited a detective with coming to him early the next morning and suggesting that Dumpsters and trash trucks be searched for her body and items she was carrying.

Beseler assigned detectives to follow the trucks. The search at Rosemary Hill began about 9 a.m. on Oct. 20. Trash already transferred to Folkston was also searched.

Altman met with a deputy assigned to the county’s solid waste division about 3 p.m. “to discuss how we could effectively process the rest of the trucks that were waiting on site to be dumped,” according to a sworn statement taken by the Sheriff’s Office.

Altman estimated it would be another 8 to 10 hours to search the 20 waiting loads and that the transfer building at Rosemary Hill was not big enough to hold them all at once.
The loads were dumped onto the floor of the building, picked up by a front end loader and transferred into nine trailers that were stored overnight at the facility. The trailers were then driven to the Georgia landfill Oct. 21. Somer’s body was found that afternoon.

Behring said Wednesday he believes Altman’s concerns about the backup and need for more space were legitimate.

“I think he [Altman] made the best decision given the situation at the time,” Behring said.

Altman declined to comment for this story. Beseler also declined to comment, saying he didn’t want to compromise the unsolved case. Diena Thompson, Somer’s mother, also declined to comment.

Johnny Davis, an Orange Park trash truck driver, said Wednesday he was in the long line of trucks waiting to dump at Rosemary Hill Oct. 20. Davis said trucks routinely come and go within minutes after dumping in a transfer building. He was told the backup was caused by authorities searching each load for evidence in Somer’s disappearance
Davis, 59, said he saw a group of people, including some deputies, leave the building in the afternoon, shed their boots and drive off. Davis said he took that as a sign Somer had been found elsewhere. He said he was puzzled after later learning Somer hadn’t been found at that time.

“If they would have kept on searching they probably would have found her before they found her in Georgia,” Davis said.

Although no arrests have been made, Beseler has named a person of interest in the case.

jim.schoettler@jacksonville.com,

(904) 359-4385

[Bearlyhere]

still makes me sick that this baby was found in a trash pile at all....You didn't deserve any of this Somer...you will have justice.....

 

[trimmonthelake]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-03-12/story/missing_child_cases_shock_but_are_not_the_trend_in_northeast_florida
Missing-child cases shock, but are not the trend in Northeast Florida
Both at local and state level, authorities give them higher priority.

    * By Dana Treen
    * Story updated at 8:12 AM on Friday, Mar. 12, 2010
Although cases of missing, abducted and even murdered children have rocked Northeast Florida for the past year, law enforcement agencies and advocates for children say the state is at the forefront in confronting the issue.

Florida has a history of creating tools and programs law enforcement agents can use in missing-person cases, said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The Child Abduction Response Team system that lets law enforcement tackle cases at a moment's notice was created in Florida in the wake of the 2004 abduction and murder of Carlie Brucia, 11, in Sarasota. The 1981 abduction and murder of Adam Walsh was instrumental in the late U.S. Sen. Paula Hawkins' introduction of what became the 1982 federal law that allowed the entry of missing-person data into the FBI database. Other laws across the country now have their origins in the 2005 Florida murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford.

"Florida, in many ways borne out of tragedy, has been the leader," Allen said.

Locally, law enforcement continues to make changes.

In Jacksonville last month, Sheriff John Rutherford overhauled how missing-person cases are handled to give them a higher priority. He said three cases - the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings in Putnam County, the disappearance and slaying of Somer Thompson in Clay County and the shooting death of Makia Coney in Jacksonville - made him decide to speed up response times.
Officers cannot delay responding to the call or swap it without a supervisor's approval, Undersheriff Frank Mackesy said. He said the changes in how the calls are dispatched have had a negligible impact on responses to other calls.

In St. Johns County, missing-person alerts are one of the most frequent uses of a two-year-old database of phone numbers the Sheriff's Office uses to alert neighborhoods. Sheriff David Shoar said missing-person calls are evaluated by dispatchers and watch commanders who ratchet up the response depending on that information.

Strategies were revamped by Clay County in 2005 and had an impact in collecting evidence in the Somer case, Sheriff Rick Beseler said. The agency formed a team designed to respond to missing-child cases, ran mock abduction scenarios and developed equipment and protocols, he said.

About a year before the Sept. 22 disappearance of an 11-year-old Jacksonville Beach girl, police there had changed the agency's methods for dealing with missing persons cases, Sgt. Tom Bingham said.

Jamie Lynn Iovino did not show up for school that day but unlike many runaways, she didn't leave hints with anyone that she was taking off, Bingham said. That quickly worried investigators who were interviewing her friends and others.

She was eventually found at a department store near Orange Park. Bingham said the new protocols meant that instead of patrol officers conducting an initial investigation then briefing other investigators, detectives were brought in immediately.

The good news is darkened by worry that even as agencies are more prepared, predators are becoming more sophisticated in the techniques that allow them to commit their crimes.

Social networking sites, for example, are prime avenues for luring young people, Mackesy said.
It's more of a target-rich environment," he said. "They have stuff available to them that was not available to them before."

Two of Jacksonville's most chilling cases have played out in the past month, with the slaying of 17-year-old Makia Coney and the abduction of 3-week-old Melvin Duclos.

Neither was initially reported as a missing-person case, though worry about Coney's whereabouts came at about the time the University Christian School student's body was discovered, Mackesy said.

The baby's abduction from his family was initially classified as a complaint against the state Department of Children and Families, though that was quickly changed.

Despite the shock value of those cases, statistics from Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties show the number of missing persons has dropped over the past three years, as they have state- and nationwide.

Other efforts are trying to cut into another part of the problem - runaways in state care.

In the 20-county area covered by the regional office of the state Department of Children and Families, new tactics are being used to keep children from running from foster and group homes, criminal justice coordinator Todd Raleigh said.

A third of kids 15 to 17 who are in foster care will run away, Raleigh said, and another third "are thinking about it." Florida law requires case workers make a weekly attempt to find a child who has run away, he said.

To help stem the problem, runaways who are brought back are given a counseling session to let them vent about problems, he said.
Also, chronic runaways in Duval and Nassau counties are offered a $2-a-day increase in their allowance if they stay put. For some, he said, that $60 a month makes a difference.

When Raleigh, a former police officer who handled missing person cases during 10 years with Virginia's Fairfax County Police Department, joined the state department in 2007 there were between 50 and 60 missing children daily in Jacksonville.

"Today," he said Wednesday, "I think we are down to three."

[fatcatlurker]

I'm very bummed about this trash article but I am not giving up Hope for Sommer. 

Lord I pray that there is some DNA evidence somewhere.