Today's Highlights:
Elizabeth Smart kidnapper to be released from prison early;
24 Arrested in Child Sex Sting in Arizona;
Video of sex assault on toddler gets NC couple arrested;
Migrant worker guilty of molesting 7 boys in migrant camp;
Larry Nassar story just keeps getting worse;
Plus: 2 priests, a father of 10, an 18 y/o, and more...
Retired priest accused of child sex abuse
By MELISSA KLARIC Herald Elizabeth Smart kidnapper to be released from prison early;
24 Arrested in Child Sex Sting in Arizona;
Video of sex assault on toddler gets NC couple arrested;
Migrant worker guilty of molesting 7 boys in migrant camp;
Larry Nassar story just keeps getting worse;
Plus: 2 priests, a father of 10, an 18 y/o, and more...
Retired priest accused of child sex abuse
ERIE — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie is investigating an allegation of child sex abuse against a priest who retired in 2006.
Rev. Charles R. “Chuck” Schmitt, 86, will be added today to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie’s online public disclosure list in the “under investigation” section, said Anne-Marie Welsh, the diocese’s communication director.
“He is still ‘Father,’ but now he is not allowed to present himself as a priest while he’s being investigated,” Welsh said. “He’s retired, but I do believe he has been filling in for some Masses.”
The allegation against Schmitt, which dates back to the 1960s, was reported through the diocesan hotline set up for this purpose, The Most Rev. Lawrence T. Persico, bishop, announced in a press release Saturday night.
Schmitt retired in 2006 as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Port Allegany, McKean County, and then served as temporary administrator for brief periods in Emporium, Tidioute and Emlenton. Schmitt is prohibited from all public ministry, as well as from any contact with minors, effective immediately, according to the release.
Persico and Welsh did not say when the diocese received the allegation.
In its press release, the Erie Diocese said it has turned the report over to the Erie County District Attorney’s office and that Persico has authorized the K&L Gates law firm to initiate an investigation on behalf of the diocese.
The state Office of the Attorney General did not issue a statement about Schmitt during the weekend. Calls and e-mails to Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office on Saturday and Sunday were not returned as of Sunday.
Welsh said the diocese has routinely handed allegations of abuse over to Shapiro’s office. “The attorney general publicizes directly,” Welsh said, adding that she has never included the hotline set up by Shapiro’s office in a press release before.
Persico said the news about Schmitt is disheartening. “This is a very difficult time for the Catholic Church,” he said, “but we must face the truth. In collaboration with law enforcement, victims are finding their voice and helping us to ensure we are living out the principles we proclaim.”
REPORTING ABUSE
The Erie Diocese encourages anyone who has experienced sexual abuse or misconduct by a member of the clergy or any employee or volunteer of the church, to contact law enforcement, and/or:
• Report abuse to independent investigators retained by the Diocese of Erie, by emailing ErieRCD@KLGates.com
• Call the diocese at 814-451-1543.
• Call PA ChildLine at 800-932-0313. The line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and callers may choose to remain anonymous.
• Call for counseling assistance for victims and families through the diocesan victim assistance coordinator, Dr. Robert Nelsen, at 814-451-1521.
Another child sex abuse charge lodged against
Alabama father of 10
Alabama father of 10
By Carol Robinson crobinson@al.com
A Shelby County father of 10 has been arrested on another charge of felony child sex abuse.
Daniel Lloyd Pennington, 42, was arrested in July on charges of first-degree rape and sex abuse of a child under the age of 12. He was booked into the Shelby County Jail and released the same day after posting $90,000 bond.
The victim in that case was a juvenile girl, but additional details were not made available because of her age and the nature of the crime. Court records do not list the victim's relationship to Pennington.
The case was investigated by the Calera Police Department. Police officials said then the investigation was ongoing, and more charges could be filed against Pennington.
Court records show a new charge of sex abuse of a child under the age of 12 was filed against Pennington last week. Additional details weren't immediately available.
He was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Sept. 8 and released the same day after posting $10,000. Pennington also is charged with violation of a domestic violence protection order.
An Oct. 24 preliminary hearing date has been set in the newest sex abuse charge.
Shelby Co., AL
Illegal immigrant booked for child sex abuse in Alabama
Boaz Police Department arrested an illegal immigrant for child sex abuse after turning himself in.
Once the department received a report of sexual abuse to a child, Boaz Chief Investigator Michael Abercrombie said Antonio Ailon Corince, 29, of an unknown address, came to the station and admitted to the crime on Thursday.
Corince was booked and charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a child, then later transferred to the Etowah County Jail on $50,000 bond.
Boaz Police Chief Josh Gaskin said after learning Corince currently lives in the U.S. illegally, the Etowah County Sheriff's Department quickly contacted immigration officials.
The victim was a female juvenile that knew Corince, but Gaskin said no other information about the victim would be shared.
Illinois man charged in child sex abuse case
GALESBURG — A Galesburg man is in the Knox County jail for an alleged child sex abuse offense.
Raymond E. Crockford, 61, West South Street, is charged with one count of Class X felony predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. If convicted, that charge carries a mandatory prison sentence of between 6-60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Crockford was apprehended on a $100,000 arrest warrant issued late last week stemming from an investigation by the Galesburg Police Department. His bail was continued at that amount during a video court appearance Monday afternoon before Circuit Judge Rodney Clark.
Crockford was also appointed a public defender to represent him in the case. The Galesburg man will be in court at 2 p.m. Sept. 25 for a preliminary hearing.
Texas 18-year-old indicted for child sex abuse
involving four girls
By Field Walsh
An 18-year-old Nash, Texas, man is accused of sexual misconduct with four different 13 and 14-year-old girls in indictments issued this week by a Bowie County grand jury.
Gary Tanner Royal, who is referred to as Tanner by his alleged victims, is facing 10 felony charges listed in four indictments. The four girls all reported they were in the eighth grade and that Royal was a high school senior when the alleged assaults occurred.
In all, Royal has been charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and five counts of sexual assault of a child. According to a probable cause affidavit concerning the alleged abuse of a 13-year-old girl, a coach at a Bowie County middle school alerted the girl’s mother after seeing bruising on her legs.
The girl’s mother took her to a doctor who also expressed concern that the girl may have been the victim of a sexual assault. The girl was interviewed in June and July at the Texarkana Children’s Advocacy Center. She reported to a forensic interviewer that she was at a baseball game with a friend who knew Royal. She said she and her friend got in Royal’s truck with him to talk and Royal stated he needed to go to his house.
The alleged victim said her friend insisted they go and that once there, Royal “starts trying to mess with me.” Royal allegedly grabbed the girl by the wrist and pulled her into a back bedroom where he forcibly sexually assaulted her. Royal allegedly held the girls hands with one of his hands while forcing her legs apart. The alleged victim described “huge purple and black bruises” on the inside and backs of her legs appearing in the days following.
The three other alleged victims, all 14, also described being assaulted in Royal’s home. One of the girls reported that Royal hid her so that a family member would not know she was in the residence. Another girl claims she told Royal “No,” but “gave in” when he persisted. One of the alleged victims reported that Royal sent her a text message while she was being interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center “telling her to lie during the interview.”
Each of the five counts of sexual assault of a child pending against Royal is punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Each of the five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child is punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison.
Royal is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bail totaling $300,000. He is scheduled to appear later this month before 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart.
Child sex offender who fled to Arizona
gets more federal prison time
Torsten Tove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A judge on Monday sent sex offender Daniel Teed, the target of a nationwide manhunt that ended in Arizona earlier this year, to federal prison for 18 months.
U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab imposed that term on Teed, 57, of Marshall, and ordered him to serve the term in addition to a 10-year sentence he was supposed to be serving for his role in the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl forced to participate in group sex parties.
Teed was supposed to self-report to prison in January but didn’t show up. Federal marshals tracked him down the following month in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he was living under an alias.
In his original case, Teed was convicted of participating in the abuse of a teenage girl from Beaver County at group sex parties arranged by a former Beaver County basketball coach, Ralph Ruprecht, who is serving 16 years in prison for rape.
Ruprecht had arranged for groups of men to have sex with underage girls and adult women at hotels and at an apartment in the Strip District. One of his victims was the Beaver County girl, who was forced to have sex with as many as nine men at a time in 2015 and 2016.
Teed, who had once been a candidate for the state Legislature, was one of the customers and admitted to what he had done.
Judge Schwab gave him 10 years and told him to self-report by Jan. 5, but he didn’t arrive on that date and fled.
Marshall, PA
Child sexual abuse suspect arrested in
Olympia, Washington
Wash.>> According to law enforcement reports, on August 24, 2018, Las Vegas, Nev. resident Harry Vandyke, 45, was arrested by the United States Marshall Service in Olympia, Wash. on a $1,000,000 bail warrant for his arrest issued by the Lake County Superior Court on April, 24, 2018. The warrant was issued from an investigation conducted by the Clearlake Police Department’s Investigations Unit which began on February 5, 2018.
During the investigation, it was reported that Vandyke sexually abused a minor under the age of 18. The name of the victim is being withheld due to the fact the victim is a minor. Following the initial report, the agency sought the assistance of the United States Marshall Fugitive Task Force to locate Vandyke. Through their assistance, Vandyke was found and arrested. Vandyke waived extradition and on Sept. 6, 2018 he was transported from Washington by Clearlake Police Department and Lake County District Attorney’s Office investigators back to Lake County and booked into the jail.
The Clearlake Police Department would like to remind the public that sexual assault survivors can call and receive crisis intervention counseling free of charge, which can include explaining legal and medical options, or providing referrals for other useful resources. Law enforcement officials also stated if you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the Lake Family Resource Center at 1-888-485-7733 or the Clearlake Police Department at 707-994-8251 which are available 24 hours a day.
Former priest named in grand jury report
found working at Ohio counseling center
WTAE Paul Van Osdol
PITTSBURGH —
Action News Investigates has learned a former priest accused of molesting boys found a job as a social worker at a counseling center, working near children.
William B. Yockey was a priest at several parishes in the Pittsburgh area before leaving the priesthood in the wake of child sex abuse allegations.
Yockey did not answer questions when Action News Investigates found him at the Community Counseling Center in Ashtabula, Ohio, where he was working as a therapist.
The nonprofit center treats adults and children with mental illness and substance abuse. The center's director said Yockey was treating only adult patients.
According to the grand jury report, the allegations against Yockey date back to the early 1980s when he was based at St. Bernadette Church in Monroeville. The report says Yockey molested two boys at the church rectory, one of them 16 years old, the other an undetermined age.
The grand jury report says Yockey molested another teen at St. Canice in Pittsburgh, where he worked after leaving Saint Bernadette. That church is now closed.
The grand jury says the Pittsburgh diocese was made aware of two abuse allegations in 1991. It says Yockey did not deny the allegations and then resigned from the priesthood.
More victims came forward in 2009 and 2013. But the grand jury says the diocese did not report any allegations concerning Yockey to the district attorney until 2014.
No criminal charges against him were ever filed. That allowed Yockey to get licensed as a social worker in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He advertises that he works with adults, children and adolescents.
Parents whose children attend the Ashtabula counseling center were shocked to hear of the allegations against him. “I think that's disturbing. I don't know why they would have someone with a history like that,” said parent Katie Dodd.
“You can't work anywhere with kids and stuff when you do something like that. You should be in jail,” said parent Karen Marshand.
Counseling center CEO Paul Bolino said he knew nothing about the allegations against Yockey until Action News Investigates brought it to his attention.
Asked about his reaction to the allegations against Yockey, Bolino said, "I haven't had time to look at anything at all. Literally just taking all this in. Just learned of this an hour and a half ago."
Shortly after Action News Investigates confronted Yockey, he told Bolino about the allegations. Then, Bolino said, Yockey was fired. Bolino would not say whether Yockey disclosed that he was a priest when he was hired, but he did say there was nothing in his application or background check that raised concerns.
Last month, Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said the diocese would tell potential employers if a priest was removed from ministry because of allegations of abuse. “If the question came forth to us, we have a responsibility to tell people what we know,” Zubik said.
But the grand jury report says in 2006, when the Veterans Administration called for a reference check on Yockey, the diocese did not disclose the allegations against him. The diocese told the VA that Yockey "was granted a leave of absence for personal reasons" and it was "not able to provide any information" beyond that.
It is unclear whether the diocese was contacted about Yockey’s job in Ohio. Yockey is still licensed as a social worker in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The director of the Ohio licensing board said the grand jury allegations are not enough to have his license suspended. A Pennsylvania licensing spokesman would not say whether the allegations could affect his license.
The Pittsburgh diocese has paid about $54,000 in Catholic school tuition reimbursement for the children of one of Yockey's victims.
Man Cleared of Child Sex Abuse Charges After
Oregon Innocence Project Intervenes
“If you have no eyewitnesses, no DNA, no physical trauma on the body of the complainant, how do you establish it was a wrongful conviction?” Josh and his wife Kelli walking out of the courthouse this morning, with Steve Wax, OIP's Legal Director, welcoming them. (Jenny Coleman)
By Elise Herron
Josh Horner, a 42-year-old plumber from Redmond, Ore., saw a 50-year jail sentence for child sex abuse reversed today after the Portland-based nonprofit Oregon Innocence Project intervened in his case.
Steve Wax, OIP's legal director, tells WW that Horner's daughter first filed charges against him in September 2014. In March 2017, OPB first reported, a split jury found Horner guilty. Oregon is one of only two states where non-unanimous convictions are allowed, and Deschutes County Superior Court Judge Stephen Forte then sentenced Horner to what would have been life in prison.
Six months after his conviction, Horner reached out OIP for help advocating his innocence.
"There were a number of serious issues that we saw with the case," Wax says. "If you have no eyewitnesses, no DNA, no physical trauma on the body of the complainant, how do you establish it was a wrongful conviction?"
During a nine-month long investigation, Wax says the most prominent discrepancy OIP found in the case against Horner was an accusation that he had shot to death the family's black lab, Lucy, in front of his daughter. Wax says Horner's daughter testified under oath that in one instance of abuse, Horner threatened her and then shot the dog.
The Oregon Innocence Project was able to locate Lucy with her new owner and disprove the allegation.
"The reason Lucy became a focus," Wax says, "is that in a sex abuse case, in order to establish wrongfulness of conviction, it's important to find something objective."
Disproving Lucy's death, Wax adds, was "not the only objective fact [OIP was] able to use show that the complainant was telling law enforcement things that were not true."
Horner's exoneration is the result of a joint investigation between OIP and Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel.
"Mr. Hummel agreed to look into the case and we sent him a detailed account of our investigation and our review of the trial record," OIP's release today reads. "He agreed to conduct a joint investigation with OIP into the conviction and came to agree that we know for a fact that the evidence doesn't support these accusations."
In a statement, Hummel thanked OIP for helping him "get it right. A prosecutor's job is to seek justice, not convictions," Hummel said. "The Oregon Innocence Project's dogged work on this case helped me see that justice required the dismissal of this prosecution."
This is the first legal victory for OIP, which was founded in 2014 and has already received over 500 requests for help proving innocence. Wax says the group is currently involved in four cases, not including Horner's.
"We hope [Horner's case] will serve as the model for future cases when we approach prosecutors, and that it will show that we can do a joint investigation for the truth," Wax says. "[Horner] would have died in prison and that did not happen. That is a very powerful and emotional experience."
Florida man ordered to pay $13,619
in child abuse case sentencing
By Dan Scanlan
A 34-year-old Jacksonville man was ordered Monday to pay $13,619 in restitution to the custodian of a child who was molested in 2015 for receiving sexually explicit images of that child from a convicted sex offender, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Stanley Hagan Jr., received a five-year prison sentence and was ordered to serve a 10 years supervised release and register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty in November for receiving child pornography over the internet, prosecutors said.
Court documents stated Hagan had sexually explicit online conversations with Darren Dozier in late 2015 and again in 2016. Dozier is a convicted sex offender from Philadelphia, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Prior to those conversations, Dozier molested the 8-year-old child in 2015 after his release from prison and relocation to Philadelphia, shooting photos and videos of the abuse, prosecutors said.
Hagan pretended to be a 15-year-old girl during the conversations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Dozier offered to send Hagan sexually explicit images of the 8-year-old. Hagan accepted the offer and Dozier sent four images of him sexually abusing the child. Hagan then asked Dozier to send him a sexually explicit video of the child, prosecutors said. During an interview with FBI agents in Jacksonville on Aug. 30, 2017, Hagan admitted he solicited and received the images from Dozier.
After being identified by the FBI, Hagan admitted to his participation in the ongoing sexual exploitation of the child and pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Dozier was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI in Jacksonville and Philadelphia.
Larry Nassar Allegedly Videotaped Himself Drugging And Raping MSU Athlete In 1992
Former athletic director George Perles reportedly covered up the accusations, according to a federal lawsuit.
By Alanna Vagianos, HuffPost US
A former Michigan State University field hockey player filed a federal lawsuit on Monday accusing former USA Gymnastics and MSU trainer Larry Nassar of drugging and raping her during a medical exam in 1992.
Erika Davis was a 17-year-old first-year student at MSU when she first began seeing Nassar for a knee injury in 1992, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost. During one appointment, Nassar “crushed up a pill” and made Davis drink it, assuring her it was for her injured knee. According to the lawsuit, Davis became drowsy and passed out.
“When she was less woozy a short time later, Plaintiff Erika witnessed Defendant Nassar raping her,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit says that prior to allegedly raping Davis, Nassar also subjected her to “inappropriate, nonconsensual sexual touching, abuse and assault” under the guise of medical treatment. Nassar filmed many of his sessions with Davis, telling her the video would be used for a medical study.
Nassar was a student at MSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine during the time of the alleged rape and wasn’t hired full time by MSU until 1997.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday, the last day Nassar accusers were able to file claims with MSU as part of the university’s $500,000,000 settlement with over 300 survivors.
Davis eventually told her field hockey coach, Martha Ludwig, what had happened. Ludwig confronted Nassar in May of 1992. According to court documents, Ludwig demanded the video Nassar had of Davis and then complained to George Perles, MSU’s athletic director at the time. Perles currently sits on the school’s board of trustees.
Perles, who resigned as athletic director in 1992, “intervened,” and Ludwig’s complaint against Nassar was dropped. According to the suit, Perles forced Ludwig to return the video of Davis’ assault, resign and sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Perles, 84, did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, and Ludwig was unable to be reached.
“This proves that not only did Defendant Michigan State University have knowledge that Defendant Nassar sexually abused and sexually assaulted minors, but that it would also go to great lengths to conceal this conduct,” the suit states.
According to the lawsuit, Davis later became pregnant and had a miscarriage. Davis said that Nassar is the only person who could have been the father.
Davis’ attorney, Brian McKeen, did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
A Michigan State University student stops to look at "The Rock" painted with the names of survivors of Larry Nassar in East Lansing, Michigan, on Feb. 11, 2018.
In October of 1992, Davis, along with a few friends, reported the rape to the MSU police department but was told she had to report it to the athletic department since she was an athlete.
When Davis said she had reported it to the athletic department and nothing happened, an MSU detective “explicitly told them that he was powerless to investigate anything that takes place to the athletic department.” According to the suit, the sergeant told Davis that Perles is a “powerful man” and she should simply drop it.
Davis later lost her field hockey scholarship and currently suffers from anxiety and depression, including a suicide attempt a year after she says Nassar raped her. According to the lawsuit, Davis also avoided gynecological exams due to trauma. When she finally did undergo a real gynecological exam, she found out that she had been infected with the HPV virus at some point, which later caused cervical cancer.
“Defendant Michigan State University could have prevented hundreds of young girls and women from being sexually assaulted by Defendant Nassar had they only acted appropriately, decently and lawfully in 1992,” the suit states.
Nassar is accused of sexually abusing more than 265 young women under the guise of medical treatment. He was sentenced to three concurrent prison sentences over the past year on child pornography and child sexual abuse charges. Nassar has appealed all three of his sentences, all of which have been denied.
Ex-migrant shelter employee found guilty of molesting unaccompanied minors in Arizona
Bree Burkitt, Arizona RepublicPHOENIX – A federal jury has convicted a former migrant shelter employee of molesting multiple boys at an Arizona shelter.
Authorities say Levian Pacheco sexually abused unaccompanied minors ranging in age from 15 to 17 while they were being held at a Casa Kokopelli Southwest Key Facility in Mesa, Arizona, over an 11-month period.
Pacheco, 25, was found guilty Friday of seven counts of abusive sexual contact with a ward and three counts of sexual abuse of a ward.
A boy from Guatemala said Pacheco came into his bathroom and groped him as he washed his hands, according to court documents. Another said he was abused while in medical isolation three times. A third teenager said Pacheco tried to engage in anal sex with him.
The jury convicted him of abusing seven different boys – some of them multiple times.
Southwest Key spokesman Jeff Eller said in a statement that trial testimony proved the organization acted immediately after they learned of the assaults and placed Pacheco on suspension.
"We are grieved that abuse occurred in one of our shelters and, with the victims, take comfort in justice having been served," Ellis said. "As an organization, we believe in transparency."
Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 3.
North Carolina couple charged with
sexual assault on toddler - ID'd from Child Porn
A Lincoln County couple is facing several child sexual assault charges connected to incidents involving a minor that occurred over the past two years.Police say that Ashley Nichole Lattimore, 27, and Douglas Glenn Queen Jr., 29, of Maiden, NC were identified as the adults in a video found by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office that contained a child engaging in sexual acts.
The video was reported on Sept 9 and authorities determined that the female child in the footage was between one and three years old at the time it was filmed. Queen and Lattimore admitted to their involvement in the crime and the victim is a relative of both.
Wow. That was quick! Well done Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office!
The couple has each been charged with one felony county of indecent liberties with a minor, statutory sex offense of a child, sexual child abuse, crime against nature and first degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Both are currently being held in custody at the Harven A. Crouse Detention Center as an investigation into the incident continues.
24 suspects arrested in Arizona child sex sting
An undercover investigation into child sex crimes and human trafficking in the Valley resulted in the arrest of 24 suspects, the Mesa Police Department said.
According to Mesa police, during the six-day operation officers and detectives placed ads on websites "commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts."
Each of the 24 suspects, according to Mesa police, either solicited or brokered deals for various illegal sex acts.
The two dozen suspects are facing a wide-range of different charges from luring and sex trafficking, to sex abuse, sexual exploitation of a minor, money laundering and furnishing to a minor.
The suspects ranged in age from 21 to 80 years old, police said.
Operation Degrossting, which ran for six days between Aug. 21 and Aug. 31, was conducted in partnership with the Tempe, Gilbert, Chandler Police Departments as well as the Attorney General’s Office.
Elizabeth Smart calls decision to free captor ‘incomprehensible’
By Tamar Lapin 
Utah - One of Elizabeth Smart’s abductors is getting out of prison next week — a decision that the kidnapping victim says is “incomprehensible.”
Wanda Barzee will be free Sept. 19, announced the Utah Board of Pardons in a surprise decision Tuesday.
Barzee, now 72, admitted to aiding her self-proclaimed-prophet husband Brian David Mitchell kidnap a then-14-year-old Smart at knifepoint from her bedroom in Salt Lake City in 2002.
The teen was forced to “marry” Mitchell in a sham ceremony and was raped nearly every day for the next nine months.
The couple was arrested in 2003, and Barzee pleaded guilty in federal court in November 2009.
Three months later, she pleaded guilty to state charges for the attempted kidnapping plot of Smart’s cousin, Olivia Wright, in July 2002 — just a month after she and Mitchell had nabbed Smart.
In 2010, Barzee was sentenced to consecutive 15-year sentences for the federal and state charges. She was released from federal prison in Texas in 2016 and returned to Utah to serve her state sentence.
The parole board had denied Barzee an early release in June, declining to include her eight years in federal prison as time served and calculating her sentence as lasting through January 2024.
But Tuesday, it reversed its decision. Did they forget what the word 'consecutive' means?
“Upon further review and advice from legal counsel, the board must count time spent in federal custody toward Ms. Barzee’s state sentence,” wrote Greg Johnson, the director of administrative services.
Was that the understanding of the judge who sentenced her?
Smart, who is now 30 and a child-safety activist, said in a statement that she was “surprised and disappointed” to learn that one of her tormentors would be free next week.
“It is incomprehensible how someone who has not cooperated with her mental-health evaluations or risk assessments and someone who did not show up to her own parole hearing can be released into our community,” Smart said.
Smart, who is married and a mom of two, said she appreciated the support she’s received and vowed to address how Barzee was released so the same thing doesn’t happen again.
Once released, Barzee will be under federal supervision for five years.
Mitchell, 65, is serving a life sentence in federal prison for kidnapping and sexual assault.
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