A Chesterfield County woman has been charged after investigators say they caught her stripping at her home for at least eight area teens.
Gwendolyn Lowery, 27, is charged with eight counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one liquor law violation.
Chesterfield County Sheriff's Investigator Daniel Scott said he received a complaint late Saturday night and sent a deputy to Lowery's home in the Magnolia Trailer Park on McDonald Circle near Cheraw.
When the deputy arrived, Scott said Lowery had turned her living room into a strip club with a pole, and was stripping for a group of people age 12-19, including eight juveniles.
Lowery had a paper price list, which stated she charged $5 for a lap dance and $20 for a VIP special, according to Scott. The list also contained names of other women who would perform.
The case remains under investigation at this time.
Pope Benedict XVI's unprecedented letter to Ireland apologizing for chronic child abuse within the Catholic Church failed Saturday to calm the anger of many victims, who accused the Vatican of ducking its own responsibility in promoting a worldwide culture of cover-up.
Benedict's message — the product of weeks of consultation with Irish bishops, who read it aloud at Masses across this predominantly Catholic nation — rebuked Ireland's church leaders for "grave errors of judgment" in failing to observe the church's secretive canon laws.
The pope, who himself stands accused of approving the transfer of an accused priest for treatment rather than informing German police during his 1977-82 term as Munich archbishop, suggested that child-abusing priests could have been expelled quickly had Irish bishops applied the church's own laws correctly. He pledged a church inspection of unspecified dioceses and orders in Ireland to ensure their child-protection policies were effective.
He also appealed to priests still harboring sins of child molestation to confess.
"Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God's mercy," he wrote.
But Benedict offered no endorsement of three official Irish investigations that found the church leadership to blame for the scale and longevity of abuse heaped on Irish children throughout the 20th century.
The Vatican refused to cooperate with those 2001-09 probes into the Dublin Archdiocese, the rural Ferns diocese and Ireland's defunct network of workhouse-style dormitory schools for the Irish poor.
The investigations, directed by senior Irish judges and lawyers, ruled that Catholic leaders protected the church's reputation from scandal at the expense of children — and began passing their first abuse reports to police in 1996 only after victims began to sue the church.
Nor did Benedict's letter mention recent revelations of abuse cover-ups in a growing list of European nations, particularly his German homeland, where more than 300 claimants this year have alleged abuse in Catholic schools and a choir long run by the pope's brother.
German Archbishop Apologizes
In the latest development, the leader of the German Bishops Conference apologized Saturday for failing to protect children adequately from a pedophile priest in the early 1990s in his diocese of Freiburg. Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, who was in charge of human resources and staffing at the time, said he should have done more to investigate the priest, who was forced into retirement in 1991 and committed suicide four years later when fresh complaints arose.
Rights campaigners in Ireland and abroad forecast that more victims in more nations will keep coming forward and opening new fronts of criticism, because the pope's promotion of secretive canon laws remains at the heart of an unsolved problem.
"We know this policy of secrecy was worldwide. The more that victims speak out, the more the scandals will spread," said Marie Collins, who was repeatedly raped by a Dublin priest while aged 13 and hospitalized in 1960. Her attacker wasn't removed from the priesthood and imprisoned until 1997.
While a cardinal at the Vatican, Joseph Ratzinger, now the pope, wrote a 2001 letter instructing bishops worldwide to report all cases of abuse to his office and keep church investigations secret under threat of excommunication. The Vatican insists the secrecy rules serve only to protect the integrity of the church's investigations, and should not be taken to mean the church should not tell police of their members' crimes.
But victims' advocates in Ireland and the United States said the pope again failed to make it clear whether the church considers the secular law a higher priority than canon law when seeking to stop a pedophile priest.
"The letter's underlying goal seems to have been to appease the outrage while keeping the church in control of its incriminating information," said Terry McKiernan, president of a Web-based pressure group, BishopAccountability.org, that chronicles Catholic abuse scandals worldwide.
"He should have demanded that the bishops release all pertinent files and other information about all credibly accused priests. He should have demanded that every complicit official be named publicly and forced to resign," McKiernan said.
Irish victims' leaders are seeking the resignations of any bishops who transferred pedophile priests to new parishes rather than report them to police — a demand that, if applied, would likely claim the majority of Ireland's 27 bishops, given their failure to tell police of any crimes until 1996. But the pope has yet to accept even the three-month-old resignations offered by three Irish bishops linked to Dublin Archdiocese cover-ups.
The Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's letter contained no punitive provisions because it was pastoral, not administrative or disciplinary in nature. He said any decisions concerning resignations would be taken by the competent Vatican offices.
Benedict faulted the Irish bishops for failing "sometimes grievously" to apply the church's own laws requiring child-abusing priests to be removed from the priesthood. But he didn't rebuke them for failing to report abuse to police, saying instead they must prevent future abuse and "continue to cooperate with civil authorities."
He also repeated an excuse for the bishops' inaction that has been rejected by the Irish investigations — that they didn't understand the scale or criminality of child abuse until recent years.
"I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice," Benedict wrote in remarks addressed to the Irish bishops.
Paper Trail
However, the Irish investigators forced the church to hand over its copious files on abuse cases dating back to the 1950s. They unearthed a paper trail confirming the Irish bishops' successful acquisition of group liability insurance in the 1980s, a decade before the deluge of lawsuits. And they found cases where Catholic officials in the 1960s reported school employees to police for abusing children, showing they understood even then it was a crime.
Andrew Madden, a former Dublin altar boy who in 1995 became Ireland's first pedophile-priest victim to go public with a lawsuit against the church, said the pope had missed the whole point of a meaningful apology.
"I don't need the pope to apologize for the child abusers. I, and untold thousands of victims like me, needed the pope to apologize for the church hierarchy's role in choosing to protect the abusers at the expense of children. That's the real scandal, and the pope has been involved in that. He's not an innocent bystander," Madden said.
'Only themselves to blame'
Massgoers arriving Saturday at central Dublin churches and in Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, were greeted with piles of the Pope's letter. Some lauded its readability and frank tone.
"I thought it was lovely. I thought it was very moving, and I hope it brings some help to all the victims," said one Armagh worshipper, Annette O'Hara. "They're the ones we should be praying for."
But outside a Dublin church, truck driver Tomas O'Reilly said he doubted the pope's sincerity and was unhappy with putting money in the collection plate. "I don't want to be paying the church's legal bills. They've only themselves to blame," he said.
At the Vatican, Lombardi was peppered with questions about why Benedict didn't directly address the German scandal or take the opportunity in the letter to make a more sweeping commentary on the global dimensions of the scandal.
Lombardi said the Irish scandal was unique in its scope, but said the pope's letter could be read to apply to other countries and cases.
"You can't talk about the entire world every time," he said. "It risks becoming banal."
Pope Benedict XVI told priests who have abused children to submit to the "demands of justice," according to a letter released Saturday.
The pontiff said a misplaced concern for the church's reputation and inadequate methods of choosing priests had contributed to decades of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. He ordered a Vatican investigation into elements of the Irish church to tackle the problem.
In an open letter written to Catholics in the Irish Republic, the pope said he was "deeply disturbed" by the flood of allegations in Ireland and told victims he was "truly sorry."
He acknowledged that victims had suffered "grievously" from "sinful and criminal" abuse at the hands of priests, brothers and nuns.
"It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the church," he said. "In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel."
The letter did not mention similar claims in the pope's native Germany.
The church has been accused of protecting priests in the past and the pope's comment about the "demands of justice" appeared to be a reference to court proceedings, NBC News reported.
Benedict laid out four reasons why abuse by priests had continued over the last four decades:
* a misplaced concern for the reputation of the church; * inadequate procedures for choosing priests; * insufficient training in seminaries; * and a tendency to favor clergy.
There was no mention of any Vatican responsibility in the scandal and no specific punishments doled out for the bishops who have been blamed by victims and Irish government-ordered investigations for having covered up years of abuse.
The Vatican investigation will look into some diocese, seminaries and religious orders. Such a move is undertaken only when Rome considers a local church unable to deal with a problem on its own.
The Vatican ordered such an "apostolic visitation" into U.S. seminaries after the U.S. clerical sex abuse scandal exploded in 2002.
The results of the Irish investigation could lead to further action.
Victims 'disappointed'
However, an Irish group representing survivors of abuse expressed dismay at the pope's remarks.
"My first response was deep disappointment in the letter. We feel the letter falls far short of addressing the concerns of the victims," Maeve Lewis, executive director of victims group One in Four, told Reuters.
"There is nothing in this letter to suggest that any new vision of leadership in the Catholic church exists," Lewis added.
She said the pontiff had focused too narrowly on lower-ranked Irish priests without recognizing the responsibility of the Vatican.
The letter also did not call for the resignation of the head of the church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, which victims groups have demanded, Lewis added.
In a speech after celebrating Mass on Saturday in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Cardinal Brady: "I welcome this letter. It is evident from the Pastoral Letter that Pope Benedict is deeply dismayed by what he refers to as 'sinful and criminal acts and the way the Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.'"
Three Irish bishops have offered to step down. Benedict hasn't accepted the resignations. The pope said that while bishops committed errors in the past, the church's leadership had already begun to remedy past mistakes.
Benedict used his harshest words for the abusers themselves, saying they had betrayed the trust of the faithful, brought shame on the church and now must answer before God and civil authorities.
"Conceal nothing," he exhorted them. "Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God's mercy."
Benedict faulted their superiors, the Irish bishops, for having failed "sometimes grievously" to apply the church's own law which calls for harsh punishments for child abusers, including defrocking them.
He said Irish bishops had made "grave errors of judgement" in handling the allegations. But he didn't rebuke them specifically for having failed to report cases of abuse to police, saying only that serious mistakes were made and that now they must "continue to cooperate with civil authorities."
"I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice," Benedict wrote.
"Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. And this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness."
Secularization The letter said the Irish church had had "to confront new and serious challenges to the faith arising from the rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society."
The pope added there was a "tendency during this period, also on the part of priests and religious, to adopt ways of thinking and assessing secular realities without sufficient reference to the Gospel."
Vatican reforms had been "sometimes misinterpreted" and "there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations."
Asked why there were no punitive provisions contained in the letter, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi noted that the letter was pastoral, not administrative or disciplinary in nature, and that any further measures concerning resignations would be taken by the competent Vatican offices.
Three Irish government-ordered investigations published from 2005 to 2009 have documented how thousands of Irish children suffered rape, molestation and other abuse by priests in their parishes and by nuns and brothers in boarding schools and orphanages. Irish bishops did not report a single case to police until 1996 after victims began to sue the church.
But Benedict said it wasn't enough to argue that abuse is widespread in society at large. He said the Irish church must now address the problem that has occurred in the Irish Catholic community "and to do so with courage and determination."
The seven-page letter was divided into sections directed at particular groups: the victims, their parents, their abusers, the bishops and the Irish faithful as a whole. Addressing himself first to the victims, Benedict said he understood that nothing he could say could undo their pain. He equated their wounds with those of Christ, and said he hoped that they find the courage to find faith.
"Christ's own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of evil is broken and we are reborn to life and hope."
The letter concluded with a prayer for the faithful to meditate on as they work to try to rebuild the church.
"May our sorrow and our tears, our sincere effort to redress past wrongs, and our firm purpose of amendment, bear an abundant harvest of grace for the deepening of faith in our families, parishes, schools and communities, for the spiritual progress of Irish society, and the growth of charity, justice, joy and peace within the whole human family."
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil outside a San Diego, California, church in honor of a teenage girl missing since Thursday.
The vigil was held just hours after authorities said they found human remains in an area where they had been searching for 17-year-old Chelsea King.
"There is strong likelihood that we have found Chelsea," San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said at a news conference.
The remains were found in a shallow grave along the shoreline of a tributary south of a lake in Rancho Bernardo Community Park, authorities said. Searchers have been combing the edge of Lake Hodges for any clue into the disappearance of King, a cross-country runner who often ran along the park's trails.
The last reported sighting of the high school senior was at school Thursday, according to sheriff's department spokeswoman Susan Plese. Her car, with her cell phone inside, was found at the park, Plese said.
Police arrested 30-year-old John Albert Gardner III on Sunday in connection with the disappearance. He is being held in the San Diego Central Jail on rape and first-degree murder charges, according to jail records available online Tuesday night.
Gore said the body was found in a heavily wooded area not visible from nearby homes. A shoe had been found earlier in the same area.
He said King's parents have been informed of the discovery.
"They were holding out hope as we all were that we would find Chelsea alive," he said. "This is our worst fears that we would find her as we did today."
At Tuesday night's vigil, friends and family were expected to speak about King and play some of her favorite songs.
Gore said he expected to have positive identification of the body by Wednesday.
Gardner, a registered sex offender, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, according to San Diego County district attorney's spokesman Steve Walker.
Investigators searched Monday for a California teen, a police spokeswoman said, a day after authorities arrested a man suspected of rape and murder in connection with her disappearance.
Police have been searching for Chelsea King, 17, since Thursday, said Susan Plese, a San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman.
The last reported sighting of the high school senior was at school, Plese said. Her car, with her cell phone inside, was found parked at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. King is a cross-country runner who often goes to the park to run on its many trails, Plese said.
Sheriff William Gore told reporters Sunday that authorities were hoping to find King alive.
Police arrested John Albert Gardner III, 30, Sunday afternoon after evidence pointed to him as "possibly involved" in King's disappearance, Gore said. He did not say what kind of physical evidence detectives uncovered. He is being held in the San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of rape and murder, according to jail records available online.
Gardner will be arraigned Wednesday, said Steve Walker, a San Diego County district attorney's spokesman. There has been no decision on what formal charges Gardner will face, he said.
Homicide investigators questioned Gardner, who is a registered sex offender, after his arrest, Gore said. An interview by homicide detectives is the "normal protocol in cases such as this," he said.
Police are looking into whether Gardner is connected to an attack on a jogger in the park several weeks ago, Capt. Lisa Miller said.
"I want to emphasize, this investigation is not over," Gore said. "Our primary goal has been to find Chelsea King."
Thousands of San Diego's residents have come out to distribute fliers that seek help finding King, Plese said. Police have made several searches in the county for her, Gore said. The 38-acre park is also still being searched.
King's mother, Kelly King, expressed gratitude to community members for their efforts.
"My heart is overflowing with all the support and all this love, and there's no words for it," she told CNN affiliate KFMB.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 858-565-5200.
The body of a Maryland girl who authorities say was abducted by a registered Sex Offender was found Friday after thousands of volunteers fanned out to look for her.
Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said that the body of 11-year-old Sarah H. Foxwell was discovered at about 4 p.m. near the Delaware state line. He offered few other details. Thomas J. Leggs Jr., 30, has been charged in her kidnapping.
Leggs is a former boyfriend of the girl's aunt, who is her legal guardian. A public defender representing him has not returned a phone call.
Thousands of volunteers gathered in Salisbury to help in the search Friday.
Lewis said Sarah was last seen Tuesday night at her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore. A relative discovered she was missing early Wednesday while checking on Sarah and her 6-year-old sister. A charging document says Leggs was the last person seen with Sarah.
A "juvenile witness" awoke during the night Tuesday and saw Sarah leave the bedroom with "Tommy," and said he was wearing blue jeans, an orange jacket and white sneakers, the charging document says.
The statement of probable cause also says Sarah's aunt, Amy Fothergill, with whom Sarah lives, noticed that Sarah's green toothbrush was missing from the home. Deputies found a green toothbrush and a lollipop in a truck Leggs admitted driving. Leggs said he had been wearing jeans and white sneakers the previous night — the same clothes he was wearing when police questioned him.
The sheriff said Leggs has been uncooperative and "of no assistance to our investigators."
Leggs is listed on the Maryland and Delaware sex offender registries. The Maryland listing notes that he is a child sex offender, but does not give details about his conviction.
Lewis said Leggs has been convicted of sex offense in Wicomico County and was charged Oct. 29 with fourth-degree burglary.
In 2001, Leggs was convicted in Delaware of rape for having sex with a victim who was 16 or 17, according to the Delaware registry. The registry describes his risk level as "high" and notes he is unemployed.
Leggs, who has been convicted of assault several times, also is awaiting trial on charges of burglary and destruction of property in Ocean City.
North Carolina authorities have still been unable to locate a missing 5-year-old girl after surveillance footage showed her being carried into a hotel room by a man now wanted by police.
Police revealed footage Thursday of Shaniya Davis and a man identified as 29-year-old Mario Andrette McNeill entering a Sanford hotel more than 40 minutes before the girl's mother reported her missing Tuesday morning. The hotel is about 40 miles from the girl's home.
A hotel worker called police after recognizing Shaniya but McNeill and the girl had left by the time they arrived.
Clarence Coe was arrested Wednesday on kidnapping charges after witnesses say they saw him take Shaniya out of the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park in Fayetteville. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Cumberland County authorities say foul play is suspected in the disappearance of Shaniya Nicole Davis. The 5-year-old girl went missing from her home, 1116-A Sleepy Hollow Drive in Fayetteville, Tuesday morning.
An Amber Alert was initiated for Shaniya just before noon, Lt. David Sportsman said.
Police responded to the home around 6:50 a.m., and Shaniya's mother told officers that she last saw her daughter at 5:30 a.m. The mother’s boyfriend and her sister, along with an infant and Shaniya's 7-year-old brother were also in the home when the girl went missing.
“There is definitely something not right about the situation. Foul play is suspected,” Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said Tuesday evening.
It is unclear how the child left the home.
"The circumstances surrounding her disappearance are very odd. A 5-year-old usually...(is) not awake at 5:30 a.m. normally, and they just wouldn't leave their home," Chance said. "If she would have wandered out of her home, she would be around here somewhere."
Chance said the family has a history with the Department of Social Services.
"There have been major DSS issues with this family – who has custody, switching back and forth," Chance said.
Chance said it's unknown whether the child's disappearance is related to those issues. Police said Shaniya's father flew in from out of state Tuesday afternoon and was talking to investigators.
"We're treating this as a child in danger, with the information we have," Chance said.
Chance said police have been called to the home before. This summer, officers served a search warrant at the home and found a variety of drugs inside.
The family was not allowed inside the home Tuesday evening after it was deemed a health hazard due to extensive sewage leaks, authorities said.
Police K-9s, firefighters and sheriff's deputies searched the area throughout the day Tuesday.
“We are searching for her and hoping to find her alive, but we just don't know at this point,” Chance said.
Chance noted that search dogs did not pick up Shaniya's scent, which they would have if the child was wandering around outside.
Shaniya is described as 3 feet tall and 40 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt with pink underwear. She is thin and has a scar on her foot.
Fayetteville police say three registered sex offenders live in the neighborhood. Theresa Chance said the offenders, along with everyone else in the neighborhood, have been interviewed.
The sex offenders are not considered suspects, Chance said.
Anyone with information is urged to call Fayetteville police at 910-433-1856 or call or call 911 or *HP.
Tiffany Wright stood alone in the dark, waiting for her school bus.
It was just before 6 a.m., and her foster grandmother had walked back home to get Tiffany's water bottle.
Tiffany, 15, was eight months pregnant but determined to stay on track in school. She wanted to be a lawyer. And after just a few weeks at Hawthorne High, she had impressed teachers as smart and ambitious, despite a difficult childhood.
At 5:51, Tiffany sent a text.
"Wheres the bus?"
One stop away, replied her friend, already on the bus.
At 5:55, as the bus lumbered toward Tiffany's stop, people began calling police to report gunshots.
A school bus dispatcher radioed Tiffany's bus driver: Change course - something's happening ahead.
Tiffany lay dead in the road, shot in the head, that morning, Monday, Sept. 14. Her baby girl was delivered at the hospital and lived a week, but died Sunday.
Nobody's charged in the killings, but police call Tiffany's adoptive brother, Royce Mitchell, a "person of interest."
In the months before she died, local agencies took steps aimed at stabilizing her home life and keeping her safe. But her story exposes failures in the system that was supposed to protect her.
Among the missteps:
•In February, a Mecklenburg court clerk appointed Mitchell as Tiffany's temporary guardian — even though he was a felon who served time in federal prison. He was also tried in 2006 for murder, but found not guilty. And last year, he was accused of domestic violence, though the case was dismissed.
•In July, social workers told police that Mitchell, 36, might have committed statutory rape with Tiffany, but police didn't question him about it for seven weeks, and didn't charge him with the rape until after Tiffany was killed.
•This month, Mecklenburg social services failed to cut off communication between Tiffany, who was in foster care, and Mitchell, said a source close to the investigation.
On the day of Tiffany's killing, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police jailed Mitchell for statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child, naming Tiffany as the victim.
Police defend their work, saying they followed the industry's best practices - which takes time. Police didn't feel a need to rush, they say, because they believed Tiffany was secure, hidden in a foster home with no threat to her safety.
Police say it's hard to prove statutory rape: Of the 262 reports of statutory rape police received over three years, only 16 percent - 42 cases - were accepted by prosecutors.
Experts say statutory rape cases are complicated because they involve victims ages 13, 14 or 15 who often consider themselves voluntary participants in sex with someone at least six years older. So victims can be reluctant to help police.
But child advocates say in cases like Tiffany's, police should act more aggressively. An immediate arrest sends a signal to a suspect and can persuade them to stay away from victims.
"The cases may be difficult to win, but they're not difficult to charge," says Brett Loftis of Charlotte's Council for Children's Rights.
UNCC criminologist Paul Friday says: "Often, nothing is done in these kinds of cases because they're based on improper assumptions about the rationality of someone that age. But the minors are often unaware of disease, birth control and they can be exploited by someone."
Adopted by foster mother
Tiffany first entered the child welfare system as a toddler in Buffalo, N.Y., when her mother lost custody.
She was adopted at 4 by her foster mother, Alma Wright, an older woman with eight grown children, who was excited about raising another child.
One of Wright's grown sons was Royce Mitchell, a star quarterback in high school who'd gone on to play for a semi-pro team in Buffalo. But Mitchell also was indicted in 1999 as part of a drug trafficking ring and went to federal prison.
While he was in prison, authorities also charged Mitchell with an earlier murder, but a jury found him not guilty.
In 2004, Alma and Tiffany left Buffalo for North Carolina, settling near Kings Mountain. Tiffany made friends easily at school and church. She ran track at Bessemer City High School.
In 2007, Mitchell was released from prison and followed his mother to North Carolina.
But last fall, Alma Wright got sick. Friends at church helped out with Tiffany, inviting her for dinners and weekends. Tiffany spent time with Mitchell and his wife, too.
Alma Wright died Jan. 25, and Tiffany moved in with the Mitchells in Charlotte.
On Jan. 30, Royce Mitchell asked a Mecklenburg court to appoint him and his wife as Tiffany's guardians.
On his application, he wrote: "We are seeking guardianship because we were requested to do so by Mrs. Alma Wright before she died."
He wanted to transfer Tiffany to West Mecklenburg High School.
The court set a hearing for Feb. 5 and appointed a child advocate to study the situation and look after Tiffany's best interests in court.
There's no transcript of what happened in court, and the clerk who handled Tiffany's case declined to discuss his decision.
Frederick Benson, a Mecklenburg assistant clerk of superior court, appointed Mitchell the temporary guardian of Tiffany's welfare.
It's unclear if Benson, a lawyer, knew about Mitchell's criminal background. Court clerks are not required to perform background checks in guardianship cases, says Clerk of Superior Court Martha Curran. It's up to each clerk to decide what checks are necessary, and they often rely on court-appointed child advocates to advise them in such cases.
Tiffany's advocate, lawyer Martha Efird, declined to discuss her actions in the case.
It was in the weeks surrounding the Feb. 5 court hearing that Tiffany got pregnant, if hospital estimates are accurate.
But friends say Tiffany, who started at West Mecklenburg High in February, wouldn't realize for four or five months that she was pregnant.
On Feb. 27, clerk of court Benson ordered DSS to conduct a "home study" of the Mitchell household. Officials won't release their findings.
But Mitchell didn't keep custody long, according to several of Tiffany's friends in King's Mountain.
In late March, Mitchell left Tiffany at a group home called With Friends in Gastonia, according to Marlene Jefferies and Cruceta Jeffeirs, two adult family friends who watched Tiffany grow up.
The group home wouldn't confirm that. But the friends say the home reported to social services that Tiffany was abandoned. And she was soon back in foster care.
On March 31, Jeffeirs, a Shelby pastor, wrote a letter to Benson seeking custody of Tiffany: "My desire is to see Tiffany accomplish all the goals that she has set for herself and I believe she can do that in a stable environment with lots of guidance and love."
DSS officials in Gaston and Mecklenburg won't discuss Tiffany's case or answer questions about what steps they took to protect her.
But friends and family say Tiffany was eventually placed in the care of foster parent Susan Barber, in a townhome off Mallard Creek Road in Derita.
By July, it was clear Tiffany was pregnant, friends say.
Barber tried to shield Tiffany from talking to those she believed might be bad influences, according to Tiffany's cousin Brittany Page. But a source close to the investigation said Tiffany and Mitchell continued communicating.
Despite repeated attempts, Barber could not be reached.
As the school year approached, Tiffany prepared to change schools again, this time to Hawthorne High in Charlotte, which offers a special program for pregnant students.
Delayed Investigation
On July 27, social workers reported to police that Royce Mitchell might have committed statutory rape with Tiffany.
It took eight days for a detective to look at the case, and three days more for it to be officially assigned to Teresa Johnson, a detective with CMPD's youth crime and domestic violence unit.
Another 12 days passed before Johnson interviewed Tiffany.
It's unclear when detective Johnson discovered Mitchell's background, but it wasn't enough to ramp up the investigation. Investigators say they believed Tiffany was safe in a foster home and faced no threats from Mitchell.
Police say their performance in the case followed procedure and met standards.
Police interview alleged victims immediately if the crime has occurred within the previous 72 hours, so they can gather evidence that may remain. But in cases like Tiffany's - where months had elapsed since the alleged offense - police try to arrange just one interview when children and teen victims of abuse are involved.
Police acknowledge that strategy takes time but minimizes trauma and reduces the chances that young victims might be led into inaccurate testimony by repeated questioning.
Police also let such victims decide when they want to be interviewed at the county's child-victim center called Pat's Place. There, specially trained interviewers talk to victims, while social workers, psychologists, police and others watch from another room.
Tiffany chose an Aug. 19 interview. She didn't say much during the formal interview. But later that day, Johnson won her trust and obtained enough information to move forward with the investigation.
The next day, Aug. 20, the detective made her first call to Mitchell to ask him about the charge, she says. Johnson left a message and gave him a few days to call back.
When Mitchell didn't respond, she made calls over the next two weeks to social workers and a federal probation officer to ask Mitchell to come talk to police.
Police say they didn't immediately arrest him because they believed they could get better information if he talked voluntarily.
On Sept. 9, a federal probation official told Johnson that Mitchell was not coming in.
On Sept. 10, a team of social workers, police and other agencies held a standard follow-up meeting to discuss how to proceed in Tiffany's case.
On Friday, Sept. 11, detective Johnson phoned Mitchell's wife and left a message. She asked her to call back to discuss Tiffany, Johnson says, but didn't give details of the rape allegation.
That Monday, Tiffany was shot and killed.
As emergency vehicles rolled to the scene, Tiffany's school bus was diverted from its normal route. But the students could see flashing lights. Tiffany's friends on the bus, Cimone Black and Tamia Corpening, began to worry.
"I kept texting her phone...," Cimone said. Then she started calling, but all she got was voice mail.
The bus continued on to Hawthorne. For Tamia, the hourlong ride was excruciating.
N.C. Foster Care Children are frequently subjected to Sexual Abuse at the hands of their Foster Parents. The State is aware of this horrible Public Corruption but doesn't care.
Why doesn't N.C. care?
Foster Care Children are one of the state's most lucrative forms of Federal Revenue. Particularly Minority Children. In fact if Tiffany Wright (a Foster Care Child who wanted to be a Lawyer) were a Caucasian Foster Care Teen within North Carolina's Foster Care System, this tragedy would NOT have happened!
Since North Carolina's Black Leaders (especially the complacent, stagnant ones in Charlotte-Meck. County) are either afraid or too self-serving to speak up, I will encourage other regular, caring citizens like myself to take action. The Lord will not allow Tiffany Wright's death, nor the death of her baby to be in vain. Its high time for Reform within North Carolina's DSS and Court Systems. It will occur!
Tiffany Wright's infant girl – delivered by doctors as her mother died Monday from a gunshot wound – has also died, according to a spokesperson for Carolinas Health Care System.
Tiffany was eight-months pregnant when she was shot in the head Monday waiting for her school bus. But the baby died early this morning, after nearly a week in critical condition. No other details were available.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating Tiffany's death, and call her adoptive brother Royce Mitchell “a person of interest” in the homicide. Police charged Mitchell, 36, with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a child, and have said that Tiffany was the victim of those crimes.
Mitchell is in jail and has a bond hearing set for Sept. 25.
Tiffany was adopted into Mitchell's family by his mother, Alma Wright. Tiffany went to live with Mitchell in January after Alma Wright died of natural causes at age 77. But Mitchell failed to become her permanent guardian, and Tiffany this summer began a new life with a foster mother in northeast Charlotte.
Tiffany attended Hawthorne High School and was in the TAPS program for pregnant students. She told family and friends she was excited about becoming a mother and planned to name her baby, Aaliyah.
Mitchell worked on a street maintenance crew for the city of Charlotte, and had served prison time on a federal drug conviction. He's under post-release supervision by federal authorities.
Despite his criminal record, Mitchell was given temporary legal guardianship over Tiffany on Feb. 5 by a Mecklenburg court. But he later failed a DSS home study and Tiffany was moved into Foster Care.
Federal prosecutors are preparing documents to revoke Royce Mitchell's probation, which means he'll stay in the Mecklenburg jail until state charges of raping his 15-year-old adopted sister are dealt with, authorities said.
Mitchell, 36, is listed as a person of interest in the death of Tiffany Wright, who was eight months pregnant when she was shot in the head at a school bus stop Monday morning.
Her baby was successfully delivered at Carolinas Medical Center later that day, but the hospital has stopped releasing information about the infant.
After the shooting, Mitchell was charged with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Those charges constitute probation violations, and a Federal warrant is being prepared in New York that “will keep him from getting out of jail,” said Greg Forest, chief of the Federal probation office in Charlotte.
He was imprisoned on a drug-trafficking charge in New York in 1999. He was released in April 2007 and sentenced to four years' probation, Forest said.
Mitchell has a bond hearing scheduled for Sept. 25 on the Charlotte rape charges.
The announcement by Federal Prosecutors came on the same day that Charlotte officials fired Mitchell from his job in the street maintenance department.
Mitchell had worked for the city since 2007 and earned $25,808 a year.
City officials said that their background checks didn't catch his previous criminal convictions.
Kim McMillan of the City of Charlotte said that “after administrative review, the City of Charlotte has terminated the employment of Royce Mitchell for falsifying his employment application, which is in violation of city policy.”
McMillan did not say in what way Mitchell falsified his application. But city officials said Wednesday that as a result of the Mitchell case, they plan to expand background checks to include a search of federal offenses around the country.
Until now, the city's background checks have included local and state records, and Federal records in the Justice Department's Western North Carolina District.
Sources: Charlotte Observer, WCNC, WSOC-TV, Charmeck.org, Recovery.gov, Onecle Court Opinions, US Dept. of Justice, North Carolina General Assembly, Wikipedia, Google Maps
N.C. Foster Care Children are frequently subjected to Sexual Abuse at the hands of their Foster Parents. The State is aware of this horrible Public Corruption but doesn't care. Why doesn't N.C. care? Foster Care Children are one of the state's most lucrative forms of Federal Revenue. Particularly Minority Children. In fact if Tiffany Wright (an Innocent, sweet Foster Care Child) were a Caucasian Foster Care Teen within North Carolina's Foster Care System, this tragedy would NOT have happened!
I'm pushing for a Federal Investigation and I've forwarded this information to the White House. Since North Carolina's Black Leaders (especially the complacent, stagnant ones in Charlotte-Meck. County) are either afraid or too self-serving to speak up, I will encourage other regular, caring citizens like myself to take action. The Lord will not allow Tiffany Wright's death, nor the death of her baby to be in vain. Its high time for Reform within North Carolina's DSS and Court Systems. It will occur!
The death of 15-year old Tiffany Wright is inexcusable and could have been easily avoided. In this instance the ball wasn't dropped, it was just never held.
So how did this guy (Tiffany's Rapist and Murderer) avoid that process?
Since no one answered the first time I'll just ask again. Can someone please tell me how this beautiful Foster Care Child ended up in the home of a Dangerous Ex-Convict (Federal Prisoner) and Murderer?
Was he perhaps dating someone within the Charlotte-Meck. Dept of DSS or City of Charlotte's Personnel dept? After all he is handsome. Handsome and Deadly.
The Charlotte-Meck. Police Dept claims they were so "backlogged with other Sexual Assault cases" there wasn't time to investigate Tiffany's case as a priority, even though she was a 15-yr old child and her Offender (a 38-yr old adult male) had a previous Domestic Violence arrest record for beating up his wife.
I'll tell you what the problem is. Tiffany was a Black Teen-age girl in Foster Care so they just didn't give a darn!
This situation is nothing more than another example demonstrating that when Minority Children are harmed or Killed in Charlotte-Meck. co, CMPD does very little to vindicate those children.
Considering the fact that Charlotte-Meck. now has an African-American Police Chief (its first), this blatant display of Apathy towards the plight of Low-Income Minority Children is very, very sad.
North Carolina needs to work more diligently at preventing Sexual Abuse & Neglect of Children in the state's Foster Care System. Instead they are allowing children, especially Black children to remain in the state's Foster Care System for the sole purpose of bringing in more Revenue from the Federal Government. An indept Federal investigation needs to be conducted and poor DSS leadership on all levels should be removed immediately!
Tiffany's life was valuable because despite being a Foster Care child, she still had a bright future ahead of her. Her death should not be in vain.
Tiffany's death should be the catalyst for radical change within North Carolina's DSS and Foster Care System.
I am strongly encouraging visitors of this Blog and NC citizens to make calls to the US Dept of Justice Child Exploitation Unit and Congress until North Carolina stops using Minority Children in Foster Care as pawns to help balance the state's budget.
What happened to Tiffany should never be allowed to happen to any child in Foster Care again!
What about the Children North Carolina? What about the Children? Not just Wealthy children, All children!
Federal prosecutors are preparing documents to revoke Royce Mitchell's probation, which means he'll stay in the Mecklenburg jail until state charges of raping his 15-year-old adopted sister are dealt with, authorities said.
Mitchell, 36, is listed as a person of interest in the death of Tiffany Wright, who was eight months pregnant when she was shot in the head at a school bus stop Monday morning.
Her baby was successfully delivered at Carolinas Medical Center later that day, but the hospital has stopped releasing information about the infant.
After the shooting, Mitchell was charged with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Those charges constitute probation violations, and a Federal warrant is being prepared in New York that “will keep him from getting out of jail,” said Greg Forest, chief of the Federal probation office in Charlotte.
He was imprisoned on a drug-trafficking charge in New York in 1999. He was released in April 2007 and sentenced to four years' probation, Forest said.
Mitchell has a bond hearing scheduled for Sept. 25 on the Charlotte rape charges.
The announcement by Federal Prosecutors came on the same day that Charlotte officials fired Mitchell from his job in the street maintenance department.
Mitchell had worked for the city since 2007 and earned $25,808 a year.
City officials said that their background checks didn't catch his previous criminal convictions.
Kim McMillan of the City of Charlotte said that “after administrative review, the City of Charlotte has terminated the employment of Royce Mitchell for falsifying his employment application, which is in violation of city policy.”
McMillan did not say in what way Mitchell falsified his application. But city officials said Wednesday that as a result of the Mitchell case, they plan to expand background checks to include a search of federal offenses around the country.
Until now, the city's background checks have included local and state records, and Federal records in the Justice Department's Western North Carolina District.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. The grandmother of a pregnant teenager fatally shot at a school bus stop said Wednesday that police and social service agencies failed to protect her granddaughter from a man who has been called a person of interest in her death.
Royce Mitchell, 36, of Charlotte, has been charged with raping his adopted teenage sister, Tiffany Wright. The 15-year-old was shot once in the head Monday morning in an attack police said had stemmed from a domestic dispute, but they have not elaborated.
Authorities said they were looking into whether Mitchell was the father of Wright's baby, who was delivered at a hospital after the shooting.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spokesman Bob Fey said Mitchell turned himself in Monday on an outstanding warrant charging him with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with Wright, a minor. Police had been investigating the rape allegation for nearly two months, but did not bring charges until after her death.
Police said they had a backlog of sexual assault cases and were strapped for time and resources. They also believed that Tiffany's life was not in danger.
But that has upset Tiffany's family, especially since Mitchell had a criminal record.
"With all the information they had on him, why didn't they do more?" said her biological grandmother, Shirley Boston, who lives in suburban Buffalo, N.Y. "Why didn't they take this case more seriously. They didn't thoroughly investigate because they didn't have enough people? That's just wrong. that's just an excuse."
She also blamed social service agencies. After the death of Tiffany's adopted mother in January, the teenager moved in with Mitchell's family.
"Didn't anyone do a background check on him? If they did, they would have seen he was dangerous. But no one did a thing to help her. To the system, she was a nobody. She just fell through the cracks and now she's dead."
The Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services eventually placed Tiffany with a foster family. She was living with that family at the time of her death.
Several telephone messages left for Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, and Charlotte police Chief Rodney Monroe were not returned Wednesday.
Mitchell, who grew up in Buffalo, spent several years in Federal prison for drug trafficking, and his wife took out a temporary restraining order against him in 2008. At the time, she told police that Mitchell punched her in the face. The case was eventually dismissed.
Meanwhile, Boston said the family is still trying to piece together details about Tiffany's life.
Boston said Tiffany was born in Buffalo, placed in foster care soon after her birth and was later adopted.
The family lost track of her, but eventually she turned up in Kings Mountain, N.C., and was raised there by the foster mother who adopted her, Alma Faye Wright, who died in January at the age of 77.
Before she died, Alma Wright asked Mitchell to take care of Tiffany, said Alma Wright's brother, Israel Robbs, 83, of Eden, N.C. Mitchell was Wright's biological son.
A few weeks after Alma Wright's death, Mitchell was appointed her temporary guardian, the first step to becoming her legal guardian. At that point, the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services began a case assessment. But in late February, Tiffany was placed with a foster family.
The neighboring Gaston County Department of Social Service has been asked by Mecklenburg County to look into the matter.
Cindy Holman, a Gaston County DSS children and family services administrator, said she couldn't comment on the case.
But in general, case workers take into account someone's criminal record before deciding whether to place a child in a home.
"It a pretty in-depth process and if we find someone has a criminal record, we take that seriously," she said.
Mitchell, who worked two years in the street maintenance department, was fired from his job Wednesday because he falsified his application, spokeswoman Kim McMillan said. She didn't elaborate, citing privacy issues.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Commissioners said Tuesday they likely will never know what happened to untold thousands of dollars from the Department of Social Services.
The remarks came after commissioners listened to a report critical of accounting practices at DSS spending programs meant to help children and poor families.
An investigation into alleged misspending at a DSS Christmas charity has been broadened across the entire agency. Officials recently said they cannot say how much money might have been misspent during the last five years.
During a meeting Tuesday, commissioners said it might be impossible to determine how tens of thousands of dollars were spent because receipts are missing or altered.
"I doubt we will ever find out all there was that went wrong," Commissioner George Dunlap said.
A report from the commissioners' Audit Review Committee sharply criticized DSS for "insufficient" financial controls and management.
"At present, it is unclear why or how the lack of controls developed or how long they have existed," the report said.
The findings prompted Commissioner Karen Bentley to ask about accounting safeguards in all the county's agencies.
County Manager Harry Jones said he is "confident" the county has adequate financial controls in place, but added there is "a risk in saying this."
Jones said officials previously have discussed whether the county has "the right financial structure."
Before the public meeting, commissioners met in closed session with Jones to discuss whether he and other top county managers should share some blame for the problems at DSS.
Afterwards, some voiced support for Jones. The committee's report said management's response to the concerns raised in the audit were sufficient.
The DSS accounting failures became public this year when Director Mary Wilson said she and an employee uncovered questionable expenditures and bookkeeping.
Since then the county has suspended two DSS employees who were suspected of taking $110,000. One of them has been cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated, while the other is on medical leave.
County officials say the two oversaw a Christmas charity which cannot fully account for $162,000. That includes a $10,000 check made out to an employee.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are helping the county investigate. No criminal charges have been filed.
Dunlap and other commissioners debated whether they should continue to spend money to investigate what happened and who's to blame. The county paid $93,000 to outside auditors to examine DSS.
Some officials noted that commissioners recently passed a 2009-10 budget that includes cuts in county services, layoffs for hundreds of educators and closing libraries on Sundays.
"The commission has to take the responsibility to make sure we don't pour money into a dark hole," Dunlap said.
But Commissioner Bill James disagreed, saying it is important that the county find out whether managers failed to enforce policies.
"The real question is what's going on at DSS finance," James said. "Who (was) in charge of DSS finance?"
Sources: Charlotte Observer, WCNC, WSOC-TV, WIVB, Charmeck.org, Recovery.gov, Onecle Court Opinions, US Dept. of Justice, North Carolina General Assembly, Wikipedia, Google Maps
Welcome to the BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog. (Established 2008)
My name is Laurel. (Author & Publisher)
I Blog with a focus on POLITICS, Business, and occasionally Entertainment.
FACTS ABOUT LAUREL:
Wife,
Mother of a U.S. Soldier,
Sister,
Woman of GOD,
Loyal Friend,
Creative,
Blood-related to a nationally known Charlotte Politician.
Black Female, Intelligent,
Married,
Love to Travel,
Credentialed by the RNC and DNC.
Political Blogger/ Commentator
Grassroots Activist,
PROFESSIONAL STATUS:
Credential Political Blogger/ Commentator,
Registered Independent Voter
Original Native of BROOKLYN, NY
Currently reside in CHARLOTTE, NC
I’m Nice but don’t get it twisted because my Mind is Sharp!
Since You’ve Chosen to Visit and Read the Contents of this Blog by Personal Choice, and of Your Own Free Will,
Please don’t ask me to Compensate you for Expressing individual commentary/ Posted Articles, which are protected by the First Amendment, citing Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Expression.
No Intentionally Malicious Slander, Libel or Defamation of Character content will be published and I will always Credit all Sources.
NOTE TO ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS & PUBLIC FIGURES:
Per the Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan………
The Public has a Right to Criticize the People who Govern them, so the least Protection from Defamation is given to Public Officials. When officials are accused of something that involves their behavior in office, they have to prove all of the above elements of defamation and they must also prove that the defendant acted with “actual malice.” (For a definition of actual malice, see the “History of Defamation and the First Amendment, below.”)
People who aren’t Elected but who are Still Public Figures because they are influential or famous — like Actors, Actresses, Movie Stars, Singers & Entertainers, Journalists, TV Hosts, Bloggers, etc., — also have to Prove that Defamatory statements were made with Actual Malice, in most cases.
To the Associated Press and other Media Organizations:
When I use your Content Links., I’m also citing the Fair Use Doctrine (Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107) for further Copyright permission.
Posts and Links published on Black Political Buzz are not endorsed by Black Political Buzz Blog Author Laurel’s Employer, nor the Employers of other Black Political Buzz employees.
This includes Links, Posts and Comments posted on Black Political Buzz’s Facebook and Twitter account pages.
Comments, Links and Opinions of site visitors are Independently-Owned and not endorsed by Black Political Buzz employees, Blog Author Laurel or Laurel’s Employer.)
(No Personal Offense intended) Please know that Black Political Buzz is not responsible for nor do I endorse Requests for Donations from Third Parties on this Blog.
I will Only Endorse Requests for Donations made on behalf of BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ Blog for Business Purposes & Operating Expenses.
I will also Only Endorse Requests for Donations on behalf of Legitimate Politicians and Legitimate Political Candidates. PERIOD!!
If anyone else or another Organization wishes to post a link to Request Donations, I am NOT endorsing ANY of those Requests!
Unless I receive a personal Request to do so and I have Professionally Confirmed that the Third Party Organization or Charity is indeed a Legitimate Entity.
NOTE: Anyone who chooses to give to any Third Party Organization NOT Endorsed by BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ is doing so at his or her own risk.
BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ does NOT Discriminate against Politicians, Political Candidates, Organizations or Charities based on Race, Color, Nationality, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Faith, Disability, Political Affiliation, Creed, Education, Social Status, Age.
This disclaimer applies to ANY and All requests for Donations on this Blog. Thanks for understanding. Again No Personal Offense intended.
For Story Tips….Corrections…….. or Requests for Endorsements:
Please contact me via e-mail: blackpoliticalbuzz@gmail.com
or via my Facebook page: facebook.com/blackpoliticalbuzz
Thanks for stopping by
God Bless
Laurel @BLACK POLITICAL BUZZ
LINKS: POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE & INFORMATIONAL SITES
.jpg)
