NC NEWS ALERT: NC Lawmakers Voted and PASSED To Close Sex Offender Loophole

IN  A TAD BIT OVER A MONTH SINCE UNCOVERED (MAY 27TH) – NC Lawmakers JUMPED on this major threat/issue and rectified it immediately!  Thank you!

RALEIGH (WTVD) — The North Carolina Legislature has passed a bill to close a loophole in North Carolina’s sex offender registry law that was exposed by the ABC11 I-Team.

Last month, ABC11 Eyewitness News discovered sex offenders living in North Carolina, but not registered in North Carolina –32 of them in Wake, Durham and Cumberland counties alone.

The loophole allowed offenders convicted or released from prison before 1996 –who moved to North Carolina before December of 2006– to not register.

After the I-Team exposed the loophole, Representative Tim Moore (R-Cleveland County) promised to help close it.

Representative Moore introduced the bill in the Legislature that would fix the legal loophole. House Bill 726 would require sex offender registration for out of state convictions.

“As a parent it terrified me,” Moore said. “Fortunately, with the passage of this law, that loophole is now closed and we can continue to tighten down on these folks.”

The bill is now on its way to Governor Bev Perdue’s desk for her signature.

It’ll become law on Oct.1 and sex offenders will be required to register on that date.

Respectfully submitted from  WTVD-TV/DT

Thank you to the RALEIGH (WTVD), ABC11 I-Team Investigative Reporters  and Representative Moore for all that you have done in your work to make NC more safe.  Residents will now at least have a fighting chance in protecting themselves and their children from predators.  Keep up the great work.

NC Lawmaker Works To Close Sex Offender Loophole…

RALEIGH (WTVD) — After the I-Team of ABC11 exposed a loophole in North Carolina’s sex offender registry law, Representative Tim Moore (R-Cleveland County) promised to help close it.

Our investigation revealed sex offenders convicted of things like rape and sexually abusing children are living in North Carolina, but they don’t appear on the state’s sex offender registry.

Triangle resident Reem Baloch contacted the I-Team after discovering the father of her child was convicted of a sex offense but doesn’t appear on the state registry. Instead, she found him in the national database.

The I-Team then discovered there are 32 sex offenders in our three largest counties – Wake, Durham and Cumberland – who appear on the national registry, but not on the North Carolina registry.

Under state law, sex offenders who were convicted or released from prison before 1996 – and moved to North Carolina before December of 2006 – do not need to register in North Carolina.

Representative Moore has now introduced a bill in the Legislature that would fix the legal loophole. House Bill 726 would require sex offender registration for out of state convictions.
“We need to close that loophole and ensure those folks are required to register,” said Moore.

Respectfully submitted from  WTVD-TV/DT, Steve Daniels.

U.S. Finally Includes Itself in Human Trafficking Report

The U.S. State Department just released the tenth installment of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. What’s new in 2010? The removal of one little asterisked disclaimer: “*does not include the United States,” which indicates a very big deal.

That message, which appeared on each report from 2001 to 2009, is gone; the United States now receives a ranking on its trafficking-prevention efforts, like the rest of the world, and victims’ testimonials include domestic accounts like this one:

Harriet ran away from home when she was 11 years old and moved in with a 32-year-old man who sexually and physically abused her and convinced her to become a prostitute. … The police arrested Harriet when she was 13 and charged her with committing prostitution.  They made no efforts to find her pimp. Harriet was placed on probation for 18 months in the custody of juvenile probation officials. Her lawyers have appealed the decision, arguing that since she could not legally consent to sex, she cannot face prostitution-related charges.

The report classifies countries into three tiers based on their compliance with the minimum standards of eliminating trafficking set by the United States in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act. And these minimums are indeed minimal: that governments have laws that prohibit and punish trafficking, and that they actively pursue trafficking investigations. Predictably, the United States made the most favored first tier. Further rankings could be mistaken for a worldwide popularity contest. Greece and Switzerland are both tier two. Countries like Thailand and India are on a tier two “watch list.” The Congo, Iran and Saudi Arabia are on the third tier.

It’s debatable whether these annual rankings or the international promise-to-try agreement (the 2000 TVPA) are having any effect on the trafficking epidemic. In 2001, it was believed that at least 700,000 persons were being trafficked worldwide. Last year, that number had reached 12.3 million and remained there through 2010.

Women continue to make up 56 percent of the world’s trafficking victims. Why? Depends on the year. In 2001, social and cultural practices that devalue women were to blame. In 2009, women’s social and economic dependence on men was believed to be the problem. Both of these, though true, looked like attempts to remove the “empowered” women of the U.S. from the equation. The 2009 report also said that “in countries where women’s economic status had improved, significantly fewer local women participate in commercial sex.”

But this mindset obscures an important truth: Even in countries like the U.S. with high average incomes, poverty persists and poor populations are still vulnerable to trafficking.


Take a city as (seemingly) innocuous as Toledo, Ohio. According to February’s state report, Toledo is currently number four in the nation in terms of the number of arrests, investigation, and rescues of domestic-minor sex-trafficking victims among U.S. cities (behind Miami, Portland and Las Vegas.) Let that register: Children are being bought and sold for sex in the “heartland” of America–not brought from overseas, but drawn from local populations. Ohio had 1,078 victims under the age of 18 in the last year. The TVPA (and every TIP Report) unequivocally state that all such prostitution of minors constitutes trafficking:

The act defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

The 2010 TIP Report also makes clear that an effective approach to trafficking involves helping, not prosecuting, victims. Celia Williamson, associate professor of social work at the University of Toledo founded the Second Chance program with this rehabilitation method back in 1993. But she still sees victims being treated like criminals elsewhere in her community. She estimated more than half of domestically trafficked women and girls in this country are wrongfully arrested for solicitation, loitering and prostitution. And many adults found prostituting on their own were originally trafficked as children. “[The] country is illegally incarcerating and re-traumatizing [victims],” she said, “so how can we ask these kids to come forward about this underground victimization?”

And while the U.S. has a lengthy prescription for how to combat global trafficking, there is a communication breakdown at the state level. “Even though [the TVPA is] in the federal law, that doesn’t mean anything,”  Williamson said. The Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission found that:

Law enforcement agencies expressed a need for training, indicating they are both unaware of the problem in their communities and how to recognize signs of a victim of sex or labor trafficking or a human trafficking business or entity. … They did not understand criminal justice system procedures pertaining to human trafficking, and are unfamiliar with both Ohio and federal laws.

Given this, of the 11,144 prostitution-related charges in Ohio in the last five years, how many were actually incidents of trafficking?

Internal reports like this cast doubt on whether the U.S. really deserved its cushy tier-one placement. But other research shows at least one group of U.S. lawmakers pushing for progress: A study conducted by Vanessa Bouche, a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University and a member of the Greater Cincinnati Human Trafficking Report research team, found that the more women there are on a legislature, the more likely anti-trafficking legislation will pass and be comprehensive.

And, of course, it’s a woman–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton–who has finally included the U.S. in its own anti-trafficking report. She has put the second-largest sex purchaser in the world on the road to recovery–because admitting you have a problem is the first step.

June 22, 2010 by Kate Noftsinger, Ms.blog

What Is Human Trafficking?…Modern Day Practice of Slavery

Human trafficking is the modern day practice of slavery. Also known as trafficking in persons, human trafficking comprises the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, based on the recruitment, harboring, and transportation of people solely for the purpose of exploitation. Every year traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits at the expense of victimizing millions of people around the world.

Victims of human trafficking are people forced or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Labor trafficking is widespread in variety of situations that encompass domestic servitude and small-scale labor operations, to large-scale operations such as farms, sweatshops, and major multinational corporations. Sex trafficking is one of the most lucrative sectors regarding the illegal trade in people, and involves any form of sexual exploitation in prostitution, pornography, bride trafficking, and the commercial sexual abuse of children. Under international law, any sexually exploited child is considered a trafficking victim, even if no force or coercion is present.

An estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States alone. The number of US citizens trafficked within the country is even higher. An estimated 200,000 American children are at high risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year.

Despite this staggering reality, governments around the world are only beginning to address the problem. In most countries, traffickers operate with almost total impunity even in the most severe cases.  A lack of awareness in the public exacerbates inaction on the part of authorities. Take a stand and join us in leading the anti-trafficking movement forward to end the modern practice of slavery. Learn more and get involved by signing up to receive regular updates about human trafficking, Polaris Project, and ways to help fight modern-day slavery. We need your support to help end the exploitation of victims of human trafficking.

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

MYTH #1: Human trafficking is the forced transportation of people across borders.

Reality: Forced transportation in the absence of slavery-like labor or commercial sexual exploitation is usually considered the crime of kidnapping. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery through labor or commercial sexual exploitation, and does not require transportation to occur, though transportation may be involved.

MYTH #2: Trafficking victims are only foreign nationals.

Reality: Both the U.N. Protocol and U.S. federal law use definitions of trafficking in persons that do not require crossing of international or state borders. Many trafficked persons are victims of internal or domestic trafficking – trafficking within the borders of a single country, and are themselves nationals of that country.

MYTH #3: Poverty and inequality are the causes of human trafficking.

Reality: While poverty and inequality are important factors in making certain populations more vulnerable to being trafficked, they are not the primary cause of trafficking. Trafficking is a criminal industry driven by 1) the ability to make large profits due to high demand, and 2) negligible-to-low risk of prosecution. As long as demand is unchecked and the risks for traffickers are low, trafficking will exist regardless of other contributing factors.

Blaming poverty and inequality alone is not only inaccurate and disheartening, it tends to deflect blame from the key actors that perpetuate trafficking – the traffickers themselves and their customers.

MYTH #4: There’s not much I can do about such a huge issue.

Reality: Together – we can make a huge difference! We were founded by regular community members like yourself, as were historic organizations like the Underground Railroad. Organizations like Polaris Project live and breathe based on the contributions and dedication of community members. Making a financial donation, a gift of time, goods, or services, or helping to raise awareness are some of the things collectively that help victims everyday. Please join us and be welcomed into the growing movement to combat slavery today!

Throw HER a Personal Safety Life Vest…

I was a student with the immediate understanding of the S.P.E.A.R. system prior to becoming a P.D.R. certified instructor with Blauer Tactical Systems. I believed as a student and firmly believe as an instructor that the S.P.E.A.R. system is by far the most realistic and automatic personal safety/self-defense system to learn. Personal safety/self-defense is NOT martial arts or a sport – it is entirely about protecting and defending yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually and ultimately physically realistically.

An excerpt from Tony Blauer:
RESEARCH
The core of P.D.R.™ (Personal Defense Readiness) is based on the S.P.E.A.R. SYSTEM™ (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response) which is the first genetically & behaviorally inspired self-defense course of it’s kind. It is the only self-defense method that fully integrates the body’s reflexive responses and instinctive survival mechanisms making the S.P.E.A.R. SYSTEM the easiest, most natural way to protect yourself. Our program also includes unique and patented learning models but most importantly, we have pioneered research on how to manage and overcome fear.

Strategically & tactically speaking, our courses are based on how real confrontations actually occur! We have been leading the scenario/behavioral approach to training for over 20 years. Our curriculum is based on a ‘3-Dimensional’ theory that creates confidence on emotional, psychological and physical levels.

OUR TEACHING DOCTRINE
We only teach realistic self-defense skills that are street applicable. Students are exposed to aggressive as well as defensive role-playing to simulate encounters and to prepare them to react ethically as well as decisively to real-life aggression. Our curriculum covers verbal defusing tactics, choice speech principles and a host of other behaviorally researched strategies.

OTHER BENEFITS
Training in our system engenders personal evolution: Our breakthrough research on fear management is the foundation of our program and understanding and directing fear is the key to overcoming any obstacle in life. We’ve had many individuals participate in the program and experience transcendent applications in their professional life and in intra-personal relationships.

Our system fosters respect for yourself and others by developing virtues like self-discipline, humility, assertiveness and character. Since our program is so focused around the managing of one’s fears, it directly works the ‘esteem’ and ‘ego’ centers of anyone sincerely studying the system, ultimately leading to greater self-knowledge and personal evolution.

Training events are now being scheduled for Fall 2010, email me for your Organizer packet; give yourself, family, friends – the gift of life.

Take care and STAY SAFE!

Anny

Sex offenders not registered in North Carolina…Who’s In Your Neighborhood/State???

RALEIGH (WTVD) — An ABC11 Eyewitness News investigation has uncovered a startling loophole in North Carolina law that allows some sex offenders listed on the national registry to skip registering here.

That means some people convicted of things like rape and sexually abusing children in other states are living in the Triangle and a search of North Carolina’s sex offender registry doesn’t show them.

Reem Baloch made that discovery about a man she lived with for two years and had a child with.

“I got up and I started yelling and just horrified and scared,” she recalled.

She says she met Rob Fish on the internet in September, 2001 when he moved to Raleigh. It wasn’t until earlier this year while in the midst of a custody battle that she discovered his past. She had checked the state registry for sex offenders multiple times in the past, but that day she did something different.

“I have a feeling in my heart that there’s something not right about him. And so one day, I went to the national registry,” she recalled. “And that’s when I discovered it.”

She discovered Fish is on the national sex offender registry – with an address in Apex – but he does not appear on the North Carolina sex offender registry.

“No one knows. No one has any idea he’s a level 3 registered sex offender,” said Baloch.

Fish is not an isolated case. The I-Team discovered 26 sex offenders in Wake County who are on the national registry, but are not required to register in North Carolina. There are five more in Cumberland County and one in Durham.

Click here to see the list (.pdf)

How does it happen? Under state law, sex offenders who were convicted or released from prison before 1996 and moved to North Carolina before December 2006 do not need to register in North Carolina.

That means many years sex offenders who committed their crime in another state and then moved here can keep their sex crime a secret.

We took the findings of our investigation to State Representative Tim Moore — who co-sponsored previous sex offender laws.

“First of all, thank you for doing this story because it’s bringing to the attention of legislators something that we need to look at,” he said. “It’s my intent to come back and file a bill to fix this loophole we have.”

Also during our investigation, we discovered the majority of sex offenders listed on the national registry have only a city with their information – so it’s not clear exactly what neighborhood they live in.

Baloch told ABC11 she was shocked that it took an I-Team investigation to bring the issue to the attention of lawmakers.

“I mean it’s ridiculous. It should not happen. And that’s why there’s future victims out there because people can’t keep their children safe, because they have no way of knowing,” she offered.

The I-Team contacted Rob Fish for comment on this story. He declined.

Respectfully submitted from  WTVD-TV/DT, Steve Daniels.

References:

National Sex Offenders Registry

FamilyWatchDog

TAKE 25...

Childhood is full of rewards and potential risks. As babies become toddlers, they are more prone to bumps, bruises, falls, and distractions. As children grow into teenagers, they become increasingly independent and are more apt to explore, live life, and socialize with less family supervision.

Fortunately, potential risks children face throughout their lives can be lessened when parents and guardians teach safety concepts. While it may not be possible for parents and guardians to be with their children every minute of the day, they can spend time talking to them, setting appropriate limits, and helping them make good choices.

Just minutes of prevention can make a huge impact in the life of a child.

Take 25 is a preventive child safety campaign created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in honor of National Missing Children’s Day. Annually honored on May 25th, this day serves as a reminder to the nation to make child safety a national priority.

Designed to raise awareness of the issues surrounding missing and exploited children, the Take 25 campaign encourages parents, guardians, educators, and others to take 25 minutes to talk to children about safety. With a focus on prevention, Take 25 provides communities with free safety resources including safety tips, conversation starters, and engaging activities. Take 25’s resources are available free of charge and can be found at local Take 25 events.

In 2007, NCMEC joined forces with more than 100 local and national organizations to launch the Take 25 campaign. With the help of our partner organizations, more than 375 Take 25 child safety events were hosted in communities across the United States and abroad. While this was a great achievement for the first year, the Take 25 campaign has continued to grow each year, reaching 737 events in 2008 and 1,335 events in 2009.

This campaign would not be a success without the dedication and support of our national partner organizations. Our partners in this initiative include

• Association of Missing and Exploited Childrens Organizations
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
• CommunityWatch
• Council for Exceptional Children
• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
• Fraternal Order of Police
• International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
• International Association of Chiefs of Police – Indian Country Section
• Maryland Parental Information Resource Center
• Masonichip International
• National Association of County Officials
• National District Attorneys Association
• National Latino Peace Officers Association
• National Law Center for Children and Families
• National Organization of Black County Officials
• National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives
• National Vigil of Hope
• Office of Justice Programs
• Parent Teacher Association
• P.E.A.C.E. of Mind
• Soroptimist International
• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
• U.S. Department of Justice
• U.S. DOJ – Community Oriented Policing Services
• U.S. DOJ – Office of Tribal Justice
• U.S. Secret Service

Via National Center  for Missing & Exploited Children

Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Tip: Go After the Landlords and Property Owners!

Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Tip: Go After the Landlords and Property Owners!
by Bradley Myles
The Polaris Project

As many people in the anti-trafficking field know, commercial-front “massage parlors” throughout the United States can sometimes be a cover for illegal prostitution activity and also for human trafficking. These places have one reason of staying in business, the profits, and the profits only come from one place, the johns. These businesses cater to johns, and sadly, there are so many people who buy sex that it’s easy to understand why the massage parlors stay open at all costs. There’s just too much money to be made from the johns.

Who are the johns that are driving the existence of these massage parlor brothels? The frequent customer base includes middle to upper class men who visit the brothels for a variety of reasons, including a perceived lack of risk and a belief in the low likelihood of being arrested by law enforcement. Johns who go to these places often call themselves “hobbyists,” implying that they have taken it on as a “hobby” to buy commercial sex from vulnerable women. Appalling. What sort of world do we live in when patriarchy and male entitlement have grown to such a point where certain men take it on as a “hobby” to buy women?

It wouldn’t be accurate or fair to try and make the claim that human trafficking is occurring in every single “massage parlor,” but a significant number of instances where human trafficking has been identified is cause for serious concern.

It’s time to shut down the “massage parlors” for good, but do it right and do it carefully. There’s a way to shut them down by encouraging law enforcement to spend the majority of their time and resources on the people in positions of the most power and privilege, including the johns, the mamasans, the business owners, and especially, the landlords and property owners.

Very rarely does the manager of a massage parlor seek to buy or own the building in which the business operates. The risk of law enforcement raids is too high and it’s not worth the long-term investment. So, they rent. This means that brothels where human trafficking is potentially occurring are renting from legitimate landlords and property owners.

These landlords and property owners would prefer to keep it a secret: that their monthly rent check is coming from a brothel, maybe even in cash. Surely, the landlords have a lot to lose, not to mention their reputation, or business from other tenants. They may even face criminal charges.

So, as our movement grows and becomes more strategic, I think it’s time to put the landlords on notice and let them know that their days of benefiting financially from brothels and human trafficking are coming to an end.

Project Safe Girls…Stopping Violence Against Females

Safety first: a mantra Bethany Corbin now lives by to the letter.

After a personal experience with domestic violence, Corbin, a sophomore international studies and economic major at UNC, threw herself into educating other young girls. Her program, Project Safe Girls, teaches girls ages 5-23 about domestic violence, sexual assault (rape, date rape, and acquaintance rape), abduction, human trafficking, stalking, healthy relationships and general personal safety and ultimately how one can protect and defend herself mentally, emotionally and physically.

Project Safe Girls will kick off training through the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA’s middle school afterschool program and is expanding rapidly through other schools, throughout the nation and is striving to make the program a safety prevention course requirement in all school systems.

“I want Project Safe Girls to be widely known throughout the US, said Anny Jacoby, founder and President of The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company, of which Project Safe Girls is an official division. “Project Safe Girls will take on its own form and it will shine as it is a much needed program for all communities.”

Jacoby has worked closely with Corbin to develop the program since Corbin approached the company. As sister organizations, both programs teach women essentially the same techniques, mentally and physically, geared to specific age groups. Corbin’s project gears specifically to girls ages 5-23 enrolled in school from kindergarten to college, whereas The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company teaches females of all ages.

The first step of the course lies in the awareness portion of safety, as awareness is the first step to any form of personal safety/self-defense. Instructors teach characteristics of unhealthy vs. healthy relationships/situations. Red flags and warning signs are significant signals of potential or existing abuse. Power and Control is the dominate factor which every form of abuse centers around.

Lessons in de-escalation are taught – how to diffuse a potential dangerous/violent situation in an attempt to warn off a physical altercation. De-escalation techniques range from eye contact and a confident yet non-threatening demeanor to talking in low tones and maintaining a safe distance between the persons.

“De-Escalation starts with non-verbal behaviors,” Jacoby said. “Techniques consist of your demeanor, your presence, your body language. But the only way that an individual obtains the confidence and knowledge is by studying and understanding how an assailant thinks, how you need to be thinking, and then knowing how you can defend yourself verbally and ultimately non-verbally if needed.”

The lessons in the non-physical aspects of personal safety/self-defense form the backbone of the Corbin’s and Jacoby’s programs.

“We promote violence prevention, raising awareness and the skills to reduce susceptibility to violence,” Jacoby said. “The way that you promote prevention is through education.”

Physical personal safety/self-defense training is a major part of the female’s safety equation. Females are taught how men/assailants think, vulnerable body areas other than the groin – which men expect a female to target – and how to use knowledge as an advantage. “Fighting back is not about staying in the “ring” going ten rounds,” Jacoby said. “We fight males with knowledge, not with strength; and knowledge is a powerful tool. But you must know what your tools (mentally and physically) are and how to effectively use them.”

UNC Student's Action Keeping Others Safe

Dark had long-since fallen over the “Pit” on UNC-CH’s campus, some students strolling to either dorms or the libraries, cramming in a little more studying two days before 2009 spring exams. Bethany Corbin and her boyfriend at the time were walking toward the North Campus dorms at which time a disagreement arose between them. The disagreement escalated into a verbal confrontation.

Bethany wanting to remove herself from the situation stated she was leaving and asked a fellow student to walk her to her dorm. Her boyfriend followed them and then shoved her since she wasn’t heeding to his demands. Corbin was terrified but eventually worked up the courage to escape and ran to her dorm.

“I was completely in shock”, said Corbin, now a sophomore. Prior to college, Corbin achieved a black belt in Tae Kwon Do; “even though I knew what to do, I froze.”

Now, eight months later, Corbin gears up to jumpstart her new program, Project Safe Girls, with awareness, personal safety/self-defense classes as part of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA’s afterschool program for members, 5^th-8^th grade. The program will run twice a week from January 11th until the end of May, concluding with a commencement featuring the girls in a demonstration of what they have learned for their parents and friends.

Before Corbin’s assault she had the mentality and often asked, “Why don’t women leave an abusive relationship?” “Now after my own assault, I clearly understand. I learned a lot of things about myself, my relationships, warning signs; but nobody had told me what a healthy relationship was. After I learned through counseling, I found that there are many females just like myself.”

Project Safe Girls focuses on educating females about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault (rape, date rape, and acquaintance rape), abduction, human trafficking, stalking, healthy relationships and general personal safety and ultimately how one can physically protect and defend herself mentally and physically. Although the YMCA program only will be teaching young ladies from 5^th-8^th grade, Corbin has expanded the program to communities for school-age girls from ages 5-23 in partnership with The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company.

As an official division of The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company, Corbin’s Project Safe Girls will teach alongside the company’s founder and president, Anny Jacoby and certified Personal Defense Readiness Instructors.

Corbin’s personal experience fuels her dedication to the projects. In the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year, she joined three different student government committees at UNC that deal with campus safety before she solidified her idea of Project Safe Girls.

As a student at UNC, it is mandatory for students to take a life fitness course; Corbin took the art class being offered to fulfill her obligation. “However, nothing teaches us (females) anything about personal safety and/or self-defense.”

Two grants through UNC pushed Corbin’s idea off of the ground and gaining the support of the YMCA to introduce Project Safe Girls to the community. But Corbin recognized that she was lacking official instruction. She began to search through “self-defense” companies and “martial art” programs to find a partner.

“I realized that I personally do not have the amount of experience and knowledge in this field that other’s have.” Corbin’s eyes fell on Jacoby’s company, The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company partially because it is based in Chapel Hill and also because it went beyond the physical “self-defense” aspect.

“Anny’s program incorporates the mental knowledge, emotional training along with the realistic physical training,” Corbin said. “I wanted to partner with someone who had the curriculum established that was similar to the one I was trying to implement.” When Corbin contacted Jacoby with her idea and plans Anny welcomed the entire program with enthusiasm, embracing its practical yet passionate approach. Jacoby is also a survivor of domestic violence and has actively advocated for females throughout the years.

“I look at Bethany not as a victim as she truly has transitioned into a Survivor and now she is an Advocate. Bethany is devoted to her mission with passion and is truly committed in helping to educate others. Bethany is brilliant and has so much to offer as she has taken a negative experience and is turning it into a much needed positive.” Jacoby said. “She has a vision and she knows how to go after what she wants. I am honored to be working with Bethany.”

“Some aspects of personal safety/self-defense have to be taught (mental and emotional) but the physical training is based on one’s natural instincts. Statistics indicate to us that victims blame themselves for abuse or incident(s) which is farthest from the truth. Victimization is NEVER her fault.” Jacoby said. Corbin said that she personally experienced these feelings herself. “I can always say that no one has the right to hurt me,” Corbin said. “But when I was in the situation, I often thought, ‘Well, maybe it was my fault.’”

According to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, 2,239 rapes occurred in North Carolina in 2008, 83 percent of which were committed without weapons. About 25 percent of the rape victims were 16-20 years old and 21.5 percent involved victims ages 11-15. Orange County, North Carolina itself is ranked 27^th for the worst record out of 100 North Carolina counties and Durham ranked 7^th according to the Bureau. The alarming fact is that these statistics only represent the number of assaults being reported, so many go un-reported.

“Education and prevention is the key to equip females with defensive power mentally, emotionally and physically. If females are not taught how to fight back mentally, emotionally and ultimately physically, they do not have the knowledge or the tools for their toolbox.” Jacoby said. “Hence this is our mission with both companies – teach how one can and will be proactive, not paranoid – simply smart and alert.”

In addition to the upcoming YMCA program, Project Safe Girls is traveling throughout the country with Jacoby and instructors to raise and teach awareness, introducing personal safety training nationwide to females and to all ages through both divisions. Corbin also seeks to start another semester-long program in local schools.

“We would like to see every school have Project Safe Girls in place to offer students, whether be optional or mandatory. Unfortunately, it is imperative it today’s society.” Corbin said.

Corbin is a sophomore at UNC and intends to see her goal to fruition, pursuing the program for the next two years and beyond, she said. “I intend to provide education and training every day of my life and am working toward making it my career,” Corbin said.

To sign up for a class or inquire about the programs, visit both companies’ websites:

Project Safe Girls – http://www.projectsafegirls.com

mailto:info@projectsafegirls.com

The Realistic Female Self –Defense Company –http://realisticfemaleselfdefense.com

mailto:info@realisticfemaleselfdefense.com

Anny Jacoby – http://annyjacoby.com

anny@annyjacoby.com

Office: 919-225-1421

Shaniya Davis - SBI to probe possible DSS cover-up in girl's death

Fayetteville, N.C. — Cumberland County District Attorney Ed Grannis and Fayetteville Police Chief Tom Bergamine have asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look into whether social workers have turned over all of their records in the death of 5-year-old Shaniya Nicole Davis.

The girl was reported missing from her Fayetteville home on Nov. 10. Her body was found in a patch of kudzu off a rural road near the Lee-Harnett County line six days later.

She died of asphyxiation, according to preliminary autopsy results.

Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, of 2613 Pine Springs Drive, has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape of a child and first-degree kidnapping in the case. Police have characterized him as a family acquaintance.

Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, 25, has been charged with human trafficking, felony child abuse–prostitution, filing a false police report and obstructing a police investigation. Arrest warrants state that Davis "did knowingly provide Shaniya with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude" and "did permit an act of prostitution with Shaniya."

McNeill and Antoinette Davis are being held in state prisons in Raleigh for their own protection, authorities said.

The Cumberland County Department of Social Services previously looked at Davis with regard to her 7-year-old son, not Shaniya, according to her uncle, Michael Davis. The case was closed, and Antoinette Davis was able to retain custody of the boy, her uncle said.

DSS Director Brenda Jackson has previously declined to comment on the agency's involvement with the Davis family, citing the investigation into Shaniya's death as well as confidentiality rules for child welfare cases.

Grannis sent a letter Friday to Cumberland County Manager James Martin to notify him that he and Bergamine have requested an SBI investigation of DSS.

"Chief Bergamine has requested the SBI's assistance to determine if Fayetteville police have received complete and accurate records from Cumberland County DSS regarding this case," Grannis wrote. "Based upon the information provided to me and my senior staff by the Fayetteville Police Department concerning these issues, I share their concern, and I have requested the assistance of the SBI to assist us in this regard."

In a statement released by Cumberland County spokeswoman Sally Shutt, Jackson said she would ensure that her office cooperates with authorities to resolve the matter.

Neither Jackson nor Grannis returned phone calls Monday seeking further comment.

Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, declined to comment. The girl lived with him and his sister until early October, when he allowed her to go live with Antoinette Davis.

Authorities with the state Child Fatality Task Force already are looking into any DSS contact with the Davis family. The task force studies all child deaths in North Carolina to make recommendations to legislators on changes to state laws and administrative polices to prevent future deaths.

Shaniya Davis: Mother Antoinette Davis transferred while father Brad Lockhart discusses murder

On Tuesday, more developments in the Shaniya Davis murder case.

Antoinette Davis, Shaniya's mother, who has been charged with human trafficking and child abuse, was transferred for her own safety.

According to The Fayettville Observer, Davis was transferred from the Cumberland County Detention Center to the North Carolina Correctional Center for Women in Raleigh, North Carolina.

According to WRAL.com, special attention had to be paid to Davis. She "was being held in a safe-keeping cell away from the general prison population," according to state Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree.

Debbie Tanna, a spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, stated that Davis "is pregnant, so special precautions had to be taken."

Also on Tuesday, Shaniya Davis's father, Bradley Lockhart, appeared in the studio with host Meredith Vieira on NBC's "Today" show to talk about the life and death of his daughter.

Lockhart spoke of the last time he saw his little girl before he left for an out-of-state business trip. He stated that she climbed up into his truck to kiss him goodbye and that they would see each other upon his return. Unfortunately, Lockhart would never see his daughter again.

Vieira pressed the issue as to whether or not Lockhart should have seen the signs that sending his daughter to her mother, Antoinette Davis, was the wrong move. "I don't think I really missed any (signs). Of course there's always speculation. There's always things you could look at and say, well maybe, maybe not," Lockhart said.

A pensive looking Lockhart added, "We obviously make decisions in life that sometimes have repercussions or adverse situations that drift from our decision. We just have to continue to believe in God and hope that our decisions are the correct ones."

-Read Antoinette Davis's arrest warrant.

-Listen to Antoinette Davis's 911 call.

-Read Mario McNeill's arrest warrant.

-Watch Brad Lockhart on NBC Today.

NBC TODAY Show: Shaniya's Dad: 'She Touched a Lot of People'

NC Reviewing The DSS, Won’t Be The Last in Shaniya Davis’s Murder

As I have posted before…..many individuals, county offices, law enforcement and Shaniya’s school LEFT HER DOWN! Let alone “MOMMY DEAREST”, family members, irresponsible and ignorant friends of her mother’s and the list goes on. In my book, “they weren’t there for her and her well-being”; bottom-line.

Monday, November 23rd North Carolina has announced that “a state team of experts will examine any contact that the Cumberland County Department of Social Services had with the family.

Shaniya was SOLD aa a sex slave AT THE AGE OF FIVE YEARS OLD! by her poor excuse of a mother because SHE HAD A DRUG PROBLEM ALLEGEDLY OWED MONEY FOR SAME. She sold/turned her baby girl over for an alleged DRUG debt that she owed to Mario Andrette McNeill who has been charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape of a child and first-degree kidnapping. This poor excuse of a man DATED Shaniya’s aunt! Mommy Dearest has been charged with human trafficking, felony child abuse-prostitution, filing a false police report and obstructing a police investigation. Arrest warrants state that “DAVIS DID KNOWINGLY PROVIDE SHANIYA WITH THE INTENT THAT SHE BE HELD IN SEXUAL SERVITUDE” (A SEX SLAVE…..A FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD!) and “DID PERMIT AN ACT OF PROSTITUTION WITH SHANIYA” while in HER CUSTODY. If this woman escapes the death penalty many will personally not understand as Shaniya was in her custody and she knowingly knew what would happen to her child!

There are so many red flags, warning signs, bells and whistles in this sickening, senseless loss of Shaniya from so many respects. How in the hell did this happen?; “How could things have gotten to this?” Others MUST BE HELD accountable for their failures as many failed Shaniya.

1. DSS-I don’t care that she was able to maintain custody of her 7-year old child. Didn’t neighbors suspect anything “off” at this home? Didn’t the property manager sense that something was “fishy” at this home? Why didn’t anyone report to DSS and law enforcement of their “gut feelings”?
2. Shaniya’s school – her mother withdrew her from school and was any attempt to contact her father and/or her aunt as to her absences? I am a mother and if a child does not show up for school one day a phone call is made. For God’s sake………..Antoinette took Shaniya out of school if not immediately after her father handed her over to this MONSTER! Why didn’t the school notify her father/aunt, notify law enforcement, DSS and ultimately pay a physical visit to the home!? In my book…….this was irresponsible.
3. Neighbors and the property manager noticed heavier traffic to and from the home that Shaniya was living. What’s up with that? NOT THE NORM, WOULDN’T YOU THINK?

As for McNeill and Davis I hope that justice is served and that NC pushes for the death penalty of McNeill (for God’s sake with his rap sheet he shouldn’t even had been out on the damn street). As for Mommy Dearest………..she is just as guilty for her daughter’s murder as she was in her custody and she traded her as a SEX SLAVE for a drug debt! Mother’s like this…………..who needs enemies. An innocent child at the hands of this monster. I know that murder charges have not been filed but damn she deserves it.

And, I pray that all of the agencies, family members and Dad/Aunt are investigated as to their responsibilities as THEY ALL ULTIMATELY LEFT SHANIYA DOWN. They left her to fend for herself with NO DEFENSE. Shaniya didn’t have a chance in hell once Daddy turned her over to Mommy Dearest.

As for “DSS being overburdened and underfunded” shouldn’t ease their distress – they missed the boat BIG TIME ON THIS INNOCENT, SENSELESS DEATH of this sweet, innocent child.

It’s really a shame that an innocent life of a precious 5 year-old child had to be the WAKE UP CALL to all, including the public. SAD!

The statistics are alarming with homicides and more of innocent children. I personally have a hard time digesting that DSS agencies received 127,192 reports of child abuse and neglect statewide (NC), and workers were ONLY ABLE TO SUBSTANTIATE ABUSE OR NEGLECT IN LESS THAN 10% OF THE REPORTS. This in itself doesn’t smell or feel right to many of us.

I encourage NC’s Child Fatality Task Force in their endeavor from the team of experts. We plead with you to turn over every stone from EVERY angle.

Somer Thompson, Elizabeth Olten and Shaniya Davis – Angel Wings

Somer Thompson

In just a matter of a month the families and friends of Somer Thompson, Elizabeth Olten and Shaniya Davis have suffered losses beyond words. Our country and even the world has been riveted by the tragic abductions and deaths of the innocence of these beautiful little girls. These abductions and murders are so remote from each other – yet ending for each was the same, all three children have received their wings from our Spiritual Father.

The twists and turns of each case is outlandish – Elizabeth and Shaniya’s abductors and murderers have been found, arrested and charged but the community that Somer was a part of lives in fear on a daily basis as her assailant is still at large.

Elizabeth Olten

We will all sit and wait, glued to the media that will report any piece of information that may make any remote sense to all of us for the loss of these precious children.

Shaniya Davis

Please keep all families in your thoughts and prayers and please don’t forget all of the other children who are not high profile cases that have simply vanished or have received their wings prior to the girls.

To assist parents I would like to share some guidelines to help you to make your child/children more safe.

The first step in protecting your child from potential abductors is to know what you’re dealing with. Here are some important — and potentially surprising — facts about child abductions in the United States:

• Every 40 seconds in the United States, a child becomes missing or is abducted.
• In 2001, 840,279 people (adults and children) were reported missing to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The FBI estimates that 85 to 90 percent of those (roughly 750,000 people or 2,000 per day) reported missing were children. The vast majority of these cases are resolved within hours.
• Based on the identity of the perpetrator, there are three distinct types of kidnapping: kidnapping by a relative of the victim or “family kidnapping” (49 percent), kidnapping by an acquaintance of the victim or “acquaintance kidnapping” (27 percent), and kidnapping by a stranger to the victim or “stranger kidnapping” (24 percent).
• Family kidnapping is committed primarily by parents, involves a larger percentage of female perpetrators (43 percent) than other types of kidnapping offenses, occurs more frequently to children under 6, equally victimizes juveniles of both sexes, and most often originates in the home.
• Acquaintance kidnapping involves a comparatively high percentage of juvenile perpetrators, has the largest percentage of female and teenage victims, is more often associated with other crimes (especially sexual and physical assault), occurs at homes and residences, and has the highest percentage of injured victims.
• Stranger kidnapping victimizes more females than males, occurs primarily at outdoor locations, victimizes both teenagers and school-age children, is associated with sexual assaults in the case of girl victims and robberies in the case of boy victims (although not exclusively so), and is the type of kidnapping most likely to involve the use of a firearm.
• Only about one child out of each 10,000 missing children reported to the local police is not found alive. However, about 20 percent of the children reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in nonfamily abductions are not found alive.
• In 80 percent of abductions by strangers, the first contact between the child and the abductor occurs within a quarter mile of the child’s home.
• Most potential abductors grab their victims on the street or try to lure them into their vehicles.
• About 74 percent of the victims of nonfamily child abduction are girls.
• Acting quickly is critical. Seventy-four percent of abducted children who are ultimately murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction.
• One in five children 10 to 17 years old receive unwanted sexual solicitations online.
• In a 1998 study of parents’ worries by pediatricians at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, nearly three-quarters of parents said they feared their children might be abducted. One-third of parents said this was a frequent worry — a degree of fear greater than that held for any other concern, including car accidents, sports injuries, or drug addiction.

Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation; National Crime Information Center; U.S. Justice Dept.; Vanished Children’s Alliance; Redbook, February 1998; State of Washington’s Office of the Attorney General; United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Juvenile Justice Bulletin, June 2000

IN MEMORY OF ALL OF THE CHILDREN THAT ARE MISSING OR HAVE RECEIVED THEIR WINGS………..

I am a tiny angel …
I’m smaller than your thumb;
I live in people pockets,
That’s where I have my fun.

I don’t suppose you’ve seen me,
I’m too tiny to detect;
Though I’m with you all the time,
I doubt we’ve ever met.

Before I was an Angel …
I was a fairy in a flower;
God, Himself, hand-picked me,
And gave me Angel power.

Now God has many Angels
That He trains in Angel pools;
We become His eyes, and ears, and hands …
We become His special tools.

And because God is so busy,
With way too much to do;
He said that my assignment
Was to keep close watch on you.

Then He tucked me in your pocket,
Blessing you with Angel care;
Saying I must never leave you,
And I vowed to stay right there!

~ Virginia Ellis ~
Copyright © 1999

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children