Tag Archives: sex crimes

crime news, national news

The conspiracy theories have started … already!

Jeffrey Epstein’s corpse likely isn’t even all that cold just yet and already social media are crackling with conspiracy notions of how he died, why he died, who made it happen … along with all manner of nefarious motives.

Epstein was the accused human trafficker who peddled underage girls reportedly as sex slaves. He was pals with people in high places, most notably Donald J. Trump and William J. Clinton, the current and former president of the United States of America.

What is admittedly bizarre about Epstein’s death is the manner he supposedly was taken off suicide watch. He reportedly tried to hang himself in the Manhattan jail where he was being held. Corrections officers found him unconscious; he had marks on his neck suggesting he tried to string himself up. The jail put slapped a suicide watch on him. Then they supposedly lifted it.

That begs the question: Why do you remove the suicide watch on an inmate you believe tried to kill himself in your custody?

My maximum distaste for conspiracy theories has nothing to do with what we need to know in this moment. Yes, I want answers. I want to know how this a**hole was able to hang himself in the presence of corrections official who were tasked with keeping this high-profile suspect alive long enough for his case to be determined.

I want those answers delivered in a timely fashion. It would seem to be within easy grasp of those in charge of the Manhattan jail that was housing Epstein.

What I don’t want to hear are those crackpots out here way beyond the perimeter who think they know what happen and will concoct any harebrained scenario they can think of just to keep the pot stirred. I detest, for instance, those theorists who think they know what happened to JFK in Dallas in November 1963.

I will agree wholeheartedly that there are a lot of questions to be answered. The presence of a president and a former president in this guy’s sphere of friends and acquaintances makes this case extraordinary on its face. There likely were a lot of high-powered individuals with a lot to lose were this guy to go to trial.

Let’s find out what happened to this dude.

local news

Police commit serious error of omission

A sexual predator is on the prowl in your downtown business district. He commits a sexual assault, then commits a similar assault several months later.

The public needs to know immediately about the first attack to be alert to the possibility that a second attack might occur.

One problem, though. The police department — whose officers from the chief of the police on down to the patrol officer take an oath to protect the public — fails to let anyone know about either attack in anything approaching a timely manner.

With a apologies to the actor Strother Martin of “Cool Hand Luke” fame: Talk about a failure to communicate.

The Amarillo Police Department has been revealed to have committed an error that is beyond mere embarrassment. It is a shameful lapse in fulfilling its duties to the public it has sworn to serve.

The police department knew of an attack that occurred on June 5. It didn’t alert anyone to its occurrence. Then an attack occurred on Sept. 27. Again, the cops kept it quiet — until Oct. 22, for crying out loud.

All the while, the police have a suspect in custody, a man they arrested later in the day of the second attack, on Sept. 27. The cops charged him with the June 5 attack and then the Sept. 27 incident.

And all this occurred without the public knowing about it until eight days ago, when the Amarillo Globe-News received a confidential tip.

Amarillo Police Chief Robert Taylor has acknowledged the mistake. He vows to repair the damage.

Meanwhile, Terrell Anthony Allen is being held in connection with the incidents. His fate, of course, remains uncertain.

The issue here, though, has much more to do with whether the police department is fulfilling its duty to the public. Clearly — and this cannot be overstated — it has failed badly.

There appears to have been some sort of communications breakdown within the department, with the APD public information office being unaware of the incidents’ nature. Taylor said had his public affairs known that a sex crime had occurred, “he would have made a news release, more than likely.”

More than likely? Do you think.

If ever the public needs to know matters in real time, it ought to be when incidents involving a violence against victims are occurring.

Get to the bottom of this egregious error, chief — and fix it.