Is Melissa Huckaby covering up for a boyfriend

[malaise]

or a relative? This case is bizarre.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. The charge was rape,

and "a foreign object" was mentioned. No male. Just her. Ugh.

She's twisted, honey. Hard to take, but, yeah, they're out there, and she's one of them.

Her tears were moving - she's caught, all right...................

[malaise]

4. Yep it's hard to take

and if she's guilty, she's beyond twisted.

[EFerrari]

2. Was there a new report? n/t

[question everything]

11. The new report was adding "rape" to the charges

of murder..

Really twisted case. She has a daughter who was friends with the victim.

[jhrobbins]

78. Apparently I have had my head up.... well, somewhere dark - I have no idea

what y'all are talking about.

[TahitiNut]

3. I think it's fascinating how our deep-seated biases come forth in reacting to this story.

It's a tragic and appalling story, no matter how it's viewed.

[malaise]

8. Not a bias

The stats back my shock -data shows that 93% of sexual abuse is committed by males.

[TahitiNut]

16. And how much are those 'stats' skewed by the blind spots of our biases?

After all, how many of such crimes go unsolved and how often are innocents convicted?

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

28. It's bias grounded in experience but you're right. Just because something

is unusual doesn't mean it doesn't happen. And you're also right that if a crime doesn't fit the prevailing wisdom, it tends to get forced into the mold or discounted. :thumbsup:

[TahitiNut]

36. Yup. I don't for a minute deny our bias in this respect isn't well-grounded.

(Cognitive) biases are, after all, adaptive and learned in many/most instances.

I'd also hasten to emphasize the word 'our' in my observation. In no way do I observe human behavior as an outsider.

:hi:

[marshall]

29. Factor in race and it gets really ugly

Everyone is a potential amateur actuary.

[NorthernSpy]

95. Well, Huckaby is white, and Sandra Cantu was Hispanic...

Not sure what you're getting at.


:shrug:

[marshall]

128. It's a bias that affects our assumptions about who is doing the raping

Not in this particular case (insofar as we know), but it unfortunately certainly is a factor for many people in assuming guilt or innocence.

[H2O Man]

32. I do not think

that those statistics are correct. It is true that in child abduction cases by strangers, in which predatory sexual acts are involved, that 93% of the perps are male. But in overall sexual abuse, I do not think that holds true.

[Jackpine Radical]

88. I agree.

[Schema Thing]

40. And there is some reason to believe this woman can't be part of the 7%?

[dorkulon]

14. I'm not sure it's a reflection of gender bias to imagine a male would be involved.

If that's what you mean. There almost always is in cases like this, sadly. I'm a male, but I'm not going to deny the reality of that. Of course there are females who act alone, but it is pretty rare. So if this woman did this by herself, it is objectively unusual.

[malaise]

21. That's my only point

93% versus 7% is more than enough cause for shock.

[seabeyond]

17. not bias, conditioning, and well founded conditioning at that. but you are right

regardless......


It's a tragic and appalling story

[left coaster]

5. I don't think she's covering for a male relative..

..but I'll bet you anything that she herself was a childhood victim of sexual abuse.. that's no excuse for her actions, but it does explain the effed up mindset. (Not that all victims of childhood abuse become abusers, because they don't.. however an overwhelming amount of abusers were abused as children.)

[malaise]

9. Yep

I heard a discussion on this last night.

[seabeyond]

22. or... she is just one fucked up woman. there are a lot of fucked up people

both genders, out in this world

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I saw 'Huckabee' and I thought OMG what is that asswipe up to now?

LOL

[Kittycat]

7. I hope she didn't abuse her own daughter.

Perpetuating the cycle.

[seabeyond]

18. there is a thought. n/t

[EFerrari]

23. By this time, I hope CPS is interviewing her little girl.

:(

[kjackson227]

10. Other questions need answering.

Were her fingerprints found on the body, suitcase, etc.? Was her daughter abused in any way? Bodily fluids? Where was the uncle(?) that took her in?

I agree that something just doesn't seem right about this, unlike the poor Caylee Anthony case.

[Dappleganger]

12. It's not hard for me to believe at all.

Yes, it's unusual to hear of it and these cases rarely make the news because typically there isn't murder involved.
But no, I think she did it and the evidence will show that in court. I really hope they don't screw up the case either.

[dem629]

13. Yes. It just HAD to be a guy. Had to!

Women are angels.

[seabeyond]

20. or.... the odds are well in favor of it. i wasnt thrilled by the way the op worded this

and i dont have any trouble believing this woman did this, alone, ..... without male. but, i am having problems with males jumping in here outraged, outraged i tell you that it is "preceived" males tend toward this behavior more than females.

i find that a bit false

[EFerrari]

26. It's not a crime statistically connected with women.

Other forms of child abuse are but not this one.

[Lex]

35. Nice Strawman. No one at all suggested "women are angels."

nt

[Hepburn]

15. I just saw a picture of her on MSNBC at her arraignment....

...and she is teary faced as all hell.

She just sits wrong with me as the perp. Just a feeling and nothing more...but the way she looked? To me it is like she is covering from someone.

Edit to add: Grandpa strikes me as the most likely candidate.

[zerox]

19. I'm glad you can determine guilt from one's appearance.

nm.

[Hepburn]

24. Actually, it is the demeanor she displayed....

...it was not a single picture.

BTW: US Const says: "Presumed innocent until found guilty." I kind of like to look for things that support innocence and not guilt...but apparently you see things differently.

:hi:

[Godhumor]

33. "Presumed innocent until..." Sure, you say that one post after saying you suspect Grandpa

Nicely done.

[malaise]

25. I asked about Grandpa from day one

Guess we'll all have to wait for the truth.

[tularetom]

34. Wow - Rev Billy Bob has his own granddaughter pimping out 8 year old girls for him?

Hard to imagine anything more sick than that, but I gotta agree it occurred to me as well.

She doesn't look like the type who would be able to stand up to very much questioning so if it's true I'm pretty sure she'll spill her guts soon.

[get the red out]

27. Male or female doesn't matter

Psycho is no respecter of gender.

[Hannah Bell]

30. She was just arrested yet everyone seems to assume she's guilty, call her psycho, etc.

weird.

[H2O Man]

31. No.

Nor is the case all that strange. Terrible, yes, but far from surprising.

[EFerrari]

37. One of the most terrible abuse cases that made it to screen

involved an abusive mother and based on the life of Shirley Ardell Mason, aka "Sybil".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ardell_Mason

[malaise]

39. If she's found guilty, this will make it to the screen

Sunday School teacher, rapist, murderer. Damn!!!

sp

[EFerrari]

41. Yep. But, for the wrong reasons, I'm afraid. In "Sybil"

there seemed to be a genuine attempt to understand something. That doesn't happen very much any more in the corporate entertainment industry.

[H2O Man]

44. Exactly.

It's hust the opposite. Sad. But the movies etc attempt to lure people to watch their shit for the wrong reasons.

[TahitiNut]

42. Generational abuse may play a role more often than we know.

:shrug:

[H2O Man]

45. Key point.

While not all children raised in violence become violent adults, the vast majority of violent adults were raised in violence.

[TahitiNut]

47. Yup. Exactly.

Child abuse is, I fear, one of the most under-reported behaviors in our society. In the 'work' I've done in group settings (participant and facilitator), my eyes were opened a LOT. (I've met HEROES ... people with courage that stunned me.)

[handmade34]

57. thanks for your obsevations...

you bring a little reason to this discussion. I too have seen too much to be ignorant of what live is like for a lot of kids.

[Jackpine Radical]

92. Oh, I don't know. Of the 2000 or so criminals I've done psych evals on,

probably no more than 1950 or so had fucked up childhoods.

[H2O Man]

93. And even among those few,

probably close to 1900 had a parent who said, "Look what you made me do!" It's the schools. That's it!

[woo me with science]

129. I agree with your point that women can be perpetrators,

but I must point out that Sybil is a bad example to use here, since her "memories" of savage abuse are unlikely to be based in fact. She is the poster child for the recovered memory debacle in psychiatry.

Sybil's "memories" arose from the use of hypnosis, strong drugs, and highly suggestive therapy techniques, all confirmed by outside sources. By contrast, despite what the fictionalized novel says, none of the physical abuse was ever confirmed. Sybil's case probably teaches us much more about devastating wrong turns in psychiatry than female-perpetrated child abuse.

However, your original point is valid. Women are capable of being just as brutal as men to children, and it is easy for many to overlook that, given the statistics we see every day.

[malaise]

38. I beginning to think I'm really naive

I know there are female abusers, but it's still very strange to me.

[H2O Man]

43. In the United States,

statistics show that of "indicated" (investigated and confirmed) cases of child abuse, 58% are at the hands of females, and 42% at the hands of males.(USDHHS, 2008) It's not reported that way in the media, of course, and so people often are misinformed on that. I think that it is misinformed, as opposed to naive. People purposely misrepresent what the children in this nation endure.

[LiberalEsto]

46. The reason for the 58%

is that mothers generally spend far more time with their children than men do.

[TahitiNut]

48. I wouldn't call that a 'reason.' I'd call it 'context.'

:shrug: Unless you mean that too much time with kids makes one an abuser.

[LiberalEsto]

49. Agreed.

[H2O Man]

50. Right.

It's not an excuse.

[EFerrari]

53. Or, it can be seen as "opportunity". n/t

[EFerrari]

51. The stats I've read say that women more often abuse children

but that sexual abuse is usually by males. Is that right or is that just Disney?

A child doesn't have to be struck or molested to be abused. What is missed, imho, is the mostly invisible, emotional abuse that can be every bit as damaging.

[H2O Man]

56. I agree.

On all points.

[malaise]

55. Never saw those stats

Thanks

[bettyellen]

80. but you're not talking about rape or sexual abuse, are you?

[H2O Man]

81. Odd.

I don't understand why you would not include rape and sexual abuse as child abuse. Luckily, almost without exception, everyone else does.

[bettyellen]

132. we are discussing a rape case and it;s a different kind of crime and stats than what you quoted

i think your stats are at best, going off on a tangent.
it actually seems deceptive to me to pull out stats about widely different types of abuse and lump them with child rapists or sexual murderers.

[seabeyond]

54. i happen to get two females in my family, neither nurturing. that concept was bizarre to me

watching how one abused her daughter and the other was able to walk away from her three kids, life always being about her.

granted, i didnt have much experience with family units, ect... being single until i was older and later having children, but experiencing this with two females, close in my environment, it was a real eye opener for me.

[xchrom]

52. really?

so if the charge goes forward -- with no other defendant -- then what?

[malaise]

58. If she's guilty she's guilty

but what if someone else is guilty and she's just an accessory to the crime. That has happened before.

[xchrom]

59. hey i'll be looking for your thread if there isn't

any one else associated with this crime -- that's all.

[EFerrari]

60. I think malaise feels the same way I do -- that there's more to this story.

It's no about wanting to let anyone off the hook at all. But, the way this went down is just a little spooky. If this women is the sole perp, I'm glad she's in custody. If she's not, I hope the investigators don't shut their work down too early. :shrug:

/typin'

[xchrom]

61. well then we'll see right?

tracy is 40 is from where i live.

as far as i have heard -- and it's ALL we hear -- she's the only suspect right now.

i'm just hoping that those who strated threads being supicious that she was covering or somehow not that involved -- will post threads if it turns out she is the sole perp.

[malaise]

62. You betcha

I will. If she's the sole perp, throw away the key. If there are others find them.
Please remember that there are people on death row (and some executed) who turned out to be wrongly convicted.

[xchrom]

66. what are we talking about -- death row -- or this case? nt

[malaise]

68. This case but since she hasn't been tried yet

we don't have all the facts. Cops and prosecutors have been wrong before so we have those death row cases.

[xchrom]

72. she must at least be a strong suspect to be under arrest, wouldn't you think?

while men do most of the abusing -- it was noted earlier in the thread that women abusing children are certainly not unknown.

but your OP immediately attaches amale to this case.

and it may be that there will be one -- but she is certainly a strong candidate -- and as of right now the only candidate that we know of for sure.

[malaise]

74. Clearly she's a strong candidate

I'm not blaming any male. I merely asked a question based on statistics 93% to 7%. If she alone is guilty, so be it.

[xchrom]

79. well you can understand maybe the confusion -- since this was you opening --

'Is Melissa Huckaby covering up for a boyfriend'.

[malaise]

82. or a relative

I maintain it was a perfectly legitimate question given the statistics.
It was not a statement of fact.

[xchrom]

117. but it isn't unheard of for women to be the sole abuser. nt

[malaise]

124. No it is not

but can you name one rape and murder by a woman in just 2008.

[xchrom]

126. how about all the teachers seducing underage boys?

that is statutory rape -- at least if we are being technical.

[H2O Man]

75. True.

Among the numerous problems that can happen in the legal system is that an innocent person can be convicted of a crime they did not commit. There tend to be two ways that can happen, and they sometimes overlap. The first and most famous type is when there is corruption among police investigators. This can include one or more individuals who, for one of two reasons, contaminate evidence. The reasons include: (a) they believe the person is guilty, but need more evidence; or (b) they feel the "suspect" is probably legally "not guilty," but "deserves" punishment for something else.

The second imperfection involves "eye witness" testimony. Despite the general public's belief that this is the most accurate evidence, it very often is not. For example, if four people witness one crime, they tend to have somewhat different recall of the events. (If they don't, then they have been coached.) More, people can and do experience difficulty in identifying people who are of different etyhnic/racial groups, especially if they are not in frequent contact with other groups. Add issues such as poor lighting and fear, and many people have been "positively IDed" who had nothing to do with a crime.

Add the two things together, and you can and do end up with innocent people convicted.

Now, to this case. The suspect behaved in a manner that is the opposite of what would be expected for someone attempting to "cover" for another. If a person is seeking to cover for another, they will generally (not always) draw attention to themselves, and away from the person they are covering for. In this case, the suspect attempted to deflect attention from herself, through a series of lies. I am not sure how many of these things have been made public, but in the months to come, you'll hear (much) more about, for example, the suitcase the victim was found in. And about the lies that the suspect told. She was, like that Casey Anthony, lying as fast as a horse can trot, but she lost track of the lies she told. And she was not smart enough to fool the investigators.

I'm confident that not only will you find out she was not covering for anyone else -- say, in her family -- but that her family members, unlike the Anthony's, were not willing to lie for her.

[malaise]

77. Nice thoughtful post Water man

We watched a case of a man released from prison a few weeks ago. The victim identified the wrong man - he spent 20 years in prison.

Community medical centers could solve so many of these problems. There are so many people out there who are ill and receiving no counseling or treatment.
Parents cannot trust anyone with their children these days.

[EFerrari]

63. Oh, definitely. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

64. Maybe there's a black person involved?

Bizarre to believe that a white person is responsible.

:crazy:

[seabeyond]

65. oh, the faux outrage. a MALE? sexual abuse of a child? how dare you suggest

right

which leads me to ask, since majority, strong majority of sexually abuse children are done by male, are you suggesting that it is a strong majority of black committing crime? that is the conclusion you leave one

[EFerrari]

67. How off the wall. No, men are much more often the perps in cases like these.

There's nothing at all out of line with asking the OP's question. If she turns out to be the perp, this case will take its place among a very few.

There's nothing :crazy: here.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

69. I'm no criminologist...

But I'm pretty sure the crazy suspect who's been arrested and arraigned for the crime and to whom all the evidence points is statistically most likely to be the person responsible. At least in most cases.

Of course, a careful reading of Scriptures indicates that a coven of witches was probably involved.

[EFerrari]

70. No, you're wrong. n/t

[zerox]

83. So, all available evidence should be tossed out because a male "must" be responsible?

Is this really what you want to argue?

[Lex]

86. I think you came up with that doozy of a conclusion

not the person you were responding to.

[zerox]

90. The person I was responding to

is the one arguing that the suspect in custody, arrested based on a substantial amount of evidence, is likely not guilty simply because of past crime statistics. This is essentially no different than racial profiling that DUers typically rail against. This entire thread is disgusting.

[Lex]

91. No they weren't. Not by a long shot.

nt

[Lex]

84. Why, do black people commit more sexual abuse than whites?

I don't think so.

[Liberal_in_LA]

98. nope!

[Lex]

104. It was actually rhetorical because the remark

was so :wtf:

[Liberal_in_LA]

106. I know. Felt compelled to say "nope" anyway.

[Lex]

110. I understand and agree, just to be clear.

:hi:

[Liberal_in_LA]

116. all is clear.

[itsrobert]

87. And high school drop out with an IQ of 54.

Women are angels made out of sugar and spice.

[NorthernSpy]

96. I bet blacks get tired of always being used for shitty analogies like this one.

:puke:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

99. OK, OK.

A child was molested so it was probably a homosexual.

With a foreign object. So it was probably a foreigner.

[Liberal_in_LA]

100. yep!

[Fleshdancer]

71. This is a very very very sick case

I have no idea if she's covering for other people or not, but the sheer amount of crazy in this case is mind blowing.

It's crazy enough to kidnap a child, or rape a child, or murder a child, or stuff a child in a suitcase and throw her in a pond, but to do all of these things is...well evil is the only word that comes to mind. It doesn't stop there though because she's accused of doing all of the above to her own daughter's best friend.

One life lost. So many more destroyed. I couldn't survive something like this happening to my child so my heart goes out to anyone and everyone who loved Sandra Cantu. My heart also goes out to the family of the suspect, especially her daughter.

[malaise]

73. I'm with you

It's sick and sad.

[Gwendolyn]

76. As far as conjecture goes, it's always possible it was an accident...

and she tried to cover it with a "faux" rape to make it appear more likely the crime was committed by the usual male pedophile. Anyway, after the "pom pom moms" case aired on American Justice, nothing will ever surprise me again.

[Lex]

85. hmmmm . . . "staging" it to throw off law enforcement

in case the body was found?

Interesting theory.

[malaise]

97. Ditto but that would require

a criminal mind.

[H2O Man]

101. Right.

I do not think that the idea expressed really qualifies as a "theory." It's better defined as denial.

[Gwendolyn]

103. Not really. It would however, require desperation and some level of stupidity.

[Lex]

107. certainly panic

at the very least

(I think that in the Jon Benet Ramsey case, her death may've been staged as well to look like an intruder murder/kidnapping gone wrong.)

[Gwendolyn]

119. Hah! That's true. Didn't even think of that case, but you're right.

No one's ever been able to solve what really happened.

[Gwendolyn]

102. The armchair detective vibe in me is strong.

:) Not really. Just remember reading about similar circumstances in this kind of murder. The woman got so freaked after the death, she tried to make it appear as though a man had done it, so hence the fake rape.

The reason I mentioned the pompom moms, was because the mother in that case was so envious of the pretty, popular girl child of another, she planned, and tried to have her murdered. One never knows the depths of human greed, or jealousy, until confronted with it. Of course, that's all conjecture too. Maybe this girl didn't do it at all.

[itsrobert]

89. Maybe her girlfriend

Or her Aunt Gertrude?

[bridgit]

94. For now Melissa Huckaby is in *very* big trouble. They just finished...

tossing her place on a 3rd warrant; they were still tossing the church on it's 3rd. The FBI was on the scene lickety-split and that keyed me on longitudinal strains of evidence verify and share, data recovery and ownership but for now...Melissa Huckaby in is very big trouble http://cbs13.com/local/sandra.cantu.church.2.979203.html

[malaise]

105. So my question is valid - from your link

Officers searched the Lawless' home again Tuesday morning, along with four other homes in the complex, according to a maintenance worker who witnessed it.

Police point out that, contrary to some media reports, that Lawless has not been arrested, only questioned, "like hundreds of people," said Sgt. Sheneman. Officials stressed that they are not focusing on any one person in the investigation, but say the case is shaping up to head in a particular direction.

That direction, Sheneman said, is confidential. "To comment on that would compromise the investigation and I cannot do that," he said.

Despite officials' downplaying the significance of searching the pastor's home and church, retired FBI profiler Candace DeLong says authorities are legally obligated to justify their interest.

"They will have to have sworn before a magistrate they had reason to search that property," DeLong said. "They're not releasing that information now, but there has to be a reason he's a person of interest and they got a search warrant."

[H2O Man]

108. Check the date

on the article linked to.

[bridgit]

111. They've been looking in that direction for some time now...

[H2O Man]

114. Sure.

If one was investigating Melissa, it would certainly make sense to look at the home she lived in.

[bridgit]

120. I'm sure they were doing more than just looking at her house

[H2O Man]

122. No doubt.

I'm glad they solved the case in a relatively short time. Tragic, and very disturbing.

[Lex]

112. gawd, a week old article

good catch

[malaise]

115. Realized that a minute ago

My bad.

[H2O Man]

118. Information

can be presented in a confusing way. For sake of this discussion, it should be pointed out that the victim told her mother she was going to this house to play; it was confirmed she went there; there was a claim that she left after a few minutes, and went elsewhere, without telling her mother; this was never confirmed, and created suspicion; the residents of that house include the clergyman and his granddaughter, who is the suspect.

[malaise]

123. Correct

and they're still searching for evidence.

[Lex]

109. Law enforcement searched the pastor's house too?

I think your question is one that law enforcement is at least pondering as well, perhaps.

[H2O Man]

113. Or, it may be

because of the fact that Melissa lived with her grandparents.

[malaise]

121. Today's link

http://cbs13.com/crime/Melissa.Huckaby.arraignment.2.985058.html
<snip>
Tracy Police were out today searching two locations in connection with the Sandra Cantu case.

According to sources, police were out at a home in Orchard Grove Mobile Home Park and the Clover Road Baptist Church searching for evidence in the murder case of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. It's the third time police searched the church where, police say, the girl was murdered.

[H2O Man]

125. The viciousness of

many of these crimes is chilling. It's enough to make me want to turn off the news, stop reading newspapers, quit answering the telephone, and just go out to my cabin for a few months.

[malaise]

127. Too many really sick people

are walking among us untreated. I cry for this planet's children.
We have single home mothers here who leave toddlers with infants and head to a dance - yes a dance. When the house burns down and the kids die, the mothers are then surprised. They're getting criminal sentences these days.

[H2O Man]

130. Today,

my daughters each got a card from my aunt and uncle, who serve as their grandparents. My daughters never had an opportunity to know their real grandparents, and in our extended family, people make sure that children have a good, solid support system.

That uncle was a legendary police investigator, and in his last decade of service, he solved some of the ugliest crimes against children in the country. Many, of course, involved killers who crossed state lines, and so his work was regional, rather than "local." He was always a hero to me as a kid, and all four of my children think of him as a hero, too.

My youngest daughter, 11, plans on a career as an investigator. She spends her spare time reading and watching about that line of work. While I think that's great, I also remember that when, years ago, I did work relating to child abuse, it could haunt you. It wasn't easy to forget what you saw, after going home at night. When I think of what the police see, I'm sure it's that much worse. When I read/hear about some of the cases these days, I'm glad that there are good investigators on the cases. I know that it helps the families that suffer terrible loses.

[malaise]

131. I know what you mean

I have a good friend who is in charge of the children's homes here. The stories she tells me leave me in tears.
I bet your daughter does well as an investigator.

[LisaL]

133. Does she even have a boyfriend?