8mm
Posted on 09/19/2007 2:36:41 PM PDT by narses
No statutory rape charges filed even though man admitted sexual affair with 16-year-old girlfriend COEUR d'ALENE -- The 20-year-old man who admitted torching the Lake City Junior Academy might not spend a day in prison, but his underage girlfriend could spend 20 years there thanks to his testimony.
Jason Howry pleaded guilty to first-degree arson as a part of a plea deal. He'll be sentenced on Nov. 8 in 1st District Court.
Howry's 16-year-old girlfriend, Jacqueline Smith, is being charged as an adult. She's facing conspiracy to commit arson and first-degree arson charges. Her attorney, Doug Phelps, said plea bargain negotiations are under way and the case could be settled before it goes to trial on Oct. 9.
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No statutory rape charges were filed against Howry even though he and Smith admitted to having a sexual relationship that lasted nearly nine months. Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas couldn't be reached for comment on why Howry wasn't charged.
Smith has no prior criminal record. She reportedly told police she practices a Mother Earth religion similar to Wicca and that Howry had mentioned Satan was cool when they first met. At the time of her arrest, she had a punk-rock hairstyle, with most of her head shaved and a fuchsia comb over.
Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Denise Rosen declined to talk about either case because both are still pending.
Prosecutors dropped the criminal conspiracy charge against Howry in exchange for a guilty plea on the arson charge. Howry's settlement agreement includes a recommendation that he complete a six-month rider program in Cottonwood. The Department of Corrections will make a recommendation to Judge Charles Hosack based on Howry's rider program results. Typically, judges follow those suggestions, but Howry could still face up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The June 19 fire destroyed the library of the Lake City Junior Academy and threatened to consume the entire school.
Police said Howry and Smith broke a window and poured gasoline inside the building. They then allegedly lit a piece of paper and ignited the blaze.
An observant employee, Edward Bartkowiak, at the adjacent Shell service station, spotted flames and called 911. A Coeur d'Alene police officer suppressed flames with an extinguisher before firefighters arrived.
Lake City Junior Academy Principal Allan Sather said the library is still being repaired and the damages are expected to be more than $50,000.
"It's not functioning yet," Sather said. "It's caused a lot of grief at our school. Our children are going without a library."
Sather said he doesn't understand why the fire was started in the first place.
"I hope he gets an adequate sentence and that he's learned his lesson," Sather said. "It made no sense as to why they'd want to do that to our school."
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And they say chivalry is dead...
Note the comments at the newspaper.
What foolish clods.
Could you point out in the article where it says that Satanism and Wicca are practiced? Your twists of the article are as deplorable as the media itself.
It looks like your reading comprehension is no different.
I wonder how many of the books in the library have witchcraft themes. Take a walk through the young adult science fiction/fantasy section at Barnes and Noble, and it's all witchcraft, all the time.
What goes around comes around.
Uh, yeah. We all know that children are not influenced by what they read. That's why corporations don't spend billions of dollars on print advertising every year.
Here's an exerpt of just one such innocent, and very popular book. Why any parent would be concerned, is beyond me.
Grade 5 Up...A desperate battle with inhabitants of the intermediate world brings Will the subtle knife, a magical totem of his own, which will protect Will and Lyra while bringing them closer to the end of this part of their quest. The action takes place in Will's world (which is also our own), as well as on Lyra's and the intermediate world. As in the first book, the stakes are high and the action is rapid and occasionally violent. The philosophical nature of the quest becomes clearer as various characters explain the possible relationships among Dust, the bridges between worlds, angels, supreme beings, and cosmic forces. This may be treading on dangerous ground for traditional religious thinkers? the essential nature of the supreme being is not necessarily positive? but high-fantasy enthusiasts will find much to follow and reflect on here.Blasphemy for Grade 5 and up. But hey, it's approved by the School Library Journal, even though those silly old "traditional religious thinkers" might object to it.-School Libray Journal
Now imagine any school library containing a book about the life of a saint.
ok, so we’ll also pull narnia and LotR too, how about that?
can’t foget about grimm’s fairy tales (you know, cinderella, beauty and the beast, snow white, etc) arabian nights (alladin, sinbad, ali baba, etc), gotta pull the greek myths too (hercules, illiad, oddessy, jason and the argonauts, etc). pinocchio’s gonna have to go, as will frankenstein, dracula, all the arthurian legends...
see where this goes? how about teaching the kids the difference between reality and fantasy and then letting them make up their own minds?
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