Posted on 07/24/2007 6:35:51 AM PDT by MuttTheHoople
A sexual assault suspect arrested after pro-life protesters gave police a photograph showing his vehicle at an abortion clinic where his victim reported getting an abortion has been found dead.
Authorities in Bryant, Ark., have confirmed to WND that Jeffrey Dean Cheshier, 41, was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound by deputies in Garland County who responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a private driveway.
Cheshier had been arrested after Angela Michael, who runs Small Victories with her husband and children, was able to document for police the fact that Cheshier's vehicle was at an abortion clinic in Granite City, Ill., at the time the victim reportedly claimed to have been taken there for an abortion.
Bryant, Ark., Det. Jimmy Long confirmed it was the photograph from Small Victories that helped secure a case against Cheshier.
(Story continues below)
An underage girl had accused him of rape, but she also reported he forced her to go to the "Hope" Clinic for Women abortion business in Granite City for an abortion, so there was no evidence.
The protesters' photograph provided an identifiable license plate number on the suspect's car at the abortion clinic when the victim claimed to have been there, police said.
The executive director of the abortion clinic, Sally Burgess, told KSDK television she knew nothing about this particular case but the business has safeguards in place to protect juveniles.
Authorities said Cheshier had been free on bond pending trial on the various charges against him.
According to reports, a witness heard a "pop like a bottle rocket" and a deputy found the body a short time later. Court officials confirmed Cheshier had been scheduled for trial starting the first week in September, and that the case had not yet been dismissed.
"This unfortunate crime of child rape is played out every day," Angela Michaels said in a prepared statement. "This one just got caught. Unfortunately, it ended tragically. One can only imagine the pain and guilt Cheshier felt after stealing this young girl's innocence that would force a man in the prime of his life to take the coward's way out of his problems."
She told WND the case was a tragedy for all involved.
"We knew this man had to face judgment, to go before a jury and a judge," she said. "We really had been hoping to reach this man, to save this man, to have this man repent of his crime."
The young girl, 13 when the assaults apparently started and now 15, now will have to deal with the trauma of being attacked without an assailant to confront, she said.
And she said equally important are the other victims.
"I think the world needs to take note of this. How many more victims are out there?" she asked. "And why is the abortion industry allowed to cover up these attacks."
The Michaels, for their Christian ministry, have spent more than 14 years outside the Granite City abortion business protesting and taking photographs of abortionists, clinic employees and customers.
The victim had reported to police that Cheshier had been assaulting her over a period of time when officers arrived at the home for a call regarding a domestic disturbance.
Angela Michael said the Granite City clinic is known nationwide because of the circumstances. Its abortionists do late-term abortions and the state of Illinois has no parental notification law.
The ministry parks its ultrasound van on the public street in front of the abortion business and encourages girls to miss their abortion appointments. Angela Michael said she's seen "an abundance" of cases where an older man obviously is forcing an underage girl into the clinic.
Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline also unsuccessfully battled for charges to be developed in many cases apparently involving underage victims.
Kline had cited the 2003 Kansas state statistic that there were 78 abortions on girls under the age of 15. In a state where the legal age of consent is 16, how could 78 girls become pregnant and obtain abortions without a single report of sexual assault, or rape, on a child, he wondered.
He later lost his bid for re-election to an opponent who has expressed support for the abortion industry.
I'm sorry, that is not part of any valid Christian ministry that I know of.
There is nothing that scares abortionists more than protesters with cameras.
Can't anyone ever say "I'm glad he's dead" anymore?
"See, if he didn't have a gun he'd being going to prison. But now justice was denied due to 'easy access' to a gun."Those pukes are just as evil as the criminals.
What’s invalid about it? One of my favorite Catholic parishes gets together at the local planned barrenhood once a month. It’s more of a mission than a ministry, I would say.
Oh wait.. the kind that is OK with killing babies...
Small Victories is the name of the pro-life group that protests against abortion and tries to convince women to choose life rather than abortion. Small Victories is the organization that was able to provide documentation proving the rapist was at the clinic when the rape victim said she was taken there. My guess is that the name of the organization comes from the idea that each life they are able to save is a small victory in the battle against abortion on demand.
There is money involved, yes.
But the sick part is that, in order to continue having abortion on demand, the pro-aborts can’t afford to have these cases taint their cause.
So, young rape victims are the “price we [they] pay” for having “freedom”.
You can point out the downsides of “liberal” programs like welfare and other social programs all day long and leftists will just say that we have to put up with those problems because the intent of the programs is good.
This clinic IIRC, was started by a foreign doctor - maybe by the name of Cervantes though I’m not sure about that. It is located across from the Catholic hospital in town, St Elizabeth’s Hospital.
“And WHY would they use the word ‘tragic’ to report this suicide?”
Well, personally, I too consider his suicide tragic because:
A) the child victim will have no chance to confront him with his crimes against her as she gets older and will likely need some type of catharsis, and...
B) the coward took the easy way out. He will never have to face the public trial, humiliation, and jail time he so richly deserves.
Oh, I agree.
The doctor who started the “hopeless” clinic became VERY wealthy after opening it, so it evidently pays very well.
The phrase I prefer is:
Good riddance!
Yeah, every rape victim longs to have a public confrontation with the rapist. Make sure the whole world knows, it’s on the internet forever, you have to hear the phony smarmy sympathy for him, the attacks on your character and your family, watch him getting all that meticulous regard for his rights, and in some areas a better than even chance he’ll get off on a technicality, or the jury will favor him, or the judge will go easy on him so he can come back and stalk you in 7 years. And good luck getting a license to carry a gun, with that kind of history.
Tragic to miss prospects like that.
The child victim will heal better knowing that the scumbag isn’t going to be able to do it to her or anyone else again.
It would likely be more traumatic for her if the case went the usual way and he were tried and sentenced to a few years before being turned loose on society to continue his activities.
Isn't Bill Clinton the man from "Hope?"
This makes no sense. I would think the girl would be relieved to not have to relive the assaults during a trial, and that her tormentor was dead so that she will never have to worry about him getting out of jail and contacting her again. If anything his suicide has saved her from further trauma, quite the opposite of what Angela Michael claims.
It appears that Angela Michael is simply disappointed she will not get to watch the trial.
see #37
Copy editing is truely a lost art.
Exactly. He has saved everyone a lot of time and money and saved the girl further trauma. His suicide is the most uplifting thing about this incident. It certainly isn’t tragic.
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