This diary has nothing whatsoever to do with political campaigns, the horse race to the White House, or the nefarious behavior of our public officials. It is about saving lives, plain and simple.
Yesterday the Ohio Senate heard testimony on proposed S.B. No 244. If passed, this bill would make it possible for law enforcement authorities to use electronic monitoring devices (ankle bracelets) to track the activity of individuals who violate an order of protection issued for stalking, adding a much needed layer of protection to the victims of stalking. For some history on this issue and why it matters to me, and should to you, join me below the fold.
Some of you may recall this diary written by myself and nonnie9999. For those of you pressed for time, the diary details the violent death of DK member Zwoof's daughter, Alicia, at the hands of a man whom the authorities knew was a danger to her. As Alicia, her boyfriend Mitch and her four children slept, Craig Daniels crept into their little house in Bowling Green, Ohio and murdered Alicia and Mitch in their bed. Alicia's 10 year old daughter, Katie, watched Daniels leave the bedroom, gun in hand. She witnessed both her mother and Mitch die in front of her as she frantically called for help.
It has been almost a year since that tragic night. While Katie and her siblings are doing well under the care of their uncle and aunt, there is no way to erase the memory of the horror witnessed from the mind of this innocent child. She will never feel the loving embrace of her mother again, nor hear her words of comfort and encouragement. But the violence she witnessed that night will be with her every day for the rest of her life.
Unfortunately, this kind of tragedy is not unique to Ohio or any other state in this nation. From the The National Center for Victims of Crime stalking fact sheet (PDF), we find that
- 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the United States.
- 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.
- 77% of female and 64% of male victims know their stalker.
- 87% of stalkers are men.
- 59% of female victims and 30% of male victims are stalked by an intimate partner.
- 81% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner.
- 31% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted by that partner.
- The average duration of stalking is 1.8 years.
- If stalking involves intimate partners, the average duration of stalking increases to 2.2 years.
- 61% of stalkers made unwanted phone calls; 33% sent or left unwanted letters or items; 29% vandalized property; and 9% killed or threatened to kill a family pet.
- 28% of female victims and 10% of male victims obtained a protective order. 69% of female victims and 81% of male victims had the protection order violated.
And
- 76% of femicide victims had been stalked by the person who killed them.
- 67% had been physically abused by their intimate partner.
- 89% of femicide victims who had been physically abused had also been stalked in the 12 months before the murder.
- 79% of abused femicide victims reported stalking during the same period that they reported abuse.
- 85% of attempted femicide cases involved at least one episode of stalking within 12 months prior to the attempted femicide.
- 54% of femicide victims reported stalking to police before they were killed by their stalkers.
According to the Family Violence Prevention Fund
On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country every day. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. The same year, 440 men were killed by an intimate partner.
While stalking is most often committed by someone with whom the victim has been intimate, that is not always the case. And while the cases of Hollywood stars maimed or killed by unknown stalkers have occasionally grabbed the headlines, there are many cases of such stalking among the not so rich and famous. The Ohio Senate heard of one such case during testimony yesterday, recounted here.
Cameron Wallace choked back tears Wednesday as she recounted in haunting detail how for 10 years a former schoolmate followed, photographed, taunted and threatened her all while police struggled to stop him.
He lurked outside her family's home and sent her messages describing how he would kill her.
"He was going to gut me," Wallace, 26, told a packed Statehouse meeting room with all eyes trained on the Stark County woman.
"snip"
The man who stalked her, Ryan Clutter of Barberton, was finally arrested in 2006 after breaking into her home, taking photos of her while she slept and then e-mailing her the images. Police finally had the evidence to search his home, where they found a shrine to Wallace, with poster-size pictures of her, her stolen clothing, a black rose and a .45-caliber handgun.
"snip"
Wallace told the committee that her nightmare began after she and Clutter sat next to each other in a 10th-grade class at Coventry High School near Akron in 1996. She said Clutter started showing up in public places where she was -- a shopping mall, a store, or seated a row behind her in a movie theater.
"My life has been a living hell because of Ryan," Wallace said. "Knowing someone is watching you and just waiting for his moment to harm or kill you is a feeling that no one should have to deal with," she said. "It's a lingering death sentence."
The stalking escalated to Clutter driving close behind Wallace in a car her father was driving, nudging them and later introducing himself to Jim Wallace as "the guy who has been stalking your daughter."
"snip"
Clutter, 28, was arrested in 2003 for menacing and received probation and an order to stay away from Wallace. He didn't, but Wallace couldn't prove it.
Wallace's family had to put brown paper over their windows so Clutter could not peek inside. He began sending threatening messages to her MySpace Internet page, she said.
Finally, in August 2006, he broke in, allowing police to get a search warrant and build a case. He was convicted last year and sent to prison for 13 years.
Wallace said she never had a relationship with Clutter beyond sitting next to him in class.
This alone would be enough to push me to action, but for me there are even more compelling personal reasons to wish to see this law inacted, even if it won't have an initial effect in protecting those I care about. I won't go into my past relationships with men, violence and stalking. They are ancient history. But at this very moment I have a 12 year old granddaughter in Missouri living under an order of protection for the second time in the past two years. There is a man who lives next door to her, a middle-aged alcoholic with a penchant for violence and the use of firearms. He has accosted and harassed her in public and private, threatened her with guns and forced her to live in fear. Is this man a sexual predator, or is he just unbalanced by substance abuse and a dislike for her parents? The reason for this behavior on the part of this man is a mystery. What I do know is that she is a beautiful, innocent child who should not have to live in fear. She does not play in her own yard or anywhere within firing distance from his house. She goes nowhere without an adult present. And she's scared. Even a 12 year old knows that having a piece of paper in her hand will not keep her safe from a drunken monster or a gun.
The order of protection for my granddaughter will expire in March.
Those who know me will understand that I do not take a stance that insists on the monitoring of individuals lightly. Many of us here fight on a daily basis against unwarranted tracking of American citizens. We protest in the streets, make phone calls and send e-mails and faxes to insure that innocent citizens are not subjected to unwarranted invasion of their privacy and usurpation of their rights. But this is not a case of invading the privacy of innocent citizens. This is a tool to be used with discretion by law enforcement to insure the safety of victims of stalking, something more tangible than a piece of paper to wave in the face of someone who means a victim harm. Can this kind of thing be abused by law enforcement? Of course it can. But at the end of the day I think I'd rather risk some as yet unnamed abuse of the law than see one more woman, one more man, one more child become a statistic of violence or murder.
Citizens of Ohio and concerned Americans, you have a chance to make a difference here. You can urge Ohio's state senators to inact into law a protection that is long overdue. By taking this step, you are making a statement that stalking and harassment will no longer be taken lightly. Ohio is the starting place, and the more seriously this is taken, the more likely it is to spread to other states.
I urge all of you to contact the following Ohio state senators using the information below and make your feelings on this issue known. If you have your own story to share concerning stalking, please do so. Remember to be respectful while asking them to take your concerns seriously.
127th General Assembly
Regular Session
2007-2008
S. B. No. 244
Bill Sponsor
Senator Sawyer
Senate Building
Room #049, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-7041
Email: senatorsawyer@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Cosponsors
Senator Mason
Senate Building
Room #226, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-4583
Email: senatormason@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Kearney
Senate Building
Room #057, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-5980
Email: Senatorkearney@maild.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Cates
Senate Building
Room #040, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-8072
Email: SD04@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Coughlin
Senate Building
Room #137, First Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-4823
Email: kcoughli@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Goodman
Senate Building
Room #039, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-8064
Email: dgoodman@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Schuler
Statehouse
Room #221, Second Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-9737
Email: SD07@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
Senator Stivers
Senate Building
Room #134, First Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Telephone: 614/466-5981
Fax: 614/466-0101
Email: sd16@mailr.sen.state.oh.us
Please take the time to contact these Senators. If you have information to share on other Senators and their contact information, please do so in comments. This may save lives, maybe even your own, your child's life, or that of your grandchildren. Thank you.