Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Fort Lauderdale Update-

Earlier this week, Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney William Moore says that Floridians were captivated by the news story about Somer Thompson. Somer was seven years old when she disappeared this week. On Monday afternoon, she was walking home from her elementary school in Orange Park, Florida, with her 10-year-old sister and their brother. Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore has learned that because her older sister knew the younger girl had gotten into a fight at school that day, she asked Somer about the disagreement. Somer was upset by her sister’s inquiry and ran away from her siblings. Her sister last saw her with another group of children leaving the school.

Law enforcement authorities launched a full-scale search for the missing little girl. Due to her age, the search was an extremely high priority. Police officers also began examining landfills that receive waste from the community. Earlier this week, they located the remains of a child in a landfill in Folkston, Georgia. Law enforcement officials positively identified the body as Somer Thompson through the use of dental records. They have also confirmed that the load of garbage in which her remains were concealed originated in the Orange Park area, suggesting that she was killed and disposed of near her home.

Now, Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney says the community is focused on finding the little girl’s killer. So far, the police have interviewed more than 70 registered sex offenders who live within five square miles of the family’s home. At this point in time, $30,000 of rewards have been offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Somer’s killer.

The sheriff told reporters, "There is a child killer on the loose. I fear for our community until we bring this person in."

The girl’s mother, meanwhile, has also spoken to reporters in her emotionally wrenched state, saying that she would not rest until her daughter’s attacker was found and that “you don't do this to a little baby and put my baby in the trash like she's nothing.”

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Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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http://www.wmdui.com/Adonis Losada is a 45-year-old actor who is most well-known in the Latino community for his role on a popular Spanish language show that airs on Univision. Sábado Gigante is the show in which Losada assumes the role of an older female, Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore has learned.

According to police, Losada entered a chat room for older men who are interested in viewing child pornography, in this case, images of pre-pubescent children, and having sex with underage children. A law enforcement agency was conducting a sting. A Boynton Beach police officer began chatting with Losada, who discussed pornographic images of children with the police officer, officials say.

At some point, Losada allegedly sent the police officer an image of a child engaged in a sex act, says Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore. Eventually, Losada’s residences were searched. Losada is being held in lieu of a $3 million bond and is now facing 30 counts of child pornography charges. The State Attorney’s Office has described the photos as “extremely graphic.” They allegedly involve images of children in sex acts or sexual situations, Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore says. According to prosecutors, some images involve children as young as two years of age, and at least one has been described as an explicit photo of a child no older than ten engaged in a sex act with an adult male.

Univision has suspended Losada from his duties at this point and that they are awaiting the outcome of the investigation. Additionally, law enforcement authorities are pursuing an investigation in California on the basis that Losada has or may have possession of pornographic images of children in his home on the west coast. When law enforcement officers searched Losada’s house in Miami Beach, they recovered a number of such images of children, according to documents filed in court in relation to the criminal case now pending against him. The documents also allege that Losada made incriminating statements: he reportedly told police that he is aware that he has an issue related to his interest in children.

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Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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An investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel has revealed that despite a state law requiring background checks of workers at the child care centers, flaws in the systems have allowed thousands of people with criminal records, including violent felonies, to be hired by day care centers throughout the state, Broward criminal attorney Moore has learned.

Even though a Florida state law passed in 1985 requires all employees who have been hired by day care centers in the state to undergo background checks, people who have prior criminal records have fallen through the cracks of the systems due to two loopholes in the law. The first loophole allows employees to begin working at day care centers while their background checks are pending, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore. The length of a person’s background check depends largely on the manner in which the person’s fingerprints have been submitted. Though digital fingerprints can be processed by the state within 24 hours, in cases where the potential employee has inked his or her own fingerprints and sent the fingerprints by mail to the Department of Children and Families, the wait for completion of the background check can take up to six weeks. Officials estimate that approximately half of criminal background applicants submit their applications for a criminal background check using traditional, non-digital fingerprints, Broward criminal lawyer Moore has learned from the results of the investigation. In addition to the wait during the processing period, backlogs at regional DCF offices can add up to an additional two month period in processing the applicant’s criminal background checks. These delays can mean that convicted criminals, including felons and people who have committed crimes against children, can remain working at child care facilities for months while their applications are pending.

The second loophole in the law requiring background checks for day care workers is a provision allowing employees with criminal histories to apply for a hardship exception which allows them to continue working at the day care center despite a criminal record. These exceptions are not available for other state jobs that require background checks, such as school teachers and bail bondsmen. One woman was granted an exemption by an administrative judge despite prior convictions for battery and child abuse. Seven months after she earned her exemption she was charged with trafficking in pain pills, says Broward criminal lawyer Moore. Her boyfriend at the time was charged with trafficking in cocaine and ecstasy. Additionally, state officials have cited many local day care centers with non-compliance with the background check requirements set forth in state law. As a result of these flaws in the background check system there have been several violations where children at day care centers were improperly supervised by employees with criminal records. For example, a young boy in Ocala nearly died after being left in a van by a day care employee with a lengthy theft record and a baby suffered severe burns in Lauderhill while being supervised by a woman on felony probation. DCF officials claim that they are working on fixing the state’s system for checking the backgrounds of day care employees.

“Common sense says there is no substitute for putting children in anything but a safe environment," said Linda Alexionok, executive director of the Children's Campaign, a child-advocacy group in Tallahassee. "No parent should ever, ever have to be worried about that."

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney—Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel Investigation Reveals Serious Flaws in the State’s Background Check System for Day Care Workers" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

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Broward criminal attorney William Moore has been following two missing children cases here in Florida for months now. The first is that of Caylee Anthony, the little girl who was not reported missing until July of last year, a month after her disappearance, and whose body was later found wrapped in duct tape inside a trash bag. The second is the much more recent case of Haleigh Cummings, a five-year-old who disappeared from her home last month and who has not yet been located.

Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer Moore says that Casey Anthony, the 22-year-old mother of Caylee Anthony, is facing a first-degree murder charge for her daughter’s death. Police allege that Casey killed her two-year-old daughter, then drove around with the girl’s remains in the trunk of her car. The prosecution plans to present evidence regarding the stench emanating from the vehicle, a smell which Casey Anthony claimed was old pizza, but investigators concluded was actually the scent of decomposing human remains. According to criminal defense attorney Moore, the toddler’s disappearance was reported by her grandmother, who had grown increasingly concerned about the child’s whereabouts after Casey Anthony had refused to provide details about Caylee’s location.

Casey Anthony was in court yesterday as her criminal defense lawyer argued several motions, including the family’s successful plea to keep the note left by her father during a suicide attempt out of the courtroom. Family members contended that it was unrelated, although Caylee’s grandfather had apparently indicated that he wanted to join Caylee in the afterlife. The judge agreed that the contents of the note were largely inflammatory and offered no real value to determining the guilt or innocence of Casey Anthony.

The other case that has been making waves is that of Haleigh Cummings, Broward defense attorney Moore says. The little girl and her brother were staying with their father Ronald Cummings last month in Palatka, although he was not home that evening. Their father’s girlfriend, 17-year-old Misty Croslin, told investigators that she put the children to bed at about 8:00 p.m. and went to sleep herself about two hours later. She woke up hours later to discover the little girl gone and the back door propped open with bricks. Her boyfriend, the father of the children, came home soon thereafter and the couple contacted the police. The story has been in the news again recently because of the decision of Cummings and Croslin to wed with the permission of the bride’s mother. The two married earlier this week and family members say that the decision was in part due to Haleigh’s desire to see the couple wed. The couple are honeymooning in New York City, where they are expected to appear on the Today Show to discuss Haleigh’s disappearance.

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Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

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Criminal Defense Attorney, William Moore wrote:
Sent from Broward County Office

James Cecil Boatman was freed Wednesday, August 27, 2008 on a $2,000 bond. The 27-year-old father was arrested for beating his 5-year-old son because the son received a bad-behavior report from school.

According to the Tampa Tribune, an affidavit stated that Boatman “became enraged” Monday when his son brought the report home. He purportedly asked his son, “Boy, do you want to go to hell or to God?”

When the mother saw the bruises and scrapes on her son’s face, head, neck, arms, back, torso, buttocks and legs, she questioned Boatman about it. He admitted to spanking his son. The mother was at work when the incident took place.

Child abuse occurs when a person intentionally physically or mentally harms a child. Felony child abuse, which, under the statute is considered aggravated child abuse occurs when a person:

1. “commits aggravated battery on a child;

2. willfully tortures, maliciously punishes, or willfully and unlawfully cages a child; or

3. knowingly or willfully abuses a child and in doing so causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the child.

F.S. §827.03(2)(a).

Aggravated child abuse (felony child abuse) is considered to be a first-degree felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to 30 years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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