Horrific Crime, Tough Victim
This is going to be a tough story to report, and an even tougher one to read, but the victim wants it told, and thinks it's important. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to skip this one.
It's about Fort Lauderdalian Kathy Young, a victim of a crime so vicious, so terrible, that it might haunt you.
Kathy's torture happened in 1993, but this week's arrest of homeless child - murderer Gary Kerpan got Kathy reengaged in her anti-crime activism that she started after that horrific night.
child murderer Kerpan
When Kathy read about the Fort Lauderdale City Commission's plans to move the homeless feeding out of Stranahan Park and into the Downtown fringe, she decided to tell the City not to make the same mistakes that contributed to her vicious attack in 1993.
Kathy before the attack
It was in the early 1990's, and Kathy lived in a modest bungalow a few blocks from the infamous Tent City.
Tent City was one of Fort Lauderdale's most failed experiments. The problem of large populations of homeless filling the Downtown were escalating every winter, and the citizens wanted action. The City decided an open air, tented parking lot across from City Hall was the solution. It was a wild place, few rules, little control. People were found dead under the tent, crime reports were an everyday occurence, and it was far too scary for many of the homeless to stay there.
Bad as Tent City was, it was just the ticket for Rodney Wayne Jones. It was July 1993, and Jones had just been released from a Washington State Prison, where he had served 7 years of a 13 year sentence for abducting and raping a nurse from a city bus stop. He hopped another bus bound for Tent City, Fort Lauderdale, a place that had gained national notoriety among the country's chronically homeless population. . He settled in, no questions asked.
A few weeks into his stay in Fort Lauderdale, Jones found an odd job repairing the rentals where Kathy lived.
Kathy says Jones was a " deaf and dumb crackhead" who creeped her out from the moment he began working around her little cottage. " He was looking in my window, and I told the landlord about it and made plans to move, but it wasn't soon enough".
Kathy says on that fateful night, "she heard her front deadbolt turn", and knew she was in trouble. Jones had a key he had gotten from the landlord. He attacked her with such viciousness, that she says the crime scene photos clearly showed "human tissue on the wall". The crime was defined as "sexual torture", because she wasn't raped. Kathy says his crack addiction kept him from performing, and that frustration led to a more vicious attack.
Seventeen years later, Kathy is able to describe the shocking crime without emotion. She says he "stabbed me in the vagina 14 times", which also ruptured her intestines. He "smashed my face with the butt of a rifle he brought along with the knife". He then sodomized her with the barrel of the rifle as Kathy screamed and fought with all she had. Her neighbor, unable to get in to help, smashed the window with his fist, and that helped scare the attacker off.
Kathy says the original call to 911 classified it as a homicide, no one thought she could survive.
an hour after the attack
Kathy says the aftermath was nearly as bad as the crime. Much of the evidence was thrown out due to a lack of warrants, and Jones's original confession was thrown out, as his Miranda rights were violated due to his deafness.
Eventually, Jones accepted a plea agreement that offered him a 23 year sentence. Though he qualified for release March 1 2008 (Kathy says that date is burned into her memory), the Jimmy Ryce Act has him still civilly committed.
Kathy seems OK now. She embroiled herself in anti-crime activities when she had recovered enough, trying to make some sense of the brutality she endured. She joined the City's Volunteer Police Academy, the Homeless Task Force, the Broward Sheriff's Victim Advocate Program, and the Citizens Crime Alert, and bought her first home in a new area she says " doesn't have any crackheads".
Kathy says she hasn't been active lately, but that she decided to "step back into the ring" to try and contribute to the City's plans for the homeless feeding programs. If it has to be done, she says she "wants it done right this time".
Expect to hear more from Kathy. She can be reached at 954-689-7571.
It's about Fort Lauderdalian Kathy Young, a victim of a crime so vicious, so terrible, that it might haunt you.
Kathy's torture happened in 1993, but this week's arrest of homeless child - murderer Gary Kerpan got Kathy reengaged in her anti-crime activism that she started after that horrific night.
child murderer Kerpan
When Kathy read about the Fort Lauderdale City Commission's plans to move the homeless feeding out of Stranahan Park and into the Downtown fringe, she decided to tell the City not to make the same mistakes that contributed to her vicious attack in 1993.
Kathy before the attack
It was in the early 1990's, and Kathy lived in a modest bungalow a few blocks from the infamous Tent City.
Tent City was one of Fort Lauderdale's most failed experiments. The problem of large populations of homeless filling the Downtown were escalating every winter, and the citizens wanted action. The City decided an open air, tented parking lot across from City Hall was the solution. It was a wild place, few rules, little control. People were found dead under the tent, crime reports were an everyday occurence, and it was far too scary for many of the homeless to stay there.
Bad as Tent City was, it was just the ticket for Rodney Wayne Jones. It was July 1993, and Jones had just been released from a Washington State Prison, where he had served 7 years of a 13 year sentence for abducting and raping a nurse from a city bus stop. He hopped another bus bound for Tent City, Fort Lauderdale, a place that had gained national notoriety among the country's chronically homeless population. . He settled in, no questions asked.
A few weeks into his stay in Fort Lauderdale, Jones found an odd job repairing the rentals where Kathy lived.
Kathy says Jones was a " deaf and dumb crackhead" who creeped her out from the moment he began working around her little cottage. " He was looking in my window, and I told the landlord about it and made plans to move, but it wasn't soon enough".
Kathy says on that fateful night, "she heard her front deadbolt turn", and knew she was in trouble. Jones had a key he had gotten from the landlord. He attacked her with such viciousness, that she says the crime scene photos clearly showed "human tissue on the wall". The crime was defined as "sexual torture", because she wasn't raped. Kathy says his crack addiction kept him from performing, and that frustration led to a more vicious attack.
Seventeen years later, Kathy is able to describe the shocking crime without emotion. She says he "stabbed me in the vagina 14 times", which also ruptured her intestines. He "smashed my face with the butt of a rifle he brought along with the knife". He then sodomized her with the barrel of the rifle as Kathy screamed and fought with all she had. Her neighbor, unable to get in to help, smashed the window with his fist, and that helped scare the attacker off.
Kathy says the original call to 911 classified it as a homicide, no one thought she could survive.
an hour after the attack
Kathy says the aftermath was nearly as bad as the crime. Much of the evidence was thrown out due to a lack of warrants, and Jones's original confession was thrown out, as his Miranda rights were violated due to his deafness.
Eventually, Jones accepted a plea agreement that offered him a 23 year sentence. Though he qualified for release March 1 2008 (Kathy says that date is burned into her memory), the Jimmy Ryce Act has him still civilly committed.
Kathy seems OK now. She embroiled herself in anti-crime activities when she had recovered enough, trying to make some sense of the brutality she endured. She joined the City's Volunteer Police Academy, the Homeless Task Force, the Broward Sheriff's Victim Advocate Program, and the Citizens Crime Alert, and bought her first home in a new area she says " doesn't have any crackheads".
Kathy says she hasn't been active lately, but that she decided to "step back into the ring" to try and contribute to the City's plans for the homeless feeding programs. If it has to be done, she says she "wants it done right this time".
Expect to hear more from Kathy. She can be reached at 954-689-7571.
I remember Kathy's story when it happened..at some point someone somewhere is going to have to stop passing the buck on these freaks and get a handle on this problem. She offered up the suggestion we fingerprint these guys, I offer up going one step further and gathering DNA swab. But lets take it back a step further. If the Mayor of New York can physically pay for their Homeless to come to Florida? Then why cant Florida stop them at the state line..This state talks a big game, but it fails dismally in the oversight of these men..
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This is a letter I sent to the Sun-Sentinel:
Re the article about Gary Kerpan, the homeless man who raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl and was found "spending time" in Stranahan Park:
I quote: ...."the city's already pressure-filled debate about how to move homeless people out of places where families go for recreation."
My question: Is it better to move the homeless to places were families LIVE?
Margery Anderson
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This lady is a tough cookie. I worked with her on crime fights for years and she is strong to let the world in on her tradegy. Thanks God the creature is still put away. No more Tent City please.
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Read this story this am:
April 25, 2010
This is what got my goat:
Watching sex offenders
State law takes time, energy
“One (deputy) went to an address verification and spent two weeks trying to find him,” Kaag said, who said the sex offender had moved to Florida without alerting the sheriff’s department here. “But he registered in that county. They knew exactly where he was. Basically, he might have slipped away here, but he was compliant down there.”
My letter to the Chief of Police in Danville:
I read your article “Watching Sex offenders” and I was compelled to mention the quote in the article “One (deputy) went to an address verification and spent two weeks trying to find him,” Kaag said, who said the sex offender had moved to Florida without alerting the sheriff’s department here. “But he registered in that county. They knew exactly where he was. Basically, he might have slipped away here, but he was compliant down there.” Whats wrong with your police department? Do you “figure if he is out of sight he is out of mind”? What is it OK to dump him in my state? As a parent, a taxpayer and a homeowner I am sick to death of other states dumping their offenders in mine. Be careful Illinois, because the residents here in Florida are about to explode and ship all your offenders back to you. Your police department should have violated this man “you pathetically searched for two weeks” instead of breathing a sigh of relief that he ended up in my state! Since when are my children any less valuable than yours?
(Its time for Florida to put a moritorium to prevent offenders from moving into our state..we cant continue to accept these bad guys who end up being "tansient" or "homeless" and flying under the radar.) Florida's only soilution is to lower the residency restrictions to fit offenders into this state..I find that insane. We are #2 in the amount of convicted sex offenders in the country for no other reason than the weather. We MUST put a stop to it!
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Kathy is my hero, and also a blessed woman to have a heart such as hers after this horrific ordeal she has survived. God bless her and keep her in her daily dealings with the government and people in general. She is and forever will be my reason to go on in life!
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