Bonacci, satanic panic, Jordan, MN

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Bonacci, satanic panic, Jordan, MN

Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:24 pm

As you've probably been able to tell, I've grown uncomfortable with John deCamp's version of the Franklin story. I swallowed it whole when I first saw the un-aired documentary Conspiracy of Silence, but since then have felt that deCamp has been less than forth-coming about his role in representing Monsignor Hupp, who was named third director of Boys Town in 1973. Additionally, I've been uncomfortable with deCamp's connections to Ted Gunderson and the Larouche group.

That being said, I'd like to point out something that I found at Ralph Nader's library, in The Franklin Cover-Up -- Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska, by John W. DeCamp, specifically the part regarding Investigator Roy Stephens' interviews with Paul Bonacci, and then I'd like to compare it to something else I came across recently:


http://www.naderlibrary.com/franklincoverup.17.htm

...Bonacci also conveyed to Stephens specific recollections related to two other notorious cases -- pedophilia and ritualistic abuse in Jordan, Minnesota, and satanism and child sacrifice near Bakersfield, California.

In 1983 and 1984, Scott County, Minnesota prosecutor Kathleen Morris investigated and began to prosecute a ring of child molesters centered in the town of Jordan. Child victims had testified about satanic rituals and the filming of children in sex acts. "The case involves the largest adult-juvenile sex ring in Minnesota history, authorities said," reported the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on November 18, 1983.

At least 30 children told police they had been molested. Morris brought indictments against 24 adults. People magazine of October 22, 1984 summarized, "The village harbored rings of adult sex abusers who incestuously victimized their own children and other children during ritualistic sex parties involving sadism and bestiality. Some of the children described a bizarre sexual variation of hide-and-seek in which children who were 'found' were taken to a bedroom and abused." The children told of witnessing three ritualistic murders.

Child care workers and psychologists found the children highly credible. Psychologist Michael Shea, who treated some of them, told People, "Children are not able to fantasize in such graphic detail about sexual acts which are outside their experience. And they certainly can't be coerced, or bribed or brainwashed into making statements about their parents." Minnesota psychologist Susan Phipps Yonas, who also inter- viewed some of the children, told the Star Tribune that she fully believed their reports: "It's not just the details that make them convincing, but the [emotional] effect behind the stories. They're extraordinarily upset when they recount these things. They'd have to be world-class actors to be so convincing if it wasn't true." Phipps Yonas speculated that since the children talked about large sums of money changing hands, organized crime was likely involved.

Morris indicted the ring's chief figure, 26 year-old James Rud, on 108 counts of child abuse. His parents, Alvin and Rosemary Rud, and his 17-year old brother were also indicted, as were several other people from the Valley Green Trailer Park, 35 miles outside of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Most of the abused children also lived in the trailer park.

Like the Franklin investigators in Nebraska, Morris came under savage attack from media and the political establishment in her state. Under pressure, she ultimately turned the investigation over to state Attorney General Hubert "Skip" Humphrey, Jr. To the horror of many, Humphrey soon released a 29-page report titled "Scott County Investigations," which closed the case, citing "insufficient evidence." Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich then appointed a commission to investigate Morris! Humphrey named one of his political cronies, lawyer Kelton Gage, as "independent counsel" to present evidence against her.

Yet in 1991, from prison in Nebraska, Paul Bonacci identified by name, from pictures, some of the same individuals Morris had been investigating. Some of Bonacci's conversations with Stephens about these events have been transcribed:

RS: You know anybody else who hurts children or takes kids or sells them or takes pornography of them?

PB: I don't know what their names are and they're all from mainly not even from. ...

RS: From this area? Where are they from?

PB: Minnesota and California.

RS: Do you know where or who?

PB: ... in Minnesota there was one guy named James Rud. He lived with his mom and dad, cause I remember we went out to his place one time in a trailer.

RS: And that's in Minnesota?

PB: Yeah, that was in Jordan, Minnesota.

A second exchange between Bonacci and Stephens, recorded on September 28, 1991, shed more light on the events in Jordan.

RS: What do you remember about this little boy named Joey?

PB: Joey? Oh, that's what I wanted to tell you about ... Jordan, Minnesota.

RS: Jordan? That's where he came from?

PB: Well, he wasn't kidnapped, his parents let him go, 'cause his parents were friends with Emilio and they had some strange ...

RS: It's okay.

PB: That there's a bunch of parents, that are not just parents but other people in that town that were abusing kids. ... Bob Bentz, that's the one I told you about that had the two [inaudible]

RS: And this guy's name was Bob?

PB: Uh-huh. Bentz.

RS: How do you spell it? Bentz.

PB: B-e-n-t-z.

RS: And he's in Jordan? When was this?

PB: Mmmmm, that was in '82.

Stephens had asked Bonacci to draw up a list of both abusers and victims. Later in the same conversation, Stephens went through the written list out loud.

RS: Okay. What do you have written here? What does this say? Who is this Bob? Is that his wife's name? Lois? Bob and Lois Bentz? They had three sons? Okay. This is the Bob you told me about?

PB: Uh-huh [yes].

RS: And Joey is theirs? Okay, and Jim Rud is the guy who lives with his mom and dad at the Valley Green Trailer Park?

PB: Yeah. 'Cause I remember one of the games we played was called hide and seek basketball.

RS: Hide and seek basketball? How do you play that? You're not talking about regular basketball, are you?

PB: No, it's sex. ... A lot of people lived in Jordan that were doing that [child abuse]. 'Cause when we were up there [inaudible] they tortured a couple [of children] that came in.

Bob and Lois Bentz were tried for child abuse, including of their own three sons, in August 1984, and acquitted. How- ever, their acquittal left grave doubts in the minds of many in the town. Some incidents from the trial were featured in the People story:

Among the children who testified against the couple was their 6-year-old boy, Tony, who told the court that his father had sodomized him and his brothers. Although the boy was confused over the meaning of the sexual terms, when a defense attorney asked if he feared that his father would abuse him again, the boy looked across the courtroom at Bentz and replied, "You won't do that no more, right?"

During the grueling cross-examination, defense attorneys succeeded in shaking some of the young witnesses' stories by hammering away at dates, places and word meanings. However, a 12-year-old girl steadfastly refused to waver from her testimony. When a defense attorney accused her of lying, she snapped: "You're just helping Bob and Lois [Bentz] to get out of this stuff, this child-abusing stuff, I'm not lying, you guys are. It's the truth, they hurt us." Later she rushed tearfully into the arms of a social worker.

Though the Bentzes got off in the Scott County case, James Rud plea-bargained. Before the case was scratched, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges. In 1978 and 1980, Rud had been convicted of sexually abusing children in Virginia and Minnesota, respectively.


Ok, the bit of history that I remember in that Scott County, Minnesota case, and I'm going by memory now of something that happened over 25 years ago, was that Scott County Prosecutor Kathleen Morris mentioned above really fucked up that case, had gotten enmeshed in the investigation, interviewed child witnesses while they were sitting on her lap, that kind of thing. I apologize if this memory is inaccurate. So, who we have here is a case that is prime evidence for the satanic panic-ers.
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:33 pm

Ok, now check out this news article from earlier this year:

http://tinyurl.com/c6vq4l

Man, part of infamous family sex abuse, civilly committed 26 years later
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Submitted by sfiecke on January 28, 2009 - 3:29pm.
» Read similar stories filed under: General News


By Shannon Fiecke, Staff Writer

A former New Prague man who sexually abused numerous children in
Scott County during the late 1970s and early 1980s will be indefinitely hospitalized.

James Edward Cermak, 53, who along with his brother was
sentenced to 40 years in prison in January 1982 as part of a family abuse case, has been civilly committed as a sexually dangerous person with a sexual psychopathic personality to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.

After serving 26 years in prison, Cermak was scheduled to start
intensive supervised release in July, having received the standard one-third reduction behind bars for good behavior. Scott County initially requested “a hold” on Cermak, and he was later indefinitely committed by District Court Judge Rex Stacey on Nov. 12.

Scott County has also filed civil commitment papers for Cermak’s
brother, John, who along with the men’s wives and parents, were convicted of multiple charges for sexually abusing several of their family’s children together. John Jerry Cermak, 56, has also been detained until his civil commitment case is decided.

According to court records, James Cermak was treated multiple
times for criminal-sex-related offenses that started when he was arrested at age 15 in West St. Paul for assaulting a child.

By the time he was 22, he had been accused of assaulting six victims.

Cermak, James Edward

In a 1974 Ramsey County case, he pleaded guilty to indecent liberties for paying a 9-year-old neighbor boy to perform sexual acts and was
sentenced to 90 days in the workhouse and two years of probation. He later violated probation and was sentenced to one year in the Ramsey County workhouse.

James Cermak’s assaults against Scott County children date back
to September 1977, when he was charged with abusing a 5-year-old boy. The charge was dismissed in 1978 when Cermak pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct for abusing a 5-year-old girl he was babysitting. Another charge for an assault against the girl’s sister was dismissed as part of the plea bargain.

However, Cermak never served time because he withdrew his guilty
plea prior to sentencing and the prosecutor dismissed charges because witnesses were not available to testify.

A psychologist at that time had recommended Cermak take part in an intensive sex-offender program. If not, he predicted that “additional children will be victimized by this man upon his release from jail.”

During an investigation in August 1981, James Cermak and his
brother were accused of sexually abusing two female child relatives. When the girls told their mother about the abuse, she had reportedly spanked them for letting the men abuse them.

James Cermak was eventually charged with assaulting the girls,
as well as three other child relatives.

Cermak, John Jerry

At least some of the assaults occurred at homes in Belle Plaine
and New Prague, according to court records.

Other adult family members were also convicted for their roles
in group sex acts with the children.

The Cermak brothers, who were also convicted of abusing non-relatives, received the stiffest sentences.

According to court and state prison records, the men’s father,
Stanley, was sentenced to 225 months and released from prison in 1995. His sentence expired in April 2001. His current place of residence is unknown.

The brothers’ mother Alice, who died in September 2005, was
sentenced to 180 months. She was placed on supervised release in July 1992. Her sentence expired in July 1997.

James Cermak’s wife, Beverly, and John Cermak’s wife, Jillayne,
were each given stayed 43-month prison terms. There is no record of them ever entering the prison system. Their current addresses are unknown.

James Cermak’s criminal history is much more extensive than his
brother John’s.

]James Cermak was also convicted of assaulting a paper boywhen
the child was 11 to 13 years old; a boy from a Catholic school in Jordan, where Cermak worked as a janitor, when the child was about 11; a 7-year-old boy, whose parents Cermak knew; and an 8-year-old boy he didn’t know, whom he lured from outside a New Prague business. Two of the victims said John Cermak participated in assaults.

In prison, James Cermak wrote a letter recounting his past
sexual escapades with boys and encouraging a friend to sexually abuse a child.

Prison staff found sexually related contraband in Cermak’s cell, including pictures of naked children, including a baby, and baby powder.

Before incarceration, Cermak lived in New Prague. Prior to commitment, he was convicted in Scott County of 14 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and four counts of promoting a minor to engage in obscene works.
Last edited by chiggerbit on Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Percival » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:34 pm

I am becoming weary of the entire Franklin story myself. I am not sure I believe much of it anymore.
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Postby lightningBugout » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:38 pm

Percival wrote:I am becoming weary of the entire Franklin story myself. I am not sure I believe much of it anymore.


Why?
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Postby lightningBugout » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:42 pm

Chigger forgive me if I am dense here but I'm not entirely following your reasoning. Can you clarify the point in a sentence or two?
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:44 pm

Sorry, I had to edit to add the rest of the article.
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Postby Project Willow » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:50 pm

I am becoming weary of the entire Franklin story myself. I am not sure I believe much of it anymore.


WTF? ...

Nick Bryant. "The Franklin Scandal". read it.

http://franklinscandal.com/ppp.html
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:51 pm

Yes, i see I'm not being very clear. Bonacci has claimed that he was involved in the kidnapping of Des Moines paperboy, Johnny Gosch, and that snatching paperboys was the easy way to catch them, especially in the early morning routes. Bonacci also relates that he knew people in Jordan, Minnesota who were involved in some of the trafficking. One of these brothers in this 2009 article, which is in no way connected to the Gosch abduction, as far as we know, James Cermak, was convicted of assaulting a paperboy.
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Postby lightningBugout » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:57 pm

chiggerbit wrote:Yes, i see I'm not being very clear. Bonacci has claimed that he was involved in the kidnapping of Des Moines paperboy, Johnny Gosch, and that snatching paperboys was the easy way to catch them, especially in the early morning routes. Bonacci also relates that he knew people in Jordan, Minnesota who were involved in some of the trafficking. One of these brothers in this 2009 article, which is in no way connected to the Gosch abduction, as far as we know, James Cermak, was convicted of assaulting a paperboy.


I feel terribly dense. I am not seeing how this works to discredit PB. Do you think it does?

On edit -- you see this a possible evidence that PB is copycatting some sort of previous exposure to news from the Jordan case? Correct?
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:03 pm

I feel terribly dense. I am not seeing how this works to discredit PB. Do you think it does?


No, how did I indicate that I was trying to do that? I thought Bonacci's account was a remarkable match for the Cermak saga. Not that there's anything to directly connect the two stories, but they sure sound similar.
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:04 pm

On edit -- you see this a possible evidence that PB is copycatting some sort of previous exposure to news from the Jordan case? Correct?


No, no, no. I guess I was wondering if the Cermak family could have been one that was familiar to Bonacci.
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Postby lightningBugout » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:05 pm

chiggerbit wrote:
I feel terribly dense. I am not seeing how this works to discredit PB. Do you think it does?


No, how did I indicate that I was trying to do that? I thought Bonacci's account was a remarkable match for the Cermak saga. Not that there's anything to directly connect the two stories, but they sure sound similar.


Chig. I am honestly just not following you. Apologies. I think I mistakenly took the comment about evidence for the SP crowd to apply to all of what you were posting not just the Jordan case.
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Postby lightningBugout » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:07 pm

chiggerbit wrote:
On edit -- you see this a possible evidence that PB is copycatting some sort of previous exposure to news from the Jordan case? Correct?


No, no, no. I guess I was wondering if the Cermak family could have been one that was familiar to Bonacci.


Got it. But don't you see this as strengthening the Franklin case? Bryant makes a lot of probable corroboration by witnesses who were not altogether familiar with one another. I see this as similar. IE - a "how to perp" lesson - go after paperboys because they're vulnerable in the early morn.
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Postby Project Willow » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:14 pm

I also did not understand the panicker comment, as I thought all that material you posted Chig rather argues for Franklin style cover-up in more cases than just Franklin. Thanks for posting it.
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Postby chiggerbit » Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:16 pm

I think the satanic panic crowd uses the Scott County case, most of which was thrown out, as classic over-reaction of the times, as being with absolutely no merit. But from my standpoint, it was a case of gross unprofessional conduct by the prosecutor, regardless of any underlying facts which may have supported the charges, which inadvertently sabotaged her case. It's hard to tell what the truth was, since Morris fucked it up so bad. There may very well have been a number of children returned to the care of perpetrators due to Morris' conduct.
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