A Reprehensible Case

[Bruce&Ying]

I saw a very disturbing story on the local news this evening.

 

A 68 yr old man from Danville, NH by the name of Harold Baird was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor. The man was a convicted sex offender who had had to register with local authorities after he was released from jail, and apparently many people in the community knew about him.

 

But he found a Chinese woman online and apparently went thru the same process we are all going through, and not long ago his wife and her 5 year old daughter came here and began living with him. Neighbors said neither of them could speak much English

 

I believe it was this morning that she caught him in the act of sexually assaulting her 5 yr old daughter. Not knowing what to do, she went to a neighbor's house and managed to explain to them what had happened, and they called the police.

 

He is now being held in the county jail, where he will stay until his trial, unless he raises $100,000 bail. Police speculated that he may have chosen the woman because she had a young daughter, and perhaps he thought they would be unwilling or unable to protect themselves because

of the language barrier and the visa situation.

 

I'm not sure what will happen to them now... Obviously they will be kept here until the trial as witnesses, and hopefully the girl can get some counseling in the meantime. But as far as whether they will be able to stay (if they still want to) I don't know.

 

I just fel very bad for them, after so many months of waiting and dreaming how wonderful their new life in America would be...and then this.

 

I feel very strongly that most of the people on CFL and good, kind, decent people who truly love their souses or fiancees, but it scares me that situations like this can happen, where people are marrying people who they don't really know. And they know nothing about the person's background other than what that person wants them to know. Obviously, no woman with a 5 year old daughter would marry a man who had been convicted and jailed for sexual assault on a minor, but there was no way for her to know about that.

 

It's very upsetting. As a practical matter, thoguh, I don't know what women can do to find out about the man's background. I told Ying I'd be glad to get her letters from my mminister, the chief of police in my town, etc., but she aid she's not worried.

 

It's strange that this woman had to submit a certificate from the police showing that she had no criminal record and was therefore allowed to go with her 5 yr old daughter into the clutches of that man...

[eeyore]

Thats interesting (discusting of course) that someone with a record could get past the name check. If the process is to 'screen out' what happend here? They should not have let that girl and her child get a visa.

[Bruce&Ying]

Forgive my ignorance, but i thought the name check was just for the foreign party, to make sure terrorists don't get in.

 

But if they check our names, too, I agree, his should have been caught.

[eeyore]

You may be right but I was under the impression that it was for both parties. I may be the misinformed one.

[Trigg]

Send him on down to TN. We have a name for people like him-Bait.

[cosmiclobster]

This damn "system" of ours. You would think with all of the time spent doing their damn name checks that this would of come up somewhere along the process and raised a red flag. The whole neighborhood is required by law to know that this man who lives there is a registered sex offender but the potential spouse and 5 year old daughter were kept in the dark!!!! What in the hell is the matter with these people???? It's important that the potential immigree has no record and a clean bill of health but the petitioner is allowed to be a registered sex offender??? This didn't show up anywhere in the background checks??? Armed robbers and drug addicts would be weeded out but a sex offender can be a petitioner???

If I were her, I would sue the USCIS for a million dollars for even letting this guy start the process, much less be able to follow it through all the way to the end!!!

 

Damn this makes me angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

They scrutinize the hell out of people with clean records, but they let this guy through the process and they look the other way while hundreds of illegal immigrants walk across the border from Mexico every single day, day after day.

[yyp]

One simple method of becoming familiar with a fiancé in the U.S. or China is getting to know each other's family and friends.

 

Each time I have been to China I meet the family and friends of my fiancé, which can speak volumes of a person's character. We have shared many dinners, trips and even time at the golf driving range together.

 

My MM calls and speaks with my mother and family frequently, getting to know each other. As well she has exchanged emails with friends of mine.

 

This is only one example of many simple methods which brings understanding and knowledge of your future spouse.

[eeyore]

Its quite upsetting. This is the kind of thing that would make the process harder for the rest of us, not that it would prevent this from happening again.

 

Its just unbelievable, the pd can do a nation wide background check in a matter of minutes yet INS in a year or so lets this guy do his thing. When he goes to the 'big house' he will get what's coming to him.

[Bruce&Ying]

Well, it's relatively easy for us to go to China and meet our fiance(e)'s family and friends, but it's impossible for them to come here to meet ours.

[cosmiclobster]

Bruce: It would be interesting to see the percentage of US citizens that have have criminal records compared to the percentage of Chinese citizens in the same boat. My guess is that they should be the ones to be more restrictive in letting Americans into their country!!!

[eeyore]

Well, it's relatively easy for us to go to China and meet our fiance(e)'s family and friends, but it's impossible for them to come here to meet ours.

and that makes it a lot higher risk for them, married or engaged they don't know for sure what they could be getting into. So what is the purpose of the background check???? and why does that take so long???????

[oregonknl]

Bruce,

 

Your post is very closely related to one we had here several days ago about an article posted on the USCIS web site --- which "suggested" predation by American men seeking women overseas by the K visa process......

 

I'm going to assume you know nothing about this, but I want to point out: the horrible set of facts you present here happen every day in America --- trusting women (with children) hoping to build a relationship go in blind, with 9 parts trust, with 1 part smarts, when the correct formula should be exactly the opposite...

 

And of course, there is NO REQUIREMENT THAT ANY OF THESE AMERICAN WOMEN OBTAIN A BACKGROUND CHECK BEFORE THEY START DATING THESE AMERICAN CREEPS, OR GO ON TO CO-HABITATE..

 

I am confident that the K visa process --- with its expense, and the extensive time required, and... (lets not forget, a rather personal examination of the relationship) screens out most problem men...

 

.... Far more than the "crap shoot" out there on the streets of America... Do you agree???

 

What I am saying here is that the K visa process probably insures that these various types of abuse ( child or spouce) are well below the national average..

 

In the last thread, there was evidence that marriages through the K visa process were substantially more successful thatn the national average...

 

Do you agree??

[John & Hai Yan]

Clearly someone did not do their job! With all the time it takes to investigate the USC and our SO's you would think they could at least get the job done right. This is indeed a sad case.

 

 

http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/4080556/detail.html

 

Man Accused Of Molesting Stepdaughter From China

Woman Marries Man After Meeting Online

 

POSTED: 4:50 pm EST January 13, 2005

 

DANVILLE, N.H. -- Police said a convicted sex offender molested the young daughter of a woman who came from China to marry him.

 

Video

 

 

Woman Turns To Neighbor For Help

 

 

 

 

Harold Baird, 68, of Danville, was accused of molesting his 5-year-old stepdaughter. Neighbors said they had their suspicions about Baird's relationship with his new family from the beginning.

 

"At first he said he was going to marry a woman," neighbor Gary Forcier said. "Then when he showed up with a woman and a little girl, everyone started saying, 'Oh, there's something wrong here.'"

 

Forcier said he's convinced Baird didn't have good intentions when he brought his bride and her young daughter over to the United States from China. Investigators said Baird met the woman online.

 

"I think it was perfect that he married a woman from China because she would say nothing, and her daughter would say nothing. She hardly spoke English," Forcier said. "So, he was hoping she would maybe shut her mouth and not say anything."

 

Police said Baird may have assaulted the girl more than once.

 

"It's very disturbing, especially in our community," Chief Wade Parsons said. "It's a bedroom community with approximately 4,500 people. These things happen, but when they do, it's very upsetting to the community as a whole."

 

Baird is on the state's sex offender registry list, convicted of a similar offense in 1990. Police said Baird's new wife probably had no idea of his previous conviction. They said she was disturbed, scared and confused when she allegedly caught Baird molesting her child.

 

With her family and friends far away, the woman turned to a neighbor for help. That neighbor called police.

 

Forcier, who was not the neighbor the woman approached, said Baird's wife and the young girl are now staying at a women's shelter, but they have nowhere else to go.

 

"And she's got nothing and her daughter with her," he said. "They must feel terrible. Everything is odd over here. You come from China, and this is what happens to you."

 

In court Thursday, Baird's lawyer asked a judge to lower his bail. The judge refused, saying that he's a threat to the community. Bail remained set at $100,000.

[hypoclear]

This damn "system" of ours................ If I were her, I would sue the USCIS for a million dollars for even letting this guy start the process, much less be able to follow it through all the way to the end!!!

 

Damn this makes me angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cos you have a point there. Maybe she should sue them and in doing so assures she has to stay put here in the USA.

 

I hope someone has mentioned this to her and that the civil liberties union is awre of this. Seems it would be a very good case and perhaps re-dress the imbalance in the new visa system.

 

Trig I agree.. I have some friends in his neck of the woods perhaps they could swing by and box him up for shipment down your way.

 

I think this makes a strong case for very little chance of rehabing someone like this..

 

Mark and Bea and Elizabeth

[Jeikun]

The USC is not investigated right now. They may or may not look into your past history with the CIS, that's it. Additionally, there is no health check.

 

From their perspective - the citizen is already here, it is meaningless to them whether or not he is a prior criminal, AIDS patient, etc. They are only concerned with blocking people with such histories from entering the country to begin with. The only investigation on the sponsor would be from an immigrations standpoint, to weed out fraud.

 

That is part of what that infamous article on the USCIS website is suggesting. Screening of the USC for the immigrating woman's safety. It goes outside of the traditional role of the CIS, but would be a humane thing to do. Of course that likely means an extra 2 months onto the process for everyone.