Years ago, in my freshman year of high school there was one other freshman that brought pride to our entire class. I didn't hang out with him. Barely spoke to him because he ran with a different crowd. I never was sports minded (I'm still not) but still I took pride that there was ONE FRESHMAN, someone in my class that was on the VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAM.
That freshman was John Goldenberg. Quite a guy! Very popular (amongst the jocks anyway) Pretty good looking. Reasonably good student. Teachers liked him and, as said before, the freshman took pride in him.
My high school even won the CIF (CA state H.S. championship) if I remember correctly for two years running. If not for two years we did at least win it once. As said before I'm not real sports minded. The fog of time is lifting some. I think we played for it twice and the second time we won.
WhooHoo! We won the CIF!
THEN!!!
The world came crashing down on the (by then Junior) class.
John Goldenberg was arrested and extradited to Mississippi. The CIF win was rescinded and all the H.S. football records had to be looked over and corrected.
It seems his real name was Jay Dennis Gould, was in his early 20's, was on the lam, wanted for bank embezzlement and finally caught. He was such a great football player because he was a good 4-5 years older than anyone else in the school.
Sure had me fooled along with everybody else. Except for the father of the girl that was concerned for his daughter's welfare. It was one man's questioning of history that revealed the past of Jay Dennis Gould (alias John Goldenberg).
John/Jay had come to town, was befriended by some people who believed his story of parents deceased, mean uncle who beat him regularly, his running away, school records destroyed when the little Mississippi school house burnt down. They took him in and helped him get into high school as a sixteen year old.
Quite the con artist. Guess that was why he was able to pull off the embezzlement and the falsification of his identity.
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Which brings us closer to the present. It seems that Athens, Georgia and many in the blogging community were taken in by a man who rolled into town about a year back and established himself as an opinionated retiree who often wrote letters to the local paper, the Athens Banner-Herald.
"Norm Weatherby" also had a blog called Quantum Thought - A Palette for Thinking which had many links to other blogs. Mine included. The Blog was deleted after one final posting which said:
"Norm Weatherby is unable to Blog at this time and is asking for
everyone's prayers. He will log on again when able. Thanks for your
support."
The blog is back up at this time and has been taken over by a person only identifed as Mcdanial
Well, back to "Norm Weatherby". It seems his real name is Larry Ray Bess (66) and a fugitive who fled child rape charges in Ohio 18 years ago.
The Athens Banner-Herald story (free registration required) stated:
Bess was indicted in November 1989 on charges of rape and gross sexual imposition of a minor - a crime similar to aggravated sexual battery in Georgia - according to Wilson.
Bess also was wanted on a 1999 federal warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Ohio prosecutors allege Bess raped his stepdaughter over a six-year period, 1983 to 1989, beginning when she was 6 years old. The assaults happened in North Royalton, a suburb of Cleveland, officials said.
Bess never was arrested, but a grand jury indicted him after the stepdaughter took her allegations to prosecutors, according to Wendy Clawson, spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.
"After he was indicted, he just took off," Clawson said.
I certainly hope that the stepdaughter finds some relief and comfort through his arrest and that his case is quickly settled with justice served to Bess in the way that he deserves.
One thing this posting shows is that running from justice is not new. Catching those running is not new either. I think that justice continuing the search for those running is a good use of tax dollars.
Our world is a safer place as a result.
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Hat tip to JMAC of Safe As Houses blog for the heads up on this one.
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Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008
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