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As reported via Inside Edition:
Library Crimes
You go to a library to read, do research or study quietly. What you don't expect, are serious crimes.
When police responded to an emergency call from a library in Des Moines, Iowa they found James Effler, a registered sex offender, barricaded in the library bathroom with a 20-month-old toddler. He is now serving life without parole for kidnapping and sexual assault.
But this is not an isolated case. INSIDE EDITION found that crimes in libraries occur more often than you may think.
In Ohio last year, a surveillance camera captured a man who was dressed as a woman committing a lewd act right in the middle of the library. He pleaded no contest.
In a Denver library, a man was seen stumbling after being brutally stabbed in the neck by an out of control drifter who was loitering in the library.
Casey Carr knows how dangerous libraries can be. In December of 2001, when Casey was 11, he went to a library in Sacramento, Calif. after school to do homework. But Casey said 25-year-old Lloyd Dawkins kept bothering him.
When Casey went to the bathroom, Dawkins followed him, forced him into a bathroom stall and assaulted him. Dawkins is now serving 16 years in prison.
So how bad is library crime? INSIDE EDITION examined over 2000 library incident reports from 13 cities around the country in 2005. In Atlanta, there were 174 reports of theft, disruptive behavior and harassment. In Seattle, there were 45 reports of public intoxication and sexual misconduct, and in Cleveland there were 48 incidents of vandalism, theft and threats.
Libraries are now investing in sophisticated security equipment, such as surveillance cameras.
In Riverhead, New York, cameras taped a man stalking 85-year-old Ruth Seybolt who was visiting the library like she had done for more than 20 years. He can be seen watching her movements, and then following her into an aisle where he brutally attacked her and stole her pocketbook.
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In this surveillance footage, Garner Allen is partially seen on the left before he assaulted 85-year-old Ruth Seybolt, seen seated in a New York library.
Seybolt was found unconscious on the floor and authorities initially thought she had simply fallen down. But her grandson, Robert Fox, who is a police officer, didn't believe it and insisted on seeing the security tapes
Three months later Ruth Seybolt died from her injuries. Garner Allen, a previously convicted violent felon, was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to life behind bars.
Fox says no one should assume they are safe just because they are in a quiet place like a library. "Anything can happen anywhere," he said. "There are bad guys everywhere."
The president of the American Library Association told INSIDE EDITION that libraries are very safe, but cautions that they are open to everyone. Parents should accompany young children and establish rules and expectations for older children.
The story can be found at; http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/reports/story.aspx?storyid=540
- Janq
Lesson to be learned: Librairies are a public space with a roof, no different than your local mall, hospital, school, or even a playground.
I see people commonly let their kids roam around libraries unmonitored as though it's their own living room. It is not and with shelves and what not its very easy to snag a kid up and well it goes down hill from there. Duh.
As well for adults many libraires have basement archive rooms or even book stacks that are remote and wholly unmonitored. I know because in college the thing was to get a quickie or hand/blow job in between the stacks. It's easy to do and get away with. Which is what Ruth Seybold found out the hard way.
Library Crimes
You go to a library to read, do research or study quietly. What you don't expect, are serious crimes.
When police responded to an emergency call from a library in Des Moines, Iowa they found James Effler, a registered sex offender, barricaded in the library bathroom with a 20-month-old toddler. He is now serving life without parole for kidnapping and sexual assault.
But this is not an isolated case. INSIDE EDITION found that crimes in libraries occur more often than you may think.
In Ohio last year, a surveillance camera captured a man who was dressed as a woman committing a lewd act right in the middle of the library. He pleaded no contest.
In a Denver library, a man was seen stumbling after being brutally stabbed in the neck by an out of control drifter who was loitering in the library.
Casey Carr knows how dangerous libraries can be. In December of 2001, when Casey was 11, he went to a library in Sacramento, Calif. after school to do homework. But Casey said 25-year-old Lloyd Dawkins kept bothering him.
When Casey went to the bathroom, Dawkins followed him, forced him into a bathroom stall and assaulted him. Dawkins is now serving 16 years in prison.
So how bad is library crime? INSIDE EDITION examined over 2000 library incident reports from 13 cities around the country in 2005. In Atlanta, there were 174 reports of theft, disruptive behavior and harassment. In Seattle, there were 45 reports of public intoxication and sexual misconduct, and in Cleveland there were 48 incidents of vandalism, theft and threats.
Libraries are now investing in sophisticated security equipment, such as surveillance cameras.
In Riverhead, New York, cameras taped a man stalking 85-year-old Ruth Seybolt who was visiting the library like she had done for more than 20 years. He can be seen watching her movements, and then following her into an aisle where he brutally attacked her and stole her pocketbook.
In this surveillance footage, Garner Allen is partially seen on the left before he assaulted 85-year-old Ruth Seybolt, seen seated in a New York library.
Seybolt was found unconscious on the floor and authorities initially thought she had simply fallen down. But her grandson, Robert Fox, who is a police officer, didn't believe it and insisted on seeing the security tapes
Three months later Ruth Seybolt died from her injuries. Garner Allen, a previously convicted violent felon, was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to life behind bars.
Fox says no one should assume they are safe just because they are in a quiet place like a library. "Anything can happen anywhere," he said. "There are bad guys everywhere."
The president of the American Library Association told INSIDE EDITION that libraries are very safe, but cautions that they are open to everyone. Parents should accompany young children and establish rules and expectations for older children.
The story can be found at; http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/reports/story.aspx?storyid=540
- Janq
Lesson to be learned: Librairies are a public space with a roof, no different than your local mall, hospital, school, or even a playground.
I see people commonly let their kids roam around libraries unmonitored as though it's their own living room. It is not and with shelves and what not its very easy to snag a kid up and well it goes down hill from there. Duh.
As well for adults many libraires have basement archive rooms or even book stacks that are remote and wholly unmonitored. I know because in college the thing was to get a quickie or hand/blow job in between the stacks. It's easy to do and get away with. Which is what Ruth Seybold found out the hard way.
