← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Gabrielle
Thread ID: 20085 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2005-09-08
2005-09-08 13:18 | User Profile
Evacuee charged in sexual assault
Plano: Man staying with relatives accused of attacking girl, 13
08:05 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005
By JENNIFER EMILY / The Dallas Morning News
A Hurricane Katrina evacuee staying with a Plano family was arrested Tuesday and accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, police said.
Freddie Murray, 48, of New Orleans was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. Mr. Murray is a distant relative of the girl, police said. Police didn't know the exact relationship.
"The guy is an evacuee staying with distant relatives, and he allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old staying at that residence," Plano police spokesman Officer Carl Duke said. "He's been taken out of the residence and is in jail."
There have been reports of rapes of evacuees staying in New Orleans shelters. No other reports of similar incidents in the Dallas area were known.
Jane Donovan, community educator for the Collin County Children's Advocacy Center, said parents must always be on guard when they invite people into their homes, whether it's someone they know or strangers.
"As heart-wrenching as these evacuees are, and as wonderful as it is to see the outpouring of support, when we invite anybody in our home, we have no idea what their background is," Ms. Donovan said. "As parents, if we open up our home, we need to put up conditions and boundaries. We need to not leave our children alone."
Authorities said never leave children or other vulnerable family members with the people staying in their homes. They urged people to be cautious. Police also said that most people would not take advantage of their generosity.
The circumstances of what happened were not clear by Tuesday afternoon.
The family called police at 2:39 a.m. Tuesday, Office Duke said.
Officer Duke said the investigation is continuing. He declined to comment further.
Mr. Murray remained at the Collin County Jail late Tuesday in lieu of $15,000 bail.
[url]http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-katsexassault_07met.ART0.North.Edition2.13994b60.html[/url]