The story of Jeremy Giefer's arrest on charges of rape and incest is spreading. Basing their posts on the Star Tribune article, Slate took it up in ; Oliver Willis posted Tim Pawlenty Pardoned Sex Offender Who Went On To Allegedly Sexually Assault Young Girl and Politico's Ben Smith noted A pardon in Minnesota.
Locally, the Big E at the Minnesota Progressive Project closely scrutinizes Doyle's reporting.
Perhaps the best wrap-up so far is Phoenix Woman's Firedoglake post, Tim Pawlenty Did What? She begins:
The power to pardon is a powerful thing, and often a useful instrument of mercy, particularly for those persons who have suffered enough from the poisoned fruits of their own misdeeds. But when the person pardoned goes on to re-offend, controversy erupts. So it is with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s Pardon Extraordinary of Jeremy A. Giefer.
It gets worse: CityPages’ Nick Pinto, following up on Sorensen’s story, confirmed that the girl who Giefer is currently charged with raping is none other than the daughter he had himself conceived with the underage girl back in 1994.
The fashionable thing around the web is to compare this case to that of Willie Horton. But unlike Tim Pawlenty, Michael Dukakis never promised not to pardon sex offenders. No, the case that resonates in my mind is that of Wayne Dumond.
See, back in the 1990s, around the time Jeremy Giefer was impregnating his first underaged victim with what would be his second, a convicted Arkansas rapist by the name of Wayne Dumond was being taken to the collective bosoms of law-and-order Republicans and conservatives nationwide. Why? Because he was convicted in 1985 after having raped a distant cousin of Bill Clinton’s.
Without a shred of evidence to back up their claims, the get-Clinton crowd agitated for Dumond’s release, claiming he’d been wrongly convicted, and then-governor Mike Huckabee happily played along. After intense pressure from Huckabee and the frothing right-wing anti-Clinton brigades, Dumond was paroled in January of 1997 — though his release was delayed until October of 1999, due to a special condition of the parole: Dumond was to immediately leave Arkansas, and at first the states of Texas, Florida and Missouri refused to allow him to move to their jurisdictions; he wound up being released in DeWitt, Arkansas, his home town. . . .
. . .UPDATE: I’m reminded that Tim Pawlenty has broke his promise not once but twice, when he [released] the man who would go on to rape and murder Dru Sjodin, whose death still resonates throughout the Upper Midwest.
Read the whole thing at Firedoglake, as well as checking out the entire Nick Pinto City Pages article.
The Mankato Press Press reports today in Vernon Center sex assault suspect back in court:
A Vernon Center business owner accused of sexually assaulting a girl was back in court Monday requesting a change to his release conditions.
After being arrested and appearing in court Nov. 18 for a dozen felony sexual assault charges, 36-year-old Jeremy Alan Giefer was released Nov. 24 after posting a $250,000 bond.
Release condtions weren’t the only things discussed during Monday’s hearing. Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Chris Rovney also asked Judge Bradley Walker to have Giefer explain how he was able to post a high bond while still qualifying for a court-appointed attorney.
That's the sort of question county attorney's should ask. And the prosecutor shared another concern:
Rovney also said he was concerned Giefer, using his wife as a go-between, had attempted to contact the alleged victim.
Since Pinto's article has established that the victim is Giefer's daughter, one has to wonder: what sort of mother places her own daughter at such risk?
The judge seems fair, though perhaps he needs the wisdom of Solomon for this case:
Walker said he wouldn’t change Giefer’s release conditions until he could talk to the victim’s guardian ad litem and consider motions from Rovney and Giefer’s attorney. Walker said Giefer could work at his shop, despite problems with the GPS monitor, as long as he stayed away from his residence, the victim and the nearby child care center.
Saying he could understand why a small business owner could be having a bad year financially, Walker also asked Giefer and Docherty to provide information about the collateral they used to obtain the $250,000 bond. . . .
Bluestem will continue to post on this developing story. Meanwhile, the Strib reports in Pawlenty escapes Minn. cold for Georgia conference that the Eagan Republican has performed his usual shuffle off the local stage.
Photo: Jeremy Giefer's Blue Earth county law enforcement mug shot,via Nick Pinto's article at the City Pages Blotter.
"Since Pinto's article has established that the victim is Giefer's daughter, one has to wonder: what sort of mother places her own daughter at such risk?"
Apparently, the sort who, since she herself was made into a sex toy by this creep at a very early and impressionable age, never had the chance to grow up into an independent being with a spine, a brain, and/or a moral compass.
But that makes me wonder: What about all the people back in 1994 that thought it was OK for a 19-year-old to knock up a 14-year-old so long as he married her? Did he come to feel that, if he could get away with molesting a girl so long as he married her, he could get away with molesting her child -- his daughter?
What sort of culture is it that pretty much encourages women to be given to men as subordinate playthings while they are still malleable little girls, before they have a shot at becoming adults with spines, brains, and moral compasses?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Nov 30, 2010 at 10:09 PM