Fact or Fiction - Attacks at ****?

[LAVNDR]

There are a number of stories going around about two attacks on women in the :removed by admin: parking lot at night. Supposed to be fairly recent. Can anyone verify this and if it is true, how can we compel the Villages to warn people. ???

(Administrator's note: I have removed the location name from this post so as to not further rumors. I have removed entire posts about this twice before. If anybody has any conclusive information that you would be willing to stand behind, then please come forth. Otherwise I will remove this post also. Tony)

[JohnN]

is there not a newspaper story to verify stuff like this?

[jjdees]

Easily resolved. Call the local sheriff's office.

[redwitch]

I can say that I know the store and I was working there at the time one of the alleged incidents occurred. No one, from the top to the bottom knew a thing about it. Given that, I'd say it was a rumor of the ugliest kind.

[tony]

That seems like a good reason to keep the name of the store out.

[golfnut]

This subject has come up and been removed more times than I can believe, jj said it best, call the sheriff, period, Tony do your thang.

[Ooper]

Whether it is true or not... you won't see "bad" publicity for TV in the Daily Sun!

[DDoug]

By removing part of the original post you have limited freedom of speech which by the way is against our constitutional right. If you intend to do this dont allow the post at all. You have just given me dought about your forum.

[Talk Host]

By removing part of the original post you have limited freedom of speech which by the way is against our constitutional right. If you intend to do this dont allow the post at all. You have just given me dought about your forum.


Wrong! This is the perfect example of running through the theater yelling fire when there is none. Freedom of speech does not give you the right to spread untruths.

If you are offended by this, and you now have doubts about TOTV, I suggest you find a forum you like better.

Jan Kokochak, Administrator
Talk of The Villages

[Russ_Boston]

Delete the whole post Jan.

No place for viral info of any type.

[rdkent]

Your right to free speech in the Constitution applies only to the government restricting your speech. DOES NOT apply to business, individuals, etc. One of my pet peeves is people insisting the Constitution guarantees their right to say anything to anyone anywhere with no consequences.

[Taltarzac]

Your right to free speech in the Constitution applies only to the government restricting your speech. DOES NOT apply to business, individuals, etc. One of my pet peeves is people insisting the Constitution guarantees their right to say anything to anyone anywhere with no consequences.


What's that quote-- "Freedom of the Press belongs to he who owns one"? Forget who said that? :dontknow: TOTV's administrators have the right to delete whatever they want. Just look at what the Villages Daily Sun prints and does not print.

Call the Sumter County Sheriff is the best advice. I assume this thread is about something that allegedly happened in TV but at one of the grocery store parking lots. I have seen nothing about it on any of the major broadcasting channel affiliates-- NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox-- which would pick something like this up pretty quickly.

[SteveFromNY]

This is the perfect example of running through the theater yelling fire when there is none. Freedom of speech does not give you the right to spread untruths.



:agree:

However, IMHO, leaving the post here but deleting the store name doesn't really accomplish anything. Now you're saying "FIRE", but leaving out where it is. Wouldn't matter to me where the alleged incident occured as it would be indicative of a serious safety issue in TV, not something that was related to a particular store.

Apparently, it didn't happen or someone would have heard about it. And Red was there when someone says it happened and didn't hear?

Delete the whole post! No reason to leave it up.

[tony]

I had already deleted similar posts twice, as I explained. I left that post to at least let others know the topic has been posted yet again, so somebody would not post again and so I would not have to delete yet another.

I asked anybody with definitive information to come forth. One did.

Now we have strong reason to think the story is untrue, the location name is not revealed, and I am a little happier.

[Taltarzac]

I had already deleted similar posts twice, as I explained. I left that post to at least let others know the topic has been posted yet again, so somebody would not post again and so I would not have to delete yet another.

I asked anybody with definitive information to come forth. One did.

Now we have strong reason to think the story is untrue, the location name is not revealed, and I am a little happier.




Good call. Sometimes crimes like the alleged one are not reported to the police, but that does not sound like this would be one of those such situations if rumors have been flying about this on TOTV. The victim is usually too ashamed to go to the police. I think if one of the various victim support groups were involved they would make sure steps to prevent further crimes were taken if there were any truth to this rumor.

[SteveFromNY]

I had already deleted similar posts twice, as I explained. I left that post to at least let others know the topic has been posted yet again, so somebody would not post again and so I would not have to delete yet another.

I asked anybody with definitive information to come forth. One did.

Now we have strong reason to think the story is untrue, the location name is not revealed, and I am a little happier.




Agree it was a good call, and didn't mean to sound critical of you guys at all. I was only trying to make the point (being the incredible skeptic I am) that this kind of rumor could cause undue concern among people.

With strong reason to believe it is untrue, it is better to keep it posted to dispel future rumors. Sorry!

[lm01]

I believe that this post should be deleted. For several reasons really, The person who started the topic has very limited activity on totv over a long period of time. This person made a total of 17 post and initiated 3 topics, which makes me wonder if they are From the Villages or and outsider and whats their intent. If they are from the Villages please forgive me, but if not I feel that there are other motives running here.

Taking pot shots that hurt a community or its people is not right.

2nd please look or subscribe to the Ocala Newspaper they have crime blotters that cover our area in the Villages. To think crime does not exist is foolish to say the least and the Villages Sun does cover them but maybe not to the extent we all would like.

In this case I believe the post should be deleted esp if it was by an outsider.

Orlando sentinal Police Blotter
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/archives.html

Villages Reporter
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=REPORTER08

[Taltarzac]

I believe that this post should be deleted. For several reasons really, The person who started the topic has very limited activity on totv over a long period of time, which makes me wonder if they are From the Villages or and outsider and whats their intent. If they are from the Villages please forgive me, but if not I feel that there are other motives running here. Taking pot shots that hurt a community or its people is not right. 2nd please look or subscribe to the Ocala Newspaper they have crime blotters that cover our area in the Villages. To think crime does not exist is foolish to say the least and the Villages Sun does cover them but maybe not to the extent we all would like.

In this case I believe the post should be deleted esp if it was by an outsider.


She looks like a Villager according to her previous posts.

Google "rape" and "statistics".

You will get information like this--

"SILENT VICTIMS :

One of the most startling aspects of sex crimes is how many go unreported. The most common reasons given by women for not reporting these crimes are the belief that it is a private or personal matter and the fear of reprisal from the assailant.

Approximately 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, and 5% by other relatives. (Violence against Women, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 1994)

The FBI estimates that only 37% of all rapes are reported to the police. U.S. Justice Department statistics are even lower, with only 26% of all rapes or attempted rapes being reported to law enforcement officials.

In 1994-1995, only 251,560 rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials -- less than one in every three. (National Crime Victimization Survey, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 1996.)"

Tony has done the best he could do with the resources available. Think he made a very good call to keep this up.

[The Great Fumar]

READ MY LIPS....

iTS JUST A NASTY RUMOR ....NO SUCH EVENTS EVER HAPPENED..........

FUMAR

[Frangyomory]

When I heard there were break-ins in Tall Trees but nothing in he paper, I called the Sumter County Sherrif's office and they were very cooperative and even told me the exact strees the break-ins were at.

Personally, I don't think anything like the alleged things has happened because in the Villages word of mouth is the fastest means of publicity!!!!!!!

If you are really worried, call the sherrif's office.

[Taltarzac]

When I heard there were break-ins in Tall Trees but nothing in he paper, I called the Sumter County Sherrif's office and they were very cooperative and even told me the exact strees the break-ins were at.

Personally, I don't think anything like the alleged things has happened because in the Villages word of mouth is the fastest means of publicity!!!!!!!

If you are really worried, call the sherrif's office.


If it is a victim who has only talked about this to her friends and not to the police, then this might have happened. We do not have much to go on with this rumor about number of victims, relationship to assailant, description of assailant(s), and most importantly whether or not any report was made to the police. Most sexual assaults are not reported to the police or at least a majority of them are not. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001537.html

This might just be someone who uses the Internet as a weapon by spreading vicious rumors about a certain business, but from what I have seen we do not have enough information to make that assumption either.

[LAVNDR]

to answer IM01 I am a villager. I am seriously offended. Fortunate for me however I have a full time job and do not spend a lot of time on the forum as many of you do. I had called the Sherrif's office and was told that they could not release that type of information so I put this on the forum to see if I could get a clear answer since it is the talk of the neighborhood. Didn't mean to get everyone in a tither about it I just wanted to protect myself and others if this was the case. Based on the posted free for all ,this doesn't seem like a very friendly place to express concerns or pose questions so from now on you will never hear from me again!

[Taltarzac]

to answer IM01 I am a villager. I am seriously offended. Fortunate for me however I have a full time job and do not spend a lot of time on the forum as many of you do. I had called the Sherrif's office and was told that they could not release that type of information so I put this on the forum to see if I could get a clear answer since it is the talk of the neighborhood. Didn't mean to get everyone in a tither about it I just wanted to protect myself and others if this was the case. Based on the posted free for all ,this doesn't seem like a very friendly place to express concerns or pose questions so from now on you will never hear from me again!


The concern seemed to be with the posting of the name of the business on a message board that conceivably could be seen by anyone with access to the Internet all over the world.

I am sorry that more people did not assume that you posted with the best of intentions.

[ConeyIsBabe]

I am an outsider, a newbie, and a wannabee !! I do find articles like this one interesting even though it's unclear whether or not the incident has occurred. Having worked 18 years in law enforcement (as a secretary) I know that all crime incidents where there is a written report is PUBLIC INFORMATION. All one had to do was request the report and perhaps pay a small fee for the copy.

[Russ_Boston]

Thanks for the info CIB.

This 'story' has made the rounds for a long time. It is similar to the many things people get in their in-box and then panic. Like the bogus e-mail about cell phones about to be called by telemarketers. There are many stories on http://www.snopes.com/ (I strongly request that everyone look at this site before passing on any e-mail warnings) which refer to rapes or attacks at various public places. They are meant as scare tactics and some people don't know how to react and therefore are understandably alert.

I'm glad to know that IF a incident happened then the police must make that public knowledge. Is that the same rule in FLA?

Russ

[ConeyIsBabe]

Russ; That is/was the law in Miami, Florida where I worked. Every day the local newspaper reporter would go to the Records section and pull all the written reports to print the list of crimes. Records personnel would black-out the names of minors or certain restricted information, but the records are PUBLIC and anyone else requesting them would be allowed to view the reports. P U B L I C R E C O R D S !!

[Village Kid 2]

While it's true police reports are considered public records, there are many exemptions to a public records request including anything that is considered an "ongoing criminal investigation" where no suspect has been arrested. See Chapter 119, Fla. Stat.

VK

[Taltarzac]

Russ; That is/was the law in Miami, Florida where I worked. Every day the local newspaper reporter would go to the Records section and pull all the written reports to print the list of crimes. Records personnel would black-out the names of minors or certain restricted information, but the records are PUBLIC and anyone else requesting them would be allowed to view the reports. P U B L I C R E C O R D S !!


That's assuming these alleged rapes were reported to the police. They may have heard rumors about these but cannot go further with it because of lack of information about who, when, and exactly where these alleged rapes occurred.

The Villages Daily Sun does have a police log of sorts which lists arrests and the like.

Snopes.com is run by a couple--the Mikkelsons-- in the Los Angeles area who get funding from advertisers and donations I believe. It is kind of like TOTV. This couple gets information from probably using Google as well as people who e-mail them and/or other sources.