Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Girl nabbed by sex predator from school bus, but no one notices; How to protect kids in public bathrooms

Episode Date: February 18, 2019

When 14-year-old Alianna DeFreeze failed to show up for school, no one called her parents to let them know. It turned out the student was kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered by a man who snatched her as she stepped off the school bus. Now her parents are suing the school for waiting nine hours to tell them she was missing Nancy Grace explores the case with forensics expert Karen Smith, family & divorce lawyer, Kathleen Murphy, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober, and reporter John Lemley Nancy then looks at how parents can protect their children from predators who lurk in public restrooms. She visits with hero mom Misty McDavid, whose Facebook post on her young son's bathroom experience went viral. nancy's experts include forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan, psychiatrist Dr. Judith Joseph, and criminal lawyer Darryl Cohen. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Do you know another parent or expecting parent? Are you wondering what can I give them as a gift? Don't give them another onesie. Don't give them a plastic toy or God forbid a toy gun that's just going to end up in the garage. Give them something that matters and what matters the most is protecting their child.

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Find out how to protect your child. When you're out at the mall or the store or the grocery, in the parking lot, at home. Find out about protection regarding babysitters and daycare, even online. I'd rather have that any day of the week than a plastic toy or, God forbid, a toy gun. Join Justice Nation. Go to crimestopshere.com. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Cleveland police officers were searching the East 93rd Street area last night for missing teenager

Aliana DeFreeze when they discovered the body of a female inside this Fuller Avenue home. It's just a shame. This man, who doesn't want to be identified, has lived in the Eastside neighborhood since 1972, and he told me that he is heartbroken about how his neighborhood has changed. People loved each other. You slept on your porch, you sit around, you talk, you didn't have to lock your doors. HE'S A LITTLE BIT HEARTBROKEN ABOUT HOW HIS NEIGHBORHOOD HAS CHANGED. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

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3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 but never made it, and she hasn't been seen since. Her family spent the weekend passing out flyers, looking for clues, and praying for answers. We're not sleeping. We're not eating. It's difficult for us to concentrate because right now our main focus is we're not resting until we bring her home. The parents of a little 14-year-old girl in anguish. This little girl, Aliana DeFreeze, was tortured, was raped, was murdered in an abandoned house. Why? All of this revolving around the bus stop, getting to school. John Lindley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What happened to this little girl? The little girl, 14-year-old Aliana DeFries, her mom, Denisha Cooper, has told us that on this Thursday, January 26th, she started out just like a normal day for her and her daughter. She walked her daughter from their house to the

bus stop at East 154th and Kinsman around 6.30 a.m. to catch the first of two Cleveland buses that carried the seventh grader to a 7 a.m. tutoring session. Now, Aliana was dressed as usual in her school uniform, tan pants, white shirt, and her mom says she was excited about going to school. She kept hopping into the street to see if the bus was coming, And when it finally did, she gave her mama a kiss and she boarded the bus. Aliana was doing just what she'd done many times before. It was a long trip to school. It required that, as we've heard, take two separate buses, meaning that on cold winter mornings like this one, she spent a lot of time at the bus stop. It was also an early journey,

meaning that she often started to school before the sun was up. Aliana was last seen on that video surveillance around 6.50, getting off an RTA bus at East 93rd and Kinsman. That afternoon, mid-afternoon, comes and goes. Aliana's mom is getting more and more concerned because she hasn't come home from school. At 4 o'clock, Denisha decides this is enough. So she calls her daughter's school, and that's when she's told that Aliana was not in attendance at all. Okay, wait a minute. The school knew all day the girl hadn't shown up and didn't call the parents or anything? About 10 hours.

You know, this is what I don't get to Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina family divorce lawyer. If the twins are going to miss school or they're going to be late, I write their teacher. They've never not shown up without me writing in or calling in or something. To me, that seems like a real case of negligence, Kathleen, 10 hours later, and the mom has to call the school and find out she never showed up. I agree with you, Nancy. And in the area that I live in, we have mega schools right now. My children all went to tiny schools where we knew everybody. And to send them to a mega school, this kind of thing is going to happen, unfortunately. But you're right.

I email my teachers if my child's not going to be there, and I need a response that they know that she's not going to be there. Otherwise, she's going to be there. I don't understand how this happens. I agree. How did that happen? And we see it over and over. I want you to hear Aliana's father, Damon DeFreeze. I've been up since 119 this morning. This is how my life has been going this last year and almost a half. It takes a real monster to take a child who's going on her way happily to school. It happens too often.

Every time I turn on the news, read the paper, there's a child missing. Not only child, there's men and women missing also. it gets frustrating. And nothing's being done about it. I know the officers you're doing, you can only do so much. The administration at City Hall needs to address these issues like you addressed the renovation of the cube and like you addressed the Republican Convention.

Our children mean a lot to us. They might not be your children, but they mean a lot to us. That is just killing me to hear Aliana's dad, Damon DeVries, speaking openly about how the community seems more concerned about buildings and events like the Republican Convention, just to name one, and not about their children. If you could see a picture of this little girl, she looks like she should be in a Disney show. You know how they're always getting those cute little kids to be in Disney movies and sitcoms? She's just beautiful. Big brown eyes, long silky black hair, a beautiful, beautiful smile.

We know now Aliana was kidnapped walking toward her charter school there in Ohio after getting off a school bus by a 45-year-old, guess what, sex offender. Dr. Daniel Bober, I'm just sick to my stomach. This child was taken to an abandoned house. She was tortured, we are told, with a drill and raped for who knows how many hours. And the mom is just going about her business, the dad going about their business while their daughter somewhere in their hometown is enduring all of this pain, crying, begging, trying to get away from this registered sex offender and the school didn't bother to call and say hey where's your daughter she hasn't shown up they only find out 10 hours later when they call the school dr bober why do child predators keep getting out because you and i both agree they cannot be rehabilitated well it, it depends on the offender, but this is a

particularly horrific crime, and a lot of people dropped the ball here, and it seems like, you know, authorities could have been alerted much earlier than they were. So it's really one of the most awful crimes I've ever heard of. Now the family is claiming, and I agree with them, that they could have saved Aliana if they had been told she was missing earlier. They knew exactly what buses she took every day. The video shows her getting off the bus. And we know, Karen Smith, forensics expert, that a huge percentage of kidnaps of children occur relating to bus stops, school bus stops, public bus stops, to and from school. A huge amount of stranger abductions occur regarding bus stops, just like J.C. Duggar.

That's right. You're absolutely right. And here's, you know, my heart breaks for this family. It really does. 10 hours, Nancy, 10 hours have elapsed before anybody in an official capacity was notified. Now, you and I both know that these predators don't wait. They don't sit around and wait. This man knew where he wanted to go. He knew where this little girl was going to get off the bus, and he took her there. If authorities had been alerted that she wasn't in school, it would have at least given them a fighting chance to have brought her back alive. The 93rd is a safe haven for sexual predators like this monster behind me. And you're lucky I'm not the same person I was 25 years ago because there's not enough police in here to stop me. And you need lucky I'm not the same person I was 25 years ago because there's not enough police in here to stop me. And you need to know that.

And when you get where you're going, you're going to get what you got coming. Before you get to that gas, that lethal injection chamber. My baby didn't have a chance. No grandchild. You can't walk her down the aisle. When she come over on the weekends, on Fridays, we'd have the same talk about this guy back here. I warned her of guys like that. I warned her of the abandoned buildings. I told her to watch out for these predators. I didn't, you showed me how to fight. I'll be okay, Daddy. I said, Baby, listen to me and quit running your mouth.

Don't walk with your hood on your head. Don't have the earbuds in your ear. Be aware of your surroundings. She kept running her mouth, and I grabbed her. I said, That's how it's going to happen, Aliana. I said, That's how it's going to happen. Now what you going to do? Wow, Daddy, you scared me. I said, that's how it's going to happen, Aliana. I said, that's how it's going to happen. Now what you going to do? Wow, daddy, you scared me. I said, yeah. Lord, give me strength to continue on with this foundation to keep my mind right

and my spirit right. Hearing that father is just breaking my heart. I'm just trying to imagine my father, who is just so much to me, endearing what this father, Damon DeFreeze, is endearing right now, and Aliana's mother as well. This beautiful little girl, Aliana DeFreeze, just beautiful, had to catch two buses every morning. That morning she was on her way to tutoring, 7 a.m., and she was excited and happy, not whining

and complaining, jumping off the curb and looking to see if the bus was coming. Her mom walked her to the bus station, waited for her to get on the first bus. It was when she was getting off the bus station, waited for her to get on the first bus. It was when she was getting off the bus, around 6.50 in the morning, the RTA. She must have been on her second bus

almost to tutoring at that time, 10 minutes away. She was spotted getting off that bus. She never made it. As her parents go about their daily business, they have no idea their daughter has been kidnapped off the street at the bus stop by a 45-year-old sex offender, Christopher Whitaker, who takes her to an abandoned house, rapes her, mutilates her, and stabs her dead.

To John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. John Limley, what did we learn from this little girl's autopsy? Well, the medical examiner, Dr. David Dolanak, performed the autopsy on Aliana, revealing that she had been raped, her body inflicted with multiple blunt force injuries, stabbing, puncture wounds. Her many wounds were consistent with tools that we've mentioned found in the abandoned house where her body was found, including a drill, screwdriver, and box cutter. Dr. Dolanak said that her injuries were so numerous and severe that he could not identify which specifically even caused her death. This little girl's so innocent, she still

played with dolls. She still played with dolls. Listen, this is the chief of police, Calvin Williams. Tonight we're here to announce an arrest in the case of Aviana DeFries. Tonight, members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force, Cleveland Division of Police, arrested a suspect in that case, Christopher Whitaker. He's now in our custody and is being talked to by investigators and will be booked into our city jail pretty soon. This has been a trying time for us. A week ago from a few hours ago, this young lady went missing and we put everything we could out there to find her and bring her home safely. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But our investigators didn't stop. And tonight,

the culmination of their efforts is the arrest of a person that we need to make sure never touches our streets again. Marshall Elliott and his members actually received the information earlier today and they worked it all day long. At approximately 7 15 this afternoon, they arrested the suspect in Mayfield Heights and again he's now in our custody. You are hearing the chief of police Calvin Williams. What I don't understand why he wasn't already in custody he's a registered sex offender to kathleen murphy north carolina family lawyer kathleen murphy my first question to you is do you believe we know that there is a lawsuit happening right now where the family is suing the school which which I completely agree with. Ten hours?

They probably could have saved her life because they knew what bus she was getting on and off. What is the point of suing the killer, Kathleen Murphy? I think that the point of suing the school is clear. Suing the killer would have to relate to whether this guy has any assets or whether it's to prevent this person from jail writing a book or making money off of his story i also think it would be very important to them dr daniel bober to not just go after the school who failed to call the parents a 10-hour lead time this guy was given. But also, Dr. Bober, he is the one that murdered their daughter.

How can you have a lawsuit and not sue him? Yeah, it's true. I mean, you know, these are two different universes. I mean, the school just dropped the ball and, you know, failed to use care. But he was the one that committed this horrific and savage crime. You know, the other issue is he claimed he was high on cocaine, but that very day after she's been murdered, he is spotted at a local church and they said he was calm, cool and collected. What does that say to you, Dr. Bober? It says that, you know, it's complete nonsense, Nancy. All these actions that he took and his behavior the next day is not consistent with substance intoxication. I think it's nonsense.

And there's really nowhere for him to go because video shows him getting Aliana off the school bus. So, John Lindley, what can you tell me about this lawsuit? And I think the parents are absolutely correct. Nancy, the parents have filed this lawsuit, not only against the killer, but her school and the city of Cleveland itself, claiming wrongful death. Crucially, they allege in their lawsuit that Aliana's charter school, E-Prep and Village Prep Woodland Hills Breakthrough School could have prevented her death by phoning her mother when she did not arrive at school. In their lawsuit, Cooper and the girl's family say that they could have saved her if they were told she was missing, that it was completely out of character for this teenager to miss school, and that the school should have known just that when she didn't show up without any notice from either parent.

What do you know about this guy, Christopher Whitaker, John Limley? Nancy Whitaker was anything but a stranger to police. He had quite a lengthy criminal record long before his rape and murder of Aliana. In 1998, two charges, one grand theft and burglary, another aggravated robbery and felonious assault. That case was dismissed. Then in 2005, he served almost four years in prison for felonious assault of a 45-year-old woman, and that's when he was listed as a sex offender. In 2012, an additional charge, that of aggravated theft once again. We also know in seeking some kind of closure, which they'll never have, Aliana DeFreeze's family knows now that the home where Aliana was murdered has been torn down and demolished.

We wait as justice unfolds in the case of little 14-year-old victim Aliana DeFreeze and her killer, registered sex offender Christopher Whitaker. Our prayers to the victims' families. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. It is unimaginable. That's what many are saying this evening about an alleged assault here at the Walmart in Chippewa Township, Beaver County. Chippewa Township police say 32-year-old Adam Tatusko of West Mayfield followed a little boy into the bathroom here at Walmart. He pulled out a device that police identify as a Doctor Who television wand.

They say Tatusko told the little boy that it was a taser and that he better do what he tells him to do. Well, at that point, police say to Tusco had the boy undress, forced him into the stall. The alleged assault was broken up then when the boy's father came into the bathroom and grabbed the alleged attacker to Tuscoco now charged with a variety of counts, including unlawful restraint, indecent assault, and corruption of a minor. And that's not all. Police say they suspect Tutusco attempted a similar assault at a nearby McDonald's. That attempt failed when that little boy ran away.

You're hearing our friends at KDKA. That was Paul Martino regarding a Walmart bathroom attack. Well, with me right now is a very, very special woman. Her name is Misty McDavid. And I found out about Misty's story while I was researching a book that I'm working on, a nonfiction book about how to protect your children and yourself in the middle of a crime wave across our country. And I was specifically researching and looking at attacks in stores, at malls, in playgrounds, and so forth. And I got into the subsection of attacks in bathrooms. And as I was reading and reading and reading, it was about two o'clock in the morning, the name Misty McDavid popped up. And when I read her story and what she

is trying to tell you now, I had to track her down. And Alan and Jackie did just that with me right now. Misty McDavid. Misty, when you hear the story we were just playing, I know that had to bring back some really scary memories. Let's just start at the beginning where you and your little boy, Luke, were in one of my favorite stores, Michael's. I go there for all the children's school projects. Whatever I have to do, we go to Michael's. I love Michael's. And I was just, last time I was there, we were looking for little figurines and mini trees to make a diorama for the children's book report. I don't want to remember that. I want to hear your story now. What happened with you and Luke?

And you're from a small town in Tennessee with a very low crime rate. What happened? We entered the department store and like I'm sure most of you all with kids, it doesn't matter if you let them use the bathroom immediately when you leave home. By the time you get to the next destination, they have to go again. And so I walked into Michael's. I had just made it through a couple of aisles and I was in a hurry. And my son at the time was 10 years old. He said, mom, I've got to pee. And I'm like, dude, really? Are you sure? You know, can you not hold it? And he was like, mom, I can't, I can't. So I said, okay, we're in Michael's go ahead, go to the bathroom and come right back to me right here. And so he, he went, which he had to work, you know,

around to the back of the store, the way Michael's is set up with their bathroom is. And he was gone a little longer than I thought he should be. And I, I probably would have went after him pretty soon. And he turned to the corner and the look on his face was just, I knew something had happened. And I said, what's wrong? And he said, mom, I just got the scaredest I've ever been in my life. And I said, what happened? And he said, a man tried to get in the stall with me, mom. Well, my heart is sank and you, you think you know what you would do in that situation, but I promise you it's probably not the way you think you would. Um, I was in shock and he, I said, you know, can you identify this man? Do you know what he looks like? And he said,

mom, I could see his black muddy work boots under the door but I couldn't see him because he was in front of the door and I said how did he try to get in and he said he just kept jamming the door just kept like you know taking it back and forth trying to get it open trying to get the lock to open and I've told him his entire life if anyone ever tries to bother you or or tries to harm you, scream. You scream as loud as you can. You make all the noise you can because it will cause a distraction. They will probably go the other way. But he didn't. He froze. He said, Mom, I pulled my arms and my knees into my chest as hard as I could and I sat as still and as quiet as I could. And I know that the Lord was protecting

my child that day because that man could have went underneath the stall if he'd have been adamant on getting in there with him. But my child had to come to me knowing that that man was probably somewhere in the store. And so I said, you know, can you show me those boots? So I start walking the store and I start scanning, you know, for people. And I saw a guy with a pair of brown work boots on at the register checking out. And I said, look, is that him? And he said, no, mom, no, these are black boots. I will know the boots if I see them.

And about that time we turned the corner and I came within about two feet of this person. And my little boy jumped behind me and he said, mom, that's him. And I just froze. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't do anything. I just stood there and all that could have been flashed through my mind. And the guy just kind of ran his fingers through his hair and kind of chuckled at me. He knew I knew, and he knew there was nothing I could do about it.

And he walked out of the store with another lady who was in the store with him. I did go to the Michaels department store manager. We did file a police report. They did have that man on camera going into the bathroom, but we could not do anything about it other than Michael's department store was told to watch for that particular person. The scariest thing for me is that I know had that man have been able to get a hold of my son in that bathroom, he could have got him out of that store quietly. And that's the biggest thing, you know,

I don't know that there's enough training that we can do for our children because I thought that he would scream if somebody ever tried to bother him. I mean, he's a pretty outspoken little guy. He's not shy. He's not reserved. He's a people person. He could talk to the president, but that day he froze. And I know in my heart that man could have got him out of that store quietly had he been able to get to him. Um, and I, I just was unaware of the sex trafficking that, that goes on in our little area that I live in. I mean, I was absolutely shocked when I pulled up the tennessee.gov website and looked at that. And I would encourage everyone to look at your area and see what kind of sex trafficking and what kind of child abductions go on in the area that you're in.

I know in the United States on an average a child's brought either bought or sold for sex every two minutes. That's 720 children every day and 13 is the prime age. I'm thinking my son's getting older. I'm probably a little you know I could send him to the bathroom, you know, when he gets just a little bit bigger. But actually, he's going to hit the prime age of 13. Then what am I going to do? I can't take him to the women's bathroom at 13 years old. So I will stand in the men's door, make sure no one is in there.

I will send him in, and I will stand there, and I will not let a man in. I'm sorry, my son's in there there and you're going to have to wait. But I just, I think we can't be prepared enough. We can't be knowledgeable enough. There has to be some way to protect your children and to protect other children. Misty McDavid is with me telling a real scare she had right there in the local Michaels.

It's like a craft store. Misty also, your hometown is very small. I came from an area about the size of your hometown, maybe even smaller, and crime rate very, very low. Is that right, Misty? Yes, I live in a very safe, I mean, I feel totally comfortable going downtown in the town that i live in and running at you know even at dusk dark by myself like we just live in a super safe area um but the thing that the police brought to light to me the day that this happened he said ma'am let's look at the location that this michael sits on it runs right like you can be on the interstate and i mean it's right off the interstate and I mean, it's right off

the interstate. You literally get off the ramp and you're there. He said they can get on this interstate right here and be in three states within just a matter of minutes. And he said the location of things makes it a prime target for sex traffickers to take your children because they can be gone. Facts of this case are some of the more heinous that I've seen in a long time. Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Moll says 23-year-old Michael Weston should spend as much time behind bars as the law will allow. Police say Weston followed a second grader into a bathroom at Bob Hedge Park last week and threatened him with a knife before sexually assaulting him.

We would like to think that our children are able to go to the park and to play and to be safe. And generally that's true. But this is the kind of case that is a parent's worst nightmare, their child playing in a park and being assaulted. Police say park security cameras helped to implicate Weston, who was arrested Friday. The victim's father says Weston forced down his son's pants and touched him until another PARK SECURITY CAMERAS HELPED TO IMPLICATE WESTON, WHO WAS ARRESTED FRIDAY. THE VICTIM'S FATHER SAYS WESTON FORCED DOWN HIS SON'S PANTS AND TOUCHED HIM UNTIL ANOTHER

PERSON ENTERED THE BATHROOM. MARK WILSON SAYS HE WAS BABYSITTING THE VICTIM AT THE PARK THE DAY OF THE ATTACK AND SAYS HIS OWN YOUNG SON WAS THERE AS WELL. I'm glad we got him off the streets and he's been a predator over there for a while. And you know, other family members that had their children there, other people had their children there, they need to talk to their children about if anything was to happen there. Because there's plenty of children that goes over there unattended by themselves.

Wilson says the victim is doing well, but says the assault has been traumatizing. You know, it could happen to any kid, you know. So, you know, it could have been my kid, but, you know, it was his child. And, you know, I mean you know, it could have been my kid, but, you know, it was his child. And, you know, I mean, it's an awful thing. I can just tell the public that I will do my best to make sure that this individual is not ever on the street again. We're hearing our friends at WLKY regarding a man who molested a child in an Indiana Park bathroom. He was in front of a judge in Louisville, Kentucky, with me right now, telling her story and the story of her son, Misty McDavid from Tennessee. She and Luke are in a local Michael's craft store. He goes to the bathroom. He comes out

white as a sheet because a man tries to get to him in the bathroom and can describe in detail the man's black, muddy work boots. And Missy goes all over the Michaels till she finds the work boots and the guy just smirks at her and leaves. To Dr. Judith Joseph, psychiatrist joining us from New York, what kind of an impact does that have on a child for the rest of his life? It's not just a child. It's traumatizing for everyone, for the parent, for him, I mean, for the entire family.

And, you know, I think that what mom did in this case was really the right thing to do. She believed him. You know how many times kids tell me that no one believes them when they're sexually abused? And for various reasons, people can't handle it. It's too painful to hear. They have denial.

But she did the right thing in this case. She believed him immediately. Then she made him feel safe. She held on to him. She did not blame him. She told him that it wasn't his fault. It was this perpetrator's fault. She did everything that a supportive and healthy and loving parent does. So I applaud her in this case because in the spur of a moment, a lot of parents would not have reacted the way that she did. And the truth is, Nancy, you can't protect your kids all the time. The most common cases of child abuse happen with people who are friendly looking. They don't look like predators. And that's why you can protect your child and tell them and warn them, look out for this, look out for that. But in the end of the day, at the end

of the day, it the end of the day, it's usually someone close to the family, someone that the child knows, or someone that does not look intimidating or threatening. And that's why they're so good at pulling off cases like this, pulling off abuse, because they don't look like a predator. So, you know, I think it's important to continue to make her child feel safe, tell your kids it's not their fault fault and validate them and believe them. You know, what's interesting, following up on what Dr. Judith just said to Misty McDavid,

the mom joining us now from Tennessee. Misty, I remember, and John David, my son, has just told me about this, and he's now 11. In his old bedroom, there was something that made a shadow on the wall that looked like a cowboy. And the cowboy, it looked to him at night that the cowboy was getting closer and closer and closer. It's like a silhouette, I think, of a cowboy. I still don't really understand it. To this day, eight years later, he still remembers it, and it's still scary to him. Misty, does your son, Luke, ever bring this up or talk about it,

what happened in the Michaels bathroom? He doesn't ever want to discuss it. But if we leave home and go toward town, it literally took him six months before he would stop holding around my husband or my arm when we're walking through the grocery store or anything. He used to would walk along beside of us, you know, and be, and he didn't ever like get away from us and go to a different area of the store, but he would walk along beside of us. But for a good six months, he held one of our arms all the time. And so I just

tried to help, you know, I would just, I'd rub his little arm. You know, we're not going to let anything happen to you. It is okay. And just keep reconfirming him. And he is a little bit less afraid of going into public. But yes, that was, you know, it traumatized him and he doesn't want to talk about it. You know, what was interesting also to Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott, that statistic Misty McDavid just quoted is accurate regarding sex trafficking.

That's the way it happens. Just like this, Joe Scott, just like Misty McDavid's telling us. Yeah, it is. And here's, you've got two types in this environment that are going to prey upon children. You've got kind of the serialized behavior that goes on with, you know, these pedophile types that just look for children to prey upon. And then you have these groups of people that go out and try to traffic and, you know, and people that are just non suspecting what's really crazy about all this just like misty was talking about relative to Michaels is that in my area we have we have a large shopping area that is right

on the i-20 corridor and it is it is a prom You know, there's all these major chain stores that are in there and you think that you're safe when you go into this environment. And I've had, I've got three kids, I've got two older daughters, I've got a son that's still at home. And I, you know, I'm, I'm distrustful by nature. I suspect everybody. And so I watched really carefully over my children, but sometimes you just cannot watch them. It's a distracting environment, but these predators are counting on your distraction. That's what they're looking for, and that's why people have to be aware. Daryl Cohen, Atlanta criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor. You know, for every time a perp molests, he has already molested dozens of times before, Daryl.

Oh, absolutely, Nancy. Excuse me. These perps are unbelievable. I wish they could wear a sign and it would flash off their forehead, but they don't. They look normal. They look like your boy next door, like the man next door. And that's why as parents, it's so incumbent, so important to watch your kids, not just the two-year-olds, the five-year-olds, the seven-year-olds, but all of them. My youngest daughter, she's 17, and I make her aware every minute of every day. You want to expect the best for people, but you also need to prepare for the worst. What about it, Dave Max, syndicated talk show host, hearing Misty McDavid's story? When I was a little kid, I was raised by a single mom in the 60s.

And I remember when I was five years old, she let my brother, who was two years older than me, go to the movie. We went to see Dumbo in the theater. Before we got out of the car, my mother said, do not go in the bathroom by yourself. My brother, who's now a detective and has been for 40 years, she said, Michael, do not leave your little brother alone in the bathroom. And it was an uncomfortable discussion, but she had it with us and said, this is what could happen. There are bad people who will hurt you. And she gave, I remember that now I'm an old man now. And she told me that when I was five, Nancy, it happened then it's happening now. I'm an old man now. And she told me that when I was five, Nancy. It happened then. It's happening now. And you still haven't gone in the bathroom by yourself. You know what, Misty McDonnell. But you know what? I'm listening to Misty McDavid and my son is about the same age

as yours. And they're like, Mom, I can't go back. You know what? They can't. I do the same thing. I stand at the door and I yell in at him the whole time. I eyeball every guy going in the bathroom. He's bigger than me. He's taller than me. I cannot really take him into the ladies' bathroom anymore. I look for a family bathroom and we all troop in there together if I can find one. Otherwise, I do what you do, Misty. I wait at the door and scream in there the whole time like a big idiot, but I don't care. That's what I do. And you know what, Misty, when I was reading your blog, what you had posted, you said,

it's been a couple of days and I didn't know whether or not I was going to post this or not. It's taken me a few days to decide whether or not I'm going to post, but I did. And I thank God that you did. With me from Tennessee, Misty McDavid, Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. With me from Tennessee, Misty McDavid, Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.