Was Baby Yair Carrillo For Sale?

30-year-old Maria Gurrolla was not only devastated at the loss of her 4-day-old son, Yair Anthony Carrillo, she was also a bloody mess. A woman, later identified as Tammy Renee Silas,39, approached Maria at home at 3816 East Ridge Dr., Nashville, Tn., claiming to be an immigration officer who had come to arrest her.

The "immigration officer" proceeded to attack Maria, stabbing her multiple times. Maria managed to escape and ran to one of her neighbors for help. When she returned to her home she discovered that the "immigration officer" had left, taking Maria's 4-day-old son with her. An amber alert was also issued.

The police were able to locate and arrest Tammy Renee Silas, at her home in Ardmore, Alabama about 80 away. Silas is charged with the federal offense of kidnapping. She is also accused of attacking Maria Gurrolla with a knife and stealing her then 4-day-old baby. The FBI is holding Silas in the Morgan County Jail in Alabama. She'll appear in federal court when U.S. Marshals bring her back to Nashville.



Maria Gurrolla was notified that her baby was found. She went with her other 3 children, aged 3, 9, and 11 to get her infant son. After allowing her a brief visit with him, state welfare officials took him and the other three children and placed them in foster care, without much explanation except to say that it was for the safety of the children.

It was later learned that Department of Children's Services received credible reports that Maria was trying to sell her baby.

A statement released by DCS had said, in part, that "the Department of Children's Services still had concerns about the well-being and safety of (her other) children, based on credible and serious information that we are currently receiving."

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However, one day later, Metro police agreed that Yair should be returned to the custody of his parents and a Juvenile Court agreed. Maria Gurrolla has now been reunited with all of her children. A family member said that Gurolla and her family are currently staying with another relative right now because she is afraid to go back to her home where the attack happened.

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Baby-Sitter Guilty of Child Porn

Aaron Jay Lemon, 23, of Little Canada, Minn. pleaded guilty to a single count of producing child pornography before U.S. District Judge David Doty in federal court in Minneapolis. He was hired through Craig's List as a baby-sitter for a 2-year-old girl in St. Paul. In the plea, Lemon admitted he coerced the toddler to engage in sex, and he recorded the incident on a video camera. It wasn't clear how many times Lemon baby-sat for the 2-year-old victim or whether he had a history of baby-sitting other children.

Lemon was charged Aug. 5 with Production, Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography in connection with the incident, which occurred in August 2007 in St. Paul. He was released in August on a $25,000 bond. Lemon faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal judge will determine Lemon’s sentence at a future date.

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This is a case in which Lemon should never have had the opportunity for access to a 2-year-old without supervision. What interests me, personally, with this case is:

What kind of parents would hire an unknown person, with no references, from a service like Craig's List, to take care of their child (of any age) and have the confidence to leave this individual alone in their home with their child? To me it is no different than grabbing a stranger off the street and saying: "Here is my child and the keys to my house. I have somewhere to go. I will return later."

As it turns out, Aaron Lemon is the worst kind of pedophile. He wasn't just a collector of child pornography. He produced it. He starred in it. He distributed it.

Last year (2007) the FBI was investigating an unrelated case involving a man in San Francisco. They found evidence that someone in the Twin Cities may have been exchanging child porn with him. They turned this evidence over to The Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force which investigated the matter. It led them to Lemon. They got a search warrant for his Little Canada home and found evidence that "led them to believe he wasn't just a collector of pornography, he was manufacturing it".

They discovered, by checking his e-mail account and IP address, that Lemon had been in contact with the suspect in San Francisco as early as 2006. When authorities came to the apartment, which he shares with his mother, to interviewed him, Lemon admitted to exchanging and possessing child pornography. He was subsequently charged.

Lemon was also charged with distributing child pornography across state lines, according to the original indictment against him. He was forced to hand over a laptop computer and a pocket-sized digital camera when those charges were brought. Police found over 100 pictures of children on the computer, ranging from 6 months to 5 years old.

Because of the large number of images found on his computer, the ICAC task force plans to present the case to the Ramsey County Attorney's Office to consider additional charges against Aaron Lemon. According to the Justice Department:

• 1 in 33 children receives an unwanted sexual solicitation online each year.


• 1 in 4 children experiences unwanted exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet each year.


• more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week.

Recent research by the Federal Bureau of Prisons indicates a strong correlation between possessing or distributing child pornography and committing sexual crimes against children, a news release from the U.S. attorney's office said.

Erin Hammill, owner of Apple Valley-based Above and Beyond Nannies, consults 10 character references, five employer references, state, county and national background checks and a credit check on her potential employees. Individuals searching for a sitter should do something comparable, she said.

"There is no way that you can tell a sex offender. You don't just trust. You don't say, 'Oh, they seem like they're safe and sane,' " Hammill said. "But if you checked four references, you would have a sense of who they're dealing with ... And pull a criminal background check that's as thorough as possible."

Are Kids Becoming Dumber?

A study conducted by a research team suggests that today's 14-year-olds are no smarter than the 12-year-olds of 1976. The team of researchers led by Michael Shayer, professor of applied psychology, at London's King's College, tested 800 13 and 14-year-olds and compared the results with a similar exercise in  1976. Prof. Shayer says the results are "almost certainly due to the rise of TV and computer games and over-testing in schools."

The tests were intended to measure understanding of abstract scientific concepts such as volume, density, quantity and weight, which set pupils up for success not only in maths and science but also in English and history.

In one test the kids were asked to study a pendulum swinging on a string. The were asked to determine why the speed of the pendulum was changing. Even though the average achievement was about the same as in 1976 the proportion of teenagers reaching top grades, demanding a 'higher level of thinking', fell dramatically...... only 1 in 10 achieved that level compared to 1 in 4 back in 1976. Other tests revealed similar results.

Professor Shayer believes most of the downturn has occurred over the last 10 to 15 years and can be traced to two main developments: National curriculum testing in schools and the electronic media (TV and video games).

National Testing

Professor Shayer blames national testing and targets that tend to make teachers prepare students to take and pass tests, at the expense of developing more advance skills.

'The moment you introduce targets, people will find the most economical strategies to achieve them,' said Professor Shayer. 'In the case of education, I'm sure this has had an effect on driving schools away from developing higher levels of understanding.'

An Ofsted report said millions of teenagers were finishing compulsory education with a weak grasp of maths because half of the country's schools fail to teach the subject as well as they could. Inspectors said teachers were increasingly drilling pupils to pass exams instead of encouraging them to understand crucial concepts. The report said:

'It is of vital importance to shift from a narrow emphasis towards a focus on pupils' mathematical understanding.'

Electronic Media

Professor Shayer also believes that changes in how today's kids spend their free time has had a detrimental effect on brain power. TV, with its numerous channels, has encouraged passive viewing. Computer games have cut down the time available for playing with tools, gadgets and other mechanisms.

Another researcher, Dr Aric Sigman, previously reported that the decline in intellectual ability was linked to a shift away from art and craft skills in both schools and the home.

Dr Sigman said practical activities such as building models and sandcastles, making dens, using tools, playing with building blocks, knitting, sewing and woodwork were being neglected. Yet they helped develop vital skills such as understanding dimension, volume and density.

Educators are beginning to take notice. Earlier this month the Government bowed to mounting pressure and scrapped SATs for 14-year-olds. They have also created an independent exams watchdog and promised a return to traditional, open-ended questions at A-level plus a new A* grade to mark out the brightest students. A spokesman for the Department for Children said: 'Good teachers do not need to teach to the test and there is no evidence that such practice is widespread. '

'We have already taken steps to reduce the testing burden, but targets and testing are integral features of any work to drive up standards.'

Professor Shayer warned that without the development of higher-order thinking skills, the future supply of scientists will be compromised. 'We don't even have enough scientists now,' he said.

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Is Caylee Marie Anthony Still Alive?

Caylee Marie Anthony, born August 9, 2005 is now 3-years-old. She did not get to celebrate her third birthday with candles, a cake and presents. She was not even with her mother or any other family members for her third birthday. She may in fact have been dead before her third birthday. Caylee Marie Anthony is missing and her mother, Casey Anthony, 22, has been charged with her murder by the police in Orange County, Fl.

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Caylee Marie Anthony was reported missing July 15th 2008 by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, after being told by Casey - her daughter and Caylee's mother - that the toddler had been missing since June 9th 2008.

What followed the missing child report has been a drama of lies, changing stories, a family pitted against each other, charges of forgery, a car with the "smell of death"  - but no dead body. Nevertheless police say they have enough evidence. Casey Anthony was arrested after a grand jury indicted her on charges of First-degree murder, Aggravated child abuse, Aggravated manslaughter and four counts of Lying to investigators. She appeared before Judge John Jordan, who read the charges against her and sent her to jail, without bail.

Police became involved in this case after the missing child report was filed by the toddler's grandmother. Casey told the police that she last saw her daughter when she dropped her off at the babysitter's. Later, when she went to pick up her daughter after work, she discovered that both the babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez (Zainie), and her daughter were nowhere to be found. Casey said she spent the next month trying to find her daughter Caylee. She did not immediately report Caylee missing because she was afraid.

After investigating Casey's story the police say Casey was not being truthful. For one thing the apartment where Zainie was supposed to live had been vacant. Also after tracking down Zainie (who is a real person) it turns out that Zainie never even met Casey. In fact Zainie has filed a defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony, claiming that she caused her to loose her job and has caused problems in her family's life.

A strong odor of decomposition was detected in Casey's car leading to speculation that a body may have been hidden there. Casey was eventually arrested and held on $500,000 bail, charged with child neglect, providing false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation. She is also charged in an unrelated case, accused of stealing checks from from her friend and going on a shopping spree.

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Casey made bail thanks to celebrity bail bondsman Tony Padilla and was confined to her parent's house wearing an ankle bracelet. However, police presented evidence to a grand jury and called witnesses to testify - including her own father, George Anthony - believing that Casey did in fact kill her daughter. The grand jury indicted her on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter. If convicted of first-degree murder, Casey Anthony could face the death penalty or life in prison. Prosecutors said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty.

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Man Kills Kitten in Front of Kids

Danield John Collins, 39, an ex-navy veteran and an alcoholic can now add convicted felon to his resume. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Collins, who lives in Muncie, Ind., pleaded guilty to a felony count of animal cruelty and two felony counts of neglect of a dependent. In exchange, prosecutors dropped three other felony charges. What makes this case so horrible is that Collins was convicted of killing his 8-month-old tuxedo kitten, named Boots, in front of his two young kids.

It all began when the grandparents, who have custody of the two children (a 7-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy), dropped them off at their father's house for a visit. The kids arrived to find that their father was drunk. According to the kids, their father was a different person when he is drunk. At some point during the visit the father passed out. When he awoke he ordered his 11-year-old son to stab the 8-month-old kitten. He gave him a knife and told him he wanted them to learn how to kill.

When Collins left to go to the bathroom, his son hid the kitten under a sofa bed and put ketchup on the knife in hopes of fooling his father into thinking the kitten was dead. When Collins realized that the kitten wasn't dead, he searched for it and found it under the sofa bed. He then grabbed his 7-year-old daughter by the hand so "hard it ached" and still holding her hand, forced her to stab the kitten in the side.

Still not satisfied he took the knife from her and stabbed the kitten again. He then proceeded to strangle the kitten in front of the two of them. When the kitten was dead he told his son to pick it up and throw it in the garbage.

When the children returned home, they told family members what had happened. The police were called and Collins was arrested and held on $40,000 bail. The police were able to retrieve the dead kitten from the garbage as evidence. Authorities said Boots had suffered a broken leg, broken teeth, a bruised ear, a ripped lip and two stab wounds but died as a result of being strangled.

Muncie police Detective Jami Brown said the case was particularly troubling because Collins involved his children in killing the cat, an 8-month-old tuxedo type-cat named Boots. "I've been doing investigations for 10 years and this is really bothering me," the detective said.

During his sentencing Collins said he could not remember exactly what happened that day but did not try to contradict the children's story. "I am extremely sorry for what I did," Danield J. Collins said. "Everything is my responsibility."

Under the plea agreement, which sends him to jail for 18 months, Collins also must receive counseling and attend parenting classes and substance abuse treatment. The judge also prohibited Collins from owning a pet. "This is not civilized conduct," Judge Robert Barnet Jr. said as he sentenced Collins.

Deputy Prosecutor Judi Calhoun said she was outraged by the crime but agreed to the plea deal so that the children would not have to testify against their father. Defense attorney Steve Bruce said Collins, a Navy veteran, has no previous felony convictions.