Monthly Archives: June 2003

Absurd Prison Sentence for Couple in False Rape Extortion Scam

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Jessica Langshaw, 20, and her boyfriend, Raul Umana, 28, had a neat little scam that left them with more than $500,000 in profits before they were caught. But it was what happened after they were caught that was just as outrageous.

The scam worked like this. Langshaw would get to know men whom she’d meet over Internet chat room (and a few she knew personally). Then she’d tell the marks that unless they gave her money, she would file sexual assault charges against them.

Over a period of 8 months, Langshaw targeted 8 men in this way and she and her boyfriend collected more than $500,000 from this blackmail scheme.

She was finally caught during a routine meeting of different California law enforcement agencies. Langshaw’s name was mentioned and several law enforcement officials realized they all had rape reports filed by the young woman.

According to Ed Ward, Langshaw was charged with 6 felony counts of extortion, 5 felony counts of postal threats, and 3 perjuries and false reports of rape. Her boyfriend was charged with 9 counts of extortion, 8 threats, three counts of perjury and 3 false reports of rape.

Rather than go to trial, District Attorney Jan Scully reached a plea bargain with the couple which isn’t surprising. But the plea bargain involved Langshaw spending only 1 year in jail and Umana spending less than 2 years in jail. For filing numerous false reports of rape and extortion for material gain that is a ridiculously low sentence. Surely the District Attorney could have obtained a better plea bargain that for attempting to subvert the criminal justice system for personal profit.

The result is just mind boggling.

Source:

It’s almost official: Abuse U.S. Courts for power and profit. Ed Ward, NewsWithViews.Com, April 28, 2003.

Bite-sized items from here and there. KnoxNews.Com, April 22, 2003.

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Great Britain Considering a Domestic Violence Registry

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The BBC reports that Great Britain is considering creating a domestic violence registry similar to its national sexual offender registry.

The registry would track anyone who was sentenced to jail six months or more for an act of domestic violence, and require such individuals to report with police when they move. According to the BBC,

The decision on whether to tell a woman of her partner’s violent past would be made after a risk assessment by police and social services.

It’s not clear if this registry will only list men convicted of domestic violence or if the BBC is just being sloppy with its language.

Source:

Domestic violence register ‘planned’. The BBC, May 26, 2003.

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Argentina Judge Bans Contraception

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Argentine judge Cristina Garzon De Lascano ruled in May that oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices should be banned because they constitute abortion. According to the BBC, de Lascano ordered the destruction of all existing stocks of such medications and devices.

This is not the first time de Lascano has made controversial rulings related to reproductive health. In 2001, she ordered a ban on the morning-after pill, and in February ruled that Argentina’s laws protecting women’s reproductive health could not be applied in Cordoba province. She was overruled by a higher court on that last decision.

The BBC reported that Argentine health minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia vowed to fight to reverse de Lascano’s latest judgment, characterizing it as,

. . . absurd and based on the plea of religious fundamentalists, without consulting a single a medical academic at the Health Ministry.

Abortion is illegal in Argentina, but an estimated 400,000 women have abortions every year anyway.

Sources:

Argentine contraceptive ban ‘absurd’. The BBC, May 24, 2003.

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