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Offline Oscar

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Boot camp director arrested
« on: June 08, 2011, 05:14:53 AM »
Local Boot Camp Leader Accused of Kidnapping Minor KTLA News, June 7, 2011

Quote
PASADENA, Calif. (KTLA) -- An instructor at a youth boot camp is accused of kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion in the alleged abduction of a truant teenager.

According to police, Kelvin "Sarge" McFarland handcuffed the teen, then took the boy to a family member's home demanding money before releasing him.

McFarland is also accused of trying to persuade the family to enroll the 14-year-old in his boot camp, "Family 1st Growth Camp."

McFarland is being held on a $285,000 bail.

He is due in court June 13 for a preliminary hearing.

Police believe he may have tried to extort money from other victims.

Anyone with information should contact the Pasadena Police

Fornits Wiki will be updated with info about this program. Here is their homepage
« Last Edit: June 13, 2011, 01:18:50 AM by Oscar »

Offline Oscar

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Re: Teen Transporter arrested
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2011, 05:48:19 AM »
Boot camp leader headed to court for kidnapping, by Brian Charles, Parsadena Star News, June 7, 2011

Quote
PASADENA - Boot camp instructor and at-risk youth advocate Kelvin "Sarge" McFarland will head to court June 13 on charges of false imprisonment, extortion, child abuse, unlawful use of a badge and kidnapping a 14-year-old girl.
McFarland is accused of handcuffing the victim on May 16 and transporting her to a family member's home, where he allegedly extorted $100 from the family by insisting that the girl was truant from school and should be enrolled in McFarland's Family 1st Growth Camp, according to Lt. Phlunte Riddle of the Pasadena Police Department.

"(The family) paid him for the boot camp," she said. "They thought they didn't have a choice."

McFarland's attire, which included a shirt with a one-inch mock badge emblazoned on his chest, led the family to believe he was a truant officer with the Pasadena Unified School District, she said.
But it was "his vernacular, the way (McFarland) spoke" that ultimately convinced the family to pay the boot camp instructor, said police Lt. Tracey Ibarra.

Questions about McFarland's story surfaced when the victim's father met with PUSD officials days later, Ibarra said.

"(The father) went to the school to ask whether the schools were involved, believing it to be a truancy issue," she said. "The district determined that the parents should contact the Pasadena police."

Police believe McFarland, who remains in custody on $285,000 bail, may have run the scam on other families in the city, Riddle said.

Former Pasadena mayor and McFarland's lawyer Bill Paparian blasted the Pasadena Police Department for commenting on the case and sullying the reputation of "well respected" member of the community.

"It is unfortunate that the police department is making statements publicly," Paparian said. "It's certainly not consistent from what I have come to expect from the Pasadena Police Department. I am not going to discuss specifics of the case publicly. It's going to be addressed in court."

McFarland has a record of arrests stretches back 20 years.

In 2000, he was arrested in West Covina and charged with one count of misdemeanor battery. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and was placed on three years non-supervised probation, according to Sandi Gibbons, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman.

In 2005, McFarland was arrested in Pomona for driving under the influence, driving while having .08 blood alcohol and driving with a suspended license, all misdemeanors. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. McFarland was sentenced to one year for the DUI, Gibbons said.

In 2009, McFarland was arrested in Pomona for one count of driving with a suspended license. He pleaded no contest on June 3 of this year to driving with a suspended license and sentenced to jail 34 days, Gibbons said.

In 1991, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor open alcohol container, driving while impaired and speeding, both traffic infractions, according to court records.

McFarland's record cost him a job a Sarge's Community Based Training, another boot camp for troubled teens in Pasadena and Altadena. its director said Tuesday.

"I fired him because he couldn't pass a criminal background check," said Keith "Sarge" Gibbs, who owns and operates Sarge's Community Based Training.

Gibbs said he parted ways with McFarland close to two years ago.

Paparian said McFarland "up into this point has enjoyed a very positive relationship with judges and with high ranking officials in this community."

Supporters of McFarland and his program said the boot camp instructor plays an "instrumental role" in reforming wayward teens, especially those who have been seduced by gang life.

"I used to be a gang member, he took me out of that," said David Robledo, a 16-year-old Pasadena cadet in McFarland's program. "I used to be a drug addict and he took me out of that. He is my role model."

Family 1st Growth Camp board member Elpidio Estolaf said he was aware of some of McFarland's past indiscretions and said those incidents don't reflect the strides McFarland has made in his life.

"He has had some issues in the past in terms of alcoholism in the past...a person can change," Estolaf said.

Fornits Wiki will include a record of "Sarge's Community Based Training" also.
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Offline Ursus

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Re: Teen Transporter arrested
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2011, 12:44:13 PM »
Geezzz. Another alcoholic zealot out to "improve the world" by messing with kids' minds!
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Offline Pile of Dead Kids

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Re: Teen Transporter arrested
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2011, 02:28:50 PM »
Oh yeah, this guy's toast, even with the former mayor as his lawyer. Florida cops are assholes, but they guard their authority jealously and really don't like people pretending to be them, especially when pulling shit like this. I see a double date with Bubba and Tyrone in his future.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
...Sergey Blashchishen, James Shirey, Faith Finley, Katherine Rice, Ashlie Bunch, Brendan Blum, Caleb Jensen, Alex Cullinane, Rocco Magliozzi, Elisa Santry, Dillon Peak, Natalynndria Slim, Lenny Ortega, Angellika Arndt, Joey Aletriz, Martin Anderson, James White, Christening Garcia, Kasey Warner, Shirley Arciszewski, Linda Harris, Travis Parker, Omega Leach, Denis Maltez, Kevin Christie, Karlye Newman, Richard DeMaar, Alexis Richie, Shanice Nibbs, Levi Snyder, Natasha Newman, Gracie James, Michael Owens, Carlton Thomas, Taylor Mangham, Carnez Boone, Benjamin Lolley, Jessica Bradford's unnamed baby, Anthony Parker, Dysheka Streeter, Corey Foster, Joseph Winters, Bruce Staeger, Kenneth Barkley, Khalil Todd, Alec Lansing, Cristian Cuellar-Gonzales, Janaia Barnhart, a DRA victim who never even showed up in the news, and yet another unnamed girl at Summit School...

Offline Che Gookin

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Re: Teen Transporter arrested
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2011, 09:55:22 PM »
I wonder if this is the same lot that grabbed that Brendan kid and shipped him to Diamond Ranch? They posed as cops. It's a felony offense, I'm surprised they haven't been arrested and convicted for it yet.
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Offline Ursus

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Teen boot camp director arrested
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2011, 04:59:50 PM »
Fwiw, this thread would appear to be about a boot camp director/owner (not a transporter/escort), who's facility is located in California. Maybe those errors were typos.
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Offline Oscar

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Re: Teen Transporter arrested
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2011, 02:50:50 AM »
We have updated Fornits Wiki with datasheets of both community based programs.

Sarge's community base
Families 1st
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Offline Ursus

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Re: Local Boot Camp Leader Accused of Kidnapping Minor
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2011, 12:15:53 PM »
Video link and pic from the article in the OP above, "Local Boot Camp Leader Accused of Kidnapping Minor" (June 7, 2011; KTLA News):


VIDEO: Watch Glen Walker's Report
    An instructor at a youth boot camp is accused of kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion in the alleged abduction of a truant teenager.[/list]


    Kelvin McFarland (Booking Photo)
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    Offline heretik

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    Re: Teen boot camp director arrested
    « Reply #8 on: June 12, 2011, 12:48:25 PM »
    Quote from: "Ursus"
    Fwiw, this thread would appear to be about a boot camp director/owner (not a transporter/escort), who's facility is located in California. Maybe those errors were typos.

    He appeared to be acting in the capacity (at the time of the crime) as an escort. Is this not true. Will the charges reflect this. Please not trying to play semantics here, just trying to understand your opinion.
    « Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

    Offline Ursus

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    Re: Teen boot camp director arrested
    « Reply #9 on: June 12, 2011, 01:58:25 PM »
    Quote from: "heretik"
    Quote from: "Ursus"
    Fwiw, this thread would appear to be about a boot camp director/owner (not a transporter/escort), who's facility is located in California. Maybe those errors were typos.
    He appeared to be acting in the capacity (at the time of the crime) as an escort. Is this not true. Will the charges reflect this. Please not trying to play semantics here, just trying to understand your opinion.
    From what I can tell, he was posing as a truancy officer (not even as an escort). From what I can tell, there was absolutely no teen escort or transport service involved nor insinuated to be involved. Perhaps there is more info that I haven't come across yet.

    Nonetheless, it is immaterial as to what he was posing as when it comes to describing who or what McFarland actually is, which the thread title avers or infers, and yet, which is amply described as otherwise in both the article in the OP as well as the one immediately following it. See articles:


    Having the thread title describe Kelvin McFarland as a teen transporter or escort is misleading, and is causing folk to be confused as to the actual facts in this case. I do wish the thread title would be changed.

    From reading the few articles available (most are just rehashes of the same info), my guess is that this saga is about a boot camp operator who tried to rev up a lil more binnis for himself, whether it was for ideological reasons and/or greed is unclear. He put on a uniform and/or badge and posed as a truancy officer or, at the least, as someone who was in a position of authority to detain truant teenagers. He found a truant teenager, or who he thought was a truant teenager, and brought the kid home to his family. He probably cooked up some scenario where the parent was told that "charges" or other legal troubles would be dropped/go away if the kid were enrolled in some kind of "alternative program" like this fine local Family 1st Growth Camp program. He took a $100 deposit as confirmation that the kid would be or was actually enrolled.

    I should stress that the immediately preceding paragraph consists of my personal opinion and good faith speculation as to what actually transpired, and should not be confused or interpreted to be equivalent to hard facts. At this point in time, hard facts are not available to the general public.

    Nevertheless, news reports currently in circulation indicate that McFarland is being charged with false imprisonment, extortion, child abuse, unlawful use of a badge and kidnapping a 14-year-old minor. His hearing is on the 13th; I'm sure more info will be available then.
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    Offline Inculcated

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    Kelvin "Sarge" McFarland arrested
    « Reply #10 on: June 12, 2011, 04:19:05 PM »
    This warped concept of the use of *transporters* is fraught with enough perils that it is in and of itself a significant problem. That it has now developed into this situation of a fucking unlawful detaining a child (and possibly others) under a similar pretext of Sergeant Stranger Danger misrepresenting himself as a truancy officer… for the purpose of abduction, recruitment and extortion... I am so profoundly pissed! The practice of children being abducted from their homes by some hired toughs has in all likelihood given this dumb thug the idea that he can and should go make a buck and fill some plastic seats to boot by abducting a child off the street at random. This is an exemplar of the perilous collision of the perception of kids as commodities and the pathologizing of adolescence in action!
     
    The message of an anything less than an as full as the extent of the law permits sentence imposed on this man would essentially put a target on the back of every unaccompanied minor.  

    I can see it now : Predator sips iced-tea as Steve Hanson enters with introduction and asks what were you thinking? Predator answers: Well, I saw this kid online and I was going to recruit them to a program and the condoms and winecoolers were going to be a visual aid part of my teen safety lecture.  
     :suicide:

    Edited:  Thx Oscar!
    « Last Edit: June 13, 2011, 04:01:27 AM by Inculcated »
    “A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free”  Nikos Kazantzakis

    Offline heretik

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    Kelvin "Sarge" McFarland arrested
    « Reply #11 on: June 12, 2011, 09:09:32 PM »
    excerpt from a post by Ursus above:

    Quote
    I should stress that the immediately preceding paragraph consists of my personal opinion and good faith speculation as to what actually transpired, and should not be confused or interpreted to be equivalent to hard facts. At this point in time, hard facts are not available to the general public.

    Nevertheless, news reports currently in circulation indicate that McFarland is being charged with false imprisonment, extortion, child abuse, unlawful use of a badge and kidnapping a 14-year-old minor. His hearing is on the 13th; I'm sure more info will be available then.

    Thanks for elaborating on this "con job" by this individual, acting as if he is somebody. I hope we don't find out he was working at the behest of the caregivers. Still I hope he is slapped down hard by the Judicial process.
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    Offline Inculcated

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    Re: Boot camp director arrested
    « Reply #12 on: June 13, 2011, 04:31:20 AM »
    After  “false imprisonment, extortion, child abuse, unlawful use of a badge and kidnapping a 14-year-old girl”, Kelvin "Sarge" McFarland took her to her parents where he insisted she be enrolled in his boot camp, "(The family) paid him for the boot camp." "They thought they didn't have a choice."
    He secured a hundred dollar fee from the parents who were under the impression he was a truancy officer. "(The father) went to the school to ask whether the schools were involved, believing it to be a truancy issue,". "The district determined that the parents should contact the Pasadena police."
    The quotes from the article cited and linked in the 2nd post of this thread indicate Sarge was not acting at the behest of the caregivers. Sadly, there may have been others taken by this sham. “Police believe McFarland, who remains in custody on $285,000 bail, may have run the scam on other families in the city”
    « Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
    “A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free”  Nikos Kazantzakis

    Offline Ursus

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    Re: Boot camp director arrested
    « Reply #13 on: June 13, 2011, 12:56:20 PM »
    Quote from: "John Huntsman"
    I think this is a real shame.  It's obvious this man's goal was only to help this child.  This is the thanks we get when we try to help.
    I can think of a number of situations where a stated goal of "only helping this child" has led to disastrous and quite terminal results.

    Does the (avowed) noble intention ... warrant or excuse the criminal means?
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    Offline Ursus

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    Monrovia man, local boot camp leader known as 'Sarge'...
    « Reply #14 on: June 13, 2011, 01:41:02 PM »
    Another article about this case:

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    Pasadena Star-News

    Monrovia man, local boot camp leader known as 'Sarge,' arrested on suspicion of kidnapping minor

    Posted: 06/07/2011 10:32:50 AM PDT


    Kelvin McFarland (Courtesy Pasadena Police Department)

    PASADENA - A Monrovia man who runs a youth boot camp for at-risk teens is facing kidnapping, extortion and other charges stemming from allegations he handcuffed a 14-year-old girl and demanded money from her parents for her release.

    Kelvin McFarland, 40, who goes by "Sarge" and regularly wears a camouflage uniform as part of his Pasadena/Altadena-based boot camp business, Family 1st Growth Camp, was arrested May 27 and was being held on $285,000 bail, police said.

    He was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, child abuse, false imprisonment, extortion and unlawful use of a badge. He has a scheduled June 13 preliminary hearing, officials said.

    According to police, McFarland allegedly handcuffed the 14-year-old, who was truant from school. He then allegedly drove her to a relative's home and demanded money before releasing her.

    McFarland then allegedly attempted to persuade the family into enrolling the minor in his boot camp business.

    Detectives believe McFarland may have committed similar acts and obtained illegal payments from parents or guardians and are asking anyone who may have been a victim to contact the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241.


    Copyright ©2008 Los Angeles Newspaper group
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