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Jane Velez-Mitchell

Six Arrested in Brutal Murder of Boy, 15; Abuse Survivor Speaks Out Against Nanny

Aired April 20, 2011 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, stomach-turning violence in Florida. Cops say a group of teenagers lured a 15-year-old boy to a house, beat him, shot him, and set his body on fire. Investigators say this gruesome crime might be a love triangle gone terribly wrong. Tonight I`m asking, what`s with this horrific new trend of group violence involving teenagers? I`ll have the fast-breaking details.

And a young girl endured six terrifying years of sexual abuse at the hands of the nanny her parents trusted. In an ISSUES primetime exclusive, I`ll speak one on one with this brave survivor about the hellish abuse she experienced and her battle to protect kids from molesters.

Also, war on women out of control. This is a beautiful woman who says her husband beat her black and blue inside a courthouse in front of a judge. As outrage escalates, the judge speaks out about the brutal attack he witnessed. Now there are calls to rewrite the rules on restraining orders.

Plus, is your teen a cutter or bulimic? Disney star Demi Lovato says she was bullied for being fat. She says the abuse drove her to bulimia and to cut herself. What every parent needs to know to protect their child. I`m taking your calls.

ISSUES starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything you want to say for yourself, Mike?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, horror in Florida. Cops call that silent young man, 18-year-old Michael Bargo, the ring leader in the savage murder of another teen boy. The victim, 15-year-old Seath Jackson, seen here on CN-News-13. Look at this innocent face, OK? Who was allegedly lured to a home by an ex-girlfriend who kept texting him.

Once there, cops say a group of teens viciously pounced on this boy, hitting him on the head with wooden objects. Cops say ring leader Michael Bargo then shot the boy repeatedly with a.22 caliber.

Cops say Bargo hated the boy, apparently because the victim had previously dated the teen girl he`s currently going out with. She is among the minor suspects under arrest for murder tonight. Cops say she watched the killing, the killing of a boy she used to date.

Some of the details of this murder are just way too graphic for us to repeat here. All over a teenage love triangle? How sick is that?

Cops say Bargo and four other young people, ages 15 to 20, actually plotted to get Seath to come over to one of the teen`s homes. Cops say after the boy was shot, initially, he desperately tried to leave so they tackled him, and Bargo allegedly shot him again.

It didn`t stop there. Cops say they put Seath in a bathtub so they could easily break his knees and fit his body into a bag. When they realized Seath was still alive, instead of stopping and thinking, "Oh, my God, we`ve made a terrible mistake," cops say Bargo shot Seath again.

Cops say this gang of teens then burned Seath`s body until it was just ashes and bone fragments and then put the remains into paint cans, took them to another location, then cleaned the house.

In the meantime, there is one more player in this sick and twisted saga, the 37-year-old stepfather of two of the accused kids. Cops say he knew about this plot and even helped dispose of the remains. Isn`t a parental unit supposed to stop this kind of horror?

Does this sick story represent a lethal cocktail of all of society`s worst ills? Yes. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to Jon Lieberman, investigative reporter for Track180.com.

Jon, I understand there is a breaking development in this investigation. What do you know?

JON LIEBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: There is, Jane. What a brutal case. Our thoughts and prayers are with Seath tonight.

We have just learned that dive teams have found three five-gallon paint buckets in a lime rock pit. The reason why this is significant is because one of the suspects in this case actually led the dive teams to this lime rock pit, and now the contents of these cans are being tested. It is believed that they are this young boy`s remains. But that has not been confirmed yet.

But what we can confirm is one of the suspects led the dive teams there. They have recovered three of these paint cans that match the descriptions of what this boy`s remains were put into.

And right now police are also searching for that .22 caliber murder weapon, as well.

But I`ll tell you this, Jane. Another disturbing -- disturbing part of this case is this. The premeditated nature of this case and the fact that these suspects are accused of actually wiping down the entire house with bleach after his horrific crime. These kids knew what they were doing. Allegedly, they got help from that 37-year-old stepfather and then they even had the wherewithal to wipe down the crime scene with bleach. It is absolutely so disturbing and -- and horrific.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our hearts go out to Seath`s parents, who originally reported him missing, because they thought maybe he ran away or something. This is beyond comprehension. And two girls involved in this.

Now, 37-year-old James Havens is charged with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Not coincidentally, Havens is the stepfather of the two youngest suspects, 15-year-old Amber and 16-year-old Kyle.

Now, Amber is the girl cops say was at the center of this hateful love triangle. It was Amber and Kyle`s mom who went to the police after her son told her that he had witnessed the murder, and then the whole story apparently came out.

So here`s my big issue. Stepfather failure? Cops say this step-dad knew about the plan to kill Seath and allegedly even helped get rid of the remains.

Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, why on earth didn`t he confront the kids or talk with his wife as soon as he learned about this demented plot?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That`s a great question. Who knows what was going through this guy`s mind? He`s no role model whatsoever. And I want to know, does he have any violent crimes in his past? There`s nothing that I could find -- I don`t know if Jon might know. There`s nothing that I can find that showed that he had any kind of violent past.

But you know, Jane. You know how you`re always correcting people on your show when people say, "Oh, they acted like an animal"? And I`m glad you do that now. I used to say, you know what, maybe. But animals don`t even treat their own kind like this, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.

BROOKS: This is -- we always say we think we`ve heard it all. But this, another case, Jane. Unbelievable.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And it goes on and on and on. I`ve got to go to Stacy Padger, psychotherapist. So many of the crimes that you`re hearing about today involve this group thing.

For example, we had this gang rape recently, Texas, 11-year-old girl gang-raped by, according to cops, at least 18 boys and young men raging in age from 14 to 26. That was last month in Texas. What`s going on with groups of teenagers behaving so viciously and violently?

STACY PADGER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, it`s always been true that teenagers in groups feel more powerful and stronger. And I think what`s starting to happen now is you get somebody who`s like a ring leader, and I`m guessing that this ring leader has violence in her past, meaning that she`s either inflicted it or somebody has inflicted it on her. And then she wrangles together a bunch of insecure and needy people to become, like, her gang followers. And those people pretty much will do whatever that ring leader says without worrying about the consequences.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ve got to say, if you`re talking about what sparked this vicious crime, the victim, Seath, had reportedly ended a romantic relationship with 15-year-old Amber. Their breakup, which was via some very ugly posts between the two on his Facebook page, was definitely stormy.

Meantime, Amber had already started dating the suspected shooter, Michael Bargo. I think that`s the guy you see there in the orange. Bargo says he hates the victim.

But I don`t understand why you hate -- you won the girl. Why are you so interested in hating somebody who lost -- the victim who lost the girl that the girl allegedly lured this boy over.

BROOKS: Exactly.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That she doesn`t want anymore, saying she wants to reconcile. And then the guy she`s currently dating allegedly attacks him and shoots him. It doesn`t make any sense. It`s psycho.

Ramona, Kentucky, your question or thought, ma`am?

CALLER: This -- this is horrible. And it reminds me of my grandson a few years back. That`s the first time I`d ever heard of bullying. And it was over a girl. His girlfriend lured him outside of my home. He was spending the weekend with me. And five boys jumped him, and they about beat him to death. And they would have, if a friend had not heard and called the law.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ramona, you are raising a fantastic point. And my question is -- I`ve got to go to Jon Lieberman on this, because so many of us -- a part of these stories, is technology enabling more violence and hatred? This all started on the Facebook page. He reportedly called Amber a name. You can`t tell context. You can`t tell when somebody is joking on a Facebook page.

LIEBERMAN: No. And I will tell you, though, that thank goodness for many of those Facebook posts, because that`s actually helped investigators between the text messages and between the Facebook posts.

But to your point, absolutely. It is so amazing these days how this rage develops on Facebook on many of these, you know, social forums. But, in fact, in this case it helped investigators, because now they have an electronic footprint.

That and the fact that one of the suspects in this case couldn`t keep their mouth shut, told their mother almost immediately what they had witnessed, and they went right to the cops.

So the only sort of good thing in all this is that it got solved so quickly because kids don`t keep their mouth shut.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is Florida. You can get the death penalty at age 17. So the ring leader, 18, could presumably get the death penalty.

Fantastic panel, thank you. We`ll stay on top of that story later.

A woman says her husband beat her inside the courthouse. We`re going to show you the video. It`s absolutely unbelievable. Now the judge who witnessed the attack is speaking out, and you won`t believe what he has to say.

But first, a young girl sexually abused for six long years by her female nanny that her parents trusted to take care of her. I`m going to speak to this brave woman who is a survivor. You won`t believe how she broke through and is now helping perpetrators. It`s an amazing story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN BOOK, SEXUAL ABUSE ACTIVIST: I know that we can prevent this. I know the pain that survivors feel. So, you know, I feel like it`s my responsibility to work towards healing survivors and empowering them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOOK: I was abused from the time that I was 11 until I was 16 years old by my nanny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You heard it right. Tonight in a primetime exclusive we`re going to hear from a courageous young woman who is now speaking out about years of horrific tournament, all at the hands of her female nanny.

The molestation began when Lauren Book was just 11 years old and continued until she was 17. The predator was the family`s trusted nanny, a woman she called Waldy. Waldy abused Lauren sexually and physically for six years, and Lauren kept that toxic secret to herself the entire time.

Lauren finally had the courage to break out of the sick cycle, and she is here to tell us about what happened and how she`s using her own nightmarish story to help other victims and even help perpetrators.

Lauren, first of all, let me say you`re my hero. Your survival story is absolutely incredible, and I applaud you for having the courage to speak out and be of service.

Let`s start at the beginning. What sort of abuse did this Waldy character, your female nanny who is now in prison, subject you to? How did it start and how did it escalate?

BOOK: Well, it began with a grooming process. It started very benign, just hugs and kisses and me not talking about it or telling my parents. And then it escalated into sexual abuse and then became very physically abusive, turning into torture. I was defecated on, urinated on, thrown down a flight of stairs, all as a controlling mechanism.

She continued then to psychologically abuse me and make me believe that she was the only person that cared about me in my life. So she was able to totally come in, manipulate me and all the my members of the family to believe that she was the nice, sweet nanny that everybody thought that she was.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is such a horrifying story, but what really kind of -- I reacted viscerally to was reading that one of the first things she did was when she wanted you to spit out your gum, tell us about that. Because I think this is important for parents out there to see how this operates so they can spot the warning signs.

BOOK: Absolutely. It`s something that we talk about in our book -- in my book. And what that first experience was just -- you know, I was chewing my gum rather loudly, and she said, "You`re going to spit that gum out."

And I said, "What are you going to do about it?" And she decided to then stick her tongue in my mouth and take the gum out of my mouth with her tongue. And that was the first real kind of sexual act that she had perpetrated against me.

And I was so afraid and so scared that I didn`t run and tell my mom and dad, and I didn`t run and talk to them about what had happened, because I was ashamed and I -- I began all those things that victims do. They`re afraid. They`re ashamed. They feel dirty.

And when she realized I did not go and talk to my parents, she knew she had me hook, line, and sinker. As it was, I was a child who didn`t really have a mom who was involved in her life, so she took advantage of that and she really began to be that figure in my life and use that against me.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, here`s my big issue, because this is at the heart of this for so many families, keeping the secrets.

Now, this started when you were 11. It was physical beatings and sexual abuse for six years. And apparently, she forced you to have sex in bathrooms, in closets, and beat you on parts of your body. How is it possible that your parents didn`t see any of the results of the beating? And why -- I`m not in any way, shape, or form blaming you. It`s classic that the victims don`t speak. But so we can understand, why didn`t you tell your parents?

BOOK: It`s one of those things where Waldy was a very smart predator. That`s what she is. She`s a predator. She wouldn`t hit me where my parents would look. It wasn`t on my arms or my legs. She`d hit me on my lower back. I was 11, 12, 13, 14-year-old. My dad wasn`t searching my body. My mom wasn`t really able to pay attention.

Beyond that, she totally came in and had everybody groomed into the process and really had everybody believing she was this nice, sweet, kind nanny who really, you know, was doing these awful things.

And she, to me was like a mother figure. So I didn`t want to tell on my mother. I didn`t want my dad to think that I was dirty or may have, you know, been doing anything inappropriate or that I wanted it to happen. And that so often happens, that once that secret begins to -- to manifest, it continues and it continues and it continues and it grows and grows and grows and went on for as long as it did.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I want to congratulate you on your marriage to professional golfer Chris Lim. And you seem like a very now happy, well- balanced person, because you`re doing your service work, which we`ll get to in a second.

I have to ask you a personal question, because I think a lot of people are wondering about this. Only answer if you feel comfortable.

BOOK: Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How did this abuse impact your adult relationships of an intimate nature? Did it -- did it cripple you in any way?

BOOK: Well, actually, you know, it takes a lot of work to be in the process of recovery. I`m actually no longer married to Chris Lynn. We just got divorced on the road.

But I am in a very happy, loving relationship right now, and that`s something that you constantly are working on, and you`re constantly working on that process. And as long as you have open and honest communications with your partners, and you yourself are aware and continue on that healing journey, you can have successful, healthy, positive relationships and become a thriving survivor.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you are living proof of that.

Quickly, hold up your book, because I know you have a book that you want to tell us about. What`s the title there?

BOOK: It`s called "It`s OK to Tell," and it talks about my healing journey, my process of recovery and how people can become thriving survivors. And it mentions...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, we`re going to talk about the amazing work you`re doing and talk to a psychotherapist about women abusing women.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLEEN, SURVIVOR OF SEXUAL ABUSE: To be a survivor rather than a victim, if you`re a survivor you receive treatment and you can live with it. Victims, even though the abuse has stopped, victims are still allowing it to come into their everyday lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m back with my exclusive interview with Lauren Book, a true hero who survived years of brutal sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her own female nanny.

Lauren now has actually been working to help homeless sex offenders relocate from this area underneath a causeway in Miami so they can find legal places to live.

I got to tell you, Lauren, the idea that you`re helping the same category of people who abused you is extraordinary. Why?

BOOK: Well, I appreciate that. But really, we`re not very soft on sex offenders here at Lauren`s Kids or anything that -- you know, that I do. What it is about is about keeping our community safer for our children. And it`s about doing the things that we need to do to make sure that our communities are safer.

We stand by the residency restrictions. What was happening was improper discharge management when sex offenders and predators were getting out of prison. And we`ve worked to close those loopholes. And we`ve worked to work on housing so that these individuals have a place to go so we can keep track of them and know where they are so they can no longer harm our children.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: They can`t charge their devices if they`re living under a bridge, and if they don`t charge their devices, then they`re running around without a tracking device that works. So you want to make sure we can track them, and that means putting them in a place that has an address. Is that correct?

BOOK: We want to -- we want to make sure we know where they are, where they are, when they are and all the time so we can keep our kids safer.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Fantastic. Unbelievable. I really admire you, because you`re not a victim. You`re a survivor, and you`re being of service.

One of the most shocking aspects of Lauren`s stories is that her abuser was a woman. Most people think of male predators who victimize girls, like Phillip Garrido, right? Who kidnapped and allegedly began raping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11, the same age as Lauren when her abuse started.

Or we think about female teachers, like Debra Lafave. She went after a male student.

But women who molest girls, how rare is that, Stacy Kaiser, psychotherapist?

STACY KAISER, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: A lot of people think that women don`t molest girls, and so that`s part of the naivete that we all have.

The statistics are somewhere between 15 percent to 25 percent of kids who are molested, being -- girls who are molesting, molested by women, and that is not that low. And I think it is even that low because a lot of people don`t want to come forth. They don`t want to be honest and talk about it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what absolutely just almost made me fall off my chair, apparently this woman continued to write you, Lauren, after she was convicted and incarcerated?

BOOK: That`s true. She continued to try and manipulate me from prison and write letters to me and try and ask even for me to ask the governor to get her out of prison and request money and funds. So, yes, she was a very, very sick individual who will be spending a long time in prison.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did that re-victimize you again, the horror of, "Oh, my God, I`m getting a letter from this person," who, as you say, murdered your childhood?

BOOK: Absolutely. You know, as a survivor you`re going through so much. The day that you start surviving is the day that your abuser leaves, not before.

I was dealing with anorexia, down to 70 pounds. My hair was falling out. I was burning myself. Self-mutilation kicked in. It was a terrible, terrible position to be in. And then to continue to be manipulated by this women just put me back even further.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I hope you come back. I think you`re fantastic. Hats off to you. Thank you, Lauren.

BOOK: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Coming up, a woman who says she was brutally beaten by her husband.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: War on women out of control.

This is a beautiful woman who says her husband beat her black and blue inside a courthouse in front of a judge. As outrage escalates, the judge speaks out about the brutal attack he witnessed. Now there are calls to rewrite the rules on restraining orders.

Plus, is your teen a cutter or bulimic? Disney star, Demi Lovato says she was bullied for being fat? She says the abuse drove her to bulimia and to cut herself. What every parent needs to know to protect their child. I`m taking your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rarely in my career have I ever set a bond in this amount or even approaching it. But the allegations are indeed extremely serious and shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You don`t mince words, judge. Tonight earth- shattering insight into that horrific beating inside a judge`s chambers -- not that judge, another judge. We`re going to hear from that other judge who actually witnessed the attack and watched the woman`s estranged husband beat her to a pulp.

We`ve got to warn you, this woman`s injuries are awful. But hiding her (INAUDIBLE) black eyes would be hiding what really happened to her so take a look. This is Caty Scott Gonzales, bloodied and black and blue. She says her husband beat her in the judge`s chambers right in front of the judge during their final divorce hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATY SCOTT GONZALES, SAYS ESTRANGED HUSBAND ATTACKED HER: I just had a bad feeling but I thought that the place that I was in, that there was nothing that could happen to me and I was wrong. I feel honestly fearful for my life. Just the thought of him scares me to death and I don`t know what I`m going to do if he gets out of prison or jail or wherever he`s going because I feel like he`s going to finish what he started.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s right. She`s living in fear tonight even though he`s behind bars because in this society, how long is he going to get? Who knows?

It took a dozen deputies and a taser gun to get Paul Gonzales off of his wife. Now he`s in jail on $1 million bond. Caty Gonzales says she previously tried to get a restraining order, begged for one, but she was denied two times -- denied. Now she fears for her life if he ever gets out.

Honestly, would a restraining order, the way they are currently crafted, have even stopped this horror or would it have just angered this husband even more? It is time women get the legal muscle they need to prevent this kind of atrocity from happening?

Does a woman have to be beaten or killed before the courts take notice? Are you as outraged as I am? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Dr. Judy Kuriansky; I have to say this Dr. Judy, the judge who witnessed the attack in his chambers called it, and this is a quote, "an unfortunate incident by someone who is stressed out." Talk about an asinine understatement. This isn`t stress. This is hateful rage, Dr. Judy.

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: There`s no question about it. And the interesting and horrific part about it is that what happens is that when men are given sometimes these orders, which this woman did not get, they become even more rageful because they`ve been told that this was to stay away from the woman.

And so she`s absolutely right. The rage escalates, they become irrational, and the woman fears for the rest of her life, as this woman is fearing. But I have to say Jane that even getting a restraining order does not stop some men like this and some women from being afraid so they really need support systems. They have to build a whole realm of people and system around themselves to feel safe.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. That`s what I call the psychological burka. We point to other parts of the world and say women are kept burkas. Well, we`re wearing a psychological burka if we have that much of a bubble of protection to stop us from mad men -- alleged mad men -- and I do have to say we haven`t been able to reach an attorney, if he has one. And he -- his attorney is invited on at any time to tell his side of the story because, boy, I`d love to ask that person a question and I`d love to ask this character a question.

Now the judge who witnessed the attack says it came out of nowhere in his office chambers. Here`s a play-by-play of what the judge says happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE RON ROTHSCHILD, BROWARD COUNTY 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT: Now, all this was in a blink of your eye. From the time he left the chambers and he walked out of the chambers, came back very quickly, and without hesitation directed two very quick blows to the head of his now ex-wife and by the time there was a third blow administered, the boy`s attorney had him in a bear hug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It took a dozen deputies and two shots from a taser gun to subdue this guy.

HLN law enforcement analyst, Mike Brooks, I know when you go to the courthouse these days they have metal detectors but this guy`s weapon allegedly was his hands. What do they have to do to stop something like this?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Ok. Here`s my problem with this, Jane. If in fact she had asked for a restraining order against this guy twice, what does that say? That says that he most likely had some propensity towards violence.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

BROOKS: That should be in the court jacket and if that`s the case, why not have a deputy in the chambers while all this is going on and until he leaves that building, have someone escorting him because of the possible restraining order.

You know what? Could this have been prevented? I think it could have been. So, you know me, I usually take up for law enforcement but in this particular case, Jane, I think that they could have done better.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I think she might have a lawsuit there. Remember the D.C. sniper case: before John Muhammad became the D.C. sniper, he was a wife abuser. Muhammad and an accomplice killed ten people in a series of shootings in 2002. His second wife Mildred got a restraining order against him, which he violated.

After the shootings it became apparent that Muhammad`s whole plan, crazy sick plan of a killing spree was to kill his wife in order to get custody of his three kids.

Well, one of my heroes -- another one of my heroes -- tonight Mildred Muhammad joins us live on ISSUES. I want to thank you for being here. You`ve taken this all in. You`ve watched this woman who was beaten to a pulp speak. What`s your reaction? Can you relate to her suffering?

MILDRED MUHAMMAD, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVOR: Yes, I can relate to her suffering. Thank you for having me Jane. Yes, I can. And I do understand the fear that she has where she says she doesn`t know what she`s going to do. She feels like if he gets out, he`s going to kill her.

It is unfortunate she was unable to get a restraining order and I`m sure it was due to the fact that she did not have physical scars to prove that she was a victim. Now, there are many courts around this country that it`s becoming really hard for victims to get restraining orders. And they do have to be revised so that we can feel safe when we go into a courtroom to get help.

Now, she had a level of trust going into the courtroom and her trust was betrayed because the protection was not there for her. No one could have foreseen this happening. But I do agree with your analyst that say that if the judge had the paperwork to show that she requested a restraining order, then a deputy should have been in the chambers --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

MUHAMMAD: -- and there should have been somewhere there to help in subduing him instead of having 12 police officers to come in, to tase him twice before he was able to get her.

She still has that cycle of trauma that she needs to get through and she`s still in fear for her life because now she feels that no one will be able to stop him from getting to her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Because how long was he -- let`s say he`s convicted? And I`m not going to convict him here because I wasn`t in that actual chambers. But let`s say he`s convicted.

MUHAMMAD: Right.

BROOKS: But look at her face.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I know. Listen, please I realize that. But I`m saying I have to be --

BROOKS: Objective, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- legally careful. But the thing is that we give murders five years behind bars. Who knows how much he`s going to get for what -- what he`s got here? What are they giving him? Felony battery, domestic violence and resisting arrest without violence; so, who knows how many years he`s going to get.

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKS: Well, hopefully the judge who was the witness will take all this into account, you know. And I hope that weak statement he made doesn`t come into court, you know, that he doesn`t have the same weakness when he`s sentencing this guy.

MUHAMMAD: Well, unfortunately --

DR. KURIANSKY: It`s going to be even worse when he is in prison for however long because we`ve already seen -- this is an ex-marine, by the way. We would have thought that he would follow orders but in fact did the opposite and his rage is that great. So when he gets out he will be even more rageful and my fear is that he -- even when he`s in -- he could plot something with other people to do something against her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Cindy, California, your question or thought, ma`am?

CINDY, CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Hi, Jane. I think that the laws pertaining to restraining orders change. I think any woman who has to prove by black eyes and broken arms and broken noses that this person violent and being -- attacking them, that has to change. That`s the bottom line.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You bring me right to my big focus tonight. Caty Gonzales says she knew her husband was capable of violence and that she tried to get help, so here`s what she did.

Let`s listen to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALES: I respectfully request with police documentation for a restraining order back in November and it got denied twice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s outrageous that she had police documentation but could not get a restraining order on two occasions. So here`s my big issue tonight: weak restraints. In order to get a temporary restraining order in Florida, the petitioner has to provide prove of two acts of violence.

My gosh, Mike Brooks, by the time two acts of violence occurred the woman might be dead.

BROOKS: What more do you need? They always say call law enforcement and make a report. She did that. She had the documentation.

The court systems dropped the ball here, Jane. The prosecutor`s office, the DA`s office in Florida; they are the ones that dropped the ball.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mildred Muhammad, you`ve been through this. Do you find the system generally unresponsive to women who are victims of domestic violence?

MUHAMMAD: Mostly to those who don`t have the physical scars to prove that they are victims of domestic violence. And unfortunately that`s how it is. You have to have a physical assault before the police will come out to do you any justice.

So you have to document, document, document, date and time, make sure you have witness statements. Make sure you understand the process, get an advocate to help you to go into the court to write a restraining order because you have to know the terminology to use to get one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. You need a PhD in violence to get a restraining order. It`s an outrageous system.

Thank you fabulous panel and thank you especially, Mildred, for being here.

MUHAMMAD: Thank you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break, Disney star, Demi Lovato says she was bullied, called fat, and the abuse made her bulimic and cut herself. This is an unbelievable story. Every parent has to hear this especially if you have a teenager or a tween at home. Call me 1-877-JVM- SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

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DEMI LOVATO, SINGER/ACTRESS: The journey that I`ve been on has been very, very difficult over the past few months. I was dealing with issues that I know not only girls just my age but of all ages are dealing with. People that are probably watching this video right now are dealing with the issues that I had, too.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight from bullying to bulimia to cutting; teen Disney sensation, Demi Lovato, is facing her own demons head on finally. And her story just might make parents think twice before thinking this can`t happen to my kid. Oh, yes, it can.

After spending three months in an in-patient treatment center, after hitting another dancer, Lovato says she is leaving her Disney Channel show, "Sunny with a Chance" to focus on her music career.

Here`s a clip from Hollywood records on YouTube.com.

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(MUSIC VIDEO)

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: So beautiful, so talented, and yet Lovato tells "People" magazine that at the peak of her eating disorder she was only eating two times a week but throwing up five times a day. And in treatment she also found out that she`s bipolar. That`s a heck of a lot to handle for an 18-year-old who was the star of Disney`s "Camp Rock" movies who says she is constantly under pressure, that she was constantly bullied in grade school for, of all things, being fat.

Here is Demi on "Good Morning America".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOVATO: I literally didn`t know why they were being so mean to me. And when I would ask them why, they would just say, "Well, you`re fat."

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s what I think. If it can happen to Demi Lovato, it can happen to anyone`s child. This is a cautionary tale for every parent out there. Pay attention to your kids because they could be hiding a horrible secret. And give me a call 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Galina Espinosa from "Latina" magazine; Galina thanks for joining us. These young stars certainly are not immune to the psychological disorders that plague other teenagers. In fact, I would think maybe they have even more pressure so they are even more likely to get these kinds of syndromes.

GALINA ESPINOSA, "LATINA" MAGAZINE: I mean imagine leaving out your teenage years in front of a camera, with the constant scrutiny not only from paparazzi but from Twitter and Facebook. And we talk about technology and how that`s impacting teens today, well, imagine being a young girl with body issues who has everything about herself scrutinized and it`s almost too much pressure. Who could handle it? No one could.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Demi has been acting since she was a little girl. We all know that. She`s told "Good Morning America" that`s when the eating disorders began when she was very, very young. Listen.

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LOVATO: Yes, I was bullied because I was fat. And then a few months later I developed an eating disorder and that`s kind of been what I`ve been dealing with ever since. I was compulsively overeating when I was 8 years old, so I guess for the past 10 years I`ve had a really unhealthy relationship with food.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Demi told "People" magazine that when other people are eating lunch she would actually make up stories to avoid eating. The signs were there.

I`ve got to ask, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, given that there is an obesity crisis among teenagers today, as well as children, and she doesn`t look fat, we went back and looked at some photos of her when her eating disorder allegedly began and she didn`t look fat at all. She was maybe a tiny bit chubby. I`m wondering how many millions of kids are going through the same thing, getting bullied for getting fat.

DR. KURIANSKY: Well, this is unfortunately very common, Jane. And as you point out, they are not even fat. They have body dysmorphia which is a fancy word of saying body hate. Other kids will criticize them for being fat when they are not because they know that will get a rise out of them.

All these issues for her are put together and they make a lot of sense even though you don`t think about it. The bulimia, the eating disorder, the cutting which is a self-injury, and the bipolar disorder, the depression which is all part of this one package of self-hate, body hate, low self-esteem --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got it.

DR. KURIANSKY: -- here as Galina was talking about and it all is a sign, as you said, for parents to pay attention to what their daughters are doing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Joan, Florida, your question or thought quickly.

All right. Let me go back to Galina. The stress that this girl was under, what were some of the other pressures because isn`t she kind of a first in her own right?

ESPINOSA: Well, she`s a huge teen superstar for the Disney Channel and she was really absolutely part of that first wave with the Celina Gomezes who really kind reinvented teen stardom. So she has been living in the public eye for so long and it clearly just got to her. I mean --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it there. So great to have you on.

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BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUE MINES PARISH: They had no plan to keep the oil out, even though they said it wouldn`t come ashore. They had no plan to clean it up. They have no plan to make the fishermen whole. It`s like it`s being run with a bunch of seventh graders. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree 100 percent. There`s oil spill outrage. It`s been a year now since we saw this horror unfold, but today lawsuits pile up against BP for this catastrophic explosion, for the 11 people that died, for the countless endangered animals killed. People living around the Gulf say there`s still tremendous wreckage that has not been taken care of.

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DAVID MUTH, LA DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: Everything out there is getting some of that sheen. You can see it.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still?

MUTH: Yes, sure, still. It has been happening for a year. You can`t see any of it. All of those birds, even if all they have is a little smudge on their breast, they`re constantly preening and trying to clean that off. They`re ingesting the oil.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: What a travesty. Even more outrage over what some say is Washington`s total unwillingness to adopt any laws on oil and gas drilling, not one single law to improve safety or hold these oil companies more accountable.

Straight out to CNN meteorologist, Rob Marciano; great to have you on, you`re in Gulfport, Mississippi right now. What are you hearing from the people down there? What are they most upset about?

MARCIANO: Well, it depends on who you ask, Jane, because this whole mess has so many facets. You talk to people who work tourism along the beaches of Florida, they`re upset because ok, yes, the beaches are mostly clean now, much cleaner than they were a year ago, but their image is tarnished.

You talk to fishermen where the water is clean, the fish is clean, but their image is tarnished as well so nobody is booking charter fish trips. Americans aren`t buying Louisiana fish because of the image as well.

So those folks are certainly upset and you made one point about the safety or the lack of regulation increase over the past 12 months. No matter who you talk to around here, whether they work in the oil business or whether they`ve been punished by it in the last 12 months, they all want more regular regulation to prevent what happened 12 months ago today -- Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, absolutely and we want to see the ethical wasteland cleaned up too. Because we all know that those inspectors were really in the pocket of the people they were supposed to be overseeing. In fact, there were reports they let the oil company fill out their inspection reports in pencil and they just cover them over in ink.

After a year we`re still seeing mysterious deformities and devastating death to wildlife; in just the last three months 220 sea turtles and 125 dolphins have been found dead. Rob, tell us about that.

MARCIANO: I can tell you that we found two more this morning. I mean, we showed up at this facility to do live broadcast, and the calls came in. And they`ve been getting those calls almost every day. It`s been increasing. We found another mature dolphin that was washed up dead. We found another turtle that washed up dead, and they`ve been increasing.

Those numbers that you mentioned are 10 to 15 times higher than they should be. Those animals` have necrosis (ph) some of them, at least, and those tissue samples have been sent out but the test results aren`t back yet. And they may not be for a while because (INAUDIBLE) now is in control of that.

You have the folks that are basically gathering the evidence to determine how much money BP pays out, and they are moving very, very slow and that`s another thing that folks are frustrated about. Because none of the scientists will say for sure that the dolphins that wash up on shore are linked to the oil but they`ll kind of give a little --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: More on the other side of the break. It`s a travesty.

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NUNGESSER: We`re not seeing these horrible pictures, but we still have a problem and we`re still having a problem today a year later.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the big problem is America`s addiction to oil. Rob, you`re down there. Are people making the connection that a lot of the stuff that they buy that`s really unnecessary are oil-based products like petro chemicals, plastic, plastic bags, plastic water bottles. Are people changing their behavior vis-a-vis oil down there?

MARCIANO: I haven`t seen that, not with those by-products that you speak of. I mean they may try to drive a little bit less and that may be in part because the price of gasoline has gone up. But we haven`t really seen that. What we have seen though is certainly an outpouring of support to save the wildlife.

This facility here saves dolphins and turtles. These two dolphins here weren`t involved in the oil spill, but nonetheless it gives you an idea of these phenomenal creatures that have been affected deeply by this spill.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you so much. Nancy Grace is up next.

END