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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Father Convicted for Allowing Predator to Abuse Daughter
Aired October 05, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, a convicted sex offender allowed to sleep in the very same bed as a 9-year-old girl, allegedly sexually abusing her for months on end. And you will not believe who said, yes, you can do that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, outrage rips through a Florida town as a mother and father allow a sex offender to share a bed with their 9-year-old daughter, where she says she was repeatedly sexually assaulted. Did these parents lock their daughter in the room and turn their backs? Tonight you won`t believe why the young girl`s mother says she knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it. Who is protecting our children?
Then, superstar Chris Brown rocked by controversy as he releases a jaw-dropping new video where he admits he`s drunk and in love with both his most recent girlfriend and Rihanna, the pop princess he pummeled to a pulp. Brown, still on probation for that assault, recently tested positive for pot. Will any of this affect his upcoming probation hearing? Are Brown and Rihanna really an item again? We`ll show you Brown`s astounding new video and tell you why advocates against domestic violence are steaming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Christopher Perry. He`s a father of three.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re not going to like Chris Perry. You may very well find that he is absolutely guilty of child neglect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors say he didn`t protect one of his children, 9-year-old little girl. Her accused attacker is this man, Robert Young, or Uncle Robert as he called himself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She says every time her mom and dad and grandma knew. She said several times that she didn`t know how to get it to stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perry allowed the convicted sex offender to sleep in this bed with his daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you do anything about it?
MARY PERRY, ABUSED GIRL`S MOTHER: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did your husband do anything about it?
PERRY: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, horrifying secrets spilled inside a courtroom about a young girl forced to share her bed with a convicted sex offender. Even worse, her parents knew all about it. And they made her do it.
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell.
The verdict is in. The girl`s father, Christopher Perry, has just been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in this disgusting family secret. The girl`s mother is already serving a 30-year sentence.
Who are these people?
This is the man prosecutors say the little girl was forced to share a bed with, convicted sex offender Robert Young. He calls himself Uncle Robert. The child`s mom says she saw him touch her own child inappropriately, touch her child`s private parts. In a video deposition the little girl said that he sexually assaulted her for months on end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she goes through an entire history of sexual abuse by him. She says several times my mom and dad and grandma knew. She said several times that she didn`t know how to get it to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the parents did nothing to stop the abuse. Even locking this little girl, a 9-year-old, in her room with this convicted sex offender. Even though prosecutors say they knew, the parents knew exactly what was going on.
Look at this sign on the bedroom door that this creep gave this child. It says, "Uncle Robert loves" and then the girl`s name, which we have obscured.
Prosecutors say the parents did not care what was happening because this guy, Robert Young, was paying their bills and driving them around in his car. Did I mention that the mom, Mary Perry, was also having a nine- year long affair with this very man, this sex offender Robert Young, the same person who the little girl says is having sex with him?
Even the little girl`s grandmother is now facing trial in connection with this extraordinary sex abuse investigation.
Let`s face it, this entire family is -- would appear very sick. This entire family let this little girl down. But did the system also let this child down?
Straight out to Demasi (ph) Aaron, reporter with WJXT-TV. What is the very latest on this incredibly disturbing case?
DEMASI (PH) AARON, REPORTER, WJXT-TV (via phone): Oh, my gosh, it`s definitely disturbing. We were in the courtroom all this week for Christopher Perry`s trial. And now in a few weeks Robert Young will be taken to trial, too. So they were just talking to the prosecutors about how they were going to attack this case. But let me tell you, what else can you hear?
Apparently, there will be more evidence just about the horrific things that this young girl said happened to her when Robert Young actually goes to trial.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the grandmother is even in trouble. Tell us about that. What is her alleged role?
AARON: Well, the grandmother will be facing the same charges as the girl`s father, because it`s not like, you know, they`re accused of the actual abuse, but they are supposed to be taking care of her.
So in the eyes of the prosecutors, they are just as much guilty of that abuse as Robert Young himself. So she`ll be facing the same kind of charges that her father faced in this court case, as well, and conspiracy, the fact that they knew this was happening, prosecutors allege, and did nothing about it. So that`s where the father and the grandmother come in in this case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks, thank God for criminal trials, where we can learn the secrets that people would not believe if they were simply told this is happening. We have to see it play out in a court of law, because people have to realize the incomprehensible evil to which people can descend, even parents, Mike.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Parents, grandparents, Jane. When I first heard about this case out of Jacksonville, it made me sick to my stomach. They let this little girl, 9 years old, and she -- they let her -- they let this predator in this little girl`s bed from August of 2011 -- of 2010 till May of 2011. They knew this was going on.
The mom, who was having an affair with Robert Young -- that`s just so disgusting in and of itself -- allowed him to have sex with her little girl. This little girl didn`t stand a chance, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s really one of the most just stomach-churning stories that we`ve covered in a long time here. How could a mom allow something like this to happen? Prosecutors say she`s having sex with this man and then turns her 9-year-old daughter over to him?
It would appear that she flat out did not love or care about her daughter. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s the reason why you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to your daughter?
PERRY: I just didn`t care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you love your daughter?
PERRY: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This woman pleaded guilty to child neglect and conspiracy to sexual battery. The fact that she says she didn`t love her daughter at all, what kind of mother even says that?
Dr. Cheryl Arutt, you`re a forensic psychologist, we have to understand the sickness inside this family, because this is an extreme case of what can happen to lesser degrees in other families. How could this happen?
DR. CHERYL ARUTT, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Jane, this is really the ultimate betrayal. These are her parents. These are supposed to be the people who protect her. And this little girl couldn`t go to them.
And when we look at this really extreme, horrific case, what I see is an intergenerational pattern of sexual abuse, from one generation to the next. That the mother of this little girl, who is saying, "I don`t care," and she`s not just letting her. She`s forcing her daughter, locking her daughter in a room with a predator. This is a girl who was raised by a mother who also brought sexual predators home, and this has probably been repeated and repeated. And this gets, you know -- we either end up repeating trauma or we get help. And things like this have to stop.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lauren, I want to go out to Lauren Book, who is a very courageous sexual abuse survivor who runs LaurensKids.org, a great organization.
Here`s what gets me, I think that sometimes we in the general public cannot comprehend the depths of depravity to which people can descend when there`s a sick family structure, when there is sort of an agreement that inside this world that they`ve created, anything goes. And that`s why it`s important for us to do these stories, to realize, yes, this kind of stomach churning behavior can occur -- Lauren.
LAUREN BOOK, FOUNDER, LAURENSKIDS.ORG: Yes. It happens all the time. And that`s why it`s so important that we educate children and families. That`s why in our curriculum we talk about the trusted triangle, which is three or more adults that a child can turn to with anything. Whether it`s a fight with a friend, a bad dream or a touch that makes them feel unsafe or icky.
We also ask these teachers to put adults outside of that incest zone so this child would have gotten help. She could have talked to a teacher. She could have talked to a guidance counselor, a principal. It`s important that we teach children these important, important life-saving skills. These parents prostituted their child. They locked her in a room. They treated her worse than an animal.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s not bring animals into it. Animals would never do something like this. This is depraved human behavior. Animals are innocent creatures.
Demasi (ph) Aaron, reporter, WJXT, what happens to this little girl now? And she`s got two brothers. God forbid anyone in this family has these children.
AARON: Oh, no. They are definitely in state custody now. In the courtroom her guardian was there to speak on her behalf during the sentencing. She said that the young girl is just trying to move forward from this. And it`s hard to really think about how you move forward from something like this. But that`s what her guardian said that she`s trying to do right now.
She wasn`t in the courtroom at all during all this. Everything was taped. Of course you can imagine, you know, they did not want her in the courtroom with her family here, her mom and her dad and everyone testifying. But her guardian said right now she`s just trying, if she can, to just move past all this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Some of the jurors couldn`t even look at the videotape of this little girl testifying. They were so upset that they had to literally turn away. What a horrifying case.
On the other side, more sick secrets unfolding and revealed in the courtroom, which is one of the few places, one of the few venues in our culture where we can really see what is going on behind closed doors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you do anything about it?
PERRY: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did your husband do anything about it?
PERRY: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That woman, the mother of this poor child, says she told this guy, the father, that this so-called family friend was molesting their child. The dad, Chris Perry, just got six life sentences. Six. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars for molestation, child neglect with bodily harm, conspiracy to commit sexual battery.
This guy, look how upstanding he looks. And yet authorities are saying that behind closed doors this family was as sick as they get.
Straight out to the phone lines, Carol, Indiana. Carol, Indiana, your question or thought?
CALLER: Hi, Jane. How are you? I love your show. And you already know this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
CALLER: Listen. Was this -- was this family on Medicaid or any kind of federal assistance is what I want to know?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I will say this, we know Areva Martin, attorney, that they didn`t have money -- and that they were living -- they were essentially mooching off this Robert Young, the registered sex offender who was living in their house.
And here`s the interesting thing. We know that Child Protective Services got a tip that this sex offender was abusing this little girl. The dad lied and told CPS investigators that he was just sleeping on the family couch. Oh, you know, visiting friend sleeping on the family couch.
But the investigator from Child Protective Services found all of this creep`s possessions inside the daughter`s room along with gifts that he gave her. That`s when the girl and her brothers were removed from the home. So I have to wonder, Areva Martin, in this case anyway, did Child Protective services actually do their job?
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: They did, Jane. There`s nothing good about this case. It`s a horrific case. But when I look at what happened in that courtroom, one thing I`m so happy about is that this was exposed. So now those two other kids in this family, they`re removed. They are given an opportunity to be safe, be out of this environment.
Because obviously, you know, but for the exposure, perhaps grandmother, who`s involved in this whole sex thing, might have ended up with the two little boys. So that is the silver lining in this horrific case of sexual abuse.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And another cautionary tale is the uncle phenomenon. The person who isn`t really an uncle but is a family friend who adopts the role of uncle, and he`s often the jolly family friend who comes in with gifts and plies a young girl with gifts. Grab your wallet, grab your kid and run in the other direction because that`s the classic profile of a predator.
And that, if we all learn just that one thing, that that uncle, that jolly uncle who`s always giving your little girl gifts is somebody to look out for.
The dad`s defense was that he didn`t know this character, Robert Young, was allegedly abusing his daughter. Here`s his attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no evidence to support that he ever intended for these things to happen to his child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The dad also said, oh, he thought Robert Young was a registered sex offender only because of a relationship with a 17-year-old female. As if that`s not bad enough.
The prosecution proved that he was lying by showing jurors a taped interview the dad did with cops before his arrest where he acknowledged that Robert Young told him he molested a 13-year-old girl. So isn`t that great, Mike Brooks, when you can catch a defendant in a lie?
BROOKS: It is. But he knew that he had done this when they first met back in 1994. Look, if I seem a little apoplectic about this, I really am. This is a case that just makes me sick to my stomach. They ought to take these people and bury them under the jail. And I hope Grandma, I hope she gets the same sentence as the mother did. Put her in jail too for at least 30 years. If not longer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look at this woman`s face. I mean, right there, you can tell there is something seriously wrong. More on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she goes through an entire history of sexual abuse. She says several times how mom and dad and grandma knew. She says several times how she didn`t know how to get it to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A Florida father going to prison for life for allowing a registered sex offender to sleep in the same bed with his 9- year-old daughter, who testified that she was repeatedly raped by that man.
You know what this reminds me of? Do you remember Jaycee Dugard, who was locked away in the backyard of her abductor for 18 years, her abductor on parole for another rape.
Here`s the thing. Again, it was a man and a woman who conspired together, Phillip Garrido and his wife, to keep Jaycee Dugard in this horrible, you know, encampment behind their house.
Dr. Cheryl Arutt, forensic psychologist, I`m always particularly perplexed when a man and a woman conspire together to exploit a child.
ARUTT: It is shocking, Jane. It really is. And very often in these kinds of cases there is a severe psychological mental health issue with the woman as well as the man. And there`s a dependency upon one another or a power and control manipulation dynamic going on.
But no one, no matter what is going on, there is no excuse for this kind of behavior on a child. This is a child. And in the case of Casey -- the Dugard case, it was not her parents who were doing this. What`s especially egregious about this and shocking is this is their own child. Sometimes there`s a little bit of a protective kind of impulse there but not here.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lauren Book, ten seconds. What do people at home take away to learn?
BOOK: They need to educate children. Prevention is key here. Children have outlets. We need to educate them. Let them be aware that people outside of that zone and in that family care about them.
And they can visit our Web site. We have an interactive tool kit where parents and children and schools and communities can learn how to keep their children safe.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent. Thank you, fantastic panel.
Our shocking video of the day. Never walk into a police station with a machete. OK? A life-and-death situation in Florida when a man shows up at a police station with a machete. He forces a standoff, waving a giant knife at officers. And then one of the officers uses his Taser and the others rush in to subdue the man.
Tonight, Nancy Grace looks back at one of the biggest mysteries of the last decade. What happened to Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy and her suspicious relationship with Congressman Gary Condit?
NANCY GRACE, HLN ANCHOR: You know, it`s very hard to believe so many years have passed since the disappearance and death of the D.C. intern Chandra Levy. It was May 1, 2001, when she went missing.
The longer the Chandra Levy investigation went on, the wilder the theories became as to what happened to her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chris Brown says that he broke up with his girlfriend because of Rihanna. Hmm.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN`S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Chris Brown tells "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" that he`s breaking up with his girlfriend to focus on his career. Right. I`m sure the break-up has nothing to do with the fact Chris and his ex-girlfriend Rihanna has been photographed all around New York City together recently.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my advice to you, you are not an average person that can sit in their living room and do what they want to do without anybody watching what you do. All right? You are not only in the public eye, but you`re on probation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rihanna and Chris Brown definitely have a relationship. I think that Rihanna will be truthful about it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A rescue mentality. A desperation to hold onto a relationship even to the point of being masochistic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, is superstar singer Rihanna back in a romantic relationship with her ex-boyfriend, the guy who beat her to a pulp, Chris Brown? The pair has been spotted all over New York. And now Chris Brown just released this extraordinary video by David Allen on his video page. Take a look and a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS BROWN, SINGER: When you share history with somebody, then you tend to fall in love with somebody else. It`s kind of difficult. You know what I`m saying? It`s like, is there such a thing as loving two people?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Essentially he is saying, "I think I`m in love with two people at once. And one of them is Rihanna."
The couple broke up in 2009 three years ago after Chris beat Rihanna almost beyond recognition. There is the photo. Look at her face in this photo from TMZ. In fact, Chris is still on probation as we speak for that assault.
But yesterday Chris announced his breakup from his girlfriend Karrueche, saying, quote, "I love Karrueche very much, but I don`t want to see her hurt over my friendship with Rihanna." Hmm.
A lot of people say it`s more than a friendship right now. Really?
Rihanna has talked publicly about how sad it was to lose Chris after their breakup, after she was beaten. Remember this from Oprah`s OWN network?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIHANNA, SINGER: I lost my best friend. Like everything I knew switched. It became a circus. And I felt protective. Angry and hurt and betrayed. I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ MITCHELL: Rihanna has talked publicly about how sad it was to lose Chris after their breakup, after she was beaten. Remember this from Oprah`s OWN network?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIHANNA, SINGER: I lost my best friend. Like everything I knew switched. It became a circus. And I felt protective, angry and hurt and betrayed. I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: If Rihanna has really run back into Chris Brown`s arms, is this rubber-stamping that domestic violence is somehow ok? No big deal?
Straight out to Kim Serafin, senior editor "In Touch Weekly" magazine -- a slew of breaking news developments. What is the very latest, Kim?
KIM SERAFIN, SENIOR EDITOR "IN TOUCH WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: Yes. As you mentioned, this video, this video that Chris put out is really making a lot of news because as you mentioned all week Chris and Rihanna have been spotted around New York City together, maybe kissing. They were at a concert together.
This comes after months and months of people wondering what their relationship was. They collaborated on the songs. There was the kiss at the VMAs. They`ve been tweeting together. Rihanna`s been sending out public tweets about Chris saying nice things about him.
Rihanna`s father, Ronald Fenty, actually just did an interview with "In Touch". He says he has no problem if Rihanna and Chris got back together. He says if they love each other, he`s happy. And the world should be happy too if she`s happy.
So there`s a lot of people just wondering where this relationship is going. And they really have not been secret about it, as you mentioned. This has been pretty much out in the open and they`re very kind of proud of the fact that they have this relationship. Rihanna as you mention in the Oprah interview talked about him being the love of her life, being her best friend, how they`re very, very close.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. All well and good except for the fact that he beat her to a pulp. And we`ve all seen the picture of her battered face. That is domestic violence. That is intimate partner violence.
Let`s take a look at the poll that we did for our show. And it shows that just about everybody -- I think it`s like 89 percent -- believe that Rihanna is setting a bad example for domestic violence victims by getting back together with Chris Brown if indeed she is back together. And it kind of appears that way from published reports.
Dr. Cheryl Arutt -- actually, I want to go to Brenda Clubine. You`re a domestic violence survivor. You actually killed your abusive husband in self-defense. And you were sentenced to a quarter of a century behind bars for killing him. What is your reaction to the reports that they`re back?
BRENDA CLUBINE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVOR: Unfortunately, I think that it`s really important that we don`t victimize further Rihanna. But I`m hoping through all of this that she`s able to understand that this is sending a very negative message. I don`t think that`s what she wants to do, but I think she`s very confused.
And I think that`s what happens to victims typically. That`s why a victim continues to go back. They go back up to eight times before they finally leave an abuser for good. And that`s part of what the problem is.
When you`re young, especially I think there`s this disconnect between your heart and your head. And you can`t -- you don`t make the right decisions. And I`m really, really hoping --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or. Or, you can confuse drama and violence with romantic love because unfortunately our culture does that all the time. And it meshes those two, which should be completely distinct. Here`s romantic love. Here`s violence and drama. And our culture and the movies and on TV is constantly meshing the two. So you can understand people having confusion.
Now, sometimes when people abuse other people, they`re repeating a childhood experience -- something that started in childhood. Chris Brown spoke about his stepdad abusing his mother. Listen to this from "The Tyra Show".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS BROWN, SINGER: To me saying that (inaudible) -- I`m saying visually abused by it.
TYRA BANKS, TV HOST: And how did it affect you?
BROWN: It affected me, you know what I`m saying. Basically especially towards women, I treat them differently because I don`t want to go through the same thing or put a woman through the same thing that that person put my mom through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sheryl Lee Ralph, actress and author of "Redefining Diva", we`re delighted you`re joining us by phone from Philadelphia tonight. If Chris Brown is repeating --
SHERYL LEE RALPH, AUTHOR, "REDEFINING DIVA" (via telephone): -- my sister, especially on some real conversation about some real difficult conversations. You know, we`re talking here about domestic violence.
Now, first, let me just say from my point of view I am all for love on any level. But there are an awful lot of young women across this country confusing a beat down, a physical beat down for love just like you said. And when it comes to Rihanna going back to Chris, like the other speaker said, so many young people are not developed enough in their minds to make better choices for themselves based upon the fact, one, they`re young, and, two, what they lived as young people.
And both of these people come from violent situations. And Chris`s situation was so violent that I think further down in that interview he said it made him, you know, actually wet the bed as a child.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh.
RALPH: That`s how much it traumatized him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I hate to see this cycle repeated. And is it repeated also in Rihanna`s art? Let me say first of all that of this aside I think that these are two incredibly talented individuals. They are incredible performers. They are artists. But these are the facts.
Rihanna has explored the line between love and pain in her music. We can`t ignore the fact that she did this music video, "S & M" from Island Def Jam Records.
(MUSIC)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Dr. Cheryl Arutt, forensic psychologist. If someone else who had none of this going on said chains and whips excite me, we might just toss it off to artistic license. But given her history and what has gone on, do you think she has a confusion and she`s confusing as Sheryl Lee Ralph so brilliantly put it, a beat down with love?
DR. CHERYL ARUTT, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think if Rihanna can channel her pain into her creativity and her music instead of into her interpersonal relationships, that`s a step forward. But when a big star like Rihanna gives a violent boyfriend another chance, that does make the statement that she thinks that this can just go away.
And what the statistics say is that the violence instead escalates. But then after the violence you get the dream guy that she hoped he could be. She`s clearly in love with him and wishes that he could be the good version of him.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is it love, or is it co-dependency? There`s I think a great book by that title. And that`s when you are really justifying, covering up, rationalizing and enabling the other person. And I`ve also defined myself as you think you`re worthless and you think the other person is priceless. There`s a lot of ways to define co-dependency. But I love that title of that book Sheryl. Is it love or co-dependency? We think a lot of things are love. And they may just be neuroses messing with our head.
I want to go out to the phone lines. Virginia, California, your question or thought, Virginia.
VIRGINIA, CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Hi, Jane. Love your show.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
VIRGINIA: My comment is I knew she would go back to him because I have three sisters that are in the same situation. And I don`t really even speak to them. And what saddens me is how many young girls out there today might even go back to their abusive boyfriends because of her.
I think that it`s sad. And he should have broken her nose and maybe she would have not looked so pretty and then she`d think twice. But she got lucky that he didn`t damage her face more than he did after her photo.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side of the break, we`re going to talk to attorney Areva Martin, about the probation that Chris is on and some of the things going on with that. A hearing is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And here`s your "Viral Video of the Week". This guy went way above and beyond to proposing to his girlfriend. He actually faked a problem, an emergency in the plane, all to pop the question. I don`t know -- a little passive/aggressive. But she apparently loved it. And they`re getting married.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are not only in the public eye, but you`re on probation. And you`re on probation to me, which means that if you violate any laws or orders, then you`re subject to a probation violation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Chris Brown is on probation for his beating of Rihanna. And he was just busted for smoking marijuana. But he says it was for medicinal purposes.
So, Areva Martin, attorney out of L.A., the judge says, hey, we`re going to have a hearing November 1st. Now in this video that he`s just released he says he`s a little bit drunk. Could these issues pose problems for his probation?
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: Absolutely, Jane. Chris Brown is going to have to grow up and take responsibility for his choices or else he could find himself in jail because when you violate the terms of your probation, that`s what you`re facing. You`re facing the possibility of serving out the jail time that you, you know, in the probation allows you to do community service, be out of jail. And in exchange you have to comply with all the rules.
Now, this case is a little tricky because the Los Angeles court judge that put him on probation did not include in her order of things to do random drug testing. This random drug test happened while he was in Virginia, which has different laws than the state of California.
So at this upcoming probation hearing, the judge in California is going to have to decide whether testing positive for drugs in Virginia constitutes a violation of his probation in a Los Angeles court. This is something we`re going to have to watch very closely. We know this judge is not happy. She`s not happy he tested positively for marijuana. She told him, you are a role model, you`re not a regular guy. You have to take responsibility for your choices.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sheryl Lee Ralph, ten seconds. But why do you think that women go back approximately eight times to a man who has abused them?
RALPH: Because they believe they love them, because of financial situation, because of family and children, because of what society tells them they need to have. And so when things go a little bit bad, sometimes they hold on for the kids, for money, for self-respect, for their family; for so many different reasons, but it`s hard when they think it`s for love.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sheryl, it`s so great having you as well as Brenda Clubine, who is a domestic violence survivor. I`ll tell you one thing I do know for sure. In this case it`s not about the money with Rihanna. She is a very rich woman.
On the other side, an astounding story you`ve got to see to believe.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for your "Pet o` the Day". Send us your pet pics to hlntv.com/Jane. Tom, what a look. I love it. And Shelby is just hanging out in the grass having a great time. Tug says I`m very serious. I`m a very serious pooch. But we love him. And Chloe is just gorgeous. So is Bruno.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Truly amazing. You`re watching these ducks and geese and they`re about to experience water for the very first time in their lives. Take a look, rescued from horrible hoarding situations most of these feathered creatures have never even seen the water until now and at first they`re kind of afraid of it but then eventually there they go. They`re jumping in. Look how happy they are.
Unfortunately, this scene is the opposite of where these animals came from. We`re talking 160 birds -- ducks, geese, turkey, chickens, rescued from a hoarder in New York City. You see these appalling conditions, filth that they were living in with very small amount of shelter. But thanks to the amazing people at the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary and the Ulster County SPCA, these animals are now getting a second chance at life out in nature where animals, like chickens and ducks, belong.
Joining me now, my dear friend and animal advocate, Jenny Brown, co- founder of the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary and the author of "The Lucky Ones: My passionate fight for farm animals." Jenny, you are one of my heroes, so glad to have you here. You got a tip and then you moved in to rescue these 160 ducks and geese and turkey.
JENNY BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, WOODSTOCK ANIMAL SANCTUARY: Yes. We actually approached her at first, a neighbor had called the Ulster County SPCA and we went to her and asked for an amicable release pointing out that the animals were living in terrible conditions. But you know, her intentions were good; she said she loved them. They gave her love. But the animals were living in deplorable conditions in fecal stew of mud and filth, without adequate outdoor access and shelter.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now here`s the thing. She said she loved them, but you were telling me that she was also allegedly ordering these animals through the mail which is legal. Personally, I think it should be absolutely illegal to be able to order animals through the mail. That`s a horror story in itself, Jenny.
BROWN: It`s true. Because at the hatcheries that supply the organic farms or the free range farms or the chickens who lay the eggs in our grocery store, most of these birds are sexed when they`re babies because nobody wants the males. They`re not going to lay the eggs. All the males are destroyed and the females get shipped at a day two or of age and arrive at people`s homes in boxes.
And so people collect these animals and want the fancy breeds or just like to have the little babies and nurture the little babies. And we hear a lot of these cases.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s not a good idea. And that is disrespectful to - - look at this. This animal -- is this animal even alive? Some of them were dead. No?
BROWN: At the rescue site where we had gone, at the rescue site, there were some animals -- there was evidence of animal bones and that sort of thing behind her back porch. But when we arrived there, none of the animals were dead --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s good.
BROWN: -- but some of them were very sick, missing toes, missing eyes, most of their feathers, nutritional deficiencies, untreated wounds.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you did a great thing. 160 happy chickens, geese, turkey; now they`re out of that place and in the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. More on the other side.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s certainly my best friend in the animal kingdom.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: This amazing story of Walter the Crow, this family rescued him. He was very sick. When he got healthy he adopted them and hangs out at the house and follows the kids to school and goes with them biking. And this is an example, Jenny Brown, director of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary of how intelligent feathered creatures are. We don`t give them enough credit for their intelligence.
BROWN: And sadly in the case of chickens they`re the most exploited and abused beings on the planet. Millions of them live in giant factory farms unable to spread their wings, never feeling the ground underfoot. We deny them a lot of their basic instincts and things that make life worth living to them. But if people actually got to know chickens and geese and ducks, they learn their names, they love affection, they behave very much like the cats and dogs that we have as companion animals.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, yes, and I think we need to highlight that we need to expand our circle of compassion beyond dogs and cats. I love dogs and cats. But we can`t forget, for example, these feathered creatures that can also suffer from indescribable pain, sadness, loneliness, isolation. All of this hurts them.
What goes on inside factory farms where billions of these hens are crammed into tiny cages so they have basically less than half the sheet of paper, standard size paper to turn around, 67 square inches -- that is horrific for them. They feel that. Then there`s the inhumane practice of foie gras which is force feeding ducks with a metal tube down their throat. That has been banned in California.
Just two situations, jenny, where people really are starting to see now that these animals have feelings.
BROWN: That`s right. There`s a growing awareness in this country about the cruel treatment of animals that are raised for food. And Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary strives to be a voice for them by bringing people in when we`re open for the season and people can come face to face with animals they only know as food, and give an 800-pound pig a belly rub or hug a 2,000 pound steer that was rescued as a veal calf or cuddle with a friendly chicken or turkey. So, we have a unique opportunity to open the heart and minds to the plight of farm animals.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And take a look at these little guys. They are so happy because they`ve been rescued from a terrible hoarding situation. And the wonderful thing about animals is they do bounce back very quickly. These animals are seeing water for the very first time in their lives.
Listen, if you want more information on the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, you can go to my page, hlntv.com/Jane. Or you can just go to the actual Web site, get involved because these animals cannot speak for themselves.
Hey have a great weekend.
Nancy Grace is up next.
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