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Jane Velez-Mitchell

3 More Murder-Suicides in Last 24 Hours; Former Playmate Found Dead in Bathtub; Reality Star Arrested for Sexual Abuse

Aired January 17, 2014 - 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, we`re learning now of three new family murder/suicides in just the last 24 hours. In each case, entire families have been wiped out by one of their own.

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell.

It`s a horrifying epidemic sweeping the country. At least 17 people have died this week alone, in almost half a dozen murder/suicide cases involving families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, I can`t talk about this. I just can`t.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neighbors can barely believe what happened next door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can`t tell who`s going to be violent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A mother who came to pick up her children was shot and killed by the estranged husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found the female in her vehicle located in the parking lot of the day care.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dad feared his ex-wife would harm his children, and his worst fears were confirmed.

RICHARD BERMAN, FATHER OF MURDER VICTIMS: My ex-wife said that she was going to harm the kids, and that I should get over there asap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And guns and despair and being untreated are a horrible deadly mix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: In Utah, a police officer is believed to have murdered his two kids, his wife and his mother-in-law. He then killed himself. All five bodies were found inside the family`s home just last night.

In South Carolina, a seemingly devoted husband and father shot his wife and two toddlers in the head before committing suicide. They were discovered Wednesday. Friends and neighbors are shell-shocked, saying there were zero warning signs. It seemed like a very happy family.

And in Texas, a mother was shot and killed in her car as she picked up her children from day care. Police say the killer is her boyfriend and the father of the children, who then turned the gun on himself just a few blocks away.

What is behind this sickening trend? Just yesterday, we told you about a Florida mom, this woman right there, who slaughtered the two kids you are looking at, the teenage daughter and son, and killed herself in a murder/suicide.

And a Utah mother killed her two daughters and then herself. Look at that beautiful family. Every single person there, dead. OK?

All told, 17 people dead this week, in five family murder-suicides across the country. What on earth is going on?

Straight out to my fantastic Lion`s Den panel. Let`s start, Simone Bienne, behavior expert with this Utah cop who slaughtered his wife, her mother, and their two kids, ages 5 and 7. Now, the officer who was reportedly having marital troubles, but had not filed for divorce. I mean, why take it out on the children?

SIMONE BIENNE, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, because killing yourself isn`t enough, Jane.

What we do know in this situation is, the more we see it, the more it happens. It is on the rise. And at the core of it, it`s the marital problems, the relationship problems.

And what we know, and your video just showed, that actually men murder their partners and their children, but women tend to murder their children and spare their partners.

It is monstrous. It is a terrifying power that we have over our lives and someone else`s, and this kind of pathetic impotence that we can`t handle living. It is the worst kind of cruelty.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is nightmarish. I mean, it is just nightmarish to see all these people, and now they`re all dead as a result of interfamily, within the family murder-suicide.

Look at that innocent child. She has done nothing. And she suffers because of adult relationship problems.

Police officer Josh Warren left no note before murdering his kids, his wife and his mother-in-law. A neighbor from outside says they appeared to be the perfect family. He appeared to be the perfect dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I called him the gentle giant. He looked like the hulk, but he was as soft as a kitten. We would come home from our grocery shopping and he would be out on the football field playing catch with his kids, and playing on the grass with his daughter. He was the sweetest man, the kindest man I`ve known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you could hear from that neighbor`s voice, people are just devastated.

This cop -- you`re looking at him right here -- also killed his mother-in-law, who had been living with the family for about five years.

Now, I have to say, and I want to throw this out to criminal defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant. You`ve covered and you`ve handled so many gruesome cases. This is shear speculation. But I`m wondering if living with the mother-in-law -- OK, he`s having marital problems, and his wife`s mother is right there in his face during the marital problems they`re having. Could that have been a festering resentment?

ASHLEIGH MERCHANT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, this case is the only one that you could even see that there was some signs beforehand. Apparently his -- the other staff that he worked with at the police department said that he had been having some marital problems. They had noticed some possible mental health issues. And so at least there were some signs, where all of the other ones were completely out of the blue.

And so the criminal justice system could not have caught these ahead of time, because there was no intervention. There was no prior crimes of violence, at least that were reported. So there was never an opportunity for the system to sort of find these people, and treat them and help them before it went to a murder-suicide.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well -- well, I think you`re making a very good point. If you want to contrast these cases here, these are people who are living and working in the communities. This officer, you know, had a job. That`s how they found out he had killed his beautiful, beautiful -- look at this woman. She`s gorgeous. Look at these kids, they`re gorgeous. That he had done this, is because he didn`t show up for work as a cop.

Now, contrast that with what we think of when we think of people who kill their kids. Andrea Yates, she confessed to drowning, you`ll remember, her five children in the bathtub back in 2001. She was mentally ill. She was insane. And she was ultimately judged to be insane in a court. She suffered from command hallucinations, severe depression and psychosis.

So, you know, Brian Claypool, defense attorney, that`s very different from people who just do horrible things, who know right from wrong, who are working, who are part of the community, who -- Andrea Yates was hearing voices in her head that were God and the devil telling her, "You have to kill your kids because you`re going to save them, and they will go to a better place." That`s very different from people who are having relationship problems and then go home and kill their kids.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. Jane, you`re absolutely right. These are people that are average citizens. And I think the common thread in all of these horrible tragic killings are, people have a sense of hopelessness. They`re completely overwhelmed by life. They`re losing something that they value so much, and they can`t handle that. And they have to resort to eliminating everything then.

And I would really hope that maybe in our society, these folks will look to maybe their faith a little bit more. Maybe have a purpose over and above themselves in life. And then that might be able to help them be more equipped to deal with this disappointment in life.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What`s really horrifying is all the people we`re looking at on these photos, they`re all dead. And in each case, a parental figure, an adult killed themselves, the other person and the kids. It`s beyond comprehension, evil and horrible.

Susan, Florida, what do you have to say? Susan, Florida?

CALLER: As you know, I mean, I was a judge in criminal and family law, so we used to say that family law was a lot more nerve-racking and dangerous than criminal law, believe it or not.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely. Because there`s nothing that -- nobody can press your buttons like a family member. I think we all know that. And you can have arguments at work, or in social settings, and it really doesn`t -- you know, at the grocery store or whatever. It`s nothing compared to -- family hits you in a different place.

Now you`re from Florida. In Florida, another one of these cases earlier this week, the Berman family wiped out in a double murder-suicide. And this happened earlier this week. The mother, Jennifer, murdered her two teenage children. Look at this beautiful family. It`s unbelievable. And then took her own life following a brutal divorce.

Now, before she did it, she e-mailed her ex-husband and said, in a very eerie e-mail, that it was best for her family. She actually lured her ex-husband to the crime scene, and then he made the horrific discovery of his teenage son and daughter murdered along with his ex-wife, who killed herself. Here`s the 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I don`t know. Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Oh, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s going on, sir?

BERMAN: Well, he`s not moving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who`s not moving?

BERMAN: He has blood on my hair. My son.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your son?

BERMAN: My son. This can`t be real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unfortunately, it was all too real. And Victoria Taft, talk show host out of the West Coast, this is happening coast to coast. It turns out that this mother was about to lose what used to be the marital home to foreclosure. The husband had moved out. They had divorced. She ended up with severe money problems, even though she was reportedly working long overnight shifts as a nurse. She seemed in court filings to be bitter over the nasty divorce, claiming in these court papers that her ex refused to pay her mortgage during a long divorce battle.

What is the significance in your mind to her e-mailing her husband and almost tipping him off so that he would discover the bodies?

VICTORIA TAFT, TALK SHOW HOST (via phone): Well, he was supposed to discover the bodies, because, Jane, it was all about power and control. The one thing over which she had control during that divorce proceeding.

She was getting back at him, and the only way she could was not through power, and not through anything else that was in her purview, but power over the kids. And that would be the ultimate get-back to this husband who refused to pay the mortgage on the house, leaving her in all likelihood, as happens so often with women in these kinds of situations, nearly destitute and sometimes homeless.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon Leiberman, investigative reporter, and you`ve covered so many cases involving children and the horrors that happen to children. To try to wrap my mind around how you could possibly kill your own children.

They came out of your body, in the case of the women who killed their kids this week, and you raise them, and you put them through school.

And the two children in the Florida case, this mother who murdered her two children, these were excellent straight-A students who they were performing cello, and violin, incredibly gifted kids.

I can only think that in the sick, twisted mind of a parental killer, that, "Well, if I die, I won`t know what happens to my kids. So if I kill them, then I`m not left with the unanswered question of, will they be -- what will happen to them down the road? Jon Leiberman.

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR (via phone): Jane, you hit the nail on the head. This is the ultimate crime of cowardice. Every murder-suicide I have ever covered always comes back to the cowardly nature of the person who does the killing and then kills themselves.

Frankly, this happens about 1,000 times a year. But I`ve never seen a week like this week when we had so many murder-suicides.

And look, we all say, well, there were no warning signs, this or that. Once people dig in, once the law enforcement digs in and starts asking questions, there will be plenty of warning signs, trouble in the house, trouble in the relationship. These things don`t just happen. There are always some warning signs behind the scenes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, is there an epidemic of family murder-suicide? And if so, why? Seventeen people dead just this week. Killed by their own family members, or killing themselves after killing their family members. What`s going on? Is there something in our culture that is making people feel overwhelmed to the point where they`re becoming murderous and suicidal?

Stay right there. We`re taking your calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dad feared his ex-wife would harm his children. And his worst fears with were confirmed.

BERMAN (via phone): My ex-wife said that she was going to harm the kids, and that I should get over there asap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And guns and despair and being untreated are a horrible, deadly mix.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN (via phone): Now I`m in front of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via phone): Is she home? Does she have a car there?

BERMAN: The car is in the driveway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does she have any weapons in the house?

BERMAN: Possibly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of weapons have you seen in the house?

BERMAN: Well, I remember she had her dad`s old rifles. I`m sitting in the driveway. And my neighbor just went in to look to see what`s going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old are the kids?

BERMAN: Fifteen and 16. Oh, geez.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s going on?

BERMAN: My neighbor went in, and there`s blood up on the wall near her bedroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The horror of that father discovering both of his children murdered. This case in Florida. And the mom who murdered the kids, and then killed herself, was involved in a nasty divorce with that man. It had just finally ended after five years in the court. She was officially divorced. And she was having money problems.

He was reportedly successful, living somewhere else. And she was kind of spiraling financially. Reports claim she was so desperate that she was forced to sell her late father`s watch, and she could no longer pay her divorce attorney.

And why is it on the rise? I feel -- and I experience this myself sometimes -- that life is becoming more and more complicated. You know, whether it`s the smartphones that are constantly sending us messages that we have to absorb. It`s the complexity of our culture where, really, we`re dealing with more and more technology, and that also brings on expense.

And I wonder if there`s something almost like in the air that is making people feel more overwhelmed than ever before.

I want to go back to Victoria Taft, because this is -- it looks like this past week some sort of epidemic. Seventeen dead, five cases coast to coast. And you`ve got to say at that point, you`ve got to ask, is there something happening culturally?

TAFT: Jane, you said is there something in the air? This is the same week that many department stores send out their bills, even the Christmas bills. And if people were under any financial problem, any duress, maybe this was the snap. This is the final thing that came to the husband or the wife and they said, "I can`t even do this anymore."

We are, of course, in the worst economy since the Depression. And then you add on all the Christmas bills. And then you add on everything you just said about just being pilloried with messages and having to retrieve certain things and respond to all kinds of stimuli. It`s just too much for some people.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know I think -- I think you really hit on something, Victoria, because you brought up this issue of the post- Christmas, the post-holiday bills. I think we can all relate to that.

You know, January is the year where you go, oh, my gosh, it`s the start of the year. If you pay taxes, those taxes, you know, are there right in your face. And then you`ve got the holiday bills. And it seems to crash down on you.

Yes.

And, you know, I think that it`s perhaps -- you also have that post- holiday blues. The parties are over; the celebrations are over; it`s back to the grindstone.

I think you`ve hit on something very significant. You know, I have to go back to Simone for a second, but even though money is not important and the poorest person is richer than in third world countries who really do not know where they`re going to get their next piece of grain to eat. And so they`re dealing with issues like complete starvation and disease on a scale that we can`t even appreciate.

But money problems, of all the stressors, perhaps, I would say, the biggest stressor. Then you add relationship and money, that`s a potent combination.

BIENNE: Yes, absolutely. And money means different things to different people. Money can mean love. Money can mean security. Money can mean power. So when you have financial troubles, and you`re not used to it and you don`t know how to handle it. And maybe her ex-husband was the one that controlled the finances. She clearly was absolutely shattered.

And your point about this being post-Christmas is so valid. Because actually, as a couples therapist, what happens is January tends to be the most depressed month, because Christmas can make people miserable because everybody has to pretend to be happy. If you`re not happy in your relationship, you can feel even more lonely than if you were on your own.

So this woman had enormous amount of triggers, and clearly, it was too much, and it was the ultimate, ultimate revenge.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What happened to former "Playboy" playmate Cassandra Lynn? Why is this beautiful woman dead tonight?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, Hollywood reeling in the wake of the mysterious death of a beautiful young "Playboy" playmate. Cassandra Lynn Hensley, seen here in Twitter photos, was visiting a friend in Marina del Rey, California, one minute and then all of a sudden this stunning Miss February 2006 is dead.

The 34-year-old`s body was found early in the morning, reportedly floating in a bathtub. What happened in the hours leading up to her tragic death?

Straight out to my senior producer, Selin Darkalstanian. I understand you got off the phone just seconds ago with cops. What are your sources telling you tonight?

SELIN DARKALSTANIAN, HLN PRODUCER: That`s right, Jane. I understand you got off the phone just seconds with cops. They are waiting to determine her cause of death. They`re waiting for the toxicology results from the coroner.

There is no evidence of foul play. They don`t have anybody in custody. But at the same time drugs were not found at the scene. So it is a mystery what happened to this woman, why was she in Los Angeles, what occurred to her, to be found dead. And we there are a lot of questions that are unanswered at this point.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I have to say, having lived in Marina del Rey for 18 years, and knowing that area inside and out, it`s a very safe area. And so we can eliminate that, I think, right off the bat.

She was a budding star with thousands of Twitter followers. One of the most recent, an eerie horoscope posted on her Twitter page came as news of her death broke. And this Twitter said, quote, "unspoken obligations prevent you from doing what you wish today." That`s really odd, given that she then turned up dead.

Here she is holding up a "Metropolitan Life" magazine where she just did a photo spread. And in that photo spread, and interview, she said there is life after "Playboy."

Remember, she was a "Playboy" playmate in 2006.

Now, Cassandra was from Virginia, but she was visiting the Hollywood area and staying with friends in Marina del Rey. And she was very upbeat about her future, advising young would-be models to be classy, not slutty. No signs of depression.

OK. Her last tweet was three days ago. And that tweet said, "I just got into a tanning bed, and it`s spraying some kind of liquid on my boobs." So that was kind of a fun little tweet.

Ashleigh Merchant, criminal defense attorney, it`s an utter mystery. She`s a healthy 34-year-old woman, boom.

MERCHANT: I mean, if you think about it, there`s no drugs involved is what the police are saying. They`re saying that she was happy. She wasn`t depressed. So what does that leave you with?

I wonder who the friends are that she was staying with? I`m certainly not pointing any fingers, but the next step would be, was there some violence in her life? Was there something happening that -- with a lover, a jilted lover or something like that, that maybe caused her death?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I understand, though, that authorities are saying no signs of foul play. How can they be so sure, Brian Claypool?

CLAYPOOL: Jane, that`s ridiculous. How can you come out and say there`s no evidence of foul play when you don`t even have an autopsy report yet? You don`t even know whether there was any physical manifestation injury.

Ashleigh`s right, maybe she was in a scuffle. Maybe there was a dispute with a boyfriend. Maybe the person she`s staying with she had a dispute with.

But to come out and say that when you don`t have a toxicology report. And the last time I saw somebody that drowned in a tub -- remember the Doctor McNeill trial -- that turned out to be a murder, as well.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, yes.

CLAYPOOL: So I think it`s premature. They`re going to have to investigate this as possible foul play.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, well, we`re going to get to that in a second. You`re looking at Marina del Rey, California, right there on the beach. And that`s a very beautiful area. She`s a beautiful woman. Found dead, just floating in the pool.

And I want to bringing in Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, famed forensic scientist. Now Doctor Kobi, the autopsy on "Playboy`s" Miss February 2006 was done on Thursday. But the determination of the cause of death has been deferred until toxicology testing is completed. Your analysis at this point, Dr. Kobi?

DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST (via phone): The autopsy first has to eliminate the possibility that there was some sort of trauma to the body. And once that is ruled out, then the question becomes, was -- did she die, perhaps, of sudden natural death? For example, cardiac arrest?

That`s unlikely because of her youth -- she`s 34 years old, in good shape. So I think the next possibility is acute drug intoxication, or poisoning. And just because they found no drugs doesn`t mean she didn`t have drugs in her system. And in fact, it could even be a combination of drugs and alcohol. And that is exactly what they will screen for in the toxicology report.

I think what`s interesting to everybody is to know whether she became unconscious as a result of perhaps drugs, and then immersed in the water and then drowned. Was she alive when she went under the water, or was -- or not? And I think that hopefully will come out from the autopsy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you have to wonder if this is anything like the Whitney Houston case. The mysterious circumstances surrounding Cassandra`s death very similar to superstar singer Whitney Houston, who of course, died in a Beverly Hills hotel.

The "I Will Always Love You" singer`s body was also found in the bathtub. The official cause of death was accidental drowning with cocaine and heart disease as contributing factors. Cocaine was something Whitney Houston admitted to struggling with in an interview with ABC ten years before she died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SAWYER, JOURNALIST: Is it alcohol? Is it marijuana? Is it cocaine? Is it pills?

WHITNEY HOUSTON, SINGER: It has been at times.

SAWYER: All?

HOUSTON: At times.

SAWYER: If you had to name the devil for you, the biggest devil among them?

HOUSTON: That would be me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Again, Whitney Houston found in the tub. Cassandra reportedly floating in the bathtub, as well.

Got to go back to Selin, our senior producer. What did cops say about the possibility of drugs?

DARKALSTANIAN: You know, the possibility is definitely not ruled out. They said they did not find drugs at the scene. But that is not ruled out. That is about all they told me this morning. I`m sure we`ll find out more once the toxicology results come in.

But the only question they answered about the drugs is there`s nothing they see. But like Dr. Kobi said, maybe it was in her system, and we will find that out once the toxicology results come out. Remember toxicology results take a few weeks, so we won`t have the answer for another four to six weeks when the coroner gets those results back.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, wouldn`t those around her know if she was using drugs and/or drinking, or a combination of both? And is there any similarity to the Anna Nicole Smith case, also a former "Playboy" playmate who tragically died?

Stay right there. We`ll be right back with your calls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side. Wouldn`t those around her know if she was using drugs and/or drinking, or a combination of both? And is there any similarity to the Anna Nicole Smith case, also a former Playboy Playmate who tragically died.

Stay right there. We`ll be right back with your calls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight that beautiful young woman is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to the Playboy mansion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The women chosen to be the magazine`s centerfold quickly became celebrities.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Anna Nicole Smith`s death was ruled an accidental overdose. Her body tragically was found in the bathtub.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: What happened that left this beautiful former Playboy Playmate dead? Cassandra Lynn, 34 years old. And she left Virginia, visiting some friends in Marina Del Rey, California. She turns up dead in the bathtub.

Got to go back to Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, how could they jump so quickly to the conclusion that no signs of foul play?

DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC EXPERT: Well, I think in the autopsy, which is a medical/legal investigation of the body from head to toe, they`re looking for signs of trauma. Now, of course, she could have been showering and fell down and hit herself. But, you know, you`re looking for signs of trauma that are not visible to the naked eye. So that when EMs saw her, there didn`t appear to be any kind of trauma. But there might be something present.

I mean they`re going to eliminate all of the possible causes of death, and finally come up with either acute intoxication, and they`ll call it an accident, of course. Or they will come up and say, it`s probably death due to natural causes, sudden cardiac arrest, something of that sort.

But you`ve got to rule out all of the possibilities of foul play. And then come back to whatever you`re left with.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Listen -- is this Anna Nicole Smith all over again? Anna Nicole -- a beautiful model who also posed for Playboy. She tragically died from an accidental overdose at just 39 years of age. And videos like this opened our eyes to what was going on behind closed doors with Anna Nicole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She probably thinks you`ve lost your mind.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH, FORMER PLAYBOY PLAYMATE: I haven`t lost my mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She thinks you have.

SMITH: Did she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a mushroom trip?

SMITH: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a mushroom trip?

SMITH: Huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this a mushroom trip? I`m kidding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Again, look at these Facebook photos. We don`t know if there`s any commonality with Anna Nicole. But Cassandra definitely was a gorgeous woman. They shared that.

I want to go to Simone Bienne, very quickly. You know to be a Playboy Playmate, it`s just such a rush. Not that I would know, I`ve never been one. Nor would I qualify probably ever, you know, at any point in my life. But what I`m saying is that is there something so spectacular about being a Playboy Playmate, that after that`s over it creates emotional problems for you?

SIMONE BIENNE, RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: You`re absolutely right. It`s the peak of her fame. And fame transports you from one world to the other. The only way was down for her. She was working as a hostess, clearly in Los Angeles, trying to rejuvenate her career.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. So, you know, we are so envious of incredibly beautiful women. But they have -- and this is a look at the Playboy mansion, by the way, and she had at one point stayed and lived at the Playboy mansion at one point in her life. There is a curse to be that beautiful and that gorgeous.

Did a reality show star, a 30-something mom, rape a teenage boy? That`s what the parents of the 13-year-old boy are saying tonight. It is a scandal extraordinaire, on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the reality show stream --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first thing that came to my mind was I`ve got to pee on her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To a mug shot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 13-year-old gave a detailed account of the sexual encounters he alleges happened with Andrea Clevenger. It is too graphic to quote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s absolutely distressing especially at that age.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clevenger made advances and they had intercourse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He probably wasn`t in the right state of mind to even know if it`s right or wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A shocker -- a reality TV star, arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old boy. Andrea Clevenger is facing felony sexual assault charges after the boy`s parents found sexually explicit -- I mean triple x-rated -- text messages and images on their son`s phone.

The 33-year-old mother, that`s right, she`s a mom, has appeared on TLC`s "Cheer Perfection". Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you need me to pee on your neck?

ANDREA CLEVENGER, ACCUSED OF RAPING 13-YEAR-OLD: I don`t want you doing that.

The first thing that came to my mind was, "I`ve got to pee on her." Like when you go to the beach and you`re stung by a jellyfish, I`ve heard that if you pee on it the sting and the burn instantly goes away. So it`s like a light bulb, "I need to pee on this woman."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Wow. Yes, I`ll pee on you. Wow. Ok.

Andrea, this woman here, who is now charged in the sexual assault case, this rape case has a young daughter Kylie, who was one of the competitive cheerleaders featured on the show. Now, the 13-year-old boy, the victim, claims this cheer mom forced him to have sex with her once in her home, and then oral intercourse twice in her vehicle. The boy`s mother tells police when she confronted Andrea, she admitted to the sexual contact. But told the mom her son, quote, "doesn`t act 13". Well, guess what, he`s 13. He is a child, under the law, and in life.

Andrea, on house arrest tonight in her Sherwood, Arkansas home -- TLC releasing a statement saying the network made a decision a few months ago not to order more episodes. "And we do not air the show in repeats."

I want to go to Ashleigh Merchant. I`ve been studying these facts constituting reasonable cause. It is triple x rated. Give us a summary of what police are saying happened.

ASHLEIGH MERCHANT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think there might be some more charges coming, Jane, because there are some several encounters where they said that the two had oral sex, and that she drove him to remote areas in the city. My guess is they don`t know exactly where those remote areas were yet. And so once they determine where the jurisdiction is for those crimes, that there will be more counts coming, because every single time that they had some intimate relations, it was illegal, because of their age.

So we`ve got the one count of rape that she`s already charged with, and that`s automatic. Rape normally you think is a forced sexual act. But when there`s this big of an age difference, the 13-year-old can`t legally consent. So you`ve got rape just because of the age difference but there`s also several other counts that are probably coming down the pipelines.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, it`s a shocker. We can`t repeat what`s in this document. It is triple x-rated what authorities are saying this woman did with the 13-year-old boy.

While Andrea`s daughter, the suspect`s daughter, showed off her athletic talent on TLC`s "Cheer Perfection". Andrea, the woman at the center of this case showed off her own flair for drama. Watch this, and then we`ll analyze her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLEVENGER: She said that just the siding is a big problem, and I guess she doesn`t think early. I don`t know if she thinks you`re not handling it right or if you`re not handling it at all. I don`t know. Apparently she thinks that they are like --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apparently she thinks that she can do this routine without my kids.

CLEVENGER: When I told Alicia what Ann told me at the park, she got really ticked off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It seems like this woman likes getting involved in teenage drama. Simone Bienne, behavior expert, is it possible that she had sex, according to cops, with this boy because even though she is 20 years older, she is emotionally stunted and feels like a 13-year-old herself?

BIENNE: Yes. And listen, what we`re dealing with here is not seduction. It`s talked about when women do this as seduction. This is abuse. And like you say, Jane, I think there could be some kind of jealousy with her own daughter because her daughter is a teenager.

If she has a narcissistic personality disorder, what she`s going to be doing is living her life through her daughter. But this is all about power maybe reclaiming her youth.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I agree with you. Just because it`s a woman doing it to a boy, you know, there are some people who want to minimize that, and say, "Well, it`s not that serious". And I`ve even heard people, you know, say very inappropriately, "Well, you know, the kid has bragging rights."

Nonsense. This will severely affect a 13-year-old child, because that`s when they`re in their formative stage, creating their values for life, picking role models. So this really distorts that entire process. And it really makes things tougher for them when they have real adult relationships later in life.

On the other side, does this remind you of a certain teacher? You know who I`m talking about. We`ll tell you on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day, send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane. Yoda, just hanging out. I love it. And let`s see, we`ve got Quinny. And you`re kind of skinny, but you`re beautiful. Is that a bow on your head? Oh, wow. Oh, look at Fudge -- aw. They get into the darnedest things, don`t they? And we`ve got Sir White Paws. And you have beautiful markings -- beautiful.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLEVENGER: Light bulb. I need to pee on this woman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Andrea Clevenger was a regular on the TLC reality show "Cheer Perfection".

CLEVENGER: I think people like (inaudible)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight-page report that graphically describes how Clevenger allegedly took advantage of a 13-year-old boy.

CLEVENGER: What? No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this affidavit the two had oral sex on multiple occasions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course, Andrea isn`t the first woman -- the first grown woman who engaged in sexual activity with a younger woman (ph). Deborah Lefave, do you remember her? She famously had an affair with a 14- year-old student while she was a middle school teacher. She pled guilty to two-counts of lewd and lascivious behavior and got three years house arrest and seven years probation.

Defense attorney Brian Claypool, looking at this case involving Andrea Clevenger, it seems that the cell phones are really the best evidence the cops have and they`ve got to realize in today`s world, you put something on your phone that`s evidence against you.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely Jane. And by the way, her defense that he knew what he was doing is pathetic. And I`m outraged by that. I currently represent two young boys who were sexually assaulted by a female teacher and I will tell you that boys are affected even more sometimes because the foundation of their trust for entering into future relationships is completely decimated.

And one more thing if this woman did commit this act on this 13-year- old boy, it`s likely that this may have happened before with somebody else so they should also act for any potential other victims to come forward.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to stay on top of this story and find out what happens. TLC "Cheer Perfection" and a tweeter told us that she was the president of a parents` group. Wow.

Ok, on the other side, breaking news involving dolphins. Animal lovers stay tuned. You can help save dolphins, they desperately need our help.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, we`re listening to you -- you animals lovers, have been screaming on social media for us to cover the dolphins in crisis. And so we are. The clock is ticking.

Right now 250 bottle-nosed dolphins rounded up, just now, in the infamous cove in Taiji, Japan. Reports claim this is tragically the largest pod of dolphins to be rounded up in several years. It includes babies and even a rare albino calf.

These dolphins worth millions to fishermen who`s rounded them up. The baby albino considered priceless. It`s horrific what happens here. These animals are priceless in themselves. They`re living, breathing intelligent creatures who should be able to live free in the wild.

By tomorrow morning these dolphins could be either ripped from their habitat and forced into captivity or just sent to be slaughtered. The horrifying practice of dolphin hobbing (ph) was documented in the Oscar- winning documentary, "The Cove" from Lionsgate Films.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they get to the lagoon, they are totally freaked out, stressed out to the max.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him. We got him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You just saw national star Hayden Panatierre sobbing hysterically because she was covered in blood, devastated about what she saw firsthand in the infamous cove.

Shouting out to my dear friend Melissa Sehgal, who was in Japan who has witnessed the dolphin slaughter in the cove; Melissa, what can we do?

You know, everybody in social media is saying, "do something, do something." What can we do?

MELISSA SEHGAL, SEA SHEPHERD COVE GUARDIAN LEADER: Hi, Jane. I`m here in Taiji right now and we witnessed the horrific 250 plus pod driven in yesterday, and we`re just waiting right now to see if they are going to be selected for captivity and slaughtered today or held another day.

People on the ground here we welcome volunteers from around the world to come and document the daily atrocities that occur here in Taiji. People at home can also get involved through social media, writing their local embassies. And demonstrating --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re talking the Japanese -- the Japanese embassies. And then there is the theme parks, the marine parks. Without naming any names, tell us what the connection is between theme parks and the slaughter.

SEHGAL: Basically Taiji is claiming that its cultural tradition for them to slaughter and take these dolphins captive when actually it is funding the slaughter. People supporting marine parks are contributing to the bloodshed here. Millions of dollars are being made here.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You can see -- by the way, Melissa, you can the blood in the water. You can see the red you`re looking at and you`ve been looking at is blood, dolphin blood in the water. That`s how much blood has been shed. So continue on. Theme parks where these dolphins are kept in captivity, that`s the problem. They take the prettiest ones, is my understanding, and they slaughter the rest. Is that correct?

SEHGAL: These dolphins are ripped from their family. They witness the dolphin families slaughtered in front of them. This was happening consecutively, simultaneously. It is not a separate thing here.

People that support marine parks are contributing to the bloodshed here in Taiji; they`re as guilty as the people who slaughter the dolphins.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right to the Japanese embassy. Get involved. Join Sea Shepherd. Together we can stop this. Shame on you, Japan, for allowing this. Stop it. Stop it now.

Nancy next.

END