The Other McCain

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Violence Against Women Update

Posted on | June 29, 2024 | No Comments

Four females ages 17 to 21 were kidnapped in Pennsylvania, held captive in a shipping container in Monroe County, where two of them were raped in a crime that shocked residents of the Poconos region in the hill country near the New York state line. The victims were rescued by police in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Mount Pocono, after having been kidnapped in Wilkes-Barre (about 40 miles away) where the victims reportedly were witnesses to a shooting. During their ordeal, the victims were first transported to a building (which had once housed a Salvation Army center) that one of the accused kidnappers owns in Pen Argyl. From there, the victims were reportedly taken to a “remote property” that one of the kidnappers owns in Smithfield Township, about 15 miles from Pen Argyl. It was at the Smithfield Township property that the victims were held in a shipping container and two of them were raped.

Strange to say, this crime has apparently gotten zero attention from feminists, who have made violence against women a subject of their activism for more than three decades. Likewise, we have heard nothing from the White House about this horrific crime, despite the fact that President Joe Biden frequently touts his credentials on the issue, as in this March 2022 press release:

This week, President Biden signed into law the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022, bipartisan legislation passed by Congress as part of the Omnibus appropriations package.
One of the driving forces of President Biden’s career has been fighting back against abuses of power. That force led him to write and champion the groundbreaking Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as a U.S. Senator, landmark legislation that first passed in 1994. In the nearly three decades since, he has worked with Members of Congress from both parties to pass legislation to renew and strengthen VAWA three times: in 2000, 2005, and 2013. Each time, he worked to expand access to safety and support for all survivors and increase prevention efforts. Preventing and responding to gender-based violence wherever it occurs, and in all of its forms, has remained a cornerstone of the President’s career in public service . . .

Yes, we must “increase prevention efforts” to stop “gender-based violence wherever it occurs,” as the president says! We can therefore expect him to demand that the Department of Justice assist with the investigation and prosecution of the suspects in this crime. That presidential call for action should be forthcoming any minute now, right?

From ABC News: “Authorities have charged Davaun Carlon Jackson, 29, with a slew of charges, including kidnapping, rape, and other offenses. The second suspect, Isaiah Rogers-Keeney, 19, is also being charged as an accomplice.” Having read several news stories about this case, many details are confusing or mysterious, with different stories reporting the case differently. It seemed obvious to me that this probably wasn’t Jackson’s first crime, and research turned up a listing in a local weekly paper from November 2016: “Davaun Carlon Jackson, 21, of Tobyhanna – charged with retail theft, receiving stolen property and criminal attempt of theft by deception.” When I mentioned this to my brother Kirby, who is familiar with the area from his years as a long-haul trucker, he told me there was an Army facility in the area. This is Tobyhanna Army Depot which, with more than 3,000 employees, is “the largest employer in northeastern Pennsylvania.” It is logical to surmise that Davaun Jackson had some connection to this facility, either having been stationed there in the military, or working as a civilian employee, or possibly having family members working there.

Whatever the case may be, we don’t have any background about how Jackson became the owner of at least two properties in the area, one in Pen Argyl and one in Smithfield Township. What we do know is that, in Pen Argyl, “neighbors have been concerned about the building ever since it was sold by the Salvation Army”:

301 West Main Street, Pen Argyl

“They’d be in there working late at night. We’ve called the police several times because of the noise,” said the man. “In the morning, the kids sit on that steps over there to get the school bus, and there’s a lot of kids. So we were concerned because this guy seemed a little shady.”
He said there was even an incident with a young woman in distress running away from the property last winter.
“She was barefoot, knocking on doors, and nobody would let her in, but they did call the cops, and I guess by the time the cops got here, she was gone,” said the man.
The borough sent us a statement, saying police have investigated the complaints about the building.

Is this “incident” last winter with a barefoot woman fleeing the building owned by Jackson somehow related to what happened recently with the kidnapped women? We don’t know, although again I think it is logical to surmise some kind of connection between these two incidents.

This crime spans three counties in Pennsylvania — Pen Argyl is in Northampton County, while Smithfield Township is in Monroe County and Wilkes-Barre is in Luzerne County — and one would hope that state officials are coordinating the investigation involving so many jurisdictions. Monroe County District Attorney Michael Mancuso offers even more interesting information about this case:

Mancuso said his office has actually been following Jackson for some time.
“There has been an investigation that has involved him over the course of the last several months,” said Mancuso.
Jackson is facing 14 charges, and Rogers-Keeney is facing 23 charges. Both include kidnapping, sexual assault, and false imprisonment, but Mancuso said they could face more charges in the future.
“We needed to make the charges that we thought were most appropriate now, but everything’s on the table,” said Mancuso.

Feminists must be following the case closely, right?



 

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Category: Pennsylvania, Violence Against Women

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