Mommy Dearest

Last Tuesday, July 28th, in what might be called a local sign of the apocalypse, joint child molesters, Charles Griswould and Jacqueline Vanbezooyen-Scarlet, were both, at long last, put away at the end of a sentencing that took up most of the day. Wish it were not so, but the violation of children is now a familiar  thread in the rapid unraveling of our national tapestry, and this terrible case was only one of thousands that play out annually everywhere.

Justice for this child had to wait for her to be old enough to know that what had happened to her beginning was wrong, way wrong.

She'd been six years old when Griswould and her own mother had started in on her.

As Ukiah psychologist Kevin Kelly explained, Griswould and Vanbezooyen-Scarlet were using their mutual guilt to manipulate each another, although they were no longer a couple and hadn’t been for quite some time. They kept in touch, although both had moved from Willits where they’d committed their crimes against the little girl. Griswould moved  back to Utah, and Vanbezooyen moved to Redway where she married her current husband Donald Scarlet, a successful remodeling contractor.

Oh, and they both found Jesus.

Ever since Griswould was extradited from Utah and Vanbezooyen arrested at a Redway daycare center, the two have lived under the frightful shadow of Judge Ann Moorman’s robe. And for good reason since the judge made it clear from the beginning she was not going to be lenient. As a result of the foreboding Vanbezooyen-Scarlet had, in the professional estimation of Dr. Kelly, she'd tried to make the victim, her daughter, feel responsible for keeping mommy dearest out of prison.

Dr. Kelly said, “She uses passive-aggressive techniques to get what she wants from other people. This of course puts [the victim] in a dilemma.”

Judge Moorman, however, shot this scheme down early in the game.

“It’s not on you any longer,” Moorman told the victim. “What happens to your mother from now on is on me.”

Vanbezooyen-Scarlet’s lawyer, Daniel Beck of Santa Rosa, put Dr. Kelly on the stand in order to elicit a positive set of responses regarding his client, but it went badly.

Mr. Beck: “Wouldn’t [the victim] benefit more by seeing her mother in counseling rather than in prison — hasn’t she, in fact, said she doesn’t want her mother to go to prison?”

Judge Moorman: “Counsel! I will not hear any more about how a prison sentence will affect [the victim]. That decision is mine and mine alone.”

Beck: “Wouldn’t you concur with Probation that [the victim] should move on and put this behind her?”

Kelly: “There’s no easy answer. It puts a lot of pressure on a teenager and the consequences are uncertain but, yes, it’s arguable.”

Beck: “The Probation report says that Jacqueline is not remorseful, and that she feels more sorry for herself than [the victim]. Is that your opinion as well?”

Kelly: “I’d say it’s understandable she’d have a hard time facing her responsibility in this. She does complain and worry about herself to an inordinate degree, and she can be extraordinarily deft at causing her daughter to feel responsible. So it’s the reverse of what we’d wish to see… but, sadly, it’s just not there. And the level of denial, regarding the harm done to [the victim], is very high.”

Kelly added that the case was “unique, as there are so few female offenders” in child molestation cases. He went on to describe Vanbezooyen-Scarlet as a “profound dependent personality.”

Beck: “The recommendation by probation is a long prison term. Is that warranted?”

Kelly: “I don’t have an opinion on that.”

Beck: “But wouldn’t she have a hard time in a prison setting?”

Kelly: “That’s difficult to forecast.”

Beck: “But she’s afraid — she had to be sequestered from the other prisoners while she was in the local jail. She says she won’t be able to survive in prison, and that her daughter doesn’t want to se her mother suffer and—”

Moorman: “I won’t allow any more attempts to put this on [the victim], Mr. Beck.”

Deputy DA Shannon Cox then asked Kelly about Mr. Griswould and the 21-page letter Griswould had written to the court. It was Dr. Kelly’s opinion that this letter was an opportunity for Griswould to revive the crime and indulge his sexual fantasies as he'd lived them out with his child victim.

DDA Cox: “Did he appear delusional?”

Dr. Kelly: “No, he did not. He comes across as a rational person and had a lot of insight into Ms. Vanbezooyen.”

Cox: “Is Ms. Vanbezooyen continuing to minimize her part?”

Kelly: “I wouldn’t say minimize. But she’s still making excuses.”

Cox: “What about her continued relationship with Mr. Griswould?”

Kelly: “They were often in communication about the risk of her being charged — which was valid.”

Acting on the threat of being turned in, Vanbezooyen took her daughter to visit Griswould in Utah, telling the child that she was going to be married to her molester. The two chomos thought this was a joke, like standing the kid up against a wall for a firing squad that had been issued blanks. It must have been hilarious — to everyone but the victim.

The resilience of children could be described as awesome, but unfortunately that adjective has been worn out and no longer conveys any more than the shallowest emotional meaning, but the victim seems to have emerged more or less intact.

Kelly: “It’s abhorrent how somebody could brush this off as a joke.”

Cox: “And each says the other was the instigator?”

Kelly: “That’s correct: It was he said, she said.”

Cox: “Would you say Ms. Vanbezooyen has a manipulative personality?”

Kelly: “I wouldn’t say manipulative, but definitely passive-aggressive as a way of enabling the relationship.”

Cox: “Did Ms. Vanbezooyen manipulate her daughter?”

Kelly: “Yes. By putting the child in charge of whether to report the abuse.”

Cox: “But didn’t Charles [Griswould] say he would call the sheriff?”

Kelly: “He said he did call the sheriff but they were too busy to take the call… which seems highly implausible to me.”

Justin Petersen was representing Griswould. He had been retained by some of Griswould’s relatives. They were seated in the public gallery with Vanbezooyen’s supporters. Everyone else was crowded into the foyer where the few seats had already been taken. The foyer people had to be ordered by the judge to go sit with the chomo delegation. They didn't seem happy about it.

Mr. Petersen was there for Griswould, but Vanbezooyen-Scarlet was sent down first, and this took some time.

Mr. Beck next called Vanbezooyen-Scarlet's spiritual advisor, James Parkinson, the pastor of the Assembly of God church in Garberville. Beck wanted the pastor to give a sermon, so to speak, on Vanbezooyen-Scarlet’s behalf, but the judge wouldn’t allow it. Only victims and their advocates are allowed this kind of indulgence. All others must take the stand and subject themselves to cross-examination.

Pastor Parkinson carried an air of trepidation. There was a quaver in his voice, a tremor in his hand.

Beck: “What is your relationship to Ms. Vanbezooyen?”

Parkinson: “I’ve been her pastor for the past two years. She’s very devout and has missed services on only a couple of Sundays in that time. I performed her marriage to Don Scarlet. I’ve prayed with her and spent quite a lot of time as her spiritual counselor.”

Beck: “Form an opinion?”

Parkinson: “Well, we always form an opinion, don’t we? And so yes, and I found her to be a very kind and loving individual.”

Beck: “In terms of her service to the Lord, do you find her sincere?”

Parkinson: “Oh my, yes. I most definitely do, gracious me, yes indeed. I feel in this case… well, the word remorse has been brought up and as far as there being any danger of harm to the community with this lovely individual, why I’d have no problem, no problem at all, having my own kids under her care.”

The pastor’s youngest is 31, he admitted. Vanbezooyen was working at a Redway daycare center when she was arrested. She made bail soon afterwards and doesn’t seem to have been employed since. The pastor talked about his work in “the healing process and restoration.”

DDA Cox: “What type of church do you belong to?”

Parkinson: “It’s The New Hope congregation in Garberville.”

Cox: “Has Ms. Vanbezooyen been baptized in your church?”

Parkinson: “No.”

Cox: “But she’s a congregant?”

Parkinson: “Yes.”

Cox: “Were you aware that she was baptized in the Mormon church?”

Parkinson: “That’s not significant to me.”

Cox: “Ever meet [the victim]?”

Parkinson: “No, I have not.”

Cox: “Has she [Vanbezooyen] discussed with you the allegations she is facing in this court?”

Parkinson: “No. But both she and Don have talked openly with me.”

Cox: “Were you surprised by anything Dr. Kelly said?”

Parkinson: “It was very difficult to hear, but no, I was not surprised at all. I’ve heard most of what was stated.”

Beck next put Vanbezooyen's mother, Ingrid Tanner, on the stand. It appeared that the victim now lives with this grandparent. Ms. Tanner said that when she found out what was going on — after the arrests — she was so mad at her daughter that she didn't speak to her for a long time but, as a mother’s love is unconditional, she said, she finally broke down and resumed relations. She didn’t want her daughter in prison was the upshot of her testimony, and when Beck asked about what effect a prison sentence would have on the victim, he got another warning from the judge. This is the kind of thing most people find so revolting about lawyers. They’ll throw anybody and everybody under the bus. Beck blithely proceeded to throw the old lady out into the rush hour traffic.

Beck then tried to put a last-minute character witness on the stand, but Cox objected and the judge agreed the request was out of line. After a discussion behind closed doors, the defense rested. DDA Cox said, “[the victim] chose not to elocute” — a particularly silly legal term that has come to replace plain English for someone who wants to address the court. The victim would remain silent.

Deputy DA Cox had been assigned this case after the original prosecutor left the DA’s office to work for the Public Defender. She apologized if she was not fully up to speed, but she wanted the aggravated term of 16 years for Griswould and the midterm of 12 years for Vanbezooyen-Scarlet.

Judge Moorman didn’t agree that Griswould should get the max when Vanbezooyen only got off on the midterm.

“I’ll tell you where I’m at," the judge said. "I don’t see any difference between these two people. Their conduct was inexcusable and neither one of them are going to get probation. [The victim] was extremely young and her mother not only failed to protect her but participated in her abuse. And there’s nothing in the record to show Mr. Griswould was a predator. He’s extremely responsible for his actions and will be held accountable, but Ms. Vanbezooyen wasn’t hoodwinked into this — and she’s gonna be punished for it.”

A collective gasp sucked all the air out of the courtroom.

“You deserve 12 years!” Judge Moorman said, looking straight at the defendant.

Vanbezooyen's daughter blurted out a dreadful sob and ran from the room.

“But I’m not going to give you the 12 years," the judge continued. "I believe she is remorseful, so I’m choosing to exercise my leniency. Having listened to your attorney, Mr. Beck, I’m going to give you the mitigated term. You’ve been deceitful, dishonest, passive-aggressive, and what has happened is your fault so I’m going to sentence you to six years and you are remanded into the custody of the Sheriff at this time for transportation to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation…”

The courtroom dissolved in an Old Testament tumult of lamentations, howls of grief and choruses of sobs, as if great injustices had been done to a woman who'd lent her own child to her mega-pervert of a boy friend.

As Vanbezooyen was handcuffed and half-carried, half-dragged from the room, the Mormon monster, Griswould, stood to face his own sentence. He, too, was the happy recipient of the judge’s leniency: He only got the midterm, 12 years which, considering his health and advanced age, is probably a death sentence.

Jesus might have wept for the guy, but no one in the courtroom did.

Griswould left the courtroom under his own power, the only dignity left to him.

* * *

DA’s Press Release, July 29, 2015:

"At the conclusion of a lengthy sentencing hearing today presided over by Judge Ann Moorman, a hearing that lasted several hours in Department A of the Mendocino County Superior Court, defendant Jacqueline Caroline Vanbezooyen, age 50, of Willits, was sentenced to six (6) years in state prison for her involvement in the continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14. Vanbezooyen had hoped and her attorney argued for a grant of probation to avoid state prison.

"Vanbezooyen's co-defendant, Charles Vernon Griswould, age 69, of Utah, was sentenced to twelve (12) years in state prison for his role in the continuous sexual abuse of the same child.

Because the crime of continuous sexual abuse is characterized by law as a violent felony, both defendants will be required to serve 85% of their respective sentences before they may be released on state parole.

"Upon their eventual release, each defendant will be required to register with local law enforcement wherever they may be allowed to live as a sex offender and renew that registration annually.

"Griswould has been held in custody pending today's sentencing. Vanbezooyen was remanded into custody this afternoon and taken to county jail for processing and housing in preparation of being taken to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

"The attorney who handled the prosecution of this matter is Deputy District Attorney Shannon Cox, with support from Assistant District Attorney Paul Sequeira.

The law enforcement agencies who cooperated in the investigation that lead to today's sentences were the Yuba City Police Department, the Willits Police Department, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, and the Mendocino County District Attorney's Bureau of Investigations."