English schoolgirl reunited with parents; ex-Marine arrested in Germany

[LauraK]

LONDON -- The 12-year-old schoolgirl who ran away with a former U.S. Marine she met on the Internet was reunited with her parents on Wednesday, police said shortly after announcing that the Marine had been arrested in Germany.

Shevaun Pennington already was on her way back to Britain when Toby Studabaker, 31, was arrested in downtown Frankfurt, police said.

Police said the girl flew back to Britain from Stuttgart via Amsterdam. Officers from Greater Manchester Police met her at the airport around 2:30 p.m., an hour after Studabaker had been arrested.
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[Ripley]

1. Let's see how many Studabaker fans will defend him...

Afterall, she wanted it. Kind of like those disgusting posts on the Bush/Asian flings thread...you know it's OK in other cultures for 12 year old girls to screw 31 year old men! In fact they love it because they can get enough money to buy make-up and jewelry.

Glad they caught the bastard. :grr:

[ichiro99]

2. So far as we know --

perhaps won't till after a trial -- it's not clear that Mr Studabaker knew the girl's true age. In addition, the man deserves consideration for his service in the invasion, may be saddled with post-traumatic disorder, a horrorshow career path -- generally, and like everyone caught up in the Rove administration's grotesque works, the dark side of accute cognitive dissonance.

As for how it fits in with wider concerns about memetic management in media: weird sex crimes do seem to be a staple of cabal-approved imagery. Specifically regarding children.

And of course, crocodiles' personalities, amputations, the dangers of associating with blacks or unionists, shark attacks, alerts and threatenings of alarums to come... Rather like a stranglehold on images that color the public consciousness -- as if by Victorian-era workhouse bosses.

[Moosenose]

4. Ripley...

do you have some kind of evidence that they had sex? How about that he actually knew she was 12 and not 19 prior to their meeting?

Please share it with us...

[Ripley]

5. CNN said his family reported they spoke to him.

And after meeting her he said she was indeed a 19 year old college student. Now do you really believe a 31 year old man can't distinguish the difference between a child in 5th or 6th grade and a woman in college?

Hey I believe everyone is entitled to a trial. But why do you guys always assume these situations are innocent. Have you not heard about pedophiles and their MO's?

That he served and is a veteran does not exempt him from laws.

[Moosenose]

6. right....

"That he served and is a veteran does not exempt him from laws."

I never said it did. On top of that, the fact that he served shouldn't mean that he should be instantly lynched before all the facts are in, either.

"Hey I believe everyone is entitled to a trial. But why do you guys always assume these situations are innocent. Have you not heard about pedophiles and their MO's?"

Because I haven't seen any evidence that it WAS NOT innocent. Didn't the police say that she told him she was 19, based upon the email on HER computer? Your average pedophile, upon reading that the girl was 19, would "move on". A pedophile CERTAINLY wouldn't fly halfway around the world to meet a 19 year old, would they?

[Ripley]

7. Get a clue.

Yes, pedophiles do fly around the world to prey on children.

My local news just reported police have confiscated his computer and it has child pornography on it and they say they have "proof he knew she was 12." I'm assuming his own words will take him down...probably bragging about it online.

[Moosenose]

16. we shall see....

but I dispute the claim that a pedophile would fly halfway around the world to meet a 19 year old woman, which is, from the reports I've seen, what he expected to find.


On edit: BTW, if he was a true pedophile and wanted to have sex with children and was willing to fly around the world to do it, why didn't he go to Thailand, where it's much easier?

[Moosenose]

3. Hmmmmm.....

I've heard news reports that claim he didn't have sex with her, and that she told him via email that she was 19. Are we going to make "meeting" people via the internet illegal? Because from what I've heard, this guy didn't break any laws that I know of, because it's not illegal to arrange a rendevous with a 19 year old, even if you have to fly halfway around the world to do it.

The Marine obviously wanted to send the girl home, as shown by the fact that she was in the air flying there when he was arrested, on the ground, in another country.

From the facts that I've seen, this isn't some kind of kidnapping situation....They made plans (with the marine thinking she was 19) and met, and then he sent her home when he found out she was underage.

[Democat]

8. Maybe this article will shed some light

Investigators used Cracker tactics to get Shevaun home
by Dominic Kennedy, Russell Jenkins and David Charter

SHEVAUN PENNINGTON thought that she was being whisked away on a romantic adventure with the punk rock fan she described to schoolfriends as her “American boyfriend”.
Little did the 12-year-old girl from Wigan know that Toby Studabaker, a former Bible school student, former US Marine and widower, was a user of child pornography suspected of impropriety with young girls.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-748047,00.html

[Muddleoftheroad]

9. Nevertheless

Other reports don't make it clear he actually did anything with or to the girl and that she did not look her age and was constantly reverse carded to prove she was young enough to get lower bus fares.

Personally, I just will wait for this to go to trial. I hope and pray the young girl is both safe and unharmed and I hope this reminds parents of the power and potential of the Internet. If he is genuinely innocent, I hope a trial proves such. If he is guilty, I hope they drop him in the ocean.

[Ripley]

11. Just a reminder.

Child pornography is illegal.

[Muddleoftheroad]

13. Separate issue

That is a separate issue than the potential kidnapping or rape here.

Besides, prove to me it was kiddie porn. I was just in D.C. recently and I saw a ton of girls/women who could pass for anything from 12 to 30. I don't think the police are ever really sure about the age of girls/women in photos (which does complicate prosecution). That's why they try the sting approach so often.

[Pert_UK]

15. I agree on one hand and disagree profoundly on another.......

Yep, OK, the "kidnapping" or potential for rape charges are totally separate from his previous record, especially as he was never actually convicted of anything. He should be regarded as innocent until proven otherwise.

However......the fact that he has been previously arrested for improper behaviour towards children means that he just might not be 100% wholesome. We shouldn't judge him on that, but it's a factor that should be taken into account when investigating this.

I find your comments on the child pornography allegedly found on his computer to be bizarre and disturbing. If the Police are prepared to stand up and say that child pornography was found, then I have no idea why you might want to suggest otherwise. They must have pretty good reasons for making this statement, because he could sue them to pieces for defamation of character if it turned out to be untrue.

Also, I find your statements about the ages of "girls/women in photos" to be very, very odd.

Number one, we haven't been given any information about the pictures - if they turned out to be of 5 year olds, I'm fairly convinced that the Police could prove in court that they were children. I agree that sometimes children look older than they actually are, but are you SERIOUSLY saying that some 12 year olds look 30 and vice versa?????? No way, no way at all, and I don't know why that's your first reaction in any case.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, even if the "child pornography" on the PC turns out to be images of adults pretending to be children, I would still say that it is disturbing that anyone wants to look at sexual images that purport to be of children, even if they're not. "As good as looking at naked children but it's all perfectly legal." - doesn't sound particularly moral to me...

Just my opinion of course.

P.

[Moosenose]

19. you must not follow too much US news...

"If the Police are prepared to stand up and say that child pornography was found, then I have no idea why you might want to suggest otherwise."

I recall a case a while back where the police stood up and announced publicly that a man had shot and killed a police officer. They went as far as to charge him with capital murder charges. Forensic evidence later proved that he could NOT have shot the police officer, and that the officer was actually shot and killed by another policeman.

The American police, both on a state and Federal level, have a long track record of putting out outrageously untrue claims that have to be retracted at a later date, ESPECIALLY in high-profile cases. Often, such untrue claims end up being financially compensated for. Take, for example, the Richard Jewell case.

"Finally, and perhaps most importantly, even if the "child pornography" on the PC turns out to be images of adults pretending to be children, I would still say that it is disturbing that anyone wants to look at sexual images that purport to be of children, even if they're not."

What about unsolicited SPAM for sex sites located in places like Russia, where the child sex laws are different? Even if deleted in many email programs, the images would remain on the computer. And, yes, even if unsolicited, such images on the computer would qualify the recipient for criminal charges.

It's important to have aLL the facts before we leap to conclusions.

[Cheswick2.0]

18. I refuse to beleive

that you can not tell the difference between a 12 year old and a thirty year old. That is too ridiculous.

[Ripley]

10. Thanks, most informative.

I thought it sounded crazy to hear the mother saying "just bring your boyfriend home." What a sting!

[Pert_UK]

12. That's a very interesting article - BBC + Guardian don't say that.

The BBC and the Guardian did mention his previous investigation for allegations of improper behaviour, but they've been doing that since Day 1. I'm surprised that they've not covered the "sting" operation by now.

However...there was always something dodgy about this case. The guy kept saying (in phonecalls) that he had found out her real age and was angry about it, but still took her from country to country, rather than taking the first opportunity to walk away. Very suspicious, but at least it's all ended OK (as far as we know).

I suspect that she'll have a hard time at school for a while, but can you imagine the content of her "what I did during the Summer vacation" essay that she'll get to write?

P.

[Moosenose]

17. Has he been convicted of a crime?

what ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

I wonder what the libel laws are like in England....

[JNelson6563]

14. say what you will about either player here

If she was my kid I would ban here from the computer and have mighty tight reigns on her from here on out.

As to him, well, there is much we don't know but he should have at the very least gotten a clue when he saw her.

What a mess!

Julie