Jaded
March 28th, 2008, 04:08 AM
Aide's dismissal after she alerted police to a patron allegedly viewing child porn has roiled the Central Valley town of Lindsay.
Many in the Central Valley farm town of Lindsay were shocked when a man was arrested after allegedly viewing photos of nude boys on a computer in the local library.
But even more shocking was the dismissal two days later of the library branch's lone employee, who said she alerted police over the objections of her supervisor.
County officials Tuesday offered to have the dispute mediated by a retired judge. They say there is no policy that keeps librarians from reporting child pornography and that Biesterfeld's firing -- which occurred two weeks before her six-month probation was to end -- had nothing to do with her report to police. Unless she consents to disclosure of her personnel files, however, privacy laws prevent them from proving their point.
An attorney for suspect Donny Lynn Chrisler said there was no evidence that his client did anything wrong at either the library or his home, where authorities said they found a number of explicit images after his arrest. Chrisler, 39, is a library regular who is deaf. A diagnosed schizophrenic, he is being held at Tulare County Jail on $100,000 bond.
By Biesterfeld's account, the uproar started Feb. 28, when she saw Chrisler staring at photos of naked, blond boys. She was sickened, she said, and called her supervisor, Judi Hill. According to Biesterfeld, Hill told her to give the man a note ordering him to stop. When Biesterfeld suggested calling the police, Hill told her not to do it, her attorneys said.
But the next day Biesterfeld, nagged by doubts, used her lunch hour to visit the police station next door. She was told to contact the station if the same thing happened again, said Mathew Staver, one of her attorneys. "She was doing the moral and legal thing that anyone would do," he said. "When you see someone viewing child pornography, you report it to the proper authorities."
On March 4, she called police when she saw Chrisler allegedly viewing the same kind of images. Police arrested him and confiscated the computer as evidence. They then received an angry call from Hill, who told them they had violated Chrisler's "privacy rights," according to a letter Biesterfeld's lawyers sent county officials.
Biesterfeld was fired March 6 for unacceptable performance -- an allegation her attorneys deny, pointing to a favorable job review six weeks earlier.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-library26mar26,1,3211325.story
This is so wrong on so many levels. If I saw a guy viewing child porn at the library, there is no way in hell I'm going to 'politely' slip him a note asking him to cease and desist! I'm thinking her supervisor was just pissed off for her going over her head. Maybe the supervisor needs a little flogging?
Many in the Central Valley farm town of Lindsay were shocked when a man was arrested after allegedly viewing photos of nude boys on a computer in the local library.
But even more shocking was the dismissal two days later of the library branch's lone employee, who said she alerted police over the objections of her supervisor.
County officials Tuesday offered to have the dispute mediated by a retired judge. They say there is no policy that keeps librarians from reporting child pornography and that Biesterfeld's firing -- which occurred two weeks before her six-month probation was to end -- had nothing to do with her report to police. Unless she consents to disclosure of her personnel files, however, privacy laws prevent them from proving their point.
An attorney for suspect Donny Lynn Chrisler said there was no evidence that his client did anything wrong at either the library or his home, where authorities said they found a number of explicit images after his arrest. Chrisler, 39, is a library regular who is deaf. A diagnosed schizophrenic, he is being held at Tulare County Jail on $100,000 bond.
By Biesterfeld's account, the uproar started Feb. 28, when she saw Chrisler staring at photos of naked, blond boys. She was sickened, she said, and called her supervisor, Judi Hill. According to Biesterfeld, Hill told her to give the man a note ordering him to stop. When Biesterfeld suggested calling the police, Hill told her not to do it, her attorneys said.
But the next day Biesterfeld, nagged by doubts, used her lunch hour to visit the police station next door. She was told to contact the station if the same thing happened again, said Mathew Staver, one of her attorneys. "She was doing the moral and legal thing that anyone would do," he said. "When you see someone viewing child pornography, you report it to the proper authorities."
On March 4, she called police when she saw Chrisler allegedly viewing the same kind of images. Police arrested him and confiscated the computer as evidence. They then received an angry call from Hill, who told them they had violated Chrisler's "privacy rights," according to a letter Biesterfeld's lawyers sent county officials.
Biesterfeld was fired March 6 for unacceptable performance -- an allegation her attorneys deny, pointing to a favorable job review six weeks earlier.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-library26mar26,1,3211325.story
This is so wrong on so many levels. If I saw a guy viewing child porn at the library, there is no way in hell I'm going to 'politely' slip him a note asking him to cease and desist! I'm thinking her supervisor was just pissed off for her going over her head. Maybe the supervisor needs a little flogging?