Corruption Watch: Panama City, Panama City Beach, Mayor Mark Sheldon, Bay County Sheriff's Office, State Attorney's Office (this past week)
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Jan. 26, 2024 - SHOCKING VIDEO leading to the arrest of local attorney Hoot Crawford on May 6, 2022. His criminal trial begins Monday at the Bay County Courthouse.
Crawford was facing four charges prior to yesterday:
1. Interfering with child custody after DCF seized a minor from her parents and her attorney after they left the Gulf Coast Children's Advocacy Center prior to a voluntary forensic interview.
2. Tampering with a minor witness/victim who was scheduled to give a voluntary forensic interview with the Child Protective Team.
3. Leaving the scene of a crash after allegedly striking a DCF investigator with his vehicle at the CAC.
4. Reckless driving and damage to a person.
It all started when Hoot was representing a 16-year-old girl who said that she had been sexually abused by her brother several years ago in Tennessee. She recanted the allegation, but the girl had allegedly suffered horrific sexual abuse from her estranged biological father.
Her parents hired Hoot to represent her at a voluntary forensic interview at the Children's Advocacy Center. Minor children have the right to an attorney under a Florida Constitutional amendment known as Marcy's Law.
The Sheriff's Office violated the girl's right by arresting her attorney and questioning her alone along with the Department of Children and Family Services. They asked her what she and Hoot had talked about. The Sheriff's Office claims that Hoot was giving her bad legal representation.
After this video, Hoot told them that he was taking the girl to his office, and that he would turn her over to the State only after the required Court order was obtained. Until then, she was in her parents' custody (adoptive father) and under the legal representation of Hoot Crawford.
The Sheriff's Office told DCF that she needed to be sheltered immediately from Hoot because of imminent danger. That process takes a few hours. By law, they can't snatch her away from her parents and her attorney until the Court orders it.
The DCF investigator told Hoot that she was taking the child into state custody and sheltering her from the danger so they could proceed with the voluntary forensic interview without her having a lawyer present.
Since that's not how the process works, Hoot took the girl and headed to his vehicle. He repeatedly said that he'd be at his office when and if they got a Court order.
As Hoot tried to back out his vehicle from the parking spot, a DCF investigator blocked his vehicle by standing behind it. That's a false arrest. Video shows Hoot backing up just enough to put the vehicle in drive and proceed forward over the parking curb.
The DCF investigator and Sheriff's Office pretended that Hoot struck her with his vehicle causing injury that required emergency room treatment. That was a lie captured on the security video. WMBB-TV sensationalized the lie with great vigor and drama.
So yesterday, prosecutors finally dropped the charges that Hoot injured her with his vehicle as he fled with the child.
Hoot is now only facing two charges: That he interfered with state custody of the girl, and that he tampered with a victim and an investigation (that's not in Florida's jurisdiction).
The Sheriff's Office has also violated a Circuit Court rule that prohibits them from interviewing a minor victim of sexual abuse more than three times because of the trauma it induces each time. But they questioned her more often than allowed, and they insisted on doing it again after arresting her lawyer.
Sheriff Tommy Ford and his office claims that the Children's Advocacy Center has a policy that doesn't allow anyone to be present when the Child Protective Team questions a child. They argue that this policy supersedes Marcy's Law, and the girl's right to an attorney.
That will be a major question at issue during next week's trial of Hoot Crawford. The crux of the case is whether or not they had the authority to seize the girl from her attorney and parents prior to getting the Court order.
A judge granted the order an hour later, and Hoot handed her over to DCF. That's when the Sheriff's Office arrested Hoot after an hour-long stand-off at a traffic stop.
Prior to this insanity, Hoot had expressed his desire to run for State Attorney (top prosecutor). This year-and-a-half long prosecution derailed his plans.
More to follow ...
Jan. 25, 2024 - Mayor Mark Sheldon's illegal campaign signs and my confrontation with him today.
Jan. 25, 2024 - Today's confrontation with Mayor Mark "Money Mover" Sheldon in Panama City Beach.
He needs a check on his arrogant pomposity and conflicts of interest.
Jan. 24, 2024 - The shocking persecution and criminal trial of local attorney Hoot Crawford starts Monday.
Jan. 23, 2024 - I didn't mean to get so fired up at today's Panama City Commission meeting.
They are obsessed with multi-million dollar sidewalk projects that will worsen flooding and raw sewage spills.
