Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy

Subject: Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:54 pm

DIAMOND, Mo. (AP) — A small-town mayor and pastor charged with enticing a child over the Internet was recorded calling the investigating detective at home Wednesday and asking him to stop the case.

On the tape, Allen Kauffman begs Diamond police Detective Jim Murray for mercy and asks him to make the case go away. Murray played a tape of the phone call for The Associated Press.

"Please have mercy on me," Kauffman said on Murray's tape of the call. "I'm begging that I can put my life back together and this don't have to go any farther."

Murray responded that there was nothing he could do because the case is now in the hands of prosecutors.

Kauffman then asked, "There's no way you can just take the hard drive and not go any farther with it?"

Kauffman, reached at home later Wednesday, confirmed to the AP that he had called Murray but denied he was asking the detective to destroy evidence.

"I didn't ask him to do anything illegal. I just asked him for mercy," Kauffman said.

Kauffman told the AP he has resigned as mayor of Collins and pastor of the town's Temple Lot Church. Collins, a town of about 200 residents, is about 100 miles from Diamond.

Kauffman declined to discuss the specifics of his case, including how he plans to plea. His lawyer did not immediately return a phone message.

Kauffman, 63, was arrested Friday on four counts of felony enticement of a child. Kauffman is free on $50,000 bond. He is due in court Feb. 20 for a pretrial conference.

Prosecutors alleged in court filings that Kauffman believed he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl in a Yahoo chat room last November and December; it was actually Murray conducting a sting operation.

Prosecutors said that in online messages, Kauffman allegedly asked the girl for sex and for nude pictures and encouraged her to have sex with a girlfriend in front of a Web cam so Kauffman could watch.

Murray said he has informed prosecutors about Kauffman's call. Newton County assistant prosecutor Bill Dobbs declined to comment on what effect the taped call might have on Kauffman's case or whether any additional charges will be filed.

Murray, 69, works on the Diamond police force and is its retired chief. The department said his efforts chasing child sex predators in online chat rooms since 2002 have resulted in 20 arrests.

Link

Nya, nya, nya!

Subject: Re: Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:44 pm

Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy

Former Mo. Mayor Taped Begging for Mercy

Anarcho-Capitalist Non-Miscellaneous

Celebrate Evildoers' Inadvertent Contributions to AnCaps' Values!