"Runaway boards plane without ticket" Associated Press, October 07, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS — A 9-year-old runaway went through security and boarded a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport with no ticket, an airport spokesman said Sunday.
Security officials screened the boy at the airport shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday after he arrived via light rail, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said. The boy then boarded a Delta flight that left for Las Vegas at 11:15 a.m.
The flight was not full, Hogan said, and the flight crew became suspicious because the boy was not on their list of unattended minors. The crew contacted Las Vegas police, who met them upon landing and transferred the boy to child protection services.
‘‘It’s hard to piece anything together from his stories why he got on the flight and went to Las Vegas,’’ Hogan said.
Minneapolis police Sergeant Bill Palmer said officers talked to the family after Las Vegas police contacted them. A family member told police the boy ran away and was last seen Thursday. The boy had been at the airport on Wednesday as well, Hogan said. Video shows him grabbing a bag from the carousel and ordering lunch at a restaurant.
The boy was expected to return to the Twin Cities, but Hogan didn’t know Sunday whether that had happened.
--more--"
"Agency had history with stowaway, 9" Star Tribune, October 09, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS — A 9-year-old boy who evaded airport security and stowed away on a flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas has also stolen a car and sneaked into a water park, and he is known to child protection investigators, according to a confidential county government memo.
A 9-year-old was driving?
In the e-mail obtained by the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, Janine Moore, area director of the Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department, said staffers have conducted four assessments of the boy’s family since December and that he is a ‘‘challenging’’ child.
‘‘The reports have been inconsistent and there have been no injuries to the child; however, there is a pattern of behavior,’’ she wrote in the e-mail to county administrators and commissioners marked ‘‘private data.’’
Moore said she could not comment when reached on Tuesday. ‘‘That information went out without my authorization, so there’s nothing more I can share with you about that memo,’’ she said.
Hennepin County spokeswoman Carolyn Marinan said the memo is considered private under state law. She said she could not disclose any other details about the county’s involvement except to say the boy is safe.
The memo did not identify the boy or his family or say where they live, the Star Tribune reported.
The e-mail did say, however, that the boy’s mother works at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where he sneaked onto the plane without a boarding pass or ID Thursday. The Delta Air Lines flight crew realized midflight that he was not supposed to be there, and Las Vegas authorities took him into custody when the plane landed.
The boy became ‘‘violent’’ and was hospitalized in Las Vegas, where hospital staff reported he eventually calmed down, it said.
What sedatives did they give him?
Minneapolis airport spokesman Pat Hogan said he got through the security checkpoint at least in part by blending in with another family. According to Moore’s memo, that is also how he sneaked into the water park.
His motivation for the trip remained unconfirmed.
‘‘What he told the police in Las Vegas was that he was going to meet a kid he had met online who shared his interest in video games,’’ Hogan said. ‘‘His mother also said they didn’t have any family or friends there so I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s what he told authorities in Las Vegas.’’
--more--"
Related: Stowaway’s dad says requested help for problem son
Also see:
For Minn. Catholics, troubling new abuse scandal
Minn. church whistle-blower fears she ‘didn’t do enough’
"Minn. teen gets jail in prostitution case" by Brian Bakst | Associated Press, October 12, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS — A former cheerleading captain at a suburban high school was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for prostituting a younger squad member and keeping the money for herself.
Montia Parker, 18, previously pleaded guilty to three prostitution-related counts. She was ordered into custody, and must spend at least two years behind bars before she’s eligible for release. She must also register as a sex offender.
‘‘You were the leader of an attempted high school prostitution ring,’’ Hennepin County District Court Judge William Koch said at the sentencing. ‘‘And you did it all for a pair of sneakers.’’
Parker admitted that last March she told a 16-year-old cheerleader at Hopkins High School that the girl could earn money through prostitution. After the younger girl agreed, Parker placed an ad for her online, then took her to an apartment where the girl was paid to perform oral sex. The girl gave $60 to Parker.
--more--"
"Parents OK deal in starvation case" Associated Press, October 22, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota couple accused of starving their adopted son reached a plea agreement with prosecutors Monday on charges of child neglect.
Mona Hauer pleaded to a felony child neglect charge, while Russell Hauer pleaded to a gross misdemeanor. They each entered Alford pleas, in which defendants can maintain their innocence but agree that juries could find them guilty based on the state’s evidence.
Under the deal, the Hauers could each face a maximum of 60 days in jail when they are sentenced next month, attorneys for the state and defense said. Prosecutor Michelle Zehnder Fischer said she has agreed to remain silent at sentencing, while the defense plans to ask for no jail time.
Both sides said the deal spares the boy from having to testify at trial.
The Hauers, of North Mankato, were charged last year with six felonies each, including neglect and malicious punishment of a child. In addition to feeding the boy only liquid and putting an alarm on his door so he would not steal food, authorities said, the couple also made him sleep in a sled because he wet the bed....
--more--"
