Child Molester Brad Stowell Walks Out Of Jail!

These guys will almost always be model prisoners, the better to get out early so they can reoffend while still young enough to enjoy it.

I advocate for lifetime sentences for pedophiles. If we can’t go there, because some people are convinced they can be “rehabilitated”…then at least give them a ‘no-parole’ sentence.

How can someone who has acted upon these feelings, claim to be ‘rehabilitated’ by taking 6 months of classes (and those classes happened AFTER the parole board told him to back in December) ? Did he nnot have access to them before? Did he not care about taking them before?

I’ll be interested in the resolution of this situation, if the young men take that next step…

I would hope that part of the condition of his parole would be that he stay away from children!

(spam filter is nailing me - not a dupe comment)

Where I think the original author may have gotten details mixed up is in the timeline.

Stowell first molested a kid when was still just a kid himself. This was reported to LDS authorities who buried it after Stowell went through their “cure.” Stowell would later serve an LDS mission and his mother, who was in scouting, pulled strings to get him the job at the scout camp where for years he preyed on kids before the Steed kids finally outed him. This latter incident was in 1998. The Post Register’s Scouts Honor story has all this in mass detail.

So there were two reported incidents of molestation but they were both in the 90’s. I don’t recall specifically but what got him into prison most recently had something to do with unauthorized contact with a minor but the contact wasn’t sexual. I think he watched a movie with a neighbor teen or something. Possibly he was grooming the kid for future molestation but thats only speculative. Regardless it was a violation of his probation.

It’s very cold comfort, but I doubt we will ever see him living in Idaho Falls again. He’s smart enough to know that this town is simply too dangerous for him to ever come back.

I think it is inevitable that Stowell will re-offend. He has an established lifelong pattern, and underwent at least one private rehab attempt after he was caught the first time.

He can’t be incarcerated for life because the law under which he was convicted- child molestation- as limits on incarceration. That law covers a broad range of sexual behaviours that are less severe than rape.

I believe the truth is: Stowell is not a molester; he’s a serial rapist. But, since he was already found guilty under lesser charges, he would have to re-offend more than once to qualify for that charge, and that’s a sorrowful thing to contemplate. Hopefully, his little taste of prison will be enough to keep him from acting out on his fantasies, but the statistics aren’t favorable.

The unfortunate thing is that he is very likely to reoffend. Two years is horribly short for not only what he did to those boys but how many boys he assaulted.

At the risk of having a deleted/edited post due to mentioning religion, I am a Catholic, and while I love my church, I agree that the cover up in both cases was totally wrong. These pedophiles committed a crime regardless of the association.

The unfortunate thing here is that this is where pedophiles usually congregate, as a trusted adult, whether in schools, as clergy, or what have you, in a trusted position is where they have the best opportunity to commit their crimes.

It’s my understanding that the scouts (Kim Hansen) continued covering up after the Steeds reported him. I was very glad to know that Kim Hansen is no longer employed there.

Nemesis, I know you are not for the death penalty, but several states do have the death penalty for child rape. My question is what is the difference between “child molestation” and “child rape,” and why, if Idaho is considered so tough on crime, this most serious of crimes isn’t a death penalty crime in Idaho. If it was, I doubt we would be talking about Stowell’s release. From everything I’ve read, it sounds like he was raping children.

You are right, Nemesis, and I would suport life without parole for these crimes. I do not believe in rehabilitation. As I have mentioned, I was a victim and witness in a 20 year old case. I was consulted and given some options (ie to state my preference) for the terms of the perpetrators sentence. I chose financial restitution (the amount of which was a joke in light of the crimes) and that his minimum sentence be equivalent to the amount of time I had been forced to serve as his victim.

In the end, the law under which he was convicted was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. He and many others similarly convicted were released, no parole, probation, registration, no conviction. A total blow to the many brave and dedicated public servants who put these men away, not to mention the victims.

Again, I support the death penalty for these kinds of cases, but would settle for life without parole. Either, it seems, would be an improvement to the present situation in Idaho.

Here is a great article on the reporter who outed the Stowell case as well as other cases of pedophilia in the Boy Scouts. Sounds like this reporter was run out of Idaho Falls after being “outed” for being gay, and after bringing these stories to light.

http://www.afterelton.com/dennis/blog/PBS-airs-doc-on-gay-reporter

Also from that page, It appears as though some of the people at the Post Register are trying to do a little “Cover-Up” of their own.

Newspaper involved in hiding the facts?

Submitted by Jimmy (5 points) (1 post)on Thu, 2007-09-27 15:26.

I saw a copy of this posting on a local website where the head staff of the Post Register, is quite active.

Interestingly enough, soon after the newspaper, came aware of the employee’s revelations above as to what has REALLY happened behind the scenes, the posting by Breechwood45789 was edited and changed.

It appears as though the Idaho Falls Post Register is stifling freedom of speech (or possibly threatening employees so the real “story behind the story” doesn’t get out).

For reference, here is the original posting by Breechwood: (Changes to the original are bolded and underlined for easy reference - I hope I got them all…)

I was out of town the week the WNET crew came to film at the Post Register. I’m sorry I never got a chance to talk to them, but I wonder what I would have done, since this story seems to have taken on a life of its own. There’s great a line in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” in which a character says, “This is the west, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” This story sounds like something that would air on “Inside Edition.”

I’ve been a reporter at the Post Register for nearly 26 years. I sat next to Peter Zuckerman for more than a year. For what it’s worth, Brad Stowell’s molestation of Scouts was no secret to the public or the Post Register staff. I covered the first civil trial against the Grand Teton Boy Scout Council, brought by Chad Purser, one of Brad Stowell’s victims. Here is some of that Page One story, from the Feb. 8, 2001, edition of the Post Register:

“A Shelley man’s negligence suit against the Boy Scouts of America and its Grand Teton Council ended in a mistrial Wednesday afternoon after the first witness made a remark about something the judge had ruled off-limits.

“Chad Purser, 18, is suing the Scouts and the council, claiming they were negligent to hire Brad Stowell. Stowell was convicted in 1998 of sexually abusing minors while he worked at Camp Little Lemhi in Swan Valley.

“Purser was one of the boys Stowell admitted to molesting, and sat with his attorneys Wednesday, the trial’s second day, while his mother, Donalene Purser, testified.

“When attorney Laurie Gaffney asked her how her son was coping with the stress of the lawsuit, Donalene Purser said, “Chad views this as a way to get his story out.” Tearfully, she then said her son was one of two dozen boys Stowell had molested at the camp.

“Stowell now lives in Idaho Falls, and was scheduled to be called as a witness. In the criminal case he was sentenced to 14 years, but his sentence was suspended. District Judge Richard T. St. Clair put him on probation for 15 years and ordered him to stay away from minors. He also was fined and ordered to make restitution to his victims.

“Before the civil trial started, District Judge Gregory Anderson ruled that any mention of victims other than Purser would not be allowed because of how it might prejudice the jury. When Donalene Purser made her statement, the Boy Scouts’ attorneys, Gary Dance and Brad Williams of Idaho Falls, immediately made a motion for a mistrial, which the judge granted.

“The case is still active, but will require a new jury. ‘To my knowledge, we’re still going to continue this,’ Gaffney said.”

There’s more, but you get the idea.

The Purser case was later settled. The week after Christmas 2004, I ran into Laurie Gaffney at a local wine bar, Vino Rosso, and she told me she was preparing to bring a second civil suit against the Grand Teton Boy Scout Council, on behalf of another one of Stowell’s victims who’d turned 18. I passed this information along to Peter, who was police and courts reporter at the time.

It is true that the local authorities sought to keep civil case files away from the public and the press (Stowell’s criminal file was a matter of public record.) The Post Register fought to have the files unsealed, and once we were able to look at the deposition Stowell gave in the Purser case it turned out to the basis for much of the “Scout’s Honor” series.

There was a public backlash, but it wasn’t the first time the Post Register had been accused of having it in for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Peter’s “outing” by Frank VanderSloot was a sleazy ploy, but the previous post is correct when it says that Peter was about the most “out” gay person any of us had ever met. He had made his homosexuality public at Poynter.org, and there was nothing he liked talking about more than his homosexuality, to the point of being a bore.

A lot of people on the Post Register staff are chuckling when they read about Post-It notes and midnight meetings, because we never heard anything about them when Peter was here. Nor did we get the impression in September 2005 that Peter left town fearing for his safety. He left after his partner was accepted by a law school in Southern California. Nobody considered him particularly tense or upset at the time.

One last thing: I was the person who tracked down Paul Steed, the father of two of the abused Scouts, then passed his name and phone number along to Peter. After “Scout’s Honor” came out, Peter told me, “I couldn’t have done this without you.” I appreciated hearing that, because I believe journalism is a team effort. But it sure sounds like Peter has been drinking his own bathwater since then.

It now looks like someone from the newspaper has removed the entire original post.

If the Post Register had focused more on the perpetrator, Brad Stowell, instead of trying to attack the Boy Scouts, maybe Stowell wouldn’t have gotten out of jail so early.

I think the PR has given us many stories about many pedophiles in our area, and their sentences, etc.

Kudos to them for keeping us informed.

I met Peter Zuckerman personally a few times and the only way he could have been more obviously gay was if he dressed in drag and wore a big sign saying “I’m gay.” Zuckerman was 100% the stereotypical flaming gay man. I don’t mean that as disrespect but rather just to point out the obvious. From his stereotypical “gay voice” to his stereotypical “gay mannerisms” he was blatantly obviously gay. If you’ve ever seen the show “Will and Grace” think about Will’s friend (I forget his exact name) who was one of the main characters and how flamboyantly stereotypically gay he was and you’ve got Peter Zuckerman.

None of this has anything to do with the quality of his article or its truthfulness. And I despise Frank Vandersloot so I’m certainly not defending his smear tactics by publicly outing him. But the outing was pretty mild since Peter was so blatantly gay to begin with.

Crystal,

You may not be aware that Paul Menser from the Post Register admited to writing the post referenced above.

He’s the inside guy who brought a lot of light to the over dramatization of the story.

What is most damning to the Post Register about this is 1) It sounds like Roger Plothow was furious the information got out and had a bit of a “talking-to” with Paul Menser for letting the information get out, and 2) It looks like they tried to cover it up.

Dear Anon and/or Anonymous, whoever you are:

One of the real dangers of the Internet is that bad information is like that fish capsule I take every morning — every time I burp it comes back.

The silliest allegations repeated on this string, not for the first time, are that I was “furious” with a member of my staff for posting what he thought, and that the newspaper “tried to cover it up.”

Cover what up? The fact that some in our office thought the PBS series over-simplified the whole thing, giving Peter too much credit and others not enough? I wrote that very thing on several blogs after the series appeared, and I said the same thing to the producers. Peter himself has acknowledged that this work was far from his alone, and that many people contributed in one way or another.

Furious? No, more like disappointed. I did, indeed speak to the person who wrote the post in question, indicating that I thought it was petty and inaccurate. I did not ask him to have it removed, nor did I have the power to see that it was. By the way, that same person has since been promoted and giving a pay raise.

Lively disagreements, frank discussions and open debates are all part of a healthy newsroom and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Indeed, it is these traits that attracted me to journalism way back in 1976.

Anon/Anonymous, if you’re so certain you’ve got the story right, identify yourself and let’s have an open discussion of the facts and sources, and I’ll answer any question you wish to pose.

Three years after the series first appeared, I continue to stand behind every word. No one mentioned in the series has ever asked for a retraction, clarification or correction. It remains posted on our web site, word for word, as it was originally published. I encourage you to go back and read it.

And, let’s not forget some of the more important outcomes of the series:

Laws were passsed tighening prosecution and punishment of pedophiles.

Brad Stowell went back to prison.

The Steeds and Birds received high honors from the Boy Scouts for their work in saving other boys from abuse.

Tens of thousands of people have become more aware of child sexual abuse.

Clark Farrer, the executive director of the Teton Council of the Boy Scouts, is now on the Post Register’s Community Advisory Board.

I summary, I enjoy a healthy, lively debate of the issues as much or more than the next guy. Let’s try, however, to debate the facts and not a false version of the story.

Roger Plothow
Editor and Publisher
Post Register

I appreciate Roger’s comments and I am grateful to the Post Register for everything they did to bring this story into the open. I’m sure that we never would have known much of the story if not for their “Scouts Honor” series.

I hate to stay off-topic but since others brought it up I think the Post Register does an outstanding job and takes a lot of criticism that they don’t deserve. Who knows, if they hadn’t done their report Brad Stowell might have never gone to prison to begin with. (Disclaimer - this is my own personal opinion and I have no affiliation with the Post Register).

Here’s an idea. If anyone wants to make a comment about the Post Register there is another thread for that. How about discussing Brad Stowell for a change? I think it’s a travesty that he received such an early release from prison. And I don’t understand why the victims didn’t receive notification. I hope they can appeal.

Oh brother, Anonymous! You agree that the newspaper went after the wrong people? Agree with whom? You’re the only one who said they went after anyone besides Brad Stowell. Please give it a rest. You’re starting to sound petty and vindictive now.

Comment #20 is a real gem. So it’s the Post Register’s fault that Stowell got early parole? Get a grip, please.

I’m with 123 and Nemesis.

Hey Humble Idiot — what a misnomer that is, but you brought out some good points in your comment #35. I am more than willing to sit around and complain and gripe about our legal system and the parole board but, I’m ashamed to admit, never thought about letting the governor know how I feel. Thanks for shaking me out of my apathy. An E-Mail will be on its way as soon as I can get it worded to my satisfaction.

Comment #31: I noticed that not a single other local news outlet tried to implicate the Boy Scouts or the mormon church like it seems the Post Register did. They just don’t like anything conservative.

You say because the PR was the only outlet to report this means the PR is guilty. I think it vindicates the PR more than anything else.

I think that the PR was the only outlet to report these tragedies and cover-ups indicates the PR are the only journalists with backbones around here. The other media outlets are mostly fluff news with pretty faces. They can be described accurately as “journalistic fluffers” if you know that term.

Isn’t there a State Office of Victim Services in Idaho? I’m a prior victim of a presently incarcerated offender, and even though I am not a victim of the crimes for which he is presently incarcerated I will be informed 45 days prior to his release. I just don’t understand how the parole hearing could have been held without notice to the victims? Unless the victims/families made no effort to ascertain the earliest possible release date and communicate their interest and contact info to Victim Services?

I agree that he should be remanded pending proper notice of the hearing to all concerned parties, as surely there was an agency which was required to notify victims of their right to know about the hearing in advance.

Crystal…#41 was great, exactly what we needed to see. (Sometimes, cut-n-paste and links ARE the right thing to do!!!)

Thanks for the information.

Hey, Guest_House #43, if we’re going to bust her for the times when it’s over the top, we also need to say nice things when it’s done in an appropriate way.

Fair and balanced, we’d like to think we are…

2 things i should point out:

1. The Boise Probation a parole office on fairview is severley understaffed and over worked. I doubt they will be able to keep an eye on him unless he gets re-arrested or fails to register - although if you look at the Idaho Sex Offender website you can see how many non-compliant offenders there are.

2. Any one else find it odd that the Comissioner of the Pardons and Parole who figured he was a low risk offender is a member of the LDS Church and from eastern idaho??

Seriously this was the best candidate IDOC could find for release from prison?
[moderated] this is a sad day and age - less time for Molesting kids than you would get if you got popped with a dimebag of pot.

Excellent point Smitty. My buddy who works in Burley Probation & Parole told me that he has a group of criminals to supervise that is over one-hundred. He told me that this number is pretty much average statewide. So, you have one officer supervising 100 criminals. I am thinking Stowell will love it in Boise as it is even larger than Idaho Falls, he isn’t well known there, and can be more anonymous and have some unassuming kids over for movies with less chance of getting busted.

hmmm,

cover up? what cover up? I think the point was that the post register tried to create the “illusion” of a cover up. Put me down as someone who does not trust the local newpaper to have any unbiased reporting.

I don’t think other news outlets didn’t cover brad stowell, they did. but the post register is the only one who tried to make it look like there was a cover-up.

as a result a lot of people think the post register has turned into more of a tabloid than a legitimate news source.

Boomer shhhh…I didn’t mean to wake him from his slumber.

That’s one I’d like to listen to - but I can’t get off work. Can someone listen in and give us an update here on what they covered?

Many of you have your so called facts very wrong. I was in a position to know a lot about why Brad Stowell’s parole was violated and why he went back to prison. It was not particularly fair imho because his “violation” was an old story and one his PO had known about. The pressure of all the news brought it about and although I don’t have a problem with punishment for violations I believe it needs to be based on facts and not public opinion.

I do believe in rehabilitation. I have personally witnessed a number of men and women who are doing very well keeping themselves in check and often recovering from their own abuse issues while dealing with being abusers themselves. My sons were victims, they and their abuser have worked together on recovery and building healthy lives. It has been a good thing to watch. My sons are much more healthy and well adjusted than the Steeds. They are married, have good jobs, healthy relationships, and a very good relationship with their abuser. They understand more than any two young men needed but they have used it to become better not bitter.

Paul Steed needs to get on with his life and let his sons do the same. As long as he is so bitter and angry he and his boys will never heal. In fact, sad as it is, Paul Steed was one of my sons LDS Seminary Teacher. And at the time he was abused he talked to Mr. Steed and was told to forgive and to let himself heal. He was really effected by this. Now he sees Steed and can’t stand to hear him be such a hypocrite. Steed has different issues than Stowell but he is also not a good citizen or a good example for our society.

None of us know for certain, but I believe Brad Stowell can be successful. He was doing well in treatment and will be in treatment again and if we will let him he can go on to be a productive member of our state and not another draw on the tax payers.

I find your comments interesting, especially when Stowell himself said that “he could not be rehabilitated and that if given the chance he would abuse again, even his own children”.
Seems you’re the one with the skewed ‘facts”.
Of course he “was doing well in treatment”! He wasn’t being exposed to anything or anyone that would lead him to not do well! Not to mention, the majority of criminals such as Brad Stowell are model prisoners because they know that doing so will result in early release! The guy is a scumbag and always will be. (IMO)

Hi Crystal,

Yes, I understood your point and agree with your opinion, actually…..I am just saying, in light of everything that has gone on here, maybe you could have expressed your opinion without attacking the mother??

okay, mystery solved; Joe deleted Crystals comments, or referred them to the moderator:

Joe Eagle: I struggle with the whole ballance thing, but when a new user comes by and posts a sincere comment and someone else calls them “sick” that was way over the line for me.

Cal, although you don’t agree with what she wrote, I see no difference between your post and others which have been deleted. Let’s try to stay logical and polite when possible instead of sarcastic remarks. We’re trying to keep the web site going in a positive direction. Although I have several reservations about comment #56 too, fact is none of us know her situation and are not in a position to judge.

Back to Brad Stowell, I hope the county sheriff office (Ada) has a policy for notifying neighbors about his presence in their area. Someone who has admitted to molesting over 20 boys IMO is not rehabilitative material.

Although I should probably keep my mouth shut about this, I feel since we’re trying to clear the air and rejuvenate the site that we should make sure everyone is in agreement. While I agree with reader in regards to cal the idiots comment 63, I don’t personally have a problem with sarcasm. The thing is, we can’t have it both ways.. Cal was just complaining about 006 making a sarcastic comment to qwest, but then he turns around and makes one to this mother of a molested child.
Personally I enjoy a little sarcasm. Me and the guys are work are sarcastic to one another all the time, but nobody’s feelings get hurt because we know its all in good fun. I don’t see anywhere in the rules where it says “no sarcasm”, but more often than not on this site, the sensitive ones take sarcastic remarks to heart instead of fun and feelings end up getting hurt.
I say bring on the sarcasm as long as everyone knows it’s all in good humor and not out to intentionally hurt someone. Wouldn’t that be part of the free speech Joe is trying to promote on this site?
But then again, don’t criticize one person for being sarcastic and than turn around and do the same thing to somebody else. On the same token, I’m rather partial to readers suggestion of keeping the site moving in a positive direction by being polite & logical (comment wise), instead of sarcastic. Perhaps that would probably make more sense. Especially to those folks that are new and may just pop onto the site and not realize our sarcasm is “just for fun”. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been sarcastic on a number of posts, but if it gets to the point of being hurtful, than I think the line needs to be drawn. What are your guys thoughts on this issue?
Sorry, I probably should have posted this under the vulgar topic!

Our company deals with putting child rapists, molesters and serial rapists of adults in jail and helping the victims recover. So for us the Brad Stowell case is very interesting.

What I do not understand if why there is any debate on whether child rapists should be parole.
There seems to be an assumption that parole or probation is a “right” of some kind as a given. Shoot someone in the head, you get 15-20 years and then parole. The victim is dead. Why should parole even be considered? Rape a child in this area you often receive 120-160 days and then probation. The victim is usually traumatized for life. Why should you get probation?
Why is there is an assumption of parole or probation for criminals who commit crimes that leave almost unrepairable damage to their victims. Where is the justice in that? Even more so, where is the notion of deterring others from doing the same crimes?

Drug addicts need a substance to commit their crimes. They can stop by not using this substance any more. If you apply the same standard to a child rapist, then they can stop by not using kids any more. The problem is that the Meth a doper uses does not lay awake at night haunted by what the addict did to it. The Meth does not have feelings of dread and sorrow over the memories of abuse playing in their heads. Victims of child abuse do. When you leave that kind of damage and you have shown a pattern of doing this over and over again-as Brad did in Alaska on his LDS mission BEFORE he got involved with the Boy Scouts, then you need to go away for good and never come out.

Why? Not because you might offend or not offend. You need to go into jail and stay there because you did the crime in the first place. You don’t “earn” parole or probation. You are granted a second chance because your crime didn’t merit incarceration for life. If it does, because you damaged lives forever, then you go away forever.

Look at it this way. If I killed 24 people and went to jail and then someone said, Hey, she is REALLY sorry and acts well in jail, let her out, what would most sensible people say?
I think they would say, “We don’t care if T is sorry. Those are 24 lives she took that can’t be put back. We don’t care if she won’t ever kill number 25. Twenty four dead people are enough!”

If 24 little boys isn’t enough to merit life imprisonment, then what the &()&( is?

And as for forgiveness, let’s get the record straight on that. In our culture Christ is held up as the model for forgiveness. Christ said in the Gospel of John, “Judge ye with righteous judgment.” What does that mean? “A good tree does not bring forth bad fruit. A bad tree does not bring forth bad fruit. By their fruits you shall know them.”
He advocated chopping down “trees” that didn’t bring forth fruit and said that if someone hurts or scandalizes one of these “little ones” it would be better for a millstone to be placed around their necks and tossed into the sea.”

That doesn’t sound like a slap on the wrist, does it?

So I say if your actions ruin people’s lives for the rest of their lives-go to jail and STAY in jail because your fruit is rotten-you have hurt a child. Pray for them? Yes. Let them out? No. Their past crimes are to be atoned for by losing their freedom. Freedom is a privilege that you can lose. Rapists, murderers and molesters should rejoice in that because in the old days they would be dead.

This comment is in reference to the comment placed my mother of a molested child on june 26th. you are completely right. i know the steed family better than any as i am related to them. They are very two faced and selfish. after several failed lawsuits to walmart by the mother debbie, they saw fit to file this lawsuit. my entire time knowing them they have never mentioned once how dark and disrupt their lives were because of this incident. i am glad that adam and ben put a pedophiler in the light and were able to stop it, but they were never actually molested. but the parents have been, are, and always will be money hungry and this was their last chance at it. brother steed and his family say to forgive because that is what their faith preaches but i dont see alot of forgiveness in their eyes currently, only dollar signs.

Wish I could say I am surprised ~ NOT! Shame on them for letting him out early!!!

#73, Curious George. Amen to that, brother.