How To Discredit Yourself
This story is downright bizarre. A newspaper in Plano, Texas is running the following story with the screaming headline:
Confiscated monkey sent sexually explicit audio tapes by Plano owner
A Plano resident allegedly sent his male monkey a sexually explicit audio tape while the animal was in custody at the Living Materials Center (LMC), according to LMC staff.
Darwin, a Rhesus Macaque Monkey, was confiscated by animal services on Feb. 21 after police found illegal animals in owner Bobby Denton Crawford Jr.’s home.
Darwin was released back to Crawford Friday afternoon after being transported from the LMC, where the monkey stayed the past month.
Sherry Smith, a spokesperson for Plano Animal Services, said Darwin was given back to Crawford because he agreed to move out of the city.
“Where he is going to be moving, they don’t prohibit them there,” Smith said. “He is complying with city ordinances by removing Darwin from the city.”
Smith declined to comment on where Crawford had moved to. Crawford made at least three visits to the LMC and a handful of tear-filled phone calls requesting Darwin be returned to his custody, according to Jim Dunlap, curator at the LMC.
On one such visit, Dunlap said Crawford handed him a box of Darwin’s toys. Among those toys was an audio tape player with a recorded message from Crawford addressed to Darwin that was of a sexual nature, Dunlap said.
Go read the story for the exact nature of the allegation made in the story. It's thoroughly sick. It is also false. Not that the paper got it wrong, it appears that Dunlap made the allegations, but that he now admits he was completely wrong in his interpretation of the recording. That clarification will be found in another newspaper, however, not in the Plano Star Courier.
The head of a Plano school district facility that houses exotic animals said Monday he fears for his professional future there after saying he believed that a local pet owner was having sexual relations with his rhesus macaque monkey.
The Plano Star Courier in Saturday's edition quoted Plano ISD's Jim Dunlap as saying a man was having relations with the monkey seized last month by authorities. The head of PISD's Living Materials Center said the pet owner, Bobby Crawford Jr., sent a box of toys for Darwin the monkey to play with while he was kept there. In that box was an audiotape.
"After listening to the tape, Dunlap said Crawford made references to Darwin and himself engaging in mutual stimulation," the story read.
In an interview Monday with The Dallas Morning News, Mr. Dunlap said that he made a "gross error" and that his interpretation of the tape was just that – his and no one else's.
He also said he had been going through "holy hell" over the story. He said the Star Courier reported information that was "off the record and not to be printed."
So you have two ways to look at this: Mr. Dunlap was attempting an off-the-record character assassination with the reporter, or the newspaper is engaging in character assassination for another reason. But whatever the reason, Crawford is being ruined over a false allegation. My guess is that Mr. Crawford is already being inundated with offers of representation by lawyers and will come out of this with a very large amount of money in court. Because someone sure as heck is getting sued here. Rightfully so. (Oh, and I expect Dunlap will be cleaning out his desk by this time tomorrow at the latest.)
So you have two ways to look at this: Mr. Dunlap was attempting an off-the-record character assassination with the reporter, or the newspaper is engaging in character assassination for another reason. But whatever the reason, Crawford is being ruined over a false allegation. My guess is that Mr. Crawford is already being inundated with offers of representation by lawyers and will come out of this with a very large amount of money in court. Because someone sure as heck is getting sued here. Rightfully so. (Oh, and I expect Dunlap will be cleaning out his desk by this time tomorrow at the latest.)
Other Links to this Post
-
Blue Crab Boulevard » I Have….. — Sunday, 1 April , 2007 @ 10:57 pm
By mikem, Sunday, 1 April , 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Just incredible, but I am not surprised to see someone like Jim Dunlap trying to get away with this type of intimidation and character assassination. It sure didn’t take long for his “animal rights activists” network to publish a map to Crawford’s house over at pet-abuse.com.
I think someone should publish a map to Dunlop’s house. Certainly his neighbors need to know that Dunlap is both kidnapping pets and actively engaging in fantasy activity involving sex with those same animals.
By Darnitol, Wednesday, 11 April , 2007 @ 6:14 pm
http://www.savedarwin.com
That’s a web site set up to help Crawford with the costs of his legal defense. You’ll also learn more about the story and JUST how badly this is a case of character assassination by both Dunlap AND the Plano Star Courier. You see, as it turns out, Jim Dunlap writes a column for the Plano Star Courier. So in this case, the paper isn’t just reporting… they are their own source.
Please take a look at the site and help this guy out. His finances have been completely ruined. And literally, he is living in a barn now.