Finger Pointed At Cops In Cantu Case

(CBS)  The suspect in the slaying of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu is scheduled to return to court Friday, when she's expected to enter a plea.

Melissa Huckaby is charged with kidnapping, raping and killing Cantu late last month. Cantu was a playmate of Huckaby's young daughter.

And now, the mother of a 7-year-old girl tells reporter David Begnaud of CBS station KOVR in Sacramento, Calif., that Huckaby took the girl without permission to a nearby park in January, and may have drugged her.

All three families live in the same mobile home park in the Northern California town of Tracy.

The woman, identified only as Lora, asserts that police didn't do enough to investigate Huckaby after the January incident.

"I believe," Lora told Begnaud, "if Tracy police had looked into Melissa a lot more than they did, I believe Sandra might be alive. ... I kept telling them to look into Melissa Huckaby a little bit more."

Lora says Huckaby took her daughter to the park without permission and, when she came home, her daughter could barely walk.

Lora says her daughter didn't say Huckaby had given her any pills. The girl told Lora, "The only thing (Huckaby) got her was a water from Wendy's."

Lora now questions why authorities didn't take her claims against Huckaby seriously. "I'm just kind of disappointed in them that they didn't look into Melissa more than they did," Lora remarked to Begnaud.

Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman says there was "no probable cause to arrest anyone" at the time.

Lora says she wasn't surprised when Huckaby was arrested. "My gut feeling," she tells Begnaud, "tells me she did it."

And Lora believes her own daughter is lucky to be alive, saying, "I'm thankful she is OK, and my heart goes out to Sandra's family."

[dagrandma]

"Those who would treat the guilty party with brutality are also guilty of a crime and deserve to be put away too."

Oh yeah? What if it were your daughter found in a suitcase?

[Sacsayhuan]

What connection if any, is there between Timothy Lawless & Huckaby? A friend of mine living near Tracy CA told me a Timothy Lawless was arrested on THE EXACT SAME SEX CHARGE AS Huckaby. Lawless is in custody at the Sacramento County Jail under a $1Million Bond, charged with 10 counts of lewd and lacivious acts on a child under 14.

http://www.theunitedreporter.com/pop.php?jid=3768894&cname=folsom&uid=99999&refid=5971

Also: http://blinkoncrime.com/

And a Timothy Lawless was arrested in 2004 for Child Porn:
http://vigilantantis.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/timothy-lawless-pedophile-tells-judge-child-porn-is-his-therapy-5/

[Sacsayhuan]

A friend living near Tracy CA sent me this link yesterday. Is this Timothy Lawless related to Huckaby ? This arrest shows he was arrested for the same crime as Huckaby.

Lawless, Timothy - (M/W) - Age 44 Folsom, CA 95630-2718 Verified Address
Reported: 04/15/2009 by Arrest Reporter No. 7205 Source: Folsom PD
F PC289(J) Rape By For. Obj.: (V) Under 14
http://www.theunitedreporter.com/pop.php?jid=3768894&cname=folsom&uid=99999&refid=5971

There was also a Timothy Lawless arrested for Child Porn a couple of years ago.
http://vigilantantis.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/timothy-lawless-pedophile-tells-judge-child-porn-is-his-therapy-5/

[BloggerT7165]

Female offenders are more common than many people think. There are over 3 million men and women in the US that have been sexually abused by a woman when they were children. There is a site that has articles, data, stories, etc on female offenders. Everything ranging from mother/daughter sexual abuse to female pedophiles and more. http://whataboutwhenmomistheabuser.blogspot.com

[realtor2005]

God is not responsible for what humans choose to do, if he wanted to be all good he could, but he does not want robots who obey him because they have to, obviously some people have abused of their freedom of election, thank God soon all these wicked people will be destroyed Sal: 37:9-11 The Bible is the only way to know the truth about God and why he allows bad things to happen. www.watchtower.org

[rockypriscilla]

This is why I do not believe in God! I think thing like this would not happen if there was such a person. This woman worked in a Church and look at the Catholic Church. Religion is a joke.
Posted by angdtr

**********************************************************

I don't know the reason that God allows certain things, noboby does, but the fact of the matter is that the world is a sinful place. Terrible things happen. The bible doesn't promise us that terrible things wont happen, in fact it promises us that we will have struggles and trials throughout our life. God promises us that he will walk with us through our trials. It also says that he has overcome sin, meaning that we have a way to heaven through Jesus, even though none of us deserve it.

[kalonaoc]

I understand the cop's reluctance to believe everything Lora said, however he should have erred on the side of caution since a little girl was involved. The valium-type drugs found in Lora's daughter at the hospital should have raised red flags -- and not just toward Lora. After all, Lora brought her to the hospital after observing her -- and after calling police and being frantic when her daughter was missing. These drugs are commonly used by sexual predators because they erase memories. Apparently, Melissa Huckaby was interviewed that evening, but her home should have been searched and a background check should have been done.

Now the fact that Lora walked home from the hospital (per Tracy Press interview) at 2 a.m. (after her daughter was examined and taken by CPS overnight) tells me she may have been under the influence of more than one beer. Still, the cop jumped to a conclusion that he should not have. Huckaby had a crime record and was under current court orders to attend mental health services. That should have been a tip off.

I hope other cops are taking notes. Don't ignore crime reports, even if they come from someone with a drug/alcohol history. Especially when they involve innocent little children like Lora's 7-year-old daughter.

[daiseylu]

I also believe the police could have done a better job at investigating what this woman did with the first girl, drugging her?? after all the family did file a police report, what more could they do?? Personally, I would have gone over to that nuts house and get to the bottome of it,,come on now, need a bldg to fall on your head???

[cockroachcrusher]

"This is why I do not believe in God! I think thing like this would not happen if there was such a person. This woman worked in a Church and look at the Catholic Church. Religion is a joke."
Posted by angdtr

Yeah, you non-religious types got all the winners on your side--Stalin, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacey, that guy that munched on people and their body parts Jeffrey Dohmer, Lee Harvey Oswald, and, drum roll please, that son-of-a-gun charmer, Adie Hitler.

[cockroachcrusher]

"So annoying" I meant to say. See how it annoyed me just typing.