News
Teen in dog-extortion case sentenced to juvenile hall
April 17, 2008, 9:24AM MT
By Nicole Saunders
Victor Rodriquez - the 15-year-old who made a threatening midnight phone call to the owner of a little brown dog named Edna - was sentenced yesterday to a juvenile treatment facility in western Pennsylvania.
Victor Rodriquez - the 15-year-old who made a threatening midnight phone call to the owner of a little brown dog named Edna - was sentenced yesterday to a juvenile treatment facility in western Pennsylvania.
By JULIE SHAW
Philadelphia Daily News
shawj@phillynews.com 215-854-2592
How long he stays there will depend on his rehabilitation.
Edna's owner, Bill Whiting, said after the sentencing by Family Court Judge Robert Rebstock: "There's been some justice here."
However, he is still troubled that other youths have not been arrested. "Probably the most nagging thing to me is at least one or two kids have gone scot-free," he said. "Given his [Rodriquez's] IQ, I wonder if he has the capacity to put together an extortion plot.
"The fact that there are other kids out there that may be culpable, or more culpable, and who are not getting treatment or help is troubling."
Whiting was referring to Rodriquez's 62 IQ, which was mentioned previously in court.
During the sentencing, Assistant District Attorney Heidi Grogan read Whiting's victim-impact statement. In it, Whiting said afterward, he had said that "this is the most indecent thing anyone has ever done to me."
Reporters have not been allowed in the juvenile court room.
Edna disappeared Halloween night when Whiting, 57, was visiting a friend in the Italian Market area. Whiting posted fliers with his cell-phone number and a $500 reward.
At 11:58 p.m. Nov. 10, he received a call on his cell from two boys, who said they had Edna, but wanted $600. He heard a dog yelping in pain in the background.
At 2:56 a.m. Nov. 11, he got a call on his landline phone, which was on Edna's tag, from a man who sounded like he was in his 20s. The man said, "We've killed your dog. It's dead," before he hung up, Whiting said yesterday.
Authorities traced the first call to Rodriquez's home on Schiller Street near I, in Kensington. Whiting said that he was told the second call came from a disposable cell phone, which could not be traced.
Rodriquez was convicted March 10 by Rebstock of four misdemeanor charges: theft by extortion, conspiracy, terroristic threats and harassment/stalking.
After yesterday's sentencing, Grogan said there was a search warrant for the house, and the search showed Rodriquez "was the only juvenile living there."
Asked whether there was any evidence of a dog in the house, she would only say she had not entered such evidence into the record at trial. That is, she had not said in court whether the search showed evidence of a dog or whether it had not. She did not feel comfortable commenting on matters not said in court.
Police declined to comment on the investigation. The investigation was initially delayed as police sought phone records from Verizon. Yesterday, Whiting said he still feels "tremendous anger toward Verizon for ever having the audacity to charge law-enforcement" for phone records.
He lauded police Detective Charles Williams' work on the case, but said he thought police in general "probably need a little more education as to the seriousness of animal-cruelty crimes." *
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Pictured above: Bill and Edna
Image courtesy of Bill Whiting
Reprinted with the permission of Julie Shaw and the Philadelphia Daily News
Posted by Nicole, PA Team Leader