Contact: Katie Short, 619-737-7900, www.YESon4.net, 866-828-8355
SANTA CLARA, California, Sept. 8 /Christian
Newswire/ -- A Santa Clara County sexual predator
impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter, forced her to
undergo a late-term abortion, then continued to molest
her for another seven months until the child's mother
discovered the abuse and contacted police. Despite two
visits to Planned Parenthood and a surgical abortion at
San Francisco General Hospital, no healthcare provider
bothered to inform law enforcement.
"This heart-rending and tragic real-life
case illustrates better than any theoretical argument
why Proposition 4 is so desperately needed in
California," said Katie Short, a campaign spokeswoman.
"Had Proposition 4 been in place, the victim's mother
would have learned of the pregnancy and been there for
her daughter. She would have contacted law enforcement
right away, and spared her daughter months more of
abuse. Think about it: how long would this abuse have
continued – or even been inflicted on this victim's
younger sister or other young girls -- had the mother
not happened to find out?"
"Obviously, Californians cannot rely on
assurances from abortion providers that they are
protecting children," she added. "Are there any
predators in jail right now because of a report from
Planned Parenthood?"
Details of the case came in an Aug. 28
decision by the California Supreme Court in an appeal
filed by Gary W. Cross, who was 39 at the time he
committed the crimes, following his conviction in Santa
Clara Superior Court. An appellate court upheld the
sentence of 21 years to life imprisonment, and the
Supreme Court agreed, 7-0.
According to the high court's written
opinion, the abuse began in the summer of 2002, while
the child's mother was at work and her younger siblings
were asleep.
The child, identified in court records as
"K," told Cross in August 2002 that she might be
pregnant. "On September 25, her suspicion was confirmed
by a positive pregnancy test performed at a local clinic
to which defendant had taken her," said the opinion. "In
December 2002, after K.'s mother commented on K.'s
weight gain, defendant took the girl back to the clinic
for an abortion. The advanced stage of the pregnancy,
five and a half months, required a surgical procedure
that could not be performed at the clinic, which then
referred K. to San Francisco General Hospital. The
abortion required certain medical procedures at the
hospital on two successive days. Each day, without her
mother's knowledge, defendant kept K. out of school to
take her to the hospital. . . .
"An ultrasound image of the fetal head
indicated that the fetus was 22 weeks and two days old —
near the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. Such
a late-stage pregnancy required a surgical abortion.
That day, hospital staff inserted dilators into K.'s
cervix. The next day, defendant brought K. back to the
hospital. K. was given anesthesia and, after additional
dilation of her cervix, the fetus was removed from her
uterus. . . . .
"After the abortion, defendant resumed
sexual activity with K. until July 9, 2003, when her
mother came across documents relating to the abortion.
The next day, K. reported her sexual molestation to the
police, who arrested defendant."
Read the Supreme Court decision for yourself: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S139791.PDF