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Joey Dauben accused of child sexual assault

Started by Kat Kanning, February 19, 2012, 04:19 PM NHFT

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Kat Kanning

February 19, 2012, 04:19 PM NHFT Last Edit: February 19, 2012, 06:40 PM NHFT by Kat Kanning
Walking in Waxahachie this afternoon, was shocked to see Joey Dauben on the front page of the paper.


http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/12/ellis_county_observer_publishe.php

Joey Dauben Crusaded Against Child Porn. Now He's Accused of Assaulting a 15-Year-Old Boy.
By Anna Merlan Thu., Dec. 22 2011 at 12:23 PM

?Perhaps you've heard by now: Joey Dauben, publisher of the Ellis County Observer and several other small-town papers and websites throughout North Texas, has been indicted and arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. The 30-year-old Dauben, who Patrick Michels profiled in an Observer cover story earlier this year, was arrested by Texas Rangers at his grandmother's house in Mabank late Monday afternoon. He currently sits in Navarro County Jail; his bond has been set at $200,000.

Dauben stands accused of three counts of sexual assault on a child, one count of indecency with a child, and sexual contact. All charges stem from an alleged incident in 2007, during a retreat for a now-defunct church, Olive Tree Ministries, at Navarro Mills Lake.

Reached by phone, his friend and video editor Brannon Bridge tells Unfair Park, "Basically, all I know is what's like been printed about it. But I can tell you, I'm 100 percent sure he's innocent."

Dauben, as Patrick mentioned in his cover story, began writing back in February about a man in Ennis who was busted with an apartment full of child pornography, and who Dauben believes is responsible for the murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, the decades-old case that led to the establishment of the "Amber Alert" system (although Patrick called the connections between the Ennis man and the cold case "tenuous," and other media outlets, and law enforcement agencies, seem to agree). More recently, WFAA notes, Dauben posted an article on the Ellis County Observer site about "child porn rings" on Facebook, which he called "the breeding ground of a massive, global, inter-connected, sick and sadistic, electronic child porn, child-sex trafficking ring."

Anonymous friends told WFAA they believe Dauben has been falsely accused in retaliation for his reporting. An article posted on the ECO homepage states, "This accuser has a history of falsely making accusations," and posts the bulk of a MySpace conversation from 2007. Both names in the conversation are redacted.

"He spends 80 hours a week trying to expose corruption and fights against this kind of stuff," Bridge says. "He spends so much time and energy just trying to make sure that kids and people who are victims ... have a voice and whatnot." Brandy Owen, managing editor for the Ellis County Observer, posted an update to their blog yesterday stating that she'd received a phone call informing her Dauben has been placed on suicide watch.

Dauben previously served 12 days in jail for publishing the mug shot of a police officer, William Achey, That incident was related to a much longer and more confusing feud between two "gypsy cops," Michael Meissner and John Hoskins. Hoskins accused Meissner of posing as a woman and soliciting nude photos from underage boys, a charge for which Meissner was arrested. Dauben then posted a variety of allegations against Hoskins and other police officers investigating the case; in the process, he published the Achey photo, which came from a computer database that's supposed to only be accessible to law enforcement. Hoskins alleged Meissner paid Dauben $200 to post the photo.

There's an excellent sum-up of the Hoskins-Meissner mess by Mike Orren over at Pegasus News, and a Dallas Morning News article likewise recaps Hoskins and Meissner's lengthy battle. All charges against Dauben and Meissner were ultimately dropped.

Before his tumultuous career as a publisher, Dauben freelanced off and on for eight years for the Ellis County Press under editor Charlie Hatfield.

"Well, I don't have a clue" if the sexual assault charges against Dauben ring true or not, Hatfield tells Unfair Park. "The Texas Rangers investigated it for 30 days before filing the charges. My personal belief is I don't believe the Texas Rangers file charges no reason."

Hatfield also spoke about Dauben's parting from his paper. "My concern with Joey was that he started writing stories based on rumor, not fact," Hatfield said. "We couldn't afford it. The credibility of the paper was at stake. I told him, 'You need to choose.' He decided to be a political activist instead of a reporter."

Nonetheless, Hatfield says, during the time Dauben worked at the Press, "he had a lot of promise. I think Joey has a brilliant mind. The problem is that he's gone to the dark side, so to speak. He wants to write about what he wants to write about, without being subject to the discipline of good journalism."

Returning to the allegations, Hatfield says, "I would never have thought that of Joey. I was shocked and very disappointed." Ultimately, he adds, "I thought he was going to turn things around and be a good journalist. He had the potential of doing that. Sadly, I think he's lost his credibility."

Kat Kanning

#1
February 19, 2012, 06:32 PM NHFT
He's been at Navarro County jail for a couple months.

Joey Dauben #051652
312 W 2nd Street
Corsicana, TX 75110

Scott Roth

#2
February 19, 2012, 06:52 PM NHFT
They found a way to get to him...you knew they would. >:(

Kat Kanning

#3
February 19, 2012, 06:57 PM NHFT
I guess he poked the police anthill too much.  They took down his website right away, but before they did, he posted that he had written about sexual abuse of the kids at this one halfway house, and then one of the kids from that halfway house made the accusation against Joey.

Russell Kanning

#4
February 20, 2012, 06:18 PM NHFT
somehow I think the thugs in charge of that jail are the bad guys in this story

I have never met Joey, and he annoys me from a distance. He does seem more like a tabloid reporter, but I don't like most reporters either.

I wonder if we will ever get to the truth.

Can you imagine how well he is being treated in jail? "Suicide watch" .... ya more like "suicided".

KBCraig

#5
February 21, 2012, 12:09 AM NHFT
The truth could go either way. No matter where the truth lies, we're unlikely to know it based on the courts and news reports.

Russell Kanning

#6
February 21, 2012, 06:31 AM NHFT
I drive by his jail almost every day.

Dave Ridley

#7
February 21, 2012, 12:04 PM NHFT Last Edit: February 21, 2012, 12:20 PM NHFT by DadaOrwell
Some background plus what I know:

I know Joey; he came to about a dozen of our Dallas Free Stater meetings in the 2003 era.    I appreciated him being there and I liked him.   Haven't seen him since '04 though. 

He seemed to be hetero for what that's worth, really had a thing for one of the pretty gals his age who frequented.  So for this allegation to be true I guess he would have to be bi-sexual first...he didn't seem the type, but who knows. 

In 2007, when the government alleges his illegal relationship with the 15 year old... he would have been around 25.

He briefly moved to NH around 2009 and was here I think around a year.  I think he was in Plymouth.  Around that time the authorities charged him for - get this - "illegally" uploading a picture of a Texas cop.   Apparently it was considered some really big deal and he was facing real time, but he won.

A conservative, he didn't fit in perfectly with our liberty circles especially as we got deeper into this endeavor.  I never actually saw him when he was in NH, and I don't remember him doing that much here.  He's been on a couple of our forums.  Kind of quirky and seemed credulous of offbeat conspiracy theories.  But the country is supposed to be full of quirky people if it is functioning correctly.  Would you watch the X-Files if the Lone Gunmen weren't in it?

One of the tactics authorities will eventually use against liberty activists is to accuse them of the most wicked or unpopular deeds imaginable...without bothering as to whether the allegations are true.  So it is not appropriate to play fair-weather friend just as a result of such allegations.  Sooner or later this could be you.

I'll draw some attention to his situation and cause just as I would if he were abducted over a marijuana charge.  Even if he did what is alleged, certain human rights attach to him, are deserved by him and likely will not be provided by the Texas jail systems.   Remember Hemphill, just a bit east of where he is now.

Unfortunately I hear his website has been shut down, so maybe someone can find an archival version?  Or post some other links?

Regarding the article *about* Joey and the paper that printed it...The Dallas Observer was one of my favorite papers, and this balanced article is an indicator it probably still would be if I still read it.  Mainstream sort of, but cheeky.  One of their muckrakers went on to become one of the city's least bad mayors...Laura Miller was a pretty good city councilor, before attaining major power.   Things went kinda downhill after that.  I met her a couple times but didn't really know her.  Her demeanor was all you could ever ask for in a public official but not always her policies.

Texas Rangers I only knowingly bumped into once, when I was a mainstream TV videographer.  I was standing about 10 feet from the police tape at a crime scene, where Constable Lunsford was killed around '91.  The Ranger threatened me when he saw me videotaping a vehicle.  Off the top of my head, it was one of only two bad experiences I ever had with Texas law enforcement that I can remember.  I probably had about 400 interactions but usually with a giant camera. 



Russell Kanning

#9
February 21, 2012, 06:06 PM NHFT
and for future ridleo tagging .... I think Joey has given up his run for the Republican nomination for president and has thrown his endorsement over to

"Ron Paul"


he also likes walks in the park, rainbows, and chicks who dig young republicans :)

Kat Kanning

#10
February 21, 2012, 07:51 PM NHFT
I wrote to him, asking to hear what'd happened.

Russell Kanning

#11
February 22, 2012, 06:21 AM NHFT
he might start writing us novels
all the constitutional guys do that
Firecracker Joe was the only guy who didn't :)

Kat Kanning

#12
February 27, 2012, 03:10 PM NHFT
Got a letter back from Joey.  He said his lawyer told him not to talk about his case, but he pointed me to these sources of info:

http://cedarcreeklake.com
http://dallasvoice.com
http://frontburner.dmagazine.com
(Search for Joey Dauben on these sites)

Facebook profiles with news on Joey:  Cheri Hackler Dauben or David Dauben or facebook.com/jdauben

Mailing address if you wish to write:
Joseph G. Dauben #051652
312 W. 2nd Ave.
Corsicana, TX 75110

Russell Kanning

#13
February 27, 2012, 03:16 PM NHFT
the building can probably only handle 100 people but he has a huge number .... maybe he can get it tatooed on his arm for easier lookup
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