Collier County Archives - Dr. Rich Swier

United States Court — Middle District of Florida

Unskilled farm labor jobs attract immigrants who are easily exploited. Many don’t know their rights or may fear calling authorities if they’re here illegally. Since 1997, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division(link is external) has prosecuted several labor servitude cases in Florida, prompting one federal official to label the state “ground zero for modern slavery.”

The Tecum Case

For years, Jose Tecum stalked a girl in her Guatemalan village. In the summer of 1999, he kidnapped her.

Tecum used witchcraft, or brujeria, native to their culture to ensure that she never left his side. The girl believed she and her family would be hurt if she didn’t live with him. He raped her, locking the girl inside his house. With no police in her village, the girl had no place to get help.

Soon after, Tecum smuggled the girl to Immokalee to live with him and his wife, Maria, and their three children, to do domestic chores in the couple’s home. He destroyed her identification papers.

Tecum told the girl she would have to work in farm labor and in his home for a year to pay off the smuggling debt, demanding the girl sign over her paychecks to him. Tecum forced her to have sex with him when his wife was not at home.

In November 1999, Maria Tecum returned to find her husband with the girl in the bedroom. Maria confronted Jose and he pushed and grabbed his wife. Their domestic dispute brought authorities to the couple’s home. Jose Tecum was arrested on a battery charge and booked into the Collier jail.

The next morning the deputy went to check on Maria Tecum. There she noticed the girl Maria Tecum had found with her husband the night before. The teenager told the deputy she felt like a slave. She said:

“I don’t even have money to buy a Coca-Cola because he takes my money.”

The deputy pieced together the girl’s story and convinced her she was free to leave the Tecum home. The young woman left with a single plastic grocery bag holding all of her belongings.

A federal jury convicted Tecum of kidnapping, slavery, immigration violations, and fraud and misuse of visas.

Tecum was sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

Douglas Molloy

^{Assistant United States District Attorney}

As an assistant United States attorney with the United States Department of Justice(link is external), Douglas Molloy prosecuted the case against Jose Tecum and continues to prosecute many others involved in human trafficking in Florida.

“One of the most compelling things that occurred during the trial had to do with information the victim divulged to the victim advocate. After he raped her, the defendant cut off a lock of her hair, telling the girl, ‘Now, I own your soul.’

The terrified victim said the defendant kept that lock of hair on him always to remind her she was his slave. When the prosecution team learned of this information, we thought: if he had it with him always, he must have had it when he was arrested, and went back to the booking sheet that listed the items taken from the defendant upon arrest.

Sure enough, one of the items listed was a plastic envelope with a lock of hair. This evidence was presented to the jury as more proof the victim was telling the truth, and the defendant found it very hard to explain his witchcraft on cross-examination.”

“Many Americans do not know that slavery still exists in their country, but as more and more people become aware, the chances a person involved in the trafficking of humans will be caught and prosecuted will be increased, and the victims of slavery will be empowered and able to have their lives and souls back.”

Why Here?

Greed and the high demand for unskilled laborers feed the spread of human trafficking in Collier County. Wealthy residents and unscrupulous hotel, spa, and restaurant owners cut expenses with indentured servants. Farm workers are often smuggled illegally in this country with the promise of good-paying jobs and are scared to report abuse. The victims are often invisible. Trafficking victims could be changing sheets at beach hotels, filling restaurant orders, or picking tomatoes.

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Two weeks ago, Florida Citizens Alliance reported that The Collier County School District was caught promoting pornographic material on its “Summer Reading List”. This list had been promoted as a PDF for several weeks on their trusted CCPS website to parents and students. Concerned citizens led by Parents ROCK, a local watchdog group, held a press conference, inviting all the local reporters for News and TV. The School district took down their summer list and replaced it with the “Florida State” recommended “Summer Reading List”. CCPS spokesman agreed it was pornographic, but claimed this was a one-off occurrence.

However, no one knows how many parents or students downloaded these recommendations for grades 6 thru 12 yet they chose NOT to send a warning to all Parents. Here is the Link to an excerpt from just one of the several obscene books on the List. This was recommended for 6-8 graders, so for children as young as 11 years old. Open with Caution – http://goo.gl/cUzCsX

Five (5) days later, Collier Citizens and Parents ROCK reported the following books are in the Collier Media Centers for all Collier High Schools and even some Middle schools. This is not a complete list but it shows that many obscene books are in the Collier School Media Centers- these are clear pornography bought at taxpayer expense. This is also clear evidence of a systemic break down in trust that parents place in the Collier School District. The spokesman for the CCPS District and now some of the CCPS Board members are defending this content in the Media Centers. Open with caution – http://goo.gl/yG0eVT

On June 9th, many parents and community members attended the Collier School Board Meeting. Several, who believe that Common Core is good and removing these materials is censorship, spoke in support of keeping pornographic for under-aged children to read. However, many parents and community members who believe under-aged children should be legally and morally protected from pornographic materials spoke against the approved reading list.

Watch this YouTube video:

This is a fascinating exchange between Chairwoman K. Curatulo and Board Lawyer Jon Fishbane. Chair Curatulo refused to approve reading some of the pornographic content into the public record and then Fishbane over-ruled her on First Amendment grounds. The result, however, is that some of the School Board members, District Superintendent and staff are now defending pornographic materials in Collier County school Media Centers.

Chair Curatulo first ruled the reading in a School Board meeting were inappropriate and now she and the District are defending this pornographic material as appropriate for access to Middle and High School students.

Florida Citizen Alliance states:

This is a usurpation of parental controls over what their children are subjected to in our government schools, all at taxpayer expense. Parents can no longer trust that CCPS has the best interest of their children at heart!

Most importantly, how can parents trust that these pornographic materials are not in all Florida County Public Schools or used in on-line lesson plans throughout the State? These materials are endemic of Common Core. Now that 80% of all instructional materials across the USA are provided by Pearson, PLC; and Pearson, PLC was funded $350 million by the U.S. Department of Education to make all Pearson materials Common Core compliant, it is almost a certainty that these materials have already crept into most, if not all of our Florida Public Schools!

Parents, Grandparents and taxpayers, are urged to do their own homework. Read the books your children are reading.

This cartoon is courtesy of Nick Lichter from Facebook:

UPDATE: The following was received via e-mail on June 24th from the Florida Department of Education:

Thank you for your letter with your concerns addressing titles of books found on the Collier County School website. I have been asked to respond on behalf of the Commissioner and am happy to do so. The Florida Department of Education does not regulate district websites or links to websites listing suggested books for summer reading. I was informed however that as soon as the district was informed of the controversial and/or inappropriate titles, the link to the website was removed and currently the district only provides the Summer Reading List provided by the Just Read, Florida! office.

Both private organizations and school districts are independently operated and do not seek the approval of reading lists from the Department. In addition, many organizations include a disclaimer concerning any recommendations and selections, leaving the responsibility of choosing appropriate reading materials to the individual.

Thank you again for contacting the Department of Education regarding this issue. We appreciate you taking time to express your concerns.

Best regards,
Wendy Stevens
Just Read, Florida!
Florida Department of Education

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FLORIDA: Collier County School Board Defends use of Pornographic Materials by Students