By Harold Keller / L’Observateur / April 27, 1998

Last week, Lorin Elizabeth Easterling, 11, was abducted from her home in Slidell as her 3-year-old brother watched. Saturday, her body was found.She had been sexually assaulted, strangled, and her body dumped on a gravel road in eastern New Orleans. Another innocent victim abused andkilled by a sex maniac.

The FBI and area parish sheriff’s personnel were questioning Ralph Stogner III, 42, who was convicted in 1983 of sexual assault in Wyoming.

A red truck was used in the kidnapping. The FBI seized a red pickup truckfrom Stogner.

You can bet that whoever killed little Lorin had a history of pornography addiction. When the murderer is found, the media will most likely reportthat pornographic books, videos and all types of smut were found belonging to the accused.

How do I know this? Because that’s the main characteristic of a pedophile.

That’s the type of material that influences people to commit such heinous crimes on our children.

The same day Lorin’s body was found, it was reported that a veteran New Orleans police officer, Stanley Burkhardt, was arrested for child pornography. At one time, Burkhardt was considered a sex crimes expert.He was in charge of the pedophile unit for the New Orleans Police Department from 1980 until it was disbanded in 1984.

In July 1987, he was indicted on 11 counts of distributing child pornography. He had a sexual appetite for young children, including his 9-year-old niece. He was released after only 5 1/2 years in prison.Former President Reagan’s council on pornography reported that pornography was the single most influencing factor in the widespread sexual abuse of children. (One out of three girls and one out of five boysare sexually abused in America before they are 12 years old.)According to reports, it is believed that the average pedophile will abuse 267 children before he is caught.

In all probability, the person who killed Lorin will be found, tried and convicted. It’s too bad that the people responsible for peddlingpornography in our communities can’t be held responsible for her death. Inrealtity, they, too, are guilty and contribute to the sexual abuse and sometimes the murder of innocent children.

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