Pedophile politician's $150,000 bribery scheme
Tuesday, Dec. 2 2008 @ 10:44PM
Well, I told you yesterday about the teenager clad only in boxers and a chain who ran into a Tracy, California gym for shelter. The boy had clearly been abused and was, by all accounts, utterly terrified of his abusers coming to find him.Thirty-year-old Kelly Lau Schumacher and her husband, Michael Schumacher, age 34, are the lovely pair arrested in connection with this bizarre and troubling story. Police also removed 4 children between the ages of 1 and 11 from the home.
The boy at the heart of this story was a runaway from a group foster home in Sacramento. He'd been missing since at least 2007. It isn't clear how long he's lived with the Schumachers.
The couple have been at the home on Tennis Lane in Tracy for a year or so, and during that time neighbors noticed the boy. They said that even though the family appeared to be "normal," the teen wasn't, in the words of one neighbor, "allowed to talk to us when we'd see him outside or ask him questions."
Not my idea of normal, but hey -- people have their own lives to lead, right?
Anyway -- CNN reported today that police are now looking for Caren Ramirez, age 43. Ramirez may be the 17-year-old's aunt.
According to the CNN article, the teen was removed from his parents' home at some point during the last 2 years or so. He went to live with his aunt, but she was then charged with felony abuse. That was how the unfortunate kid ended up in the group home. In other words, he was being abused or failed by those who were supposed to take care of him at every turn.
He's now being treated for malnutrition, cuts and bruises.
The connection between Ramirez and the Schumachers isn't clear, at the moment.
Kelly Lau Schumacher and her husband Michael are in police custody, and facing multiple counts of kidnapping and torturing the boy. There's no word on whether or not the State of California will have to answer for the obviously awesome job it did in taking care of this kid after it removed him from his home in the first place. [ABCNews.go.com]
This couple looks very familiar - weren't they involved in something similar previously? I know I've seen these pictures before.
Posted 12/03/2008 at 12:24:37 AMHere is her Myspace page. She appears to be "so normal" but very, very far from it:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=18132480
NOTE FROM STEVE: Thanks, Soaplady -- I'd already found it and have a post up here:
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2008/12/caren_ramirez_arrested.php
Posted 12/03/2008 at 11:24:30 AMThese are the worst kinds of scum, these two and all like them should be locked away forever. Abusing children should be a life sentence. As someone who survived a horrific childhood rife with unspeakable abuse, I read this boy's escape story and sobbed. It's absolutely heartbreaking.
Posted 12/04/2008 at 03:20:10 AMI know the husband personally. I had never met his wife, but I had bought girl scout cookies from her this year! He came to my wedding over 7 years ago. He came over just last week to pick up some furniture I was giving to his family. I know he sounds awful , but I swear he really doesn't fit this at all. He is so soft spoken and seems so mild mannered. I guess you really just never know?! I feel so bad for the boy and their kids as well. Sad, very sad.
Posted 12/04/2008 at 07:01:45 AMThis is a terrible story. Sacbee is posting that Caren Ramirez is not the boy's biological aunt. I'm irritated too that the judge has lowered bail to $285K down from $1mil.
Kari, not unusual for the worst of the worst to *seem* normal. We'll just have to see what transpires.
PJ (the other Pam)
Posted 12/04/2008 at 03:35:02 PM