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CFNEWS13 (Orlando, Florida) 12 May 10 Python Victim’s Mom Declared Indigent (Heather Sorentrue)
Bushnell: Frustrations are mounting in the case against a Sumter County mom and her boyfriend who prosecutors say are to blame after a pet python killed a 2-year-old girl.
One of the defense attorneys said they have not been able to really get the case moving forward because Jaren Hare, the toddler's mother, could not come up with the money for her legal fees.
Ten months after a pet python slithered out of its aquarium, into Shaiunna Hare's crib and strangled her, attorneys said the defense has not taken testimony from a single witness.
“I would certainly like to see the case get moving because a delay in the case only goes to a defendant's benefit,” said Prosecutor Pete Magrino. “It's never beneficial to the state.”
Jaren Hare's attorney Paul Militello said a judge's ruling declaring her indigent will free up some money to get the ball rolling.
“I think it's frustrating for the prosecution as well as the defense,” Militello said. “We've been eager to move forward and question witnesses to see what they say or don't say, and whether or not they are going to confirm what the prosecution's theory of the case is.”
While little has happened in the criminal case in the last 10 months, reptile owners said it's extremely frustrating that the state has launched a large scale crackdown on reptiles.
“The last 10 months you have had the python hunt occur twice,” said Robert Keszey, who co-owns the Glades Herp Farm. “You've had this proposed ban on snakes occur at a federal level and a state level. At the federal level, they threw it out, but now they are rewording it and trying to fight that again. At the state level, it has already passed as a bill, so now it just has to be signed into law by Governor Crist.”
Those in the reptile industry are still trying to fight the ban and worry it will lead people to release more snakes into the wild, which they said is bad for everyone.
“Ten months ago there was talk of this because they were finding Burmese pythons in the Everglades,” Keszey said. “Then this tragedy happened here in Sumter County with the little girl and that just gave them more ammunition.”
Charles Jason Darnell, Hare's boyfriend, did not show up for the pre-trial hearing Wednesday. He is behind bars serving time on unrelated drug charges.

CFNEWS13 (Orlando, Florida) 04 May 10 Is Proposed Python Ban Overblown Due To Toddler’s Death? (Heather Sorentrue)
Bushnell: Robert Keszey has been dealing with exotic reptiles for almost 30 years, but his livelihood is now at risk.
That's because lawmakers unanimously passed legislation that would prohibit importing and personal pet ownership of seven non-native reptiles, including many species of pythons.
Keszey, who co-owns Glades Herp Farm, is now pinning his hopes on Gov. Charlie Crist's veto pen.
“We're asking Charlie Crist to look at this bill with open eyes, without the blinders on, without what I call, what everybody in the industry calls junk science,” Keszey said.
Keszey said the cold snap killed off most of the pythons in the wild, and does not believe they pose an environmental risk.
Lawmakers see it differently, and said they're invasive and damaging Florida's Everglades.
"This environmental damage is compounded by a public safety risk; these carnivorous snakes are large enough to kill a person, all too sadly demonstrated when one took the life of a small Florida child last year. This bill is really a no-brainer," wrote State Sen. Eleanor Sobel, who sponsored the bill.
Keszey argues the concern has been overblown.
“A child gets killed by a python here in Sumter County, and all of the sudden it's the python's fault. It's the reptile people's fault,” Keszey said. “It's not the parents' fault?”
People who work in the reptile industry said this proposed ban would in effect drive the ownership of these snakes underground.
“It will have an effect on people," Keszey said. "Not everyone is going to get scared. The love for the animal is greater than the fear for some people and that's going to push it underground.”
If Gov. Crist signs the bill, it would go into effect July 1.
Current owners of the seven species of reptiles would still be allowed to keep their pets with proper permits.
The mother and live-in boyfriend of the the girl killed in Sumter County are expected in court for a pretrial hearing next week.
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2010/5/3/is_proposed_python_ban_overblown_due_to_toddlers_death.html
Python Victim’s Mom Declared Indigent

I can't believe they are still blaming that scrawny eight-foot-long Burmese Python on that child's death. They need to be looking at the mother & boyfriend with murder or manslaughter charges. IMO and considerable experience, the snake did not slither into the bedroom and kill the little girl. It was made to look that way. We'll never have hard facts because none of us were there that night. But the 16 foot long snake becoming a 12 foot snake, then becoming a sickly 8 foot snake that the boyfriend was not strong enough to unwind from the child's body, resulting in his use of a knife to stab the snake repeadedly? Huh? No way. Anyone on these forums could have unwrapped that snake with one hand - literally.

As a result of investigators not looking at the true nature of the situation, the crime ads fuel to the argument that these snakes should be banned. Drunken, meth-head "parents" should be banned.

TV

Pretty obvious to people who know Burms that the boyfriend did it.

ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 31 July 09 Killer python owner: 'It was a terrible, awful accident' (Anthony Colarossi)
[In his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Charles Darnell said he has been stricken by grief in the month since the family's pet Burmese python suffocated his girlfriend's 2-year-daughter in her crib in a rural community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando.]
Almost a month ago, a pet Burmese python escaped from its enclosure in a rural Sumter County home and suffocated 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare as she slept in her crib.
The attack made international headlines and became a convenient tragedy for politicians and bureaucrats to use as they called for organized hunts of wild Burmese.
But for Charles Darnell and his girlfriend Jaren A. Hare, the loss was indescribable.
The last month left them mourning a child they loved, questioning themselves for becoming so trusting of the snake and worrying if criminal charges will come.
Darnell, 32, spoke Friday in his first interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
He said the child's death has altered his life forever and made him a "monster" in the eyes of many around the world and in his tiny town Oxford, 60 miles northwest of Orlando.
"It was an accident. It was a terrible, awful accident," said Darnell, vacillating between shouts and sobs.
"It's not guilt," Darnell said of the way he feels today. "It's remorse and grief. I'll never have another one [a snake]."
His comments came a day after prosecutors said they needed more time to investigate the case to determine if Darnell or Hare ought to face criminal charges.
Darnell does not claim to be a snake expert, but he said he has been around the reptiles much of his life.
He cannot describe the attraction to boa constrictors and Burmese, except to say, "Some people are bird people. Some people are cat people. And some people are snake people."
The Burmese suspected in the child's death became a pet about nine years ago.
And Darnell said he took good care of the animal, but also said he thought the 8 1/2-foot female was instinctively moving around when it escaped because it was reaching its sexual maturity.
And he suspects that is why the snake was so determined to escape its 150-gallon aquarium.
"She had got out the night before," he said, referring to the hours before the attack. "I woke up, went to the bathroom and found her in the hallway. That's when I put her in the laundry bag and put her back in the tank."
Darnell said he pulled a quilt down tight over the top of the tank and then used safety pins and bungee cords to secure the top. "I don't know how she got out," he said.
Snake experts such as Andrew Wyatt, president of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers, question Darnell's story, particularly the part about the snake reaching sexual maturity.
A Burmese that old weighing 12.3 pounds had to be "emaciated," he said.
"That animal was not sexually mature. That animal was undernourished,'' Wyatt said.
In any case, Darnell acknowledges it was a "mistake" for them not to be afraid enough of the snake, although he said he always took "extra precautions" with the Burmese, especially when children were nearby.
He also supports the ongoing state and federal efforts to capture and euthanize wild Burmese in South Florida because the top predators threaten native wildlife there and reproduce so successfully.
"I've said for a long time that they need to get them out of there," he said.
As for pet behavior, Darnell said: "Any animal at any time can turn on you for any reason."
Darnell said it has been difficult for him to do simple things in public, like grocery shopping, because of all the notoriety surrounding the case.
State wildlife officials said the snake's owner could face a second-class-misdemeanor charge because no one held a license for the python.
The misdemeanor charge could be punishable up to a $500 fine and 60 days in jail.
On Friday Darnell said, "The snakes were bought back in 2000 when the laws and permits did not exist."
The Burmese pythons were not regulated for permitting back then. But Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said as of Jan. 1, 2008, Burmese python owners had six months to get the required permitting and microchips for the snakes.
While the case involves prosecutors and wildlife officials, the state Department of Children and Families also continues to investigate allegations of inadequate supervision and maltreatment in the death of the child and threatened harm and inadequate supervision involving two other children in the home when the attack occurred.
"This agency was contacted to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of" the girl, DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said in a statement.
"The current investigation is primarily focused on her death. It expands to include whether or not the other children, who were in the home that night, were also placed in any harms way; intentional or not."
Darnell said the DCF involvement has added stress and hassle in the aftermath of the tragedy.
"They've been harassing me," he said. "We lost our child and now we're dealing with that."
The inquiries come at a sensitive time. A girl is dead. Hare is expected to give birth to Darnell's child very soon. And Darnell still struggles with the death of his son due to an illness several years ago.
Shortly before the July 1 incident, DCF had investigated Darnell for neglect of a child and child abuse. That case involved alleged drug use and dealing, but it was ultimately unfounded.
DCF did not find enough risk to take children from the home.
Darnell said the caseworker who initially investigated the unfounded case commented on the snakes.
"He was impressed by how well the snakes were kept," he said. "He talked about the snakes to us. He thought it was neat that we had them and kept them."
Darnell said the original DCF case was prompted by an upset relative who made false claims, but now he worries that the new probe could affect his relationship with Hare and their unborn child.
He has experienced terrible loss before.
His young son died in 2003 due to a rare disease. He spent days in the hospital with the boy, who was almost 3.
And today Darnell can't help but remember that experience when he thinks of the morning one month ago when he found the Burmese wrapped around young Shaiunna.
"How do you deal with losing a child? I don't wish that on anybody," he said. "You don't deal with it, man. You don't deal with it. You grieve, but you never get over losing a child. When your child dies it take a piece of you, too."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-killer-python-owner-speaks-073109,0,3498768.story

From what I heard, there were multiple bite marks on the arm of the child....which indicates an arm thrust at the snake, rather than a "feeding" response. And why would a python constrict her if not to feed? They simply don't do it. And the aquarium was covered with a blanket. When the BF discovered the snake missing, he immediately went to the child's room, didn't go looking for the snake like any normal snake person. The whole thing stinks, and if you bring into play the drugged condition of the BF, it all points to him. The kid was probably crying and he wanted her to stop. There was NOT a good and definitive autopsy done. Where was CSI Miami when you needed them??

All kidding aside, it was a tragic death, but the blame doesn't reside on the snake.

"Shortly before the July 1 incident, DCF had investigated Darnell for neglect of a child and child abuse. That case involved alleged drug use and dealing, but it was ultimately unfounded."

HMMMMMM....

This was an emanciated 8 foot long burm that was only about 6 pounds and was most likely very sick and not eating.At first the snake was lost then found.It was a set up the facts are all there the reason that the snake stays the scapegoat is it is what the state of florida wanted and exactly what they needed to bring about the ban.This is the platform that has been used,The glades snakes were nothing compared to this.Why on earth would the state of florida convict a person when they have and had such an opportunity to convict us instead it is the bigger fish that was involved here.Now that they had the tools to complete the anti python agenda blind folds were used to do the deed
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Archie Bottoms