Well.
Peter Thomas Senese--author of the self-published Chasing the Cyclone and supporter of the Child Abduction Prevention Act (sponsored by Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg)--has some explaining to do.
As does Florida House Rep. Darryl Rouson.
As reported by the St. Petersburg Times (5/20/2010), Mr. Senese--who claims his ex-wife colluded with her attorneys in the International kidnapping of their son--has more to his author bio than the flap cover details. (If a cover even exists. The book is not yet for sale).
Senese advocated last March before the Public Safety & Domestic Security Policy Committee for the passage of HB 787.
He failed to recount the following to the committee :
(...)
--reneged on a promise to help pay $30,000 toward the return of the man's abducted children from the Philippines.
--landed in a California jail for bouncing $6,800 in checks used to finance a hot-air balloon wedding. (Whereupon his then-pregnant wife returned to her native Canada, that's the international kidnapping part).
--he pleaded guilty to grand larceny in his native New York in a scheme targeting doctors and insurance executives. Senese even set up temporary offices at prestigious Manhattan addresses to buff his image as a rich venture capitalist with homes in Italy and Boca Raton, Newsday reported.
--(claimed his wife sold their son) to a pedophile ring in Macau. She says that she and (her son) were never in Macau. The boy has spent his entire life in the United States, Canada, where he was born, and New Zealand, where his mother took him in 2006 with court permission, records show.
And because Representative Rouson--a former prosecutor for Pinellas County and up for reelection this midterm--failed to properly vet Mr. Senese, the Florida Legislature did--proving once again--what they do best...
..."overwhelming" passed yet another child protection law without doing their research.
***
"I would hate to think that anybody would seek to profit off the fears and concerns of real people,'' Rouson said when asked about Senese's background.
"I would hate to think that anybody would seek to profit off the fears and concerns of real people,'' Rouson said when asked about Senese's background.
"Who knows why Peter Senese does what he does?" he said. "At the end of the day it's a good law that will help judges and ease the fears of parents and keep kids safe. Everything else will take care of itself.''
--Rep. Darryl Rouson, District 55
