Steven Stayner Research Paper
Tami Dennison
October 3, 2011
Victimology
Written Assignment #3
Mr. Lautenbacher
HIGH PROFILE CRIME VICTIMS
STEVEN STAYNER & TIMMY WHITE
In 1972 a 7 year old boy named Steven Stayner was abducted by a man named Kenneth Parnell. Steven was lured into a car by a man named Ervin where Kenneth Parnell was waiting. Parnell pretended to be a Reverend and was passing out religious pamphlets. For the next 7 years he was held captive by this man who abused him both sexually and physically. They moved from place to place to avoid being detected. Kenneth had told Steven that his parents did not want him and gave him the name Dennis Parnell. In 1980 Parnell told Steven that he was getting too old and he went and abducted a 5 year old boy …show more content…
named Timmy White. At that point Steven knew he had to do something or Timmy was going to go through everything that he did, so he took Timmy and they escaped, walking 40 miles to the closest town, Ukiah, California. When Steven returned home there was a lot of publicity surrounding the case and he had a lot of problems at school because of the publicity.
Other kids tormented him because he had been molested. Life at home was also tense due to the fact that he left home a young boy and returned almost grown so in essence he and his family were strangers to one another. Parnell was only sentenced to 7 years for the kidnappings of these 2 boys and only served 5 of the 7 years before being released. He was later arrested for trying to buy a 4 year old boy and died while in prison during that sentence. In 1989 NBC ran a miniseries about Stevens’s story called- I KNOW MY NAME IS STEVEN. Steven dedicated a large portion of his life to trying to prevent crimes such as this from happening: he spoke to groups of children about “Stranger Danger”, he always talked to reporters and he was always involved with searching for missing children. He was always hoping that he could prevent what happened to him from happening to other children. Steven married and had 2 children. He was killed in a motorcycle crash at the age of 24. Timmy White attended the funeral and was one of the pall bearers. There is now a Steve Stayner Foundation which searches for missing
children. Timmy White grew up and became a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff. He married and had 2 children also. He passed away at the age of 35 from a pulmonary embolism. Stevens’s brother Cary was arrested and convicted of being the “Yosemite Killer” in later years. He took the lives of at least 4 victims. He blames part of his problems on the fact that with his brother missing for all those years that his parents neglected the other 4 children in the household. I used many different sources for this paper including the ones I listed in the footnotes, plus The Seattle Daily Times, Facebook, and the Steven Stayner Foundations webpage.
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[ 1 ]. www.nydailynews.com
[ 2 ]. Karisable.cpm/skazstaynor.html
[ 3 ]. Examiner.com/US-headlines-in-national/timmywhite/
October 3, 2011
Victimology
Written Assignment #3
Mr. Lautenbacher
HIGH PROFILE CRIME VICTIMS
STEVEN STAYNER & TIMMY WHITE
In 1972 a 7 year old boy named Steven Stayner was abducted by a man named Kenneth Parnell. Steven was lured into a car by a man named Ervin where Kenneth Parnell was waiting. Parnell pretended to be a Reverend and was passing out religious pamphlets. For the next 7 years he was held captive by this man who abused him both sexually and physically. They moved from place to place to avoid being detected. Kenneth had told Steven that his parents did not want him and gave him the name Dennis Parnell. In 1980 Parnell told Steven that he was getting too old and he went and abducted a 5 year old boy …show more content…
named Timmy White. At that point Steven knew he had to do something or Timmy was going to go through everything that he did, so he took Timmy and they escaped, walking 40 miles to the closest town, Ukiah, California. When Steven returned home there was a lot of publicity surrounding the case and he had a lot of problems at school because of the publicity.
Other kids tormented him because he had been molested. Life at home was also tense due to the fact that he left home a young boy and returned almost grown so in essence he and his family were strangers to one another. Parnell was only sentenced to 7 years for the kidnappings of these 2 boys and only served 5 of the 7 years before being released. He was later arrested for trying to buy a 4 year old boy and died while in prison during that sentence. In 1989 NBC ran a miniseries about Stevens’s story called- I KNOW MY NAME IS STEVEN. Steven dedicated a large portion of his life to trying to prevent crimes such as this from happening: he spoke to groups of children about “Stranger Danger”, he always talked to reporters and he was always involved with searching for missing children. He was always hoping that he could prevent what happened to him from happening to other children. Steven married and had 2 children. He was killed in a motorcycle crash at the age of 24. Timmy White attended the funeral and was one of the pall bearers. There is now a Steve Stayner Foundation which searches for missing
children. Timmy White grew up and became a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff. He married and had 2 children also. He passed away at the age of 35 from a pulmonary embolism. Stevens’s brother Cary was arrested and convicted of being the “Yosemite Killer” in later years. He took the lives of at least 4 victims. He blames part of his problems on the fact that with his brother missing for all those years that his parents neglected the other 4 children in the household. I used many different sources for this paper including the ones I listed in the footnotes, plus The Seattle Daily Times, Facebook, and the Steven Stayner Foundations webpage.
--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. www.nydailynews.com
[ 2 ]. Karisable.cpm/skazstaynor.html
[ 3 ]. Examiner.com/US-headlines-in-national/timmywhite/