GUILTY IA - Jessica, 13, & Kaleb Dyess, 6, die in arson fire, Cass County, 31 March 2005

[Norma]

So is it assumed that Street also sexualy abused Tracey's twin Amy?

 

[concernedperson]

I've come to this topic and left it three different times because this case really gets to me. I am a SURVIVOR of repeated sexual abuse, so my opinion may be somewhat biased. Anyway...here goes...

No, she doesn't deserve a free pass...but she doesn't deserve prison either. Yes, she murdered her siblings...but prison is only going to offer MORE abuse. This girl needs to be in a mental hospital. And for those who have never suffered through sexual abuse, you have no right to say she doesn't have a mental illness. You have no idea how this type of abuse can affect you mentally and physically. I've seen several people ask about teachers, etc. I don't know how things work in the town she was living in....but where I lived...no one would listen. I went to several adults and received no help. I can't say if I would have killed the one man who abused me the most, because he didn't live long enough to give me the opportunity to make that decision. But honestly...the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions.

This child (and yes, mentally she will still be a child) needs help. She needs love and support from the community. This whole family seems to have been screwed up and the mother should be sitting in prison as well. She is partially responsible for what has happened. The step-father should rot in jail.

(stepping down off soap box)

Really good post. Lots of people failed her and most importently her mother did. She had no direction. She does need extensive counseling. She may not be rehabilitable but this is a person living in psychological hell. When the abuse starts at an early age the child cannot differentiate until and unless they have a life changing experience. This child chose an experience that didn't have the right results. It is so sad anyway you look at it.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I am afraid that I come off on the side of the child. And a child she was. A child who was being abused by her stepfather, with a mother who would not listen or respond to her, who was being isolated from others. She was also being manipulated by an adult. Why would she tell anyone? The one person who was responsible for caring for and protecting her- didn't. Why would she think anyone else would? So instead she was full of rage, that was being fanned every time she got abused again. No end to it that she could see. He was the all powerful one. She saw her family being physically abused by him. She was being sexually abused by him. And no one seemed to intervene. So one day she says enough. She felt powerless against the stepfather, so that ruled out attacking him directly. So she started a fire- hoping he would die in the fire. She knew that fire dept and police dept. would show up. People who might protect her. There was no intention of killing her siblings- she probably felt that she would be saving them too. She was thinking, feeling and reacting at the age she was when the abuse began. When the rage began. She was responding at that age level. Did she think of the other possible consequence's? No probably not. Kids that age don't think of those kinds of things.
What happened was tragic. But I don't think that she needs prison. She needs treatment to learn to deal with that rage. She needs to learn what a "normal" life is like. She needs the opportunity to learn that she is more than just a body for someone to use.

Most people don't understand that sexual abuse victims (especially ones who had suffered repeated, horrific abuse) tend to become emotionally arrested at the age the abuse began. In this girl's case it was 4. Her thought processes re the fire settinh seem to be similar to those of a 4 year old, if you look at it.
I lived with someone who had been horribly sexually abused from the age of 3 until the age of 7. He had rage issues, and when he became angry would respond much like a 3 year old would--kicking,screaming, slamming doors, punching/striking/throwing inanimate objects. Basically a tantrum on steroids. What is irritating and tiresome in a 3 year old is frightening/dangerous in an adult, but that is exactly the level on which they operate--often unaware of WHY they respond the way they do.

 

[concernedperson]

Most people don't understand that sexual abuse victims (especially ones who had suffered repeated, horrific abuse) tend to become emotionally arrested at the age the abuse began. In this girl's case it was 4. Her thought processes re the fire settinh seem to be similar to those of a 4 year old, if you look at it.
I lived with someone who had been horribly sexually abused from the age of 3 until the age of 7. He had rage issues, and when he became angry would respond much like a 3 year old would--kicking,screaming, slamming doors, punching/striking/throwing inanimate objects. Basically a tantrum on steroids. What is irritating and tiresome in a 3 year old is frightening/dangerous in an adult, but that is exactly the level on which they operate--often unaware of WHY they respond the way they do.

Just breaks my heart but you are correct. If so many others weren't in denial these children could be helped. Of course, it would help to have better laws in place for the abusers.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Dyess' Deal



Cass County, November 17, 2005 - She says the men in her life abused her, so she struck back against one of her attackers. Tonight, Channel 13 learned there's a tentative deal in place for a Griswold teen to admit her role in a fire that killed two young children. The information we've uncovered shows Tracey Dyess will admit her guilt next week.

Tracey Dyess now gets a chance to tell everyone what happened inside her Griswold home more than six months ago. Right now, Tracey faces two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson for the fire that killed Kaleb and Jessie Dyess. Tracey told investigators she was trying to kill her stepfather, Brian Street that night. She says Street forced her to have sex. The pictures to prove it, she says were hidden in bedroom safe. If convicted on all charges, Tracey could spend the rest of her life in prison. However a tentative deal in place could cut decades off that sentence. Tracey's grandfather Frank Street confirmed to me Tracey told her family she could be out of prison in 17 years.

That could mean the plea agreement drops the two murder counts against Tracey. Neither her attorney nor the Cass county attorney will confirm that, but both say they're satisfied with the deal with Tracey....

http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4136452&nav=LotJ

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Tracey Dyess plea agreement: At least 17 years in prison
Tracey Dyess, a teenage girl with a tangled family history of abuse and other troubles, pleaded guilty to five felonies today, admitting that she set fire to her house so that her stepfather could never molest her again, but ended up killing her 13-year-old sister and 6-year-old nephew.

"My mom was getting ready to leave the house and I knew what was going to happen. He was going to force himself on me," Dyess, 18, told the judge in Cass County District Court, her voice calm and unwavering.

Tracey Dyess was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to arson, two counts of voluntary manslaughter, and two counts of attempted murder for the March 31 fire in Griswold that killed her nephew, Kaleb Dyess, 6, and her sister, Jessica, 13, who was also being sexually abused, court documents state.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS01/51122007/1001/SPORTS04

 

[ccs]

I can't believe that Tracey's mother gave the response she did after sentencing today. Street stated that she thought 45 years in prison for her daughter was fair considering the crime. I can't believe any mother would feel that way. I wish there was something else that they could charge the mother with. She had known that atleast 4 adult men had abused her daughter and did nothing to stop it nor did she seek help for her daughter or other children. I think that the mom is more to blame. She chose to live the kind of life style she did, the kids didn't have a choice. As far as talking to the school counselors, they weren't allowed to go to public schools when they moved to Griswold. He had them pretty much isolated. I can't imagine that the mother didn't have a clue. Who took the sexual pictures? My guess is the mother knew exactly what investigators would find in that safe. I hope the step father never sees the light of day again and rots in his jail cell. Some inmates in prison don't take very well to child molestors and abusers, he may just get a taste of his own medicine.

 

[concernedperson]

Some mothers are just evil. We have to accept this even if it is one of our own.

 

[mysteriew]

If a person is held captive by robbers, manages to get hold of a gun and shoots at his captors, misses and it hits an innocent person in the apt. next door- wouild you charge that person with murder? IMO that is exactly what happened here.
Dad, should have been charged for every crime they could come up with.
Mom, should have been charged with every crime they could come up with.
The girl should have been put into long term treatment. Treatment for the sex abuse. Treatment for the torture. Treatment for the duress she suffered. And for the resulting mental health problems.
45 years is too much. It is an affront to any victim who attempts to fight back or escape from a situation where they are being kidnapped. The system seems to have failed this girl all around, I don't know why I am so shocked that it failed her again.

 

[CyberLaw]

BTW if you shoot a gun and hit the wrong person, it probably will be seen as manslaughter, not 1st degree, so yes you will be charged, you killed an innocent person, even if you "intended to kill someone else in self defense.

Charging a person with a crime, is all very well and good, but you have to have the evidence for a conviction. You can charge a person with many crimes, but what will they be found guilty of. The crimes and charges that can be proven in court.

This girl did not light a fire when only the step-father was home. She did not light a fire in self defense. she lit a fire knowing that other family members including children were in the house. Her intended target may have been the step-father, but it seems that she did not appreciate who she killed along with him. 2 innocent children died as a result.

There is a huge difference in self defence in the commission of a crime and the lighting of a fire in response to sexual abuse.

The person fighting the kidnapper is a immediate reponse to the crime in self defense. The lighting of a fire is premediated with the intent to harm and seek revenge.

So if this girl ONLY gets 17 years in jail, she should consider herslef very lucky as it is a generous offer. After all she killed two children........

 

[aussiegran]

I believe she should have gotten a lighter sentence 17 years is too long .I have lived an average life ,no abuse I have been very lucky . I fostered kids for a few years and most of them had been sexually abused .These kids all had major phsycological problems understandably. Unless we walk in someones shoes like tracey's how can we know what her mental state was. I see a few W sluethers have posted that they have suffered abuse and have sympathy for tracey and can show understanding for her actions .I dont mean they condone them but understand that she thought there was no other way out .I agree with them .In tracey's life she has known nothing but abuse and never known a mothers love.
This is a very tragic case and in my eyes the mother should be doing the 17 years .The tragic part was that 2 innocent kids were killed and not the step father and mother.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Dyess draws 45-year term, must serve at least 17 years

Griswold teen will serve at least 17 years

Atlantic, Ia. — Relatives of Tracey Dyess, a teenage girl they say was repeatedly sexually abused since age 4 by father figures, cringed at the news that she will be locked up for at least 17 years, but they hope that the long prison sentence means she'll at least get good psychiatric care.

"If they don't, after 17 years, what's going to have changed?" asked her grandmother, Diane Street, as she wiped tears from her eyes. "She's the victim here."

The medical director of Iowa's prison system, Dr. Edward O'Brien, said that all prisoners have access to mental health services, but that there is no program dedicated to sexual abuse victims comparable to the program for sexual predators.

O'Brien whistled when he heard about Dyess' sentence.

"That's an awfully long time," he said in a telephone interview. "Most of our women are in and out, with fairly short sentences. That young girl's going to be in here for that piece of her life? That's a really bad thing."

Dyess, 18, pleaded guilty to five felony charges Tuesday, admitting that she set fire to her house in Griswold on March 31 while her family slept. She said she intended to stop her stepfather, Brian Street, from molesting her but ended up killing her sister and nephew instead.

"I intended to kill Brian. I set the fire," she told the judge in Cass County District Court, her voice calm and unwavering. "My mom was getting ready to leave the house, and I knew what was going to happen. He was going to force himself on me."

After the fire, Brian Street was charged with sexual abuse of children and possession of child *advertiser censored*.

Dyess, whose family history is tangled with abuse, bigamy and other troubles, sidestepped a possible sentence of life in prison on first-degree murder charges by taking the state's offer of a guilty plea on two counts of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson.

The fire killed Kaleb Dyess, 6, and Jessica Dyess, 13, who, according to court documents, was also being sexually abused.

More: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS01/511230368/1001/NEWS08

 

[PrayersForMaura]

http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20051123&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511230368&Ref=V3&Profile=1001&maxw=250
Kaleb Dyess


[url="http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20051123&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511230368&Ref=V4&Profile=1001&maxw=250"]http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20051123&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511230368&Ref=V4&Profile=1001&maxw=250[/url]
Jessica Dyess


http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20051123&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511230368&Ref=V5&Profile=1001&maxw=250
Deborah Street, Dyess' mother, presses her hand against her mouth in reaction to the sentence.


http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=D2&Date=20051123&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=511230368&Ref=V6&Profile=1001&maxw=250
To Oakdale: Tracey Dyess leaves

 

[Linda7NJ]

Who was her lawyer? IMO she got what she deserved, but I think Feiger could have gotten her much less and Mesereau could have had her dancing in the street.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Sentenced as juveniles

The Iowa prison system houses 41 inmates sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles. Some inmates, such as Tracey Dyess, were involved in homicides but received lesser sentences. Here are some of the juveniles who have been convicted since 1994 of committing murder and have been sentenced to life in prison, according to Department of Corrections:

RUTHANN VEAL: Sentenced in May 1994 for the death of Catherine Haynes, 66, of Waterloo. Veal stabbed Haynes 23 times in June 1993 and then took her car, credit cards and checkbook and drove with friends to Iowa City, where the credit cards were used to finance a shopping spree, police said. Veal, 14 at the time and a runaway from a youth detention center, was arrested in Cedar Rapids two days after the crime. She was 17 at the time of her sentencing.

MICHAEL COFFMAN: Sentenced in October 1995 for the death of Jeremy Allen, 15. Coffman, 17 when sentenced, shot Allen twice in the head on July 25, 1994. The incident occurred in front of students after a driver education class at Ottumwa High School. They had expected a fistfight, a likely follow-up to the boys' angry exchange over a 15-year-old girl, students said.

KRISTINA FETTERS: Sentenced to life in prison in December 1995, Fetters, of Des Moines, was convicted of hitting Arlene Louise Klehm, 73, her great-aunt, in the head with a skillet and then stabbing her to death with kitchen knives in October 1994. At the time of the sentencing, Fetters was 15.

BURT SMITH and JAYSON SPEAKS: The two 17-year-olds were sentenced in 1996 for the death of Rebecca Hauser in rural Union on Oct. 4, 1994. Both from Missouri, the teens were running away to Canada and wanted another vehicle when they pulled Hauser over, using the postal lights equipped on their vehicle. Hauser was shot once in the face ....



More: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS01/511230368/1001/NEWS08

 

[Linda7NJ]

Sentenced as juveniles

The Iowa prison system houses 41 inmates sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed as juveniles. Some inmates, such as Tracey Dyess, were involved in homicides but received lesser sentences. Here are some of the juveniles who have been convicted since 1994 of committing murder and have been sentenced to life in prison, according to Department of Corrections:

RUTHANN VEAL: Sentenced in May 1994 for the death of Catherine Haynes, 66, of Waterloo. Veal stabbed Haynes 23 times in June 1993 and then took her car, credit cards and checkbook and drove with friends to Iowa City, where the credit cards were used to finance a shopping spree, police said. Veal, 14 at the time and a runaway from a youth detention center, was arrested in Cedar Rapids two days after the crime. She was 17 at the time of her sentencing.

MICHAEL COFFMAN: Sentenced in October 1995 for the death of Jeremy Allen, 15. Coffman, 17 when sentenced, shot Allen twice in the head on July 25, 1994. The incident occurred in front of students after a driver education class at Ottumwa High School. They had expected a fistfight, a likely follow-up to the boys' angry exchange over a 15-year-old girl, students said.

KRISTINA FETTERS: Sentenced to life in prison in December 1995, Fetters, of Des Moines, was convicted of hitting Arlene Louise Klehm, 73, her great-aunt, in the head with a skillet and then stabbing her to death with kitchen knives in October 1994. At the time of the sentencing, Fetters was 15.

BURT SMITH and JAYSON SPEAKS: The two 17-year-olds were sentenced in 1996 for the death of Rebecca Hauser in rural Union on Oct. 4, 1994. Both from Missouri, the teens were running away to Canada and wanted another vehicle when they pulled Hauser over, using the postal lights equipped on their vehicle. Hauser was shot once in the face ....



More: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/NEWS01/511230368/1001/NEWS08

Sounds like a great bunch of "children":loser: :loser: :behindbar I'am glad they are behind bars!

 

[Texas Mist]

Some might call it prison justice.

Brian P. Street calls it an injustice.

The Iowa man — serving 30 years in federal prison for repeatedly raping a teenage stepdaughter who later burned down his home — has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that another inmate repeatedly raped him.

The prison rapes have had crippling consequences, Street wrote in the suit.

“I was and still am scared to death,” Street wrote, “and had no one to turn to.”

If Street's claims are true, the 41-year-old federal prisoner may be getting a picture of what it was like to be his victim.

Street writes of shame. He writes of fear. He writes of no one listening to his pleas. Just like his stepdaughter did.

In March 2005, Tracey Dyess, then 17, set fire to the family's Griswold, Iowa, home in an attempt to kill Street for repeatedly raping her. Instead, the fire killed her 13-year-old sister, Jessica, and a 6-year-old boy who lived with the family.

Dyess was sentenced to 45 years in prison in the deaths.

Street was sentenced to 30 years for raping Dyess.

................
Street, who alerted The World-Herald to the suit, alleges that corrections officers deliberately placed an inmate in his cell to sexually assault him. Federal corrections officials have yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

“I wouldn't believe a word he said,” said the Rev. Val Peter, the former Boys Town executive director who routinely counsels Dyess. “He's a con artist.”


more here (on his tales of how awful it is to be raped)

http://omaha.com/article/20100213/NEWS97/702139864

 

[LogicalMinds]

:boohoo::boohoo::boohoo::boohoo:


It amazes me how these criminals are so "bold" when subduing and abusing children, let them take their chances in prison

no one protects their victims on the outside...if you do the crime, do the time, and figure on being around other people who may be as nasty as you but bigger and stronger

 

[not_my_kids]

Irony...he's doing it right.

 

[Mr. E]

“I was and still am scared to death,” Street wrote, “and had no one to turn to.”

Yeah, that's how your victim felt, too, dillweed.