Peace Corps News

Julia Campbell Murder Trial opens in the Philippines

Campbell’s mother recalls her daughter in testimony
Linda Campbell occasionally smiled, then tried to hold back the tears as she described her daughter Julia and how she had given up a promising career in journalism in the United States to come to the Philippines as a peace corps volunteer. Linda said she learned on April 11 that her daughter had been missing since April 8. Then, shortly before midnight on April 18, Geary received a phone call from Jon Sanders of the US Peace Corps in Washington D.C. relaying the news of Julia's death. "It was like someone had ripped my heart," said Linda, describing how she felt the day she got the news. Lawyer Reynaldo Agranzamendez, lead counsel for the prosecution, said he called on Linda to testify to show the gravity of the family's loss and how they suffered as a result of Julia's death should the court require Duntugan to indemnify them. Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell, reported missing after hiking in Ifugao, was found dead April 18, 2007.  Read more.

Teenager testifies he saw Duntugan just a few meters from where the 40-year-old Campbell was slain
A witness, who was one of the boys helping tourists go around the place, said he was playing cards with his friends when he saw Duntugan fleeing the place where Campbell’s body was later found in a shallow grave. The grave was just a few hundred meters below the Duntungans’ house where Campbell was last seen alive sipping softdrink she had bought from the suspect’s wife. Meanwhile, court sources said Duntugan’s lawyers have offered a plea bargain for the lesser offense of homicide, which under the Revised Penal Code carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment.   Read more.

Plea-bargain offer rejected  in Campbell murder case
The prosecution in the trial for murder of Juan Donald Duntugan, the accused in the killing last April 8 of US Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell in the highland tourist town of Banaue, rejected last Tuesday a plea-bargain offer of the defense for conviction of the accused for the lower offense of homicide. Lead prosecution counsel Reynaldo U. Agrazamendez of the Baguio-based law firm of Agrazamendez, Liceralde, Gallardo and Associates rejected the plea-bargain offer of the defense on behalf of the family of the late Campbell.

Linda Martin Campbell, mother of the slain peace corps volunteer who was present during the hearing, confirmed the family’s rejection of the plea-bargain offer of the defense when she was asked for her opinion by Presiding Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor of Regional Trial Court’s Branch 34 at the Justice Hall here. Had the prosecution accepted the plea bargain offer the trial would have ended right then and there, and Judge Piscoso-Flor would have pronounced Duntugan guilty of homicide. The accused would have escaped the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and would be meted a 20-year imprisonment sentence.   Read more.

Read more about the Julia Campbell murder case.

Timothy Obert to begin serving sentence on May 15

Timothy Obert to begin serving sentence on May 15
Timothy Obert, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica from September 2001 to July 2003, has been sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a minor while working in another country. As part of a plea deal, Obert admitted in February 2006 to one count of having `illicit sexual contact` with a underage boy while he was in the country as a Peace Corps volunteer working with PANI, the country's child welfare agency. At the time of the July 6, 2003 incident, Obert was 35 years old and the boy was 14, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators, the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General and the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State.  The indictment alleged Obert performed oral sex on the boy and provided him with money, drugs and alcohol. He faced up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a requirement he register as a sex offender. Obert will begin serving the time May 15.

Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter called the sentencing `evidence of our zero tolerance policy for misconduct during Peace Corps service."

Obert is the first Peace Corps volunteer prosecuted for sexually assaulting a minor while working in another country.  The two-year investigation began after another Peace Corps volunteer stayed at Obert's apartment in July 2003 and saw the naked teenage boy exit Obert's room in the early-morning hours and reported it to Peace Corps officials. Obert was fired by the Peace Corps.  A federal grand jury indicted Obert under the Protect Act, a 2003 law that tightens enforcement of crimes against children amid the growing industry of child-sex tourism. Obert's prosecution was one of the first that used a federal statute under the Patriot Act that expanded the jurisdiction of the United States to include U.S. personnel on missions in foreign countries. Read more.

Poor screening blamed for abuse crisis in Catholic Church
Inadequate screening of potential priests, not celibacy or homosexuality, is to blame for the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, according to a blue-ribbon panel formed by the nation's Catholic bishops. The findings of the 12-member National Review Board were released in 2004 along with the first-ever report on the scope of sexual abuse of minors in the church. "Dioceses and [religious] orders simply did not screen candidates for the priesthood properly," said Bob Bennett, the Washington attorney and board member who spearheaded the report. "As a result, many dysfunctional and psychosexually immature men were admitted into seminaries and ordained in the priesthood."

The board's 145-page report probed the "causes and contexts" of the scandal, which involved 4,392 accused priests, 10,667 victims and a cost of at least $657 million that was tallied in a companion report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The report found that 80 percent of the abuse was "homosexual in nature," but the board said an inability to remain chaste--not homosexuality--was a more direct cause of sexual abuse among clergy. "There is no doubt there are many outstanding priests of homosexual orientation who live chaste and celibate lives," Bennett said. "Whether they are capable of living the celibate life is the paramount consideration. Sexual orientation should not be a requirement, one way or the other. Priests can be homosexual, but they must be celibate."

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, who heads the bishops' committee on priestly life and ministry, said more "up-front screening" is needed because gay seminarians and priests face "added temptations" in trying to live a chaste and celibate life. "There are pressing questions, and perhaps more urgent scrutiny, that needs to be given to a candidate who has homosexual inclinations," said Dolan, a former rector of the flagship American seminary in Rome. Dolan cautioned, however, that it is "completely absurd" to automatically link gay priests with pedophilia. The majority of gay priests, he said, are "faithful, celibate, chaste men." Read more.

Read more about Crime and the Peace Corps.

Suspect in the killing of a Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell surrenders to Philippine authorities

Suspect in the killing of a Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell surrenders to Philippine authorities
"I admit it, yes. I killed her, but I did not do whatever other people are thinking I did," Juan Duntugan told ABS-CBN television, apparently referring to speculation that Julia Campbell may have been killed during an attempted rape or robbery. "I did not plan to kill Ms. Campbell, harm her," Duntugan said, appearing remorseful and shaking his head. National police chief Oscar Calderon said police were "documenting his statement in the presence of a lawyer."

Campbell, 40, of Fairfax, Virginia, went missing April 8 during a hike to Ifugao province's famed mountainside rice terraces. Duntungan's wife sold Campbell a soft drink before her solo hike, and a boy has told police that he saw him near the grave that day. Duntugan, a local woodcarver, went into hiding the next day. A police autopsy showed that Campbell, who had worked as a freelance journalist for The New York Times and other media organizations, was killed by multiple blows to the head, and that her arms were injured, indicating she tried to defend herself.

"The case is in the hands of the Philippine National Police," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Stacy MacTaggert said. "We are pleased with any progress in the case. However, I think it would be premature to comment further until the Philippine authorities have completed their work. "The U.S. Embassy and the Peace Corps are working closely with our colleagues in Washington to make sure the family is apprised of all updates in the case. Obviously they are grieving and upset and we have to remember to respect them."

Friends and sympathizers of Campbell plan a big memorial service next Thursday in Bicol, where she last worked as an English teacher.The Bicol region, southeast of Manila, includes Albay's provincial capital Legazpi and Donsol township in nearby Sorsogon province, which is famous for whale sharks and is where Campbell helped launch an ecology awareness campaign.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said Thursday that Campbell "has become a beloved personality here in the Philippines because of the work that she has done in Bicol region."

Jose de Venecia, speaker of the House of Representatives, said Campbell will be awarded the Philippine Congressional Medal of Achievement, the highest decoration by the legislature. He described her as a "martyred volunteer." He said the award will be presented in June to a representative of Campbell's family and the U.S. Peace Corps through its director, Ronald Tschetter, in Washington. Campbell "touched thousands of Filipino lives during her posting in Luzon as a high-school teacher of English and Western literature," de Venecia said. The citation honors Campbell for bringing "light and joy into the lives" of many Filipinos. "She epitomized the ideals of the Peace Corps and of the American people," the citation says.  Read more.

Read our chronological listing of all the stories on the search for Julia Campbell since her disappearance on April 8.

Caption: Peace Corps Director Ronald A. Tschetter, who was in the Philippines to assist the search for Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell, speaks with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the presidential palace in Manila April 18, 2007. Campbell was found murdered in the Philippines after her body was found in a shallow grave in a remote, mountainous area, the police said. Photo: Reuters/Cheryl Ravel

RPCVs and Medical Marijuana

RPCV David Harde receives Prison Sentence for Medical Marijuana
With his white hair, neatly-trimmed moustache, and exemplary posture, Harde looked the part of a gentle, aging schoolteacher. But even with his shoulders straight, his words were those of a man who was spiritually downtrodden.  Shortly before sentencing, Harde himself was permitted to address the court. With a shaking voice that stifled sobs, the defendant detailed his remorse for the consequences of his actions. "I am deeply sorry that I engaged in illegal activity," the defendant proclaimed, while simultaneously regretting the unnecessary expense of his prosecution. "The awareness of my folly and its consequences never leaves me -- it tortures me by day and haunts me by night." "I had a misconception about what I could do under the law. I was trying to help people and I was misguided in how I could help them. I was imprudent and unwise," Harde continued, before summing up his address with declarations of concession. "I realize the appropriateness of our federal drug laws. I have a deepened respect for the laws of our land. I have accepted responsibility by pleading guilty humbly."

In 2005, Harde was arrested by El Dorado County law enforcement for his role in a patient cooperative. After prosecuting Harde locally for several months, District Attorney Gary Lacy turned the case over to the U.S. Attorney's office and created a change of jurisdiction that eliminated the possibility of a successful medical defense in the case. Since federal courts do not recognize state medical marijuana laws, Harde was left with little recourse once he found himself facing charges from the U.S. government. He quickly changed his plea to guilty in order to accept a negotiated deal that reduced the charges against him to one felony count of cultivation.

An activist and dedicated community leader, Harde was particularly displeased by restrictions on his voting rights. From his solar-powered natural foods store to his pioneering of official organic farming guidelines to his appointment to the El Dorado County Fair Board, Harde has been nothing short of a role model for involved citizenry. And, to ask for leniency in his case, his citizen supporters not only packed the courtroom, but also packed the mailbox with character letters on Harde's behalf. "I received 110 character letters on behalf of the defendant. He comes in with a panoply of support, and that's wonderful. Most defendants in this court come in with just themselves and a public defender," Judge Damrell observed. "But is it fair for him to get less because of this? Just because he has support, should he be treated differently from other defendants?"

Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. was at once regretful and firm in his decision. "I gotta obey the law -- how do I get around that?" the judge asked defense counsel J. David Nick, citing the sentencing requirements for a Class A felony. "You're suggesting to this roomful of people that I have the power to grant probation, and I want to dispel that. I can't go willy-nilly and do what I want to do. I have no choice in the matter." And with these claims of powerlessness, Judge Damrell proceeded to sentence Harde to two and a half years in prison.  Read more.

RPCV Sam Farr reintroduced Bill to Assure Fair Trials for Medical Marijuana Patients
In the wake of the June, 2005 Supreme Court ruling allowing federal prosecutions of medical marijuana patients even in states where medical use of marijuana is permitted, U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and a bipartisan group of cosponsors have re-introduced legislation to guarantee such defendants a fair trial. The measure comes one week after the release of a new national Gallup poll in which 78% of respondents supported "making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering."

The Steve McWilliams Truth in Trials Act would allow individuals accused of violating federal marijuana laws to introduce evidence in federal court that they followed state law for the purpose of alleviating suffering. Defendants could be found not guilty if the jury finds that they followed state medical marijuana laws. At present, medical marijuana patients are barred from telling federal jurors that their use of marijuana was for medical purposes, even when state laws explicitly permit medical use.

The bill is named for San Diego medical marijuana patient and activist Steve McWilliams, who used marijuana to relieve the severe pain he suffered from a series of auto accidents. Facing federal prosecution for growing 25 marijuana plants in his yard, forbidden from mounting a medical-necessity defense, and unable to use the one medicine that eased his suffering for fear of being jailed, McWilliams committed suicide on July 12. 

"By providing an affirmative defense for medical marijuana patients, my legislation provides a reasonable way to accommodate contradictory federal and state laws on a very important medical matter," said Rep. Farr. "I am offering a compassionate, common sense solution and I hope my colleagues in Congress will put aside their preconceptions and give it fair consideration." Read more.

Read more about RPCVs and Medical Marijuana.