The California Association of Trollops has a New Name!

Mixed Messages, Acts of Violence and Sodomy Redefine One Children's Charity

In 1979, the California Association of Trollops, known as CAT, was founded by the 28-year-old (now 65) Lois Lee. Its chartered purpose was to decriminalize prostitution. On its board were some of what are now, considered by law in many states, human traffickers, which included, according the California Secretary of State records, madams, prostitutes and a lawyer named Robert J. Davis, whose practice was defending them along with the owners of massage parlors. With encouragement from Christie Hefner, who apparently became enamored with the idea that paid for love should be the law of the land, Hugh Hefner held a fund raiser for CAT at the West Coast Playboy Mansion. Shortly thereafter, CAT did a 180 and became Children of the Night, determined to get teenage girls out of the sex trade. Playboy's West Coast CEO, Richard Rosensweig was installed as the President of the Children of the Night board of directors. Lois Lee, Founder of CAT became Founder and Executive Director of CON.

Lee found comradery with law enforcement by becoming a snitch, while working at a nightclub called Pips back in the day. Her avocation was later euphamised to police informant as she legitimized her career. According to CON website, "Over 250 children (presumably all girls) passed through her (unlicensed) apartment" from which Lee operated both CAT and CON.

A Not so Safe Haven

According to Los Angeles Times, on January 30, 2001, during the filming a crime reenactment in the alley behind the Children of the Night shelter for underage female prostitutes, located in Van Nuys, California, America's Most Wanted cast members, Cristian Saliadarre, 28 and Anthony Alvarez, 27 engaged some of the teens in conversation. After the shooting concluded and the crew had dispersed, one of the men climbed through one window of the shelter, where he proceeded to have sex with a 14-year-old girl. Afterwards, the girl was encouraged to climb out of the window and proceed to the alley, where the other man had sex with her as well. The two men, later arrested on felony charges, claimed that they didn't realize that the girl was actually a minor child. The America's Most Wanted segment never aired. John Walsh had no comment nor apology. The attorney for America's Most Wanted offered a prepared statement, which disclaimed responsibility. The actors later plea bargained so that their charge would be reduced to having sex with a minor, rather than to having sodomy and oral copulation with a minor under the age of 16, which carries a possible prison sentence of up to four years. Instead, both were sentenced to a five years probation, a year of sex offender counseling, fined $5000 and ordered to perform 1000 hours of community service work. Lee appeared discombobulated that such a thing could have happened in her own facility under her very nose.

Rescuing by Example

Children of the Night's website and Lee in interviews maintain that CON is "rescuing America's Children from the ravages of prostitution." Yet in 1997, organized a benefit with Danni Ashe of Danni's Hard Drive scheduled for May 23rd of that year. Lois Lee's signed letter of authority was placed on file with the Los Angeles City Social Services Department. Many of the adult stars listed to attend were available for sexual services on such porn star escort websites as Nici's World.

When the event was shut down by Hollywood Police, a silent online auction was held with this all-too-inappropriate banner.

What exactly was being auctioned off for the charity supposedly in place to "rescue America's children from the ravages of prostitution?" What sort of an example was being set for the teenage girls in their care? Didn't these two events glamorize the very thing they were trying to extricate them from?

The Devises of Lois Lee

"In 1979, Dr. Lois Lee abandoned a promising career as a scholar and social policy expert, devised a plan, and took action. Since that time, she has been rescuing America's children from the ravages of street prostitution. Her single-minded efforts and dedication led to the development of Children of the Night, where she still serves as president." [from the Children of the Night website]

LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARGE EVALUATION SHEET
DA CASE NU. 90-0556
COMPLAINT DEPUTY JAMES E.KOLLER
REVIEWING DEPUTY R. GUNSON

I.I.B File Case No. 090-0031

It is this Internal Affairs Investigation prepared by Sergeants T. Pradia and Sergeant E. Allen of the Internal Investigations Bureau that reveals the true nature of the conflict that occurred on November 9, 1989. Lois Lee, Executive Director of Children of the Night, devised a scheme whereby Donald Austen¹ would be lured from his business to assist a non-existent runaway girl. Ms. Lee states the purpose of this fraud was to obtain a photograph of Mr. Austen. Ms. Lee's plan was to have her friend², Robert Christie, request Mr. Austen meet the feigned runaway at a restaurant. To activate this ruse Ms. Lee obtained the assistance of a private investigator, two photographers, two co-workers, three deputy sheriffs and the deputy's wife. These nine individuals were present at the restaurant before Mr. Austen's arrival. This investigation reveals that off-duty Sergeant Gil Parra contacted the Marina del Rey Station and requested assistance in making a traffic stop of Donald Austen, whom he described as a homicide suspect. The evidence suggests an intent to unlawfully detain Mr. Austen.

It is also clear that Sergeant Gil Parra and off-duty Lieutenant William Salveson misrepresented the legitimacy of their investigation of Donald Austen to the Marina del Rey Station deputies. And, we note the plan as described by Lois Lee appears far too elaborate for its express purpose of obtaining photographs.

¹Founder, then Executive Director of Thursday's Child
¹Children of the Night board member

The following statement (in signed form, sworn to under penalty of perjury) was submitted in evidence in several Los Angeles Superior Court actions involving Lois Lee and Children of the Night. The declarant, Margaret Rose Weems, is a retired Oregon police officer, whose daughter, Priscilla Weems, is a former child actress, whose credits include Five Mile Creek, Designing Women and Quantum Leap. Priscilla Weems' testimony to the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department corroborated her mother's account, while the testimony of others present at the scene, corroborated the presence of a gun. At the time of the incident, Priscilla was 17 years old. It is up to the reader to draw his or her own conclusion as to what is true or false. To date, Lois Lee, who admittedly orchestrated the event, denies ever possessing a gun and denies any wrongdoing whatsoever.

DECLARATION OF MARGARET WEEMS

I, MARGARET WEEMS declare as follows:

1. I am a resident of the State of California, a former police officer in city omitted at declarant's request Oregon, and have personal knowledge of the following facts, which, if called upon as a witness, I could and would competently testify thereto:

2. On November 8, 1989, at approximately 9:00 p.m., I received a phone call from Donald Austen, asking me if I and my then seventeen-year-old daughter, Priscilla, would be willing to accompany him to pick up a runaway sixteen-year-old girl, and transport her to a runaway shelter in Hermosa Beach. I conveyed the request to my daughter, and we both consented to go.

3. Don picked us up at my business in Northridge approximately one half hour later. We then drove to the El Torito restaurant in Marina del Rey, as Don stated he had been instructed to do.

4. Having arrived and parked, we entered the restaurant and paged Carl, the name given by the man who had phoned the Thursday's Child hotline for assistance. The man, who later turned out to be Robert Christie of the Children of the Night board of directors, met us and led us to a table near the entrance. There were only three chairs at the table, which might have sat eight. Bob Christie helped us get two more chairs. He seemed somewhat surprised at our arrival with Don, his manner being awkward toward us.

5. The runaway was seated at the head of the table, her left to the entrance, Don, seated to her right, Bob Christie to his right, and Priscilla, in turn, at his, all facing the entrance to that room. I had my back to it.

6. There was a water glass in front of Don and Bob Christie. The girl, had a Margarita glass in front of her. She was dressed in a white, short-sleeve blouse and cut-off jeans. She was pretty, fair-complected, with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes; perhaps five foot seven in height and one hundred fifteen pounds. She was not wearing any make-up. Bob Christie introduced her as Sheila.

7. Don asked her if she had been abused at home. Sheila nodded. He then asked her if she wanted to go to a runway shelter. Sheila interjected,"I have to go to the powder room," then she rose, and walked toward it, which meant she exited the room the way we had entered, and went about twenty feet beyond.

8. As Sheila got up,“I'll go with her." I followed suit, leaving Don and Bob Christie at the table alone.

9. In the ladies room, Sheila just pushed past us out again. Priscilla and I both followed her out of the restaurant. She was walking briskly, and so were we. Outside, Sheila ran toward the east, then stopped and looked around. She seemed to be looking for something. Suddenly, she ran the other direction. Priscilla ran after her. I lagged behind. Sheila approached a late-model maroon Cadillac. There were two blonde women in their forties inside. The passenger had emerged. Sheila approached the passenger side, and Priscilla grabbed her by the arm. The passenger, who turned out to be Lois Lee of Children of the Night, had a gun with a silencer drawn. She pointed it at Priscilla, and said,"Get the fuck out of here!" Priscilla released her, and Lois Lee and Sheila got into the car. Sheila got in back.

10. Don had emerged from the restaurant by this time, and had come to where we were. I said to Don,"Get in your car. I'll get the license plate. The woman had a gun on her." I meant she had a gun on Priscilla, but Priscilla was away from the car by this time, and anyone's interpretation of my remark would have been that the gun had been directed at Sheila. Don got in his car, as did I and Priscilla, and I tried to memorize the license plate of the Cadillac, as it drove off. The Cadillac maneuvered around some barriers in the lot, giving us time to catch up to it, and when we did, it was stopped at the controlled gate.

11. Don and Priscilla and I got out of the car. I went around to the front of the Cadillac and held down the control arm, so that the car could not drive away. Don went to the attendants. I called out to them,"Call the police! A runaway girl is being kidnapped! Call the police! Don't open the gate!"

12. I called out to Don,"Stand in front of the car!" He did as I had asked. At that point, a man, who was later described to me as off-duty Lynwood Deputy Sheriff Eric Parra, came up behind Don, grabbed him by the waist, and threw him down onto the asphalt. He was in plain clothes, and wearing a blue knit short-sleeve shirt and pale brown slacks, about six feet tall, one hundred eighty pounds.

13. Parra kept screaming,"I'm going to kill you, you low-life bastard. I'm going to kill you. You shouldn't have messed with me; I'm going to kill you, you fucker," over and over again, punching him in the back and kicking him with his knee. He glanced up over his shoulder. He yelled,"Let that car go!" Lois Lee pointed the gun at me through the windshield, then suddenly lowered it, as Parra got up, lifting Don by his jacket. Then he turned and saw me still holding down the gate. He released Don and came at me. He had liquor on his breath. He angrily ordered me to let go of the gate arm, then punched me in the chest several times. I let go of the gate.

14. Don was now again in front of the car. Parra turned to him, and threw him back down, and repeated the previous scene. The driver of the car, Janell Salveson, took the gun from Lois Lee. She lowered her window, pointed the gun at the parking lot attendants, and said, "Open the fucking gate." One of the attendants pushed the button and the gate rose. The car drove off, east down Fiji Way.

15. I walked around the shack to find my daughter. Parra had let Don up. Don had backed away, but Parra seemed to be coming at him again. Don picked up a broken control arm, and said,"Stay away from me." Parra had drawn his gun. He aimed it at Don's chest, standing about ten feet away. Don dropped the control arm, turned his back on him, and walked over to me.

16. Parra holstered his weapon, then charged toward Don and tackled him. He dragged him to a planter, pushed his face into the dirt, his knee in the small of his back. He tried to put a choke-hold on him, then tried to cuff him. All the while I kept asking him,"Who are you? Are you security?" He just kept screaming at Don that he was going to kill him, the same as before. I began screaming for someone to call the police. Finally, Parra whipped out a wallet with a badge, then quickly put it away."I am a cop," he said."Then let me read the number," I insisted."Fuck you, bitch," was his only reply. I said,"I don't believe you're a police officer. I think you're only an asshole security guard, or you'd let me read your badge."

17. Two men walked up to me; one straight-armed me in the chest. I later learned that man was Sgt. Gilbert Parra, Eric Parra's father. He was about six feet tall with gray hair. He whipped me three or four times in the shoulder with the heel of his hand, pushing me backwards. "You stupid, ignorant bitch," he said."Go stand over there." I said,"I want a police officer. Get that asshole off Don!""You stupid, ignorant bitch," he said. We're all cops!""Show me your badges, then, I insisted, so he and a man, who appeared to be of American Indian descent, flipped their badges, but refused to let me read them.

18. At that point, Eric Parra called out,"Someone get over here, and help me cuff him." There was a slight pause, then he repeated the demand. A uniformed security guard had appeared on the scene by this time, and went over to him, and assisted in getting Don's arms behind him, so that Eric Parra could put handcuffs on him.

19. Two black and white sheriff's vehicles pulled up at about that time, and the deputies in them emerged. I was in tears by then. I went over to one of the uniformed officers. I said,"A runaway girl's been kidnapped." The officer said,"Stand over there, Ma'am. I'm going to take a report first." I tried each of the other officers. They all said the same thing, and that they did not need the license plate number. I told them that I wanted to make an assault charge against Eric Parra. I was told that he was a deputy. I said,"I don't give a shit what he is, he hit me." The deputy said,"I don't care. We aren't going to take a report on it." I said,"Then I want the watch commander." The deputy told me the watch commander was Sgt. Richards, and that he would not take a report either.

20. Don was placed in a patrol unit, which was backed up behind the hedge which lined the street. I could not see Don after that. After a lot of arguing with the deputies in my attempt to find out what was going on, and why Don was under arrest, I said,"Wouldn't any of you perhaps be interested in speaking with the man who had been sleeping with a minor child and giving her alcohol?"

21. I commandeered the security guard, and went back with him to the restaurant. The table we had sat at was now unoccupied, but I surmised that Bob Christie, Carl, was still there. I walked into the men's room, and there he was. I asked the security guard to assist me in getting him out of there, and to the deputies. I asked Bob Christie to tell them the truth about how he had contacted Don on Thursday's Child's hotline, and asked him to pick up Sheila to take her to a shelter. He said,"Well, I don't want to get involved." I said,"Tell them the truth." We left him with Deputy Parker. Bob Christie and the off-duty deputies seemed to know each other from the way they talked among themselves.

22. Don's car was being searched by the on-duty deputies around that time. I was informed afterwards that they were looking for weapons. I was told then that we could take the car to get back home. As we were getting in the car, Deputy Parker came up to us with Sheila, and said,"I wanted to let you know she's alright." I said,"Where is the Cadillac that took her?" He said,"I can't tell you that." Sheila said,"Sorry I ran. I was scared."

23. Priscilla and I drove to the sheriff's station to file a complaint. We were told we would not be allowed to file one; that the men were not from their station. I was told at the time that they were from L.A.P.D.. I requested the watch commander. Sgt. Richards came out, and said,"We won't take a report." Deputy Wetta was taking statements regarding Don's arrest. I turned to him, and said,"Okay, then put this in Don's report," and I pulled my blouse down, and showed them the red and purple mark in the center of my chest and my right breast. Richards, Wetta and one other deputy was there. I said I wanted them as witnesses.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, that the foregoing is true and correct, and executed on the 30th day of November, l992 at Northridge, California.

MARGARET WEEMS

In her statement to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, Lee showed no remorse that anyone was hurt or nearly killed. The board member Lee referred to was Dr. Robert Christie, then sociology professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

When asked what the supposed runaway girl looked like, Dr. Robert Christie, Lois Lee's mentor, would only say that She's 16 and she has very pretty legs." He implied that he was having sex with her. And all of this at Lois Lee's direction. The events of November 9, 1989, left Donald Austen with permanent, crippling back injuries. Regardless, on December 10, 2007, Lois Lee and Children of the Night filed a $3 million lawsuit against Donald Austen and Thursday's Child for Libel and Slander for publishing the facts relating to that incident, and demanded a permanent injunction, which was essentially a gag order. An anti-SLAPP motion was filed by Austen, while the ACLU represented Thursday's Child. After a year and a half of costly litigation, Lee and CON withdrew their claims.

So, what was the real reason for Lois Lee's "scheme"? Keep in mind several facts.

• Lee stated that there were drinking glasses set up on the table in the restaurant, because she wanted Austen's prints.

• No recording device was in place.

• Whereas Austen had previously applied for a group home license, his fingerprints were available to law enforcement.

• At least 4 law enforcement officers were working with Lee at the time of the incident.

• Lee hired three photographers to be at the scene.

• Although Lee told the District Attorney that she wanted photos to show her maid, because she insisted that Austen would kidnap her baby, off-duty Sgt. Gil Parra called into the Marina del Rey Sheriffs station, requesting a traffic stop of Austen, describing him as a homicide suspect, driving a car that had belonged to Thursday's Child but was not on the scene. (What homicide? Who had been murdered?)

• Independent Charities rates CON a 5-Star Best in America.

Four sheriff's deputies were suspended for their actions with Lee in November of 1989, and the wife of one of them, former Special Agent Janell Avery Salveson, was reprimanded by the FBI. Lois Lee remains a force to be reckoned with in the world of charities. She has been profiled on 60 Minutes and Dr. Phil. Her staunch supporters include Cher, High Hefner, Anthony Lapaglia, Richard Marx and Dyan Cannon.

In 2009, Lee's salary was $216,482, nearly 13% of all contributions to the charity that year, even though their donations were down by 14% from 2008. Her salary was up roughly 4% from the $208,430 contributed in 2008 (roughly 10.7% of that year's operating budget, $187,254 in 2007 or roughly 11.5% of the budget and $201,809 in 2006 or roughly 12% of all costs for that year. This does not include perks such as meals and travel expenses. And per Children of the Night's 2013 990 tax return, Lee's salary is listed as $321,265 out of total budget of $2,136,506 or more than 15%. Contrast that to Debbie Weir, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who, in 2012, earned $235,810, which was less than 1% (.9% to be exact) of MADD's total budget that year.

Meanwhile, her Marina del Rey scheme cost contributors thousands of dollars when she hired, private investigator, Charles Gorrence, to engineer her plan, as well as Gorrence's two assistants. Previously, she had hired three other PI's in an earlier attempt to discredit both Austen and Thursday's Child in her magnificent obsession. And, according to the deposition of LAPD Det. Fred Clapp, then adjutant to the captain of Administrative Vice, Lee had previously employed the services of yet another private investigator to go after Austen: Oded Daniel Gal, who, on June 15, 1992, plead guilty to four felony counts: conspiracy to commit assault, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of false imprisonment upon the persons of Aissa Wayne, daughter of actor, John Wayne, and her then boyfriend, developer Roger Luby at Luby's Newport Beach home on October 3, 1988. Gal had been contracted too commit the acts by Wayne's ex-husband, Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, an orthopedic surgeon, who also was convicted.

But it gets even better. In January 2017, Lois Lee published a letter on BackPage, defending their owners and condemning the government for taking down their escort ad sections, which the government contended was endangering the lives of children and causing them to be prostituted, or, in the new, politically correct vocabulary, trafficked. By Lee's cockeyed perspective, BackPage should be allowed to continue to post prostitution ads, because by doing so, trafficked children will become more visible, and may therein be "rescued from the ravages of prostitution." It never occurred to her that creating a venue for criminal activity may actually increase the number of victims dramatically.

On April 7, 2018, backpage.com was seized by the Department of Justice. The top executives at Backpage were arrested. In addition to the criminal counts, the government is seeking to seize 10 residences in California, Arizona, Texas and Illinois, 25 bank accounts and 35 website domains in the United States and 20 other countries. One 16-year-old girl in Chicago was killed in 2016 after responding to an ad placed by her pimp on Backpage. On April 12, 2018, Backpage.com CEO, Carl Ferrer, 55, owner of BackPage, was arrested, charged with pimping a minor, pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping. Two controlling shareholders of Backpage — Michael Lacey and James Larkin — were also charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. But Lee apparently vehemently stands by their sides. Ferrer plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of money laundering in California. His company pleaded guilty to human trafficking in Texas.