Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 2

A-2 Santa Cruz Sentinel Wednesday, April 5, 1989 Questions pervade child-abuse case note which he sent down south with his daughter. Wally Trabing except that she knew Jenson as her father. According to reports, Jenson had been living at Henry Cowell campground before moving his truck and camper to the Holiday Host park In Scotts Valley In the spring of 1986. There he became friendly with Richard and Katherine Deker of Fountain Valley. That couple was living at the park while Deker worked temporarily In San Jose.

When Katherine Deker remarked one day that she would love a granddaughter like Lisa, but that her daughter was having difficulty conceiving a child, Jenson had a surprise suggestion. Acording to reports, he suggested that Deker's daughter adopt Lisa because he was having trouble caring for the child. He allegtxily suggested that the daughter and her husband take Lisa on a three-week trial basis. If they liked Lisa, they could find a "shady" lawyer to arrange a legal adoption. Authorities say Jenson offered several explanations for how his wife died.

He told some people she died of cancer. He told others she was killed during a robbery. He allegedly wrote a "To whom it may concern" By MARK BERQSTROM Santind naff writer SANTA CRUZ After a two-year search, authorities here have arrested a man charged with molesting his 4-year-old daughter. But now they don't know if the girl was the man's daughter or a kidnapped sex slave. Everything 48-year-old Gordon Curtis Jenson told neighbors at a Scotts Valley RV park back in 1986 was a lie: Who he was, where he was from and where he was going, according to Assistant District Attorney Steve Englehardt.

So Englehardt says he has no reason to believe that the 4-year-old girl who had been living with Jenson In the back of his pickup truck the girl Jenson is accused of molesting and then giving away Is the man's daughter. "My guess Is that he picked her up somewhere and was keeping her as a sex slave," says Inspector Tisha Byrd, who Is working to establish the girl's identity. The little girl, named Lisa, Is now six and is awaiting adoption in San Bernardino County. She has not been able to tell authorities anything about Have a nice day tin bi That note indicated the girl was born out of wedlock and that the mother did not want the baby. In the note, Jenson allegedly wrote that he feared the child might be born with Down's Syndrome because the mother was an older woman and that he had planned to bury her "next to an ant hill" If the baby didn't have five fingers and toes (on each limb) at birth.

According to reports, the Dekers' daughter took the child and, at the end of three weeks, was In love with little Lisa. The woman and her husband went to a legitimate attorney, wanting to make the adoption legal. By then, Jenson had left the RV park and could not be found. As the daughter and her husband waited for word, Lisa began touching the man inappropriately. They sought help from a counselor, who referred the case to the San Bernardino Sheriffs Office.

Deputies there contacted the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office. Detectives here learned that Scotts Valley Police and the county's Child Protective Services agency had previously responded to complaints of possible child abuse when Jenson was living with the girl at the RV park. According to the Scotts Valley Police report, an officer determined that Lisa was well and showed no signs of abuse. Although armed with new evidence, including statements from Lisa that she had been molested, detectives here and in San Bernardino County hit a quick dead end. According to former Detective Joe Henard, now a DA's inspector, the license number of Jenson's truck was found to be registered to a motel room in Texas.

Jenson's Job application was full of untruths, according to reports. And the only calls that Jenson made from phones at the RV park In Scotts Valley were to other people at other RV parks. "We thought we were never going to catch that guy," he said. Then sheriffs crime scene investigator Joe Hem-mingway came up with a big clue. Hemmingway dusted with fingerprint powder every piece of equipment that Jenson had worked on at Holiday Host.

He came up with a print from a VCR that Jenson had repaired. The state computer matched that print to Curtis Mayo Kimball, Jenson's true name. Still, two years went by and a $250,000 warrant was turning brittle. Finally last month, Jenson turned up in Los Angeles arrested for drunken driving. But for as hard it was to track down Jenson, investigators had no luck determining just who Lisa was.

Detectives sent photos across the nation and corresponded with every organization handling missing-children cases. Meanwhile, Lisa was placed in a foster home and, according to Assistant DA Englehardt, Is soon to be adopted. He said she is physically and mentally healthy and ready to testify at Jenson's preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for May 20 in Municipal Court. Englehardt said he hopes to compel Jenson to submit to a paternity test to determine whether he Is the girl's father. BOAT LAUNCH MEA i BV PtBMIT ONLY 7- WARNING NO LIFEGUARD CX DUTY HAZARDOUS SURF AMD RIPCURREMSKAYOCCUR BOAT LAUNCH H)FA SCftQ BEACH REGULATIONS NO FIRES CAMPING" HORSES VEHICLES POGS OH THE BEACH 0 0 n.

CATAMARAN SAILB0ARD 1J I LAUNCHING (PnCi 'MX On the street Bill LovetovSentlnel They may have been so overwhelmed by the sheer number of dos and don'ts that they just didn't notice the missive prohibiting Rascal from joining them on their stroll. SANTA CRUZ You can't blame Fran Taylor, her daughter Alannah and their dog Rascal for stepping warily along Twin Lakes Beach near the Small Craft Harbor Tuesday morning. How would you like to see your taxes spent? Asked on High Street Glitch in telephone system disrupts classified-ad service The longevity of Walter Phariss WALTER PHARISS was living on borrowed time back in '72, when I wrote of his serious health problem, so I was taken aback when his voice invited me for lunch Monday noon. Walt is on his 17th heart attack. This amazing man is hitting 80 now and he dined on fettucini and clams and put away two glasses of red while he brought me up to date with his feats of longevity.

You might remember he had the bait and tackle shop at the end of the Municipal Wharf for years in the '60s and '70s. He also operated the wharf aquarium for awhile. Phariss outlived his doctor, who gave him three months to clear up his business on earth. Great doc, too. He was also mine.

I'm not going to name him. "01' doc used to sit around in my living room with his pot belly, drinkin my brandy and tellin' me I was going to die," said Phariss. "That was around 18 years ago after I had about seven heart attacks, weighed about 300 pounds and smoked four packs of cigarettes a day, plus six or seven cigars. House of Windsor cigars." I suspect ol' doc made a logical prediction. Oh, I almost forgot.

Phariss also had diabetes and gout so bad he kept a crutch handy. And he now wears a hearing aid. "You want another glass of wine?" asked Walter over lunch. Phariss decided, at 66 in 1970, to have a go at a new operation called the jujuno-ileal intestinal shunt. They took away 17 feet of intestine, leaving him with 18 inches.

The idea was that food would not have time to turn to fat. "They said it would mean permanent diarrhea. They sure as hell didn't miss that by far. A tossed salad goes through me in 20 minutes." But within a year he was down to 176 pounds. He continued to have his heart attacks.

Plus, throw in a gall bladder operation and some hernia work. "I was tellin' them at Dominican that I expected them to name the new wing after me," said Walter with a hearty laugh. "So what's your special diet," I ventured, half knowing his response. "Hell, I eat anything I can get my hands on. Like I told my wife, 'I'm not going to sit around and dry Walter and his wife, Opal, have been married 60 years.

They liked to fly to New York and stay at the Waldorf and walk down Fifth Avenue. He liked to hire a hansom and ride with his wife through Central Park. "She has to be the most understanding woman in the world. Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her," he said with ease. The man has to have special genes.

It figures. His father lived to 92, mother to 89 and grandfather to 95. He was born in Porterville, owned a chicken ranch out of Lindsay, and processed turkeys in Selma. "This was around '37 when the hobos rode the rails. We'd take dead turkeys too damaged to put on the market and toss them into open boxcar doors as the train rushed by our plant.

We assumed the 'bos would cook them." At one point in his career, he owned and set up coin-operated telescopes in view spots throughout the state. "Once a month we'd make the rounds to collect the money. We'd come home with the rear of the station wagon riding the axle with $3,000 in dimes. One time driving near Lake Elsinore, I noticed some guy trailing us. He passed and swerved toward us.

I saw him coming and rested a .38 across my arm, pointed in his direction. He changed his mind fast. Well, it's been a year-and-a-half since Walter had his last heart attack. This June, he and his Mrs. are off again, by Amtrak to have a look around Denver.

Phariss has a survivor complex. He is enjoying his life. Actually, he never had any plans to leave. Not with 12 grandchildren and 7 greatgrandchildren to cheer him on. "They live close by.

You can almost throw a rock and hit 'em all." he said with satisfaction. A week before Christmas he and his wife reserve the casino Sun Room and treat 25 of the brood to a brunch. "Deep down," he said finally, "I know I am still on borrowed time." But a word to the wise. Best not lend time to Walter Phariss. You may not get it back.

Wally Trabing's column appears Tuesday through Friday and Sunday. Julian Moll Realtor, Santa Cruz Basically social services. I think the big thing Is to take care of medical needs. Everyone's afraid to get sick. Corrections and clarifications It Is the policy of the Sentinel to correct factual errors.

We encourage readers to call our City Desk If they are aware of such errors. Please phone 423-4242. The Lesbian and Gay Community Center's game night will be today from 7:30 to 9:45 p.m. at the Louden Nelson Center, not at the location announced in Friday's Sentinel. The center does not have a permanent meeting location.

nel, working Into the night, were attempting to repair the system. Service was expected to be normal at 8 a.m. today, when the department re-opens for business. The Classified Advertising Department's phone number is 426-8000. The Sentinel's Classified Advertising Department's telephone system experienced intermittent problems Tuesday and disrupted service to customers attempting to reach the department.

Telephone company person Shooting suspect used fake name, deputies say David Paine Administrative intern, Santa Cruz i I'd like to see them spent on education and health care i and maintaining our natural resources, and not for war-i fare. MacKenzie, of Santa Cruz. Investigators ran a check of "French's" fingerprints and discovered that he was Indeed MacKenzie, the Sheriffs Office SANTA CRUZ A man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he allegedly started shooting outside a Davenport bar and then tried to shoot and run a pursuer off the road Sunday morning is not the man who he claimed to be, the Sheriffs Office reported. The suspect told deputies that his name was Robert French, 34, of Santa Clara. County Jail and court authorities, however, reportedly identified him as Alexander Scott Area digest Larry Mahoe Assistant fire chief, Soquel Better fire and police protection.

Tom Dillon Student Santa Cruz Less on defense and more on education. I think the university costs are Insane and our public school system Is a Joke. I think we need to educate more than defend. Nuclear Policy film series set The Stevenson Program on Nuclear Policy Is offering a screening of films focusing on nuclear Issues at 8 p.m. Thursdays, April 13-June 8 in UC Santa Cruz Porter College Room 148-D.

Films will be shown as follows: April 13. "Wargames;" "April 20, "Nova: Nuclear Strategy for Beginners;" April 27, "The Arms Race, Arms Control and Peace Studies;" May 4, "Soviet Threat;" May 11, "Protection in the Nuclear Age" and "War without Winners;" May 18, "Threads;" May 25, "South Africa: The Nuclear File;" June 1, "Countdown for America" and "A Defense that Defends;" June 8, "The Day after Trinity: J. Robert Op-penheimer and the Atomic Bomb." Group discussion will follow each showing. For more information, call 429-2833. Recycling opportunities offered The following groups will operate recycling centers Saturday: Aptos Lions, 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m., Aptos Fire Station, 6934 Soquel Drive, 476-1201; VaUey Women's Club, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Vista Foods, Felton, Johnnie's Supermarket, Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond Supermarket, 338-6578; RoundUp Recycling, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to p.m., 3820 Soquel Drive, Soquel. For more information, call 476-8088.

Bike-to-Work panel will meet The Bike-to-Work Day Committee will hold a planning meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at 229 Third Ave. Bike-to-Work Day is planned for May 18. Volunteers are needed for a variety of Jobs. For more information, call 4234829.

Greenpeace official will speak Stephen Schwartz will give a talk entitled "Exposing the Bomb Factories" from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, April 10 in the UC Santa Cruz Stevenson conference room. Schwartz is a UCSC graduate working in Washington, D.C., as the legislative coordinator for nuclear issues with Greenpeace. His talk will focus on Greenpeace attempts to shut down nuclear reactors and to clean up nuclear waste. The talk Is sponsored by the Stevenson Program on Nuclear Policy.

For more Information, call 429-2833. Formal clothing donations sought Community Connections, a program for those recovering from mental Illnesses, is seeking donations of men's and women's formal and semi-formal clothing for clients to wear in an upcoming volunteer recognition ceremony. Clothing and shoes in all sizes are needed. For more information, call 4254132. Local author discusses Chernobyl Cabrillo College Instructor C.C.

Bailey will discuss his new book, "The Aftermath of Chernobyl" Thursday evening at the Unltaruin-Unlversallst Fellowship, 6401 Freedom Aptos. Bailey will share his findings regarding the effects of the Chernoybl nuclear accident. The event begins with a potluck dinner at 6 p.m., followed by Bailey's discussion at 7 p.m. The program Is part of an ongoing series of public forums presented on the first Thursday of each month by the church's social action committee. Call 684-1401 for more information.

Neal Evans Student Santa Cruz Social programs and education, definitely. Helping the homeless. They could start by building more low-Income housing and shelter for the homeless. Also, expanding mental-care.