Hundreds step up to help Idaho girls

In a show of community support, hundreds of people gathered for a daylong event at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls to raise money for Shasta Groene and a 12-year-old girl who authorities say was raped and stabbed.The money will be pooled into trust funds set up for the girls.

Shasta, 8, was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, and her mother, two of her two brothers, and her mother’s boyfriend were killed. A registered sex offender has been charged in the crimes. In the case of the 12-year-old girl, who is from Athol, Idaho, her father – also a registered sex offender – has been charged.

Bob Dilley, co-founder of Coeur d’Alene’s Men in Business, helped to coordinate the event, which featured a variety of vendors and information booths. The group offers networking and community service opportunities for men, Dilley said.

“As men in the community we need to make sure this doesn’t happen to our kids,” said Dilley.

Separate donation bins were set up for the two girls. Money was raised at the gate – each car paid $10 – and through raffle ticket sales, a silent auction and a live auction. While the event was organized primarily for Shasta, Dilley said organizers decided to include the 12-year-old girl, after requests for help from Shoshone County Sheriff Chuck Reynalds.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, $2,000 had been raised from the gate alone. Organizers had not tallied a final count by evening.

Dilley said practically everything for the event had been donated, including the venue, which normally costs $5,000.

“This is what happens when you ask people for help,” Dilley said. “Whenever I hear something, I’m not going to sit there and say,’That’s terrible.’ I’m going to call and do something about it.”

Dilley said there is already about $60,000 in a trust fund for Shasta. “We want to make sure that there’s money there for them to get the counseling they need,” said Midge Smock, of the Windermere Foundation, which also helped with the event. “I haven’t gotten to meet either girl, but I sure pray for them every night. I can’t imagine what they’ve been through.”

The event had a festive ambience with its rock bands, a bouncing castle, food booths and even a makeshift tattoo parlor. Yet, attendees reiterated the gravity of the issue and called for tougher legislation to deal with sex offenders.

“We’ve got to get laws changed. These are horrific cases,” Smock said, adding that the efforts must be national because both men accused in the crimes were able to cross state lines.

Karen Golebiewski of Rathdrum also called for stricter laws for repeat offenders.

“People like that, they don’t get rehabilitated, so why in God’s name are they released?” she asked.

Others stressed the need to create greater public awareness of the problem.

“People need to know that this happens every day in their own backyard,” said Hiedi Person, executive director for Court Appointed Special Advocates, which represents the interests of abused children in court cases. “It’s our responsibility to protect these kids because they’re our future.”