Saturday, February 18, 2006

ONGOING COVERAGE: GROENE INVESTIGATION

Spreading the word

CdA woman's T-shirts, buttons speak out against sex offenders

Cheryl Horne wears a gold cross she received from the Groene family after she made buttons for them. ()

Taryn Brodwater
Staff writer
February 16, 2006

A Coeur d'Alene woman has printed hundreds of "Kill Duncan!" bumper stickers, aimed at Joseph Edward Duncan III, the sex offender charged in last May's triple homicide at Wolf Lodge Bay.

Duncan is also suspected of kidnapping young Dylan and Shasta Groene from their home, molesting both children and killing Dylan.

Cheryl Horne, a friend of the Groene family, made and donated 5,000 buttons with color pictures of the children when they went missing last spring. She was hoping someone would recognize the kids and they would return home safely.

Now Horne is using her home-based business, The Button Gang, to help others express their anger against Duncan, a convicted sex offender. One of her bumper stickers says "Death Cures Sex Offenders 1st Time." This week, she got an order for one saying, "Set Duncan Free. Let Us Get 'Em."

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It began when another friend of the family asked Horne if she'd make the "Kill Duncan!" bumper stickers – then bought 200 and began distributing them around town. Horne, who worked at a restaurant with homicide victim Brenda Groene, her sister and stepmother, has since added other anti-sex offender phrases.

Two local businesses – Susie's Bar and Grill in Hayden and the Shell station at 1501 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d'Alene – carry Horne's stickers.

Bar owner Susie Oudemolen said she hasn't heard a negative response yet.

"I think they should geld 'em," Oudemolen said Tuesday as she prepared dinners for Valentine's Day. "Castrate them. We do it to dogs and horses. It's not inhumane."

There are fliers posted in the bar advertising Horne's stickers, which sell for $5 each.

One bumper sticker says: "Tougher Laws For Sex Offenders! No More Second Chances!"

Horne put the saying on the backs of T-shirts she gave to the victims' families. The front of the T-shirts read, "Save The Children."

Misty Cooper, Brenda Groene's sister, said she wore the shirt to Duncan's first court appearance. She kept it hidden beneath her coat – until she got outside the courtroom.

Cooper put the "Tougher Laws" and "Death Cures" stickers on her truck.

Horne has also printed stickers saying "No More Joseph Duncans" and "Attention Child Molesters: You Are Not Welcome in Idaho." She is donating half of the proceeds from sales of those two stickers to the new nonprofit Strong Mothers Against Child Molesters, or SMAC'M, which plans to lobby for tougher laws.

Half of the proceeds from the "Tougher Laws" sticker will benefit Children's Village, a local children's shelter, Horne said.

Public Defender John Adams said he had been told the stickers were showing up around town. He declined to comment other than saying that he couldn't recall another instance where someone he represented was targeted by bumper stickers.

Prosecutor Bill Douglas declined comment.

Horne said she's proud to see the stickers on bumpers and car windows throughout town.

"I don't want people to ever forget him," she said. "I don't want people to ever forget what he did. We're going to keep coming up with all sorts of different things just to keep it in everyone's minds."