Investigators #4 and Jorge Nicaragua Series #1

Date1986

Can DescriptionsSee tape for content list: Sales Cult, pt. 1-3; Chronicle Sales Cult #2; Pilgrim, pt. 2-3; Nica Jorge, Pt. 1&5 Investigators #4 and Jorge Nica Series: Part One

Viewing NotesShots of newspaper want ads. Interview with a girl, Kamika Lewis. [14 years old, human trafficking victim]. Shots of teenagers in motel parking lot. A male reporter (Kirby Perkins), in voiceover, describes the human trafficking operation, were teenagers sell items door to door, and move from state to state. He describes terrible living conditions. Interview with a boy, Ron [Audette?], who says he did not make any money. Shots of teenagers on the street. Interview with a man who compares the situation to ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘indentured servitude’. Shots of the ‘Logan Airport Hilton’ hotel, where reporters confront a “recruiter” Steven Bander. Reporter talks to one of the girls who has been recruited, who thought she was getting a job as a flight attendant. Bander tries to get the reporter to leave. The girl is fired and driven home. Shots of teenagers in vans. Reporter describes crew leaders beating teenagers. Interview with a girl who describes being beaten. Stills of the girl with bruises. Interview with a girl whose face is obscured. She describes girls being forced into prostitution. Reporter describes a group of [human trafficking victims] who died in a plane crash. Shots of bodies covered in sheets and airplane wreckage. [End of story, 00:00:00-00:05:51] Shot moving down a motel hallway. Police and other people enter a motel room. Shots of people outdoors. Teenagers selling household clearers door to door. A male reporter talking to the camera. Interview with a woman [Erleen (?) Williams] who describes how the teenagers are not paid or adequately fed. Shot of a newspaper want ad with the tagline ‘Too Young for Airlines??? (18 & Over)’. Teenagers outside a parked van. Interview with a boy, with his face obscured. He describes staying in a hotel with 7 or 8 people to a room. The reporter describes abuse and prostitution. Interview with a girl with her face obscured, who describes being beaten. Interview with [Erleen Williams], founder of the organization Parent Watch. Reporter and Williams describe these cases as “commercial cults”, “white slavery”, “prostitution”, “involuntary servitude” and “slavery”. Shot of a Kingston motel hallway. Leader of the group confronts the cameraman. Parents and police escort an underage girl from the motel, and convince an 18 year old girl to return home. Interview with a woman, who describes how it is difficult for teenagers who have been recruited to contact their families. Interview with one of the victims, with her face obscured. Shot of teens outside a motel. Reporter says most of these groups can be traced to Joe Edge of Arlington, Texas. Edge denies involvement with abuse and prostitution. [End of story, 00:05:51-00:11:25] A police officer with a german shepard dog walking through the woods. A male reporter, in voice over, reports that the Boston Police were looking for a missing 14 year old girl, Kamika Lewis. Interview with Kamika Lewis’s mother, holding a baby. Shot of the Tudor Motor Inn in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Reporter says Kamika was found at the hotel with a group of “traveling teenagers” who sell magazines door to door. [Human trafficking victims] Interview with Kamika Lewis. Reporter confronts a “recruiter”. Reporter confronts boss, Harold Kreth. [Human trafficker, accused of sexual assault] Shot of newspaper want ad with headline: “A Travel Job 100 Needed Hiring Now!!!”. Interview with Harold Kreth, who claims the job is an opportunity. Shot of an ad. Shots of teens outside motel. Interview with a man who says it’s a horrible situation and the teenagers are not paid enough for living expenses. Reporter states that Harold Kreth was charged with sexual assault, but the charges were dropped as the alleged victim was too afraid to testify. Reporter knocks on a motel room door. Harold Kreth opens the door, but immediately slams it shut. Interview with Kamika Lewis. [End of story, 00:11:25-00:17:08] Shot of a newspaper want ad, with the headline: ‘Fun in the Sun’. [Ad for human trafficking scam] A male reporter (Kirby Perkins), in voiceover, describes how 6 teenagers who answered the want ad later died in an airplane crash. Shots of bodies covered in sheets and airplane wreckage. Shots of a car wreck, with a girl in a neck brace and EMTs helping victims. 7 teenagers were taken to the hospital. Shot of Willy Wood, driver and crew chief [human trafficker]. Reporter interviews one of the girls, asking if she has insurance. Reporter says the teenagers sell magazines door to door. Shot of camera moving down a Kingston, Massachusetts motel hallway. Police and other people enter a motel room, looking for two girls who have been recruited by a human trafficking operation. A woman in voiceover describes how it is difficult for the recruited teenagers to contact home. Shots of teenagers in the motel. A crew chief confronts the cameraman. An underage girl is escorted out by her father. An 18 year old girl is also convinced to leave. Interview with a police officer, who says the groups will sometimes abandon teenagers with no means of returning home. Interview with a girl, her face obscured, who says girls are pressured into prostitution. Interview with a girl, who describes beatings. Stills of the girl with bruises. Shot of a boy, Ron [Audette?] walking down the street. He describes beatings. Reporter states that the human trafficking groups can all be traced to Texas millionaire Joe Edge. Edge denies responsibility for abuse. Shot of a man, [John Maurier?] who runs another [human trafficking] crew. Shot of the Tudor Motor Inn in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Shots of teenagers in the hotel. Reporter says crew is set up so teenagers owe [Maurier] money. Shots of teenagers who have left the group. Teenagers talking to police. Reporter says some teenagers choose to stay with the group. [End of story, 00:17:08-00:23:54] Aerial shot of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts. A male reporter, in voiceover, describes locals concerns about safety at the power plant. People at a town meeting. A woman Diane [Buckby?] speaks into a microphone. Shot of record books at the Plymouth Public Library. Reporter says records indicate plant is unsafe. Reporter lists plant accidents from 1981 to 1985, which were due to human error. Interview with Boston Edison official, who claims accidents were low level radiation and did not threaten the public. Interview with [NRC?] official, who calls is “sloppy practice.” Reporter states Pilgrim plant had the most safety incidents of any plant in New England, 27 violations in all. Reporter talking to the camera in front of a sign for ‘Boston Edison’. Interview with a man saying there are new standards. Shot of two men in hard hats entering an enforced door. Interview with one of the plant’s critics. View of a presentation to Massachusetts State legislature. Critique of NRC. Shot inside the plant control room. A classroom with a class for nuclear reactor technicians. Views of working model of the plant control room, used for training. Boston Edison hires new managers. Shots of officials. Shots of people at a town meeting. Interview with Diane [Buckby?]. Interview with an official, who says they will make improvements. [End of story, 00:23:54-00:30:05] Shot of a newspaper. A male reporter, in voiceover, says it is a page of obituaries in the Patriot Leger, July 1980. Focus on the obituary of Dennis Sweeney, Jr. who worked at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. Sweeney died of skin cancer. Interview with Dr. Winter, who says radiation from working at the plant was a contributing factor to Sweeney’s cancer. Sweeney’s family sued Boston Edison, which owns the Pilgrim Plant. Boston Edison tried to claim the plant was not at fault, but later settled with the family. The reporter, speaking to the camera in front of a sign for: ‘Pilgrim Station Boston Edison Company’. Reporter states that the Sweeney family’s suit is the first in the country regarding a worker exposed to radiation at a nuclear power plant. Reporter describes another incident in November 1977, where Ralph Fitz and Jim [Pyreas?] were sent to do repairs in a highly radioactive room, and exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. They sue Boston Edison, and the company settles. In February 1984 Michael [Macmahn?] was exposed to irradiated cement blocks. Interview with [Macmahn], who says he now has cobalt in his lungs and thyroid. He is planning to sue the company. Pilgrim executive [Lee Oxen] testifying before a congressional hearing. He claims the problem of worker exposure to radiation has been fixed. Shots of NRC documents from 1984, 1983 and 1981. Reporter speaking to the camera in front of a sign: ‘Pilgrim Station Shorefront ½ mile Maine Gate’. He talks about concerns about radiation exposure to local communities. Interview with Richard and Faye [Freego?] whose 6 year old son died of Leukemia in 1981. They plan to sue Boston Edison. Shot of the Pilgrim Plant from the water. Reporter says scientists claimed there was no effect on local health from the plant. The towns of Scituate, Marshfield, Duxbury, Kingston and Plymouth report 20-30 percent higher rate of leukemia deaths than expected. Shot of a town street. Reporter says new cases of leukemia are 50 percent higher than expected. Interview with Faye [Freego?] who wants connection between leukemia and the Pilgrim Plant investigated. Shot of the sign for the ‘Plymouth Public Library’. Shot of a radiation detector wedged in the window of the library. Reporter says detectors like these in the area have only picked up normal levels of radiation. Boston Edison admits some radiation may go undetected. Parts of the plant have broken down, but the company claims these did not endanger the public. [End of story, 00:30:05-00:36:00] A man carries a wooden cross. A male reporter (Jorge Quiroga), in voiceover, says that it is November 2, All Soul’s Day, The Day of the Dead in Nicaragua. Close up of wooden crosses/grave markers. The man places a wooden cross on a flower covered grave. Shot of a kneeling man in camouflage firing an automatic rifle. Armed men wading across a river. Reporter describes the US backed Contra rebels fighting against the Sandinista regime. A family mourning at a grave. Interview with a woman (Maria Montenero), who says her neighbor was killed by the Contras. View of the Pantasma Valley in Nicaragua. Shot of the road from Managua to Pantasma. Reporter says the Contras plant landmines on the road. Quiroga reports, standing next to a mine crater in the road. He talks about a bus that struck a mine. Wreckage of a truck. Interview with a 13 year old boy (Juan Rivera) lying in a hospital bed. His leg was amputated after a bombing. Shots of various people in Pantasma. Interview with Dr. Justin Stormogipson, an American doctor working in Nicaragua, who responded to the bombing. A man with a rifle walking down the street. People lined up outside a building. Soldiers standing in formation. Sandinista soldiers marching down the road. Interview with Sandinista soldier Carlos [Montrose?]. Shots of tractors burned by Contras. Shot of a sign: ‘Banco Nacional De “Desarrollo” Agencia: Pantasma’. The bank had been looted. A woman and children walking up the road. Interview with Guillermo Santana, driver of the bombed truck. Quiroga talks with a Sandinista guard. Shots of boys with guns. [Child soldiers?] Shot of a grave. People draping garlands around a grave. Interview with Alma Blunt, a volunteer with Witnesses for Peace. [End of Story, 00:36:00-00:42:35] [No image-black.] A male reporter (Jorge Quiroga) describes soldiers marching in Managua, Nicaragua, on 25th anniversary of Sandinista national liberation movement. Quiroga discusses the US backed Samoza dictatorship, and the 1979 revolution. Now the Sandinistas are fighting the US backed Contras. [Image starts] Interview with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. [Cut to black, the image comes back] Interview with Costa Rican President Óscar Arias Sánchez. Interview with Alejandro [Vengaña?]. Quiroga reports from in front of a line getting onto a bus. Clip of a speech by Ronald Regan on Nicaragua. [End of story, 00:42:35-00: 00:45:55]