Timothy White (abduction victim)

Timothy White (1974-April 1, 2010) was a California child who was abducted by pedophile Kenneth Parnell in 1980.

Kidnapping

Seven years earlier, Parnell kidnapped seven-year-old Steven Stayner as he walked home from school. As Stayner aged, Parnell lost interest in him and was motivated to kidnap another small boy. Parnell had enlisted Stayner as an accomplice in a few earlier kidnappings which had failed due to Stayner failing to follow directions (Stayner later admitted he intentionally sabotaged the aborted kidnappings in order to spare other children his fate). Thinking Stayner was an incompetent criminal, Parnell cajoled one of Stayner's teenage friends, a local boy named Sean Poorman, into being an accomplice. On February 13th, 1980, Poorman noticed Timmy White, who was playing outside his parents' house in Ukiah, California and ushered him into Parnell's getaway car. When White refused and attempted to run indoors, Poorman shoved the boy against a chain link fence, forced him to loosen his grip, then dragged him kicking and screaming into the car. Parnell made quick work in brainwashing, as he had done with Stayner's abduction, repeatedly trying to get White to think his new name was "Tommy". Parnell also dyed Timmy White's natural blond hair dark brown in order to mask his personal appearance from the forthcoming missing child announcements that would be anticipated when White's disappearance was publicized. Ultimately Parnell would pass White off as his younger son and Stayner's brother. White forged a bond with Stayner during the 16 days he was held captive and spoke favorably of how the older boy took care of him.^[1] Stayner, determined to not see another child suffer the systematic sexual abuse that he endured, sought to return White to his parents.

While Parnell was working as a security guard on March 1, 1980, the boys escaped. As Parnell lived in remote backcountry, it was difficult for the boys to find civilization, but by luck a passing truck driver saw Stayner hitchhiking and gave the boys a ride to Ukiah. Stayner had originally planned to return Timmy to the White residence, but Timmy could not remember his address nor recognize his neighborhood in dead of night. Chancing upon a local police station, both boys were taken in and eventually positively identified as missing children. Parnell was tried and convicted of the abduction of Stayner and White in two separate trials. He was sentenced to seven years for the abduction of White and was paroled after serving five years.^[2][3] Parnell was not charged with sexual assault on Stayner and other boys because most offenses occurred outside the jurisdiction of the Merced County prosecutor or were by then outside the statute of limitations.

The White family maintained contact with the Stayners and, when Stayner died in a motorcycle accident in 1989, 14-year-old White was one of his pallbearers.^[4][5]

Later life and death

White later became a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Deputy. Like his rescuer Steven Stayner, White also gave lectures to children about his experience and the dangers of kidnapping. In 2004, Parnell was sent to trial for human trafficking and attempt to kidnap a child, and White had been summoned to testify. Also summoned was a full-grown Sean Poorman, who reacted with shock, not having seen White since the 1980 kidnapping. The two men spoke briefly, then hugged; White having forgiven his abductor from over two decades ago.^[6] He died on April 1, 2010, at 35 from a pulmonary embolism, 21 years after Stayner's death and two years after Parnell's death. White was survived by his wife, Dena, two young children, his parents, his stepfather, and a sister.^[7][8][9]

Legacy

On August 28, 2010, a statue of Stayner and White was dedicated in Applegate Park in Merced.^[10] Residents of Ukiah also erected a statue, one showing a teenage Stayner and a younger White, hand in hand, escaping captivity.

References

Further reading

• I Know My First Name is Steven. ISBN 0786011041. 

External links

• I Know My First Name is Steven on IMDb
• Kenneth Parnell and a chronology of his crimes