Sunday, April 27, 2014

Debra Tate and Don Wilson

  
Some who read this blog wonder why we are so hard on Debra Tate.  This post will present just one more reason why we think that Debra Tate disgraces the words Victims' Advocate along with her mother and sisters' memory of victims' advocacy each and every time she uses it as her title.

Don Wilson is an Elvis impersonator, a recording artist, song writer, production consultant and has his fingers in many pies related to the entertainment industry according to his profile page at Linkedin.  At the end of his profile summary he states that he is Debra Tate's assistant.


As recently as this past week Don Wilson has been posting like crazy on his many social networking accounts Facebook, TwitterTumbler and Pinterest  about a petition that Debra Tate is circulating to ask Governor Brown to veto Bruce Davis's parole.  With Debra's knowledge and  approval he has asked people to sign this petition and she has publically thanked him for doing so.


Don Wilson is a convicted sex offender.  He plead guilty to two counts out of the 37 counts he was originally charged with involving lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age.  He worked out a plea deal which is done in many cases involving children to spare the child the stress and anguish of testifying in court.







The fact that Don Wilson is a registered sex offender is not new news.  He was arrested in 2004 for these crimes and convicted in 2005.  There was plenty of chatter on blogs and forums about him and his association with Debra Tate in both 2005 and 2006 with extensive dialogue.  Debra is not ignorant to his crimes.  What is new is that Debra continues a relationship with this guy by employing him as her assistant and condones him acting on her behalf.

Doris Tate found herself in a similar situation with Bill Nelson.  The difference between Debra and her mother is that Doris ran as fast and far away from Nelson as she could when she learned of Nelson's child molestation conviction and Debra seems to have run directly to Don Wilson offering him an assistant's job and allows him to be a spokesman for her work as a victims advocate.  Where is Debra's compassion for Don Wilson's victim(s)?

I think most people faced with a situation as this would distance themselves from that person and try to surround themselves with people who are above reproach.  Not Debra....



Colonel Scott published a couple of posts about Don Wilson and his sex offender ways back in 2005/6 with some informative comments by his readers.  As usual the Colonel was on top of the story thanks to his contacts at the now defunct Killed The Sixties forum who first revealed Don Wilson as a sex offender.




And a link to a Google Groups thread on Don Wilson







43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Debs,

Thanks for highlighting this issue for us. Debra Tate should be ashamed of herself - she is not fit to be a victim's advocate. It would say a lot about her if she is personally involved with this individual. I don't know why this guy thinks he is in any way suitable either. There is no evidence of Bruce, Bobby, LVH and PK molesting children, which in my mind put them in a league above DT's personal assistant.

I don't think DT gives a shit about the victims, nor does Hamburger Hoyt. They turn up for a bit of publicity and attention. Fat Hoyt was only too happy to be a member of the Family, and then accept the offer of a free flight.

Perhaps there should be a public petition in support of each of the remaining incarcerated Family members (except Tex).

Is there a way of informing the Parole Board about this man's involvement?

AustinAnn74 said...

Man, this is gross.!!!!!

Suze said...

equinox234 said...

Is there a way of informing the Parole Board about this man's involvement?

-------

No shit! Governor Brown, too!

Nonymous said...

I always felt very bad for Doris Tate and Patti Tate when they were around. Debra has always been disturbing. She has never seemed to a grieving family member. She wants to sell stories and get publicity. She has never had any business going to Leslie Van Houten's hearings. I think she goes to Leslie's hearings only for attention.

Nonymous said...

Debra is worse than I thought if she is aware of this man's record.

Robert Hendrickson said...

OMG - It almost makes you think: maybe the TATE house hit was to get back at a "molester."

Also makes me think of the story and name ( big Country music star) Merrick got from the cops, who they said was busted several rimes for child molestation. (Merrick traded info with the cops and FBI agents - which may have got him killed.)

Matt said...

Robert, it was suggested to us from someone we have great respect for that the issue of child molestation could be at the heart of TLB. We have been looking hard at this angle as well as the BEL (Patty's raison d'etre) angle ever since.

One day the truth will emerge.


Nonymous said...

I have saved this information. I will be contacting the Governor, the parole board, and a few other people. I have zero desire to help Bruce Davis or any of the others. I do not want to see this woman at another Van Houten parole hearing, if I live long enough to see the next one.

DebS said...

It is quite clear to me that Debra Tate should not be a victim's advocate nor represent anyone who is a family member of a victim. She demonstrates poor judgment to the point of making a mockery of the parole process. But we need to remember that she would not be at the hearings of those not directly responsible for the death of her sister if it were not for the LA DA's office that allows and encourages her to be present at the other hearings.

The LA DA's office should definitely be made aware of Debra's associates and the hypocrisy of allowing her to be a representative for the family members of the other victims.

DebS said...

Barrie if you feel strongly about Debra's presence at Leslie's hearings you should contact her attorney and make him/her aware of Debra's associates, etc. S/he could protest Debra being at the hearing. You should be able to find contact for the attorney through the California Bar Association website by doing an attorney search.

Patty is Dead said...

Patty would still like to ask some questions of her if she goes on SCR, and is afraid that this is only going to alienate her. Shes not the child molester, its her "friend." Who of us doesnt have at least one really fucked up friend? Sheesh.

CarolMR said...

I agree with Patty. Elizabeth Taylor was admired around the world even though she helped legitimize a serial child molester.

Unknown said...

Patty, you've got a point. And that is, we can't always control what our friends do. Nevertheless, I'm Just curious - given a choice, would you remain friends with a convicted child molester?

When one puts themselves in the public spotlight, and FLAUNTS the title of victims' advocate (or any advocate), and uses that title to exonerate one accused pedophile, this same person will come under fire for befriending yet another predator who makes victims.

This would be the circumstances for anyone on a crusade, so to speak. Imagine, if you will, Fred Phelps (the pastor who was vehemently against gays and picketed gay soldiers' funerals) had not only a gay friend, but a gay friend who was his personal assistant. Do you not think that if proponents of Phelps found out he had a gay friend that they wouldn't say, "WTF, Fred? How can you have a gay friend?"

Or, the other side of the coin, let's say Lady Gaga, who is a huge proponent of the Stop Bullying campaign, and in fact has a career-collection of songs that pertain to teens who have been bullied, was found to have a friend, a convicted bully, who worked as her assistant? Would that not cause people to stand up and say, WTF, Lady G? How can you call yourself a proponent of the Stop Bullying campaign but have a bully as an assistant?

Nonymous said...

Thank you for the information. I have contacted Leslie's attorney and sent him relevant documents. Leslie's life is almost over and I believe she has been punished enough. I realize that some strongly disagree with me on this.

Patty is Dead said...

Patty believes in redemption when it is sincerely pursued. She is also a little idealistic in that she wants to believe that people can and do change.

CarolMR said...

I guess that Doris Tate showed poor judgement when she remained close to Roman after the Samantha Geimer incident. But no one criticizes her for that.

Unknown said...

Carol, are you speaking of Elizabeth Taylor's friendship with Michael Jackson? If so, I find two problems with this:

First, Jackson, though arguably guilty, was never convicted. Don Wilson was convicted. The bottom line is that we'll never know what Taylor's actions might have been if there was irrefutable evidence of Jackson molesting children and he was convicted on that evidence.

Second, setting aside Jackson's guilt or innocence, Elizabeth Taylor's crusade was to help find a cure for AIDS, and a comforter of those already afflicted with the disease. Now, if Michael Jackson was a man accused of bashing (literally or figuratively) AIDS victims, with comments like, "They're all gay and deserve their death sentence of AIDS", and Taylor remained his friend or even hired him as an ambassador to her movement, you can not convince me that people would not have made a stink about it.

Again, it's not about what our friends do, or what we believe they're capable of, I think we'd all be hard pressed to find anyone on this board that doesn't have at least one friend that's been in trouble. What it is all about is the crusade. Taylor's was AIDS. Tate's is supposedly victims. And when you publicly present yourself as an advocate of whatever your cause may be, you cannot have a proponent of your cause/advocacy be a friend and assistant.

DebS said...

Carol I do not think what you are suggesting is a fair comparison. Roman and Doris shared a profound loss. Roman was for better or worse her daughter's husband and the father of her first grandchild to be. They were essentially family and family supports family even in the toughest of times.


We did not see Doris continuing a relationship with Bill Nelson once she learned of his child molestation conviction even though they had the same goals regarding keeping the Family members who killed her daughter in prison and abolishing conjugal prison visits for those convicted of murder.


Debra, on the other hand, has no such connection to Don Wilson and has chosen to allow him to act for her despite knowing his background.

Unknown said...

Carol, what evidence do you have that Doris Tate remained close with Polanski after his charges?

Whatever your opinion is about Polanski's relationship with Sharon's parents was, I think an indisputable fact is that it would have been a cold day in hell before Doris went on national TV to say what Debra Tate said about Polanski: that he was innocent, and that there's rape and there's rape and I know the difference because I'm a victims' advocate.

CarolMR said...

From what I have read, Doris remained friendly with Roman after Geimer and looked forward to her visit to him in Paris.
As far as Liz, she is absolved of her friendship with Jackson, her lack of concern for his alleged under-age victims, because of her work for AIDS victims?

Unknown said...

Well "friendly" hardly equates with "close".

Patti Tate in her interview on Maury Povich paints a slightly different image of that relationship.

Anyhoo, in response to your statement, I don't think Taylor was absolved of anything. The point is that I'm talking about two separate instances.

If Taylor was the ambassador for the Foundation of Abused and Sexually Molested Children, and yet remained friends of Michael Jackson, or hired him as her assistant, or made him in anyway part of that crusade against victims of such, I think there would have been a huge backlash. But Taylor never purported herself as that advocate, so therefore, her relationship with Jackson on that level is irrelevant and a personal choice.

Anonymous said...

Barrie,

unless you know something about Leslie's health, I would say her life is not almost over. If her health is ok, and she were released, she would still have some good years to enjoy on the outside. Well done to you for contacting LVH's attorney - I hope they can do something to keep DT and BH away from the parole hearings. DT's interest should only extend to those who were present at Cielo Drive, and BH's grievance is against people like Ruth Moorhouse who have been walking around free for a long time.

leary7 said...

Everyday, I ask myself - "am I an asshole". Stifle Matt, it's a rhetorical question.

But am I an asshole because I don't give two turds about Debra Tate and her personality disorders.
Am I an asshole because I really really want more info on Donkey Dan - last I heard he was homeless in L.A. Dan is a vivid character in one of life's stories that has kept me transfixed for nearly a half century.
Am I an asshole for wanting, nay, almost demanding the right to know what Mary Brunner has been up to the past few decades. Sure, you can argue Mary deserves her privacy, but I see it as she willingly made herself a public figure by her actions during the trial and Hawthorne. I don't want her bra size. I don't want to know how many boyfriends she has had the past twenty years. I just am curious what she generally has been up to.
Yeah, and I want to know about BELs and the child molestation theory, but mostly, forgive me, I just want to know more more more about the characters in my all-time favorite true crime story.
Does that make me an asshole.
Seriously, it's rhetorical.

leary7 said...

just kidding Matt.

Patty is Dead said...

too funny Leary

Matt said...

Actually Leary I can't disagree with (most of) what you said. The things you mention are what this blog is all about.

Even though I have little sympathy for the killers I think that the parole hearing system is a farce. Parading DT into the room doing the vicodin shuffle while she represents herself as a victims advocate while speaking out of the other side of href mouth making excuses for criminals who make victims of children troubles me greatly. It's not a personality disorder of hers, it's hypocrisy. It needs to stop.


ColScott said...

Wow that Col really had his shit down!

Patty is Dead said...

Who?

And Justice for All said...

Debra Tate would appear to be a hypocritical self serving narcissist. Her pedophile associate/assistant should be incarcerated as the family convicts are.

Mary said...

First, Wilson is not Debra's personal assistant, he was never paid by her. Wilson just posted a petition for her like many other do. His charges could not be proven, but instead of a trial, he plead to two counts and reluctantly took a deal after one year and a half in jail fighting for his innocence. The first two counts were: 1. Touching a bare back 2. Touching a bare knee. The other counts were dismissed, because the individual's story kept changing. Wilson has not been in touch with Debra for about 2 years now and has nothing to do with Tate related matters. He served his time. Let it go.

Mary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt said...

Well Mary if I were accused of a crime with such consequences and lifelong stigma, I'd fight to the bitter end to prove my innocence. Pleading guilty to any part of it would be unacceptable.

Wilson not getting paid for being Debra's assistant is inconsequential. What Debra does as a victim's advocate is non-profit, why would she pay anyone???? He could still be her assistant, paid or not, for all we know.

Mary said...

Well Matt, Wilson did fight, he did for a year and a half. Unless anyone is in that place or know someone in that situation, they can't see how things in the system works - or doesn't work. I just saw some things in print and I try to clear them a bit. I feel if I explained what I know, it would do no good. Many times dealing with these cases, there is no physical evidence. They are in many instances "he said-she said" situations. In regards to the paid assistant thing, I thought I had seen someone say that. I'm just stating what I know. I am copying and pasting some facts and I will leave it at that.Thank you for your time.

The lack of evidence typically presented leads to very few avenues available for an innocent person to challenge their conviction. In the joint project by the University of Michigan School of Law and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, The National Registry of Exonerations released a report examining exonerations between 1989 and 2012. Of the 102 exonerations for sex abuse cases, the report released the following statistics to account for what led to these individuals’ wrongful convictions:
– 26% mistaken witness identification
– 74% perjury or false accusation
– 7% false confession
– 21% false or misleading forensic evidence
– 35% official misconduct

And Justice for All said...

Perhaps Deb and Don and Bobby could team up and re-release "sassy bottoms". What a team they would make.Deb could handle the publicity side of the operation more than adequately.Deb and Don could then start a splinter publication called "Advocates for the rights of the Victims of Sassy Bottoms" Bummer Bob could do some more wailing and beating with Deb and Don giving "Impact Statements".

Matt said...

Mary, I'll agree with you on that. The burden of proof seems to be ignored in many cases of child molestation. The standard isn't lowered for other crimes.

But I'll disagree on another point. I personally would like to hear what you know. It might do some good.

Mary said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt said...

Mary, email me at: matt (at) mansonblog (dot) com

Chris Ruskoff said...

Look, Debra Tate is not a real person. Her name is Sharon and she was complicit in a false flag event. So, this is her way of stirring up controversy in order to deflect attention away from who she really is, and what really went down. Truth be told, she does have a younger sister, but there was never three sisters, as far as I know.

mr said...

Chris,

What was the reason for this false flag event or the purpose? You knew Debra Tate when you both were growing up and she only had one sister?

Nomad said...

I remember This debacle lol. Spoke to Don many times and he fraudulently placed himself in many historical events. Said he was a witness in the JFK assassination. Even showed me a "photo" of him and his Pops when the motorcade went by. I believe he also said he was at a boys camp down the street from Cielo on the night of the murders. He additionally said his Dad took him to meet Sharon on the set of 'Don't Make Waves'. He sure got around!

Constance said...

So, is this a blog to spit on the victims' families? To deny anything being committed at 1050 Cielo drive in 1969... or so keep the "spirit of Spawn Ranch" alive, cause after all that's all the now elderly members have retained of their teens is that. The rest of their lives being rotted... which is understandable, as conspiracy or involvement to commit the murder of a group of peaceful citizens, let alone a 9 months' pregnant mother, who's done nothing to deserve such a gruesome death sentense, is more than enough to disturb the rest of one's life! So I am asking : what is this group for ?

JamesM said...

I admire Debra Tate's dedication in trying to keep these monsters behind bars. They should never be paroled. She's had a tough life with the loss of Sharon, her parents, and Patti. Then to make things worse Debra has had to deal with a lot of health issues. That said, I totally disagree with her dedication to Roman Polanski. It's widely known that he treated Sharon horribly. Polanski wanted to control every aspect of Sharon's life. He cheated on Sharon left and right. He wanted Sharon to abort the baby that she very much wanted. Polanski was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in the late 70s. He fled to France instead of facing his punishment. It came out years later that Polanski assaulted other girls. It's hard to believe that Debra Tate, who supports victims' rights would want to even deal with Polanski.

JamesM said...

Debra always acknowledges Sharon and the rest of the people who were murdered in the house. Yet she tends to forget about Steven Parent. The first person to be murdered that night. An 18-year-old who had his whole life ahead of him. I suspect that she never mentions him because he wasn't a member of Sharon's "circle". I don't think that DT should be allowed to be at Lelie Van Houten's parole hearings. She had nothing at all to do with any of the murders that took place on August 9,'69. Debra Tate should be focusing on the people who committed the murders at Sharon's house.