Author-activist Barbara Farris is a self proclaimed vigilante and her latest mission is raising quite a few eyebrows in Orange County, FL. Farris and her group Bee Aware are shelling out $14,000 dollars of their own money to install 5 surveillance cameras at the Lake Shore Village Mobile Home Park off of N. Orange Blossom Trace, with permission from the owner of the park.
So what has Farris and the property owner so concerned about security that they’re willing to potentially infringe on Lake Shore Villagers’ right to privacy? Mostly it’s because, according to WFTV, there are over 100 sex offenders that call Lake Shore their home. That was not a typo, I did not accidentally add a zero, that is over ONE-HUNDRED sex offenders living in one mobile home park!
I did a little digging on Farris and her organization Bee Aware but I wasn’t able to find much. Here is a grainy image of Barbara:
Farris has written a book called Lies Behind The Pulpit. The description of the book provides a background of abuse that does shine a light on Farris’ passion for hounding sex offenders. The description says:
Have you ever tried really hard to remember events from your childhood? For most that is normal, but for Barbara Farris, that’s the last thing she wants to do. Memories equal pain and pain equals a long struggle to find peace. Though a successful and strong-minded business woman today; it came through work and perseverance, not through strong family support. This book is one woman’s account of a life of uphill battles and the ongoing process of learning to let go, while continuing to push forward. Barbara details her childhood as the daughter of a Minister who was married to another Minister. She recalls dreams of becoming a lawyer so she could put away criminals. She shares her decision to walk away from abuse, forcing her to drop out of school and leave home at 17. She shares many experiences where she allowed others to take advantage of her along life’s road, because she wanted so desperately to trust again. Through her book Barbara attempts to reach out to parents who might opt to turn their head to abuse of their children, for the sake of pride or reputation. She reminds parents that child abuse or the condoning of child abuse is unacceptable, unjustifiable and more likely than not – unforgivable.
The organization she has founded called Bee Aware has a MySpace page that claims to assist parents and citizens in protecting their children, but there has not been a page log-in since September of 2009. On the page there is a dead link to their website www.beeaware.org. Though the website is no longer there, I was able to find the following Bee Aware presentation video on YouTube:
Bee Aware Presentation:
In regards to the installation of the surveillance cameras Farris stated:
“If their probation, it says no contact with children, then there’s no contact with children, and we got it on camera.”
She will have access to a live feed from the cameras, as will local police and probation officers. The camera idea followed an original attempt by Farris to have a licensed daycare built close enough to have the law force the sex offenders to move.
In a report filed by WKMG Local 6 back in 2006 Lake Shore was in the news because sex offender resident Randy Young was recruiting other sex offenders to come and live in the park. Young and an assistant had manged to place over 25 sex offenders into the park in just a matter of weeks. He was later forced to stop his recruitment.
And now for what may be the most incredible part of this story. I researched the property and was able to find the official property information via the Orange County Property Appraiser website. Here is a screenshot from that page with a particular area highlighted:
What that land use table is telling you is that there is 76 units for a mobile home to be placed on and 6 units for multi-family dwellings. The 9520 Land Use Code is for the bordering lake. Best case scenario lets say we have 76 mobile homes (this would mean a home currently on every single lot) and 6 duplexes for a high-end estimate of 88 homes. Remember, it has been reported that there are over 100 sex offenders living in Lake Shore, so to be as conservative as possible I will set that number at 101.
This would mean that, with an extremely conservative estimate, there is an average of 1.148 sex offenders per home! [101 (sex offenders) / 88 (homes)]. That is one of the most incredible and disturbing statistics I have ever seen!
Considering that shocking number it is understandable that someone like Farris would be motivated to keep an eye out on the park. Is this action defensible or is it a violation of civil liberty? How do you feel about Barbara and the authorities having the right to view residents of Lake Shore Village via surveillance cameras?
think about it. there are so many restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live, that would lead to a few pockets of areas away from schools, parks, churches, or where ever else such a person can live.
If the citizens and taxpayers are waiting for a reprieve against the freaks who chew our kids up and spit them out..forget it. The “system” itself is one of the biggest “offenders” against families..Barbara Farris is putting her money where her mouth is, she is also standing tall for those who can barely stand for themselves..Mario should go back to square one..these guys should be sitting in a 5×7 not b!tching about how close to a park or daycare they can live..
Carol Bond, whom Portia Yates testified was her girlfriend, called the lounge several times and left an angry note on Portia Yates’ car.Bond told Farris when she returned from Ohio that the couple had reunited.Fantl said that at the same time, Farris learned she was pregnant and said Yates was the baby’s father.The defense attorney also described Farris as an amateur screenwriter who usually names her heroines “Barb.”He said she wrote one plot in which “Barb” foils a murder attempt.Fantl said Farris made up the story to destroy any chance that Yates might return to his wife.”Hell hath no fury,” Fantl told the jury.”She (Farris) wanted to marry him and she found out that they were getting back together.”Fantl reeled off a list of contradictions in Farris’s testimony and said the story was concocted to get rid of Yates and any possible claim he might have against the couple’s business assets.After the trial, Fantl was wrapped in a bear hug by Yates outside the jail.”I lost my job, my truck (it was repossessed) and my apartment,” Yates said.”I will probably have to leave town, (but) justice was done.”This past week on a local radio show, Bucket Head, Barbara claimed that her family has said that her money comes from the mafia.This is not a claim that her family makes out of the blue, read Barbara’s book and discover that it is her claim of such a connection.She claims that she worked for them for years.The story that she tells in the book is about being raped as a child and as a result a runaway that found herself as a drug and money runner for the mob.On the same show, she also claimed that she is currently filming and launching a reality show.This is a pattern, she also claimed to be doing a movie about Bruce Yates.Ask her for proof of a reality show.There are true victims in this world and they need the help of honest people, not ones that manipulate the hurt and pain of others for personal attention and gain.I hope you all begin to see this woman and this situation for what it really is.Barbara helps no one but herself.She only uses and abuses.3of3 posts.
I’m not surprised at all by your story.
Ms. Farris still owes my small company serious money for work done in conjunction with the supposed “kick off” of Bee Aware in June 2009. We poured heart and soul into the work that was done for her “organization” and were promised that she had “contacts” in place that would launch a national tour, and make this a “multi-million dollar enterprise.”
Right.
Immediately after our work was completed (print work, brochures, designs for merchandise, e-mailers, original music, and other intellectual property) Ms. Farris, under the guidance of her lesbian lover and a battery of attorneys, informed us that she was “shocked” by the cost and would not pay.
She continued, however, to use the materials we’d created, displaying them on her website, even advertising our merchandise designs as being for sale. In fact, the song used on the You Tube clip shown here is MINE – it was never paid for (and never completed, this being just a demo).
As for “protecting children,” Ms. Farris had also assembled a cast of young actors to portray the Bees in this supposed “national touring company.” Many of these actors were underage at the time – and Ms. Farris regularly hosted “after-rehearsal parties” for this cast at which alcohol and drugs were present.
Protecting children indeed.
Like you, I’ve come to believe she was never in this to “help kids” – everything I’ve seen her do is simply about promoting herself…
Valerie Parkhurst- another “self-proclaimed” vigilante. Val (aka valigator) believes herself to be a modern day reincarnation of Annie Oakley. Hey Val, NOONE cares what your old, gun-toting, shoot first-ask questions later ass thinks. You have nothing to offer accept your Opinion. You believe that because you scream the loudest and type the most comments, people will “side” with you. You want to “keep the tide going in the right direction”. Fine, fine. I don’t know about you, but i’ld rather have a sex offender who had sex with an underage GF living next door, than a deranged mad woman, who thinks it’s ok to pull her gun on an Unarmed sex offender, simply because he disagrees with her HARASSMENT. Geez, Val, looks like we ALL have skeletons in our closets don’t we? Look up Valerie Parkhurst (valigator), and HER police record. Good luck with your crusade, Val.
Folks…why exactly do you think there are so many SO’s living there? This woman knows the truth but she hopes to make money off of something that is widely popular as the crime of the century right now. Educate yourselves please – the majority (yes folks I said MAJORITY) of people on the registry never touched a child. I said NEVER. The majority of them committed a benign crime that landed them on the registry because of the far reaching scope of these laws – we as tax payers and voters have allowed this to happen. Now we cannot tell who on the list is a danger and who is not. I am here to tell you that most are not a danger to anyone. Most had a consensual relationship or there are many young mean between the ages of 18 and 23 who viewed pornography of teenage girls – if they are 18 or younger it is called child pornography. There are also many dead people on the Florida list – now threes a danger to your children. The laws need to change but they are not going to until the list grows and eventually affects every single family. And it will continue to grow because seemingly normal behavior is now cause to be on the list – guys think twice before you whiz outside…young men of 19 think twice before you date that 17 year old girl. Believe that woman is far more scary than most of those people living in that park