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Network that brings us To Catch a Predator, features convicted child molester on poker program that fills void for writer's strike Attorneys for Shahram "Shawn" Sheikhan, a current participant on NBC's "Poker After Dark", were quick to demand retractions from Gambling911.com for an article appearing on another website and reprinted onto the Gambling911 website. The article - NBC Features Poker Rapist? - was written by San Francisco Chronicle contributor, Thomas Somach, and appeared on his upstart website, PokerHelper.com. Sheikhan's attorney insists that his client is not a rapist. Gambling911.com insists it cannot control what Mr. Somach writes on his website, and is quick to point out that in the past Somach has written some stinging comments about G911's owner. By late Thursday the article in its entirety was removed from the PokerHelper.com website. Upon further investigation, Gambling911.com has determined that Sheikhan was never convicted of rape. Instead, he was convicted of child molestation. What's the difference? Well, child molestation is defined as an offense in which an adult engages in non-penetrative activity with a minor for the purpose of sexual gratification. This apparently is a misdemeanor. As such, Gambling911.com feels it has a duty to report and clarify that Mr. Sheikhan was only convicted of charges of sexual battery and molestation of a child as reported this past September by the Las Vegas Review Journal, not rape, as contended in the PokerHelper.com piece. Neither Sheikhan or his associates have attempted to explain the nature of this offense. And while Sheikhan's attorneys have played down the matter, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently consider this a serious matter. Sheikhan is an Iranian citizen who emigrated to the States when he was nine years old.
"This individual was
targeted for ICE
arrest because of
his criminal
history," Virginia
Kice, a spokeswoman
for U.S. Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement,
referring to the
fact that Sheikhan
is from Iran and has
lived in the United
States since the age
of nine. "ICE has an
ongoing initiative
called Operation
Predator targeting
individuals,
including foreign
nationals, who prey
upon and sexually
exploit children." Instead of being deported, NBC - the same network that brings us "To Catch a Predator" - found it fitting to feature Sheikhan on its late night poker show. "Poker After Dark" is looking to capitalize on the current writer's strike by featuring original programming. Sheikhan, who served nine months in prison for the 1995 offense, would not comment on the specifics of the case. His friend, Dennis Oehring, who serves as a press agent for Poker-PROductions and producer of "Poker After Dark" insists that Sheikhan already paid for his mistakes. "The judge knows that Shawn never raped anyone. Rape is a felony, especially against a child, yet the writer states he was convicted on misdemeanor charges. He did not rape a child as the author's piece claims. The poker community knows this, and this amounts to nothing more than a vicious attack on Shawn's character, a man who paid for his mistakes years ago under the guidelines of the law." Oehring would not comment on the specifics of Sheikhan's case either. Instead, he demanded that Somach's article be yanked from the Gambling911.com website. Somach is one of a series of respected online gambling veteran reporters who allows his content to be reprinted on the G911 site just as Oehring's releases are published on the site as a courtesy to promote his television venture. Somach's former employer once sued the owner of Gambling911.com for defamation of character, seeking damages in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A judge ruled in favor of Gambling911.com's Publisher in the landmark case Atiyeh vs. Tostigan. Court documents indicate that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security believes Sheikhan is "subject to removal from the United States" in part based on a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows deportation for conviction "of two crimes involving moral turpitude not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct." Kendall-Tackett et al. (1993) and other studies found that a wide range of psychological, emotional, physical, and social effects are associated with child sexual abuse, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, poor self-esteem, somatoform disorders, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional dysregulation, neurosis, and other more general dysfunctions such as sexualized behavior, school/learning problems, behavior problems and destructive behavior. ---- Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
Originally published
January 18, 2008
1:13 am EST
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NBC
"Poker After Dark"
Poker Player Just a
Child
Molester....Not a
Rapist