The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

March 10, 2010

Weird News: Keeping an eye on child terror threats

Over-Connecting the Dots: At age 8, Mike Hicks is a frequent air traveler with his mother, and while she is seldom noticed by airport screeners, “Mikey” almost always is because he shares a name with someone on the enhanced-security list that is one level below “no fly” (one of 1,600 such Michael Hickses in the U.S.). His mom told The New York Times in January that Mikey has been patted down by security since he was 2. (But sometimes government under-connects the dots. Delaware pediatrician Earl Bradley’s January arrest and February indictment for allegedly sexually molesting 103 children came only after he was cleared in two police investigations in three years, involving eight complaints, and despite one ex-colleague’s routinely referring to Dr. Bradley as a “pedophile.”)

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