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'It's no longer about Carlie'

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published January 24, 2006

	[Getty Images]
	Judy Cornett, 44, right, gave Susan Schorpen, 36, sympathy, a place to live, clothes to wear in court -- she knew what it was like to have a child abducted. They are shown here on Nov. 17 in Sarasota, waiting for the verdict against Joseph Smith.

TAMPA - Judy Cornett and Susan Schorpen bonded over shared tragedy.

For Cornett, it was the 1992 abduction and rape of her 11-year-old son.

For Schorpen, it was the abduction and murder of her 11-year-old daughter, Carlie Brucia.

Cornett made her Davis Islands home Schorpen's refuge during the November trial of Joseph Smith, who was convicted of killing Carlie in 2004.

She gave Schorpen clothes, work and sympathy.

But her generous ways took a beating, and she changed her approach after Schorpen was arrested last week in St. Petersburg on prostitution and drug charges.

"She doesn't need any more sympathy," Cornett said. "She doesn't need anybody giving her any more clothes. She doesn't need anybody feeling sorry for her. People now need to give her tough love."

Schorpen, 36, gave police Cornett's address as her home, but Cornett said she hasn't seen Schorpen since late last year. That's when she dropped Schorpen off at her father's Sarasota home so she could say goodbye to him before he left for Norway.

Authorities say Schorpen cashed an $800 check her father wrote to pay for drug treatment and stole cash, credit cards and her mother's antique wedding ring, worth $5,000.

Cornett, 44, said Schorpen has used her daughter's death as a crutch for too long and needs to battle her demons and face the consequences.

Schorpen had never lived in a house as nice as Cornett's. Schorpen bragged to friends that she was staying in a mansion. It even had a pool. The two women shared tears for their respective tragedies.

Cornett's son Jason Flores was abducted, raped and left for dead. Eleven years later, Flores confronted his rapist, Kevin Kinder, in the Orient Road jail after Flores was arrested on charges of burglary and car theft. Flores knocked out one of Kinder's teeth when he recognized him.

Cornett has dedicated her life to battling sex crimes. She formed Safety Zone Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that teaches kids to protect themselves against sexual predators.

She also coaches parents who find themselves in the media spotlight when their children become victims of child predators, including Mark Lunsford, whose 9-year-old daughter Jessica was abducted and killed last year in Homosassa.

She did far more for Schorpen.

Cornett bought clothes for Schorpen to wear in court. She took Schorpen out of a drug-infested home so she could focus on the trial. Cornett set up a shrine to Carlie in her living room, with Carlie's star-spangled platform shoes, her photos and her ashes in a silver heart locket. Cornett hoped it would make Schorpen feel close to her daughter.

Cornett knew Schorpen's drug addiction began when she was 13. She knew her friend had been a prostitute. But she wanted to help, so she got her a part-time job cleaning houses and gave her responsibilities around the house, like washing dishes.

"We were really close," Cornett said. "We were so close to making that big jump."

But Schorpen went on two drinking binges in the two months she lived with Cornett. The people she worked for noticed two checks were missing. Some of Cornett's jewelry disappeared.

"It doesn't matter what you give somebody that has these kinds of problems. The materialistic part of it doesn't matter," Cornett said. "It's the money in their pocket. It's that drive that gets them to go back and use."

Schorpen is in the Pinellas County Jail on a felony crack possession charge and a misdemeanor count of committing acts facilitating prostitution.

Cornett said she hasn't given up on Schorpen. She will be at a Friday hearing to tell a judge that Schorpen needs to be sentenced to an in-patient drug rehabilitation program. Not because she's Carlie Brucia's mother, but because she needs to take responsibility for herself.

"It's no longer about Carlie," Cornett said. "Carlie's gone. Carlie's in heaven. Carlie is looking down right now and she is probably so ashamed for her mother. This is the side of Susan Carlie wanted so badly to get better."

Schorpen still has a "1 percent chance of making it right," Cornett said.

"As long as she's breathing and as long as she's walking, she has the right to turn her life around."

[Last modified January 24, 2006, 04:29:59]