The Two Faces of FASD

A headline story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune shows the two faces of FASD. A vulnerable young man, identified as FAS by his adoptive mother, was viciously beat by four men and a woman. The vulnerable FAS man is easily identified because the damage to his brain was clearly evident and his adoptive mother knew and understands the devastation of FASD. The other face of FASD is the violent acts of the five individual who attacked him. While I do not have any evidence of the mothers of these five drinking while pregnant, the acts of violence and other evidence of dysfunction of these individuals all point to the exhibition of brain damage from prenatal exposure to alcohol. Unfortunately, this face of FASD is not easily recognized and, in almost all cases, the mother will not tell the truth about her level of drinking during the pregnancy. Our jails are full of this face of FASD.

Prosecutors: Lie prompted attack on vulnerable man

A teen-age girl allegedly told her boyfriend that the victim from Lakeville had hit her, and then she encouraged the four suspects.

By JOY POWELL and ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune staff writers


A 16-year-old girl lied to her boyfriend that a mentally disabled Lakeville man had hit her and helped lure the man to a remote location, where she egged on her boyfriend and three other men as they beat and tortured the man, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Natasha Dahn of Lakeville was an instigator of the weekend assaults on Justin Hamilton, which left him with broken ribs, burns, cuts, bruises and other injuries, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said.

She was charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery and other crimes Wednesday, when prosecutors also brought additional charges against three of the four men accused in the abduction and beating of Hamilton, 24, of Lakeville. The men are accused of kidnapping Hamilton and taking him to a remote area of southern Dakota County, where he was assaulted over several hours Friday and Saturday nights.