The Flight Paths of Francis Duffield Shelden, Brother Paul's and North Fox Island, MI. Part 7 -The Midwest Child-Exploitation Pipeline
When Money Flies-
The Flight Paths of Francis Duffield Shelden, Brother Paul's and North Fox Island, MI.
Part 7 -The Midwest Child-Exploitation Pipeline
North Fox Island – The Philanthropist’s Playground
Reports paint Francis Duffield Shelden not a drifter with a van but rather a pilot with a depraved mission.
The supposed Yale-educated multi millionaire heir who sat on the boards of elite boys’ schools, flew Michigan Air National Guard colors, and was welcomed as a Big Brother volunteer.
It is appearing he used that exact trust to build the Midwest’s most sophisticated private child-exploitation site of the 1970s: an 820-acre island in Lake Michigan with its own airstrip, hidden cabins, and a tax-exempt “children’s mission” that charged parents $85 a week while quietly filming and trafficking the boys they sent.
TIMELINE –
1928 – September 5
Francis Duffield Shelden born, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to one of the state’s wealthiest families (lumber, oil, governors, U.S. Secretary of War).
1940s
Reported to have attended Millbrook School, elite all-boys private boarding prep in Millbrook, New York.
1950
Graduates Yale University (B.A.). Serves in Michigan Air National Guard, Korean War era.
1960
History of articles report he purchased, alongside his brother, North Fox Island (Leelanau County) for ≈ $20,000. All, after offering far less to the widow who owned it. Immediately builds private grass airstrip.
1960s – early 1970s
Serves on boards of Cranbrook Schools (prestigious private K-12 boys’ campus, Bloomfield Hills, MI) and Boys Republic (Michigan/California). Volunteers as Big Brother in Ann Arbor, flying “at-risk” boys on private trips—some to the island.
1974
Places coded ad in Better Life Monthly. Meets Gerald S. Richards (Port Huron gym teacher, former mail-order child-porn distributor).
1974–1975
Dyer Grossman (vice president of Brother Paul’s) procures boys from Harvey School (prestigious all-boys private boarding/day school, Katonah, NY, where he teaches science). Flyers also circulate at Cranbrook and other elite prep schools.
June 18, 1975
Incorporates
as a Michigan nonprofit.
as a Michigan nonprofit.
Officers:
- Gerald S. Richards – President
- Dyer Grossman (a.k.a. Dale Osterman, Elliot Crossman) – Vice President
- Adam Starchild (a.k.a. Malcolm McConahy) – Treasurer
- Francis D. Shelden – Director and primary funder Public pitch: “emotional counseling and fitness retreats” for boys 7–16. Recruitment: Church bulletins, YMCA, Scouts, Big Brothers, and private boys’ schools.
Summer 1975 – Summer 1976
Boys flown in. Activities documented in seized films and victim statements. Undeveloped film from Claudius “Bud” Vermilye’s Boys Farm (Tennessee) sent to Richards for processing—Shelden listed as a sponsor.
July 23, 1976
Richards arrested in Port Huron for molesting an 8-year-old boy. Reportedly he immediately phones Shelden.
Late July 1976
Shelden empties Ann Arbor home and island cabins, then flees the United States. MSP raids North Fox Island July 28—empty buildings, but rosters, negatives, and sponsor lists seized.
September 13, 1976
Richards pleads guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
October 25, 1976 Sentenced to two concurrent terms of 10–20 years (serves ≈ 5, paroled 1981/1982).
December 1976 – May 1977
Michigan State Police and U.S. Senate subcommittee take testimony. Richards admits on record to flying boys to the island, filming orgies, and distributing material to hundreds of subscribers. Senate report names North Fox Island and Boys Farm (TN) as nodes in the same national network.
1977–1978
Related raids: Boys Farm Inc., Tennessee (Nov. 1976) – Vermilye convicted; New Orleans Boy Scout Troop 137 pornography ring (Sept. 1976) – buyer lists trace back to Richards and Shelden.
1978–1983
Shelden, reportedly flees to the Netherlands (no extradition treaty at the time).
1983
Richards paroled; re-arrested 1988 for new mail-order child-porn charges.
1994
Gerald S. Richards dies in Port Huron (gastrointestinal hemorrhage).
1996
Francis D. Shelden is said to have died in Amsterdam and to have been confirmed deceased by Michigan authorities 1997. Warrant cancelled May 2, 1997 – “subject deceased.”
Adam Starchild -Timeline -HOMEWORK FOR NOSEY READERS LIKING CHALLENGES.
Confusion abounds with this one- so be warned and for this reason we will come back to him in a future report. Why, you ask? Well, I'll leave some of that confusion below. If you can figure the weave out in the meantime, then please let us know!
1939–Early 1960s: Early Life and Identity
Birth year believed to be 1939. (reportedly)
Early identity?
That’s where the trouble starts.Some researchers link him to the name Malcolm Kenneth McConahy, but nothing in publicly accessible records confirms it as his birth name.
No childhood history.
No family details.
No stable early paper trail.
It’s like Starchild simply appears, already mid-orbit — the first of many identity shifts.
Early identity linked to the name Malcolm Kenneth McConahy remains unconfirmed through public records. Little verifiable information about childhood or family background.
2000–2006: Final Years and Death Diagnosed with cancer. Operates in New Zealand primarily as Adam Starchild. Receives compassionate release due to medical condition. - HOWEVER according to the Libertarian Futurist Society; " "Adam Starchild, RIP On September 21, 2006, Liberty lost a valiant warrior. Adam Aristotle Starchild, aged 60, succumbed to pancreatic cancer in Madrid, Spain. Adam was the author of numerous articles and books on international taxation, asset protection and personal finance. Always the entrepreneur, until days before his death Adam had visions for new business ventures and was actively working on the the licensing of new trademarks. A passionate defender of rational thought and free enterprise, Adam traveled the world discovering opportunities for both to flourish. It is in space, rather than this planet, however, where Adam believed a libertarian renaissance is more likely to occur. If freedom thrives anywhere in this universe, Adam, now released from earthly bonds, is certain to be there."
AND NOW? WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT?
Just documented, industrial-scale exploitation enabled by the same silence that shielded every predator in this series. And, after seeing all the various orbits in the previous posts in this series, we come to the one that is going to leave us with more questions than answers, courtesy of a Starchild, or man, whatever.
Perhaps the real answers to the whys and how it was allowed to grow and evolve to the point it did, and why we also see those patterns in the Epstein case, are in the stars... with Adam? But, hey, gives you something to do on a cold winter night, some research, if you care.
CONCLUSION
Bottomline- boys who were flown to that island and who were abused there, if they grew into men who broke the cycles of trauma, did so at a cost. Those still trying, know that cost. Those who never found the energy, well, they paid the highest price, and so probably did the people around them. .
If this post cracks something open for you:
Corrections always welcome
Check back for more -
I am a collateral victim of John David Norman - we are healing together.
I do hope this helps others realize they were not ever alone.
If any information is incorrect pls contact me or leave a comment. These are complex cases and a lot of bad information is already out there.
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