May 11, 2012
Mom Pimped Out Her Two Young Daughters
Nebraska authorities believe a mother accused of pimping out her 14-year-old daughter also charged men to have sex with her 7-year-old daughter. The Nebraska State Patrol says the 35-year-old mother allowed at least seven men to have sex with her 14-year-old at least 20 times. Investigators say at least three men had sex with the 7-year-old. Three men have been arrested and charged with sexual assault of a child. Investigators are working to identify and locate the others. Read more...
May 07, 2012
Steve Powell's Porn Trial to Begin
The voyeurism and child-pornography charges Steve Powell is facing as his trial begins Monday in Tacoma have nothing to do with the horrific murder-suicide of his son Josh and Josh Powell's two young boys. Nor are they about the bizarre disappearance of Josh Powell's wife, Susan, from their Utah home in 2009. But Susan Powell's relatives hope the trial will shed light on those tragedies. Read more...
May 04, 2012
Woman Escapes Trunk of Speeding Car
A female student managed to escape from a speeding car after being stuffed in the trunk by an armed man just minutes before the same man attempted to abduct another woman, Georgia police said. The women were accosted outside of their east Atlanta homes just 30 minutes apart. One woman said she and a friend were on the porch at their home in east Atlanta at around 2:00 a.m. local time Wednesday when a man approached. Read more...
April 26, 2012
Officer Accused of Luring 12-Year-Old Girl
Prosecutors have charged a New Jersey police officer with attempted aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl he met while assisting her family in an unrelated police matter. Woodland Park Police Officer Steven Vigorito Jr. pleaded innocent to the charges and is held on $250,000 bail following his arrest while on duty. Read more...
April 18, 2012
DNA Links Man to 1992 Sexual Assault
For almost two decades Dewaine Thornton has been walking among us with a secret. Maybe over the course of the 227 months since he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman inside her Heather Ridge Apartments unit, he confided his crime in someone. Regardless, the 52-year-old unemployed Deptford man faces multiple charges that could place him behind bars for just as long, thanks to modern forensic methods implemented on a long-unsolved case. Read more...
School Trainer Charged With Sex Assault
An athletic trainer for Cheltenham High School was arrested and charged with sexual assault after allegedly making "unwelcome sexual contact" with a 14-year-old student, authorities said. Ramon Cintron allegedly assaulted the girl in his high school office April 12, said Risa Vetri Ferman, the Montgomery County district attorney. Ferman said that Cintron sent the girl several text messages apologizing for his behavior and begged the girl not to tell anyone because he "could get locked up" if anyone found out. Read more...
April 17, 2012
Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years
Timothy Lyle Chappell, 50, of Conley, was sentenced by United States District Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. to serve 20 years in federal prison on charges of committing felony offenses involving a minor, specifically, enticing a minor to engage in prostitution and transporting and harboring a minor for prostitution, while being an individual required by law to register as a sex offender. United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, "This convicted sex offender convinced a 15-year-old girl during Internet chats to come to a motel for a free place to stay. At the same time, he was advertising the girl on the Internet as a prostitute." Read more...
April 16, 2012
4 Charged With Exploiting Children in SC
A four-month-long investigation into illegal pornography and illegal sexual acts with minors ended Saturday with the arrest of four people by Surfside Beach police. Tim Yaccarino, 58, and Pam Yaccarino, 42, both of Surfside Beach, and Jessica Grounds, 22, of Conway, and Amber Martin, 21, of Myrtle Beach, were all apprehended in the sting. All were charged with first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Read more...
Man Convicted of Raping 2 Neighbors
A registered sex offender has been convicted of kidnapping and raping two neighbors at knifepoint in his San Diego County apartment. Thirty-four-year-old Jeremy Stutzman was convicted and faces a life sentence. His attorney says he'll appeal. During trial, a 20-year-old woman and her 19-year-old roommate said Stutzman threatened them with a hunting knife last Memorial Day at his Vista apartment. They said he tied, blindfolded and gagged them, forced them to commit sexual acts and to model lingerie. Read more...
April 12, 2012
Teacher Arrested for Sex With Student
A California high school teacher is under investigation after her arrest on charges that she allegedly had sex with a student. Megan Denman, 29, a social sciences teacher at Fresno's Hoover High School, was arrested on one count of sex with a minor and two counts of oral copulation with a person under 18, according to the Fresno Police Department and the Fresno United School District. Read more...
April 11, 2012
32 Arrested in Massachusetts for Child Porn
Massachusetts State Police, in a statewide sweep dubbed "Operation Corral," have arrested 32 people on charges of child pornography possession and distribution. Suspects on the list range in age from 17 to 62 years. Police executed a total of 56 search warrants throughout the state during the sting, which took place from April 2 to 6. Fourteen other investigations are still going on, and 45 other new cases have come up as a result of the arrests, Col. Marian McGovern, commander of the State Police, said in a statement. Read more...
April 10, 2012
Man Charged With Child Sexual Exploitation
Investigators are trying to identify hundreds of potential victims whose images were found on the computer of an Indiana man charged with coercing two teenage boys into performing online sex acts for him by threatening to post on gay porn sites compromising videos he secretly made of them. U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett said during a Monday news conference that the "sextortion" case against Richard Leon Finkbiner could become the largest of its kind in the U.S. to date. Read more...
April 09, 2012
Teacher Who Moved in With Student Arrested
Christopher James Hooker, the Modesto, Calif., ex-teacher whose romance with a student drew attention from around the world, was arrested after being charged with one count of oral copulation with a minor in an incident that police said happened 14 years ago. The charge stems from a relationship Hooker is accused of having in 1998 with a 17-year-old student at Davis High School in Modesto, where he was teaching at the time. Hooker was arrested at his home and booked into Stanislaus County Jail, police said. Read more...
April 02, 2012
Arkansas Supreme Court Overturns Teacher-Sex Law
The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the state's law banning sexual contact between teachers and students, finding that people 18 or older have a constitutional right to engage in a consensual sexual relationship. The court sided with 38-year-old David Paschal, an Elkins High School history and psychology teacher who admitted having a five-month consensual sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student. Read more...
March 29, 2012
Funeral Home Worker Fondled Dead Woman's Body
A Michigan man has been indicted in Ohio on an abuse of a corpse charge following accusations that he fondled a dead woman's body when he worked at a funeral home. Lawrence Clement of Temperance, Mich., was indicted Tuesday in Lucas County. The 57-year-old has been fired from H.H. Birkenkamp Funeral Home in Toledo since the allegations surfaced. The son of a 51-year-old woman who died of multiple organ failure has said he and his sister were told earlier this month that the body was mistreated and another funeral home employee witnessed the fondling. Read more...
March 28, 2012
Teacher Charged With Having Sex With Student
A former teacher at a Montgomery County church school has been arrested on charges of having sex with a 15-year-old student she met at the school, Hatfield Township police said. Nicole Jacques, 25, was arraigned on 20 counts each of involuntary sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, and corruption of a minor, as well as 10 counts of unlawful contact with a minor. Jacques got to know the boy when she worked as a teacher at Calvary Baptist School in Lansdale. Read more...
March 24, 2012
9 Charged With Gang Rape of 14-Year-Old
Nine suspected gang members and associates were charged Friday in a sexual attack on a 14-year-old girl who was forced back inside an abandoned St. Paul house and raped after trying to leave a party last November, authorities said. The girl and her friend were picked up at school by one of the men and lured to a party with suspected members of the TB22, or True Blood 22, street gang, prosecutors said. Read more...
March 19, 2012
Police Officer Caught Having Sex in Squad Car
An on-duty Memphis police officer was allegedly caught having sex in his squad car, Fox 13 reports. According to the station, there is a copy of a radio broadcast that captured on-duty Officer Dion Anthony allegedly having sex in his squad car. "Anytime you communicate via a handheld or console microphone you want to remain professional. Our job is to make sure all officers follow procedures. In this instance it's possible he didn't follow proper procedure," Sgt. Karen Rudolph said. Read more...
March 16, 2012
Dad Indicted on 31 Counts of Rape
An Ohio grand jury has indicted an adoptive father on charges he raped three boys in his care. The Miami County grand jury action was announced. It follows the 39-year-old Troy man's Feb. 24 arrest in a police investigation that began with an undercover detective talking online with another man who had expressed interest in "taboo" sexual encounters. Read more...
March 15, 2012
Jaycee Dugard Will Remain in Hiding
Kidnapping survivor Jaycee Dugard made her first public appearance over the weekend at a star-studded New York awards ceremony, but she plans to remain in hiding until her daughters are mature enough to understand what happened to them, she said in a recent interview. Dugard, 31, and her two children, ages 14 and 17, have been living at an undisclosed California location since being found by authorities in 2009 - 18 years after she was abducted from a South Lake Tahoe bus stop. Read more...
March 13, 2012
Sandusky's Lawyer Says Abuse Charges Too Vague
Jerry Sandusky would be better prepared to defend himself against charges he sexually abused children if he had clues about when the alleged abuse happened, his attorney said. Any memory from the accusers, like football games where they accompanied the former Penn State assistant coach, could help Sandusky pin down the dates and times of the alleged abuse and determine if he has alibis, attorney Joseph Amendola said during a hearing Monday in Centre County. Read more...
March 07, 2012
Mom Accused of Selling Sex With Daughter, 6
Police accused a Florida mom of selling sex with her six-year-old daughter to pay for drugs. Police began investigating Jacksonville Beach resident Dalina Nicholas, 35, when a homeless man, who had been doing drugs at Nicholas's home, told officers he witnessed child abuse there. Investigators then interviewed the six-year-old girl, who was in the custody of Nicholas's parents, and she told them about sexual attacks by three men, as well as physical abuse. Read more...
March 06, 2012
Manhattan Madam Who Made Millions Jailed
A petite, green-eyed madam who bragged she made millions running a brothel in New York City has been charged following a five-year investigation into her business. Anna Gristina, 44, a mother of four, was indicted on Feb. 22 by a Manhattan grand jury for promoting prostitution. Prosecutors say they have nearly a hundred hours of audio and visual surveillance that demonstrate Gristina paired prostitutes – some underage – with influential men out of a brothel based in a building on East 78th Street. Read more...
March 01, 2012
Adoptive Father Accused of Raping 3 Children
An adoptive father in western Ohio has been accused of raping three children and allowing other men to have sex with one of them, allegations that a family services official called "heinous." The 39-year-old man was being held on $800,000 bond on three counts of rape and one of compelling prostitution. Read more...
February 29, 2012
Teacher Had Secret Cameras in Classroom
A former Massachusetts elementary school teacher charged with child pornography is now accused of taking secret pictures of students in his second-grade classroom, investigators confirmed. David Ettlinger had a camera hidden underneath his desk at his former school in Newton, about nine miles west of Boston, and dozens of pictures of his students were found at his home, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone's office said. Read more...
February 22, 2012
Man Guilty of Abducting, Raping Ex-Neighbor
A Texas man who abducted his former neighbor and tortured the woman while holding her captive for nearly two weeks has been convicted convicted. Jeffrey Allan Maxwell, 59, faces up to life in prison after being found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault. Jurors, who took less than an hour to convict Maxwell, will hear more evidence during the trial's punishment phase. Read more...
Teen Who Admitted Raping 5-Year-Old Sentenced
A 13-year-old boy who admitted raping a 5-year-old girl at a McDonald's play area in southwest Ohio has been sentenced to an inpatient treatment facility for at least six months. The Hamilton County Juvenile Court administrator says the boy must successfully complete treatment before his release from the secured centre. The judge also placed the teen on probation. The boy last month entered the juvenile equivalent of a guilty plea to the rape charge in Cincinnati. Read more...
February 17, 2012
Sex Offender Eyed in Cold-Case Disappearance
A convicted child rapist is being eyed by South Carolina cops in the disappearances of two young women, including a New York teenager who disappeared while on spring break in Myrtle Beach almost three years ago. Detectives say Raymond Moody is the primary "person of interest" in the 2009 disappearance of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, who was last seen on surveillance video leaving a popular Myrtle Beach hotel in a case that sparked widespread media coverage. Moody, who served 21 years in prison for abducting and raping a California girl in 1983, is also being looked at in connection with another missing woman, 28-year-old Crystal Soles. Read more...
Deputy Arrested for Lewd Acts With a Child
A veteran Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was arrested and booked on charges of committing lewd acts upon a child, police said. Oscar Rodriguez, who was last stationed at Marina Del Ray station, allegedly committed the offenses while he was off duty, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. His bail has been set at $100,000, police said, adding that the sheriff's department was conducting its own internal investigation. Read more...
February 15, 2012
Attacker Rapes Mom With Newborn Nearby
Police say a South Florida mother managed to call 911 as a would-be burglar raped, beat and choked her while her newborn baby lay on the bed beside her. Coral Springs police say dispatchers heard the assault taking place Sunday night after the 25-year-old woman called 911 on her cell phone. The woman was able to dial 911 and couldn't say anything but left the line open. Read more...
February 03, 2012
Babysitter Sexually Assaults Young Girl
A Norristown man arrested last year for child porn is now facing new charges of sexual assault. Last year, Gary Romano, 56, was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography. After further investigation, police found a picture on his computer of him touching a child, according to investigators. Police say Romano took the picture himself and was advertising himself online for Sitter City, a babysitting website. After being hired by a family, police say he molested the 2-year-old girl that he babysat. Read more...
February 02, 2012
Coach Waives Bail in Fondling Case
A Ukrainian hockey coach charged with fondling a teen player in Philadelphia has waived his right to bail and will remain in custody. Ivan Pravilov is also accused of threatening a teen witness. He's been a mentor to several NHL and college players. A public defender didn't comment Wednesday on why Pravilov is no longer seeking bail. But the coach is wanted on an Interpol warrant for a 2007 assault in the Ukraine. Read more...
January 30, 2012
Officer Shot, Killed by Fellow Officer
A Santa Maria police officer was shot and killed Saturday by a fellow officer who was trying to arrest him for suspected sexual misconduct with a minor, the Santa Maria Times reported. The slain officer was on duty when police tried to take him into custody, the Santa Maria Police Department said in a press release. The suspect officer allegedly drew his weapon and fired. "In response, one officer on scene fired at the suspect officer hitting him once," officials said. Read more...
January 26, 2012
Sex Offender Sentenced to 195 Years
A convicted Californian sex offender, who cut an electronic tracking device from his leg and assaulted four women in 2010, was Tuesday sentenced to 195 years in prison, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. A San Diego jury last month found 34-year-old Leonard Scroggins guilty of seven felonies -- including committing a forcible lewd act on a child, attempted kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Read more...
