Kentucky mom pleads guilty to murder,
abuse charges in daughter's death
By Caitlin Centner
MOREHEAD, Ky. (WKYT) - A Menifee County woman has pleaded guilty to the murder of her daughter along with abuse charges after the 1-year-old died following sexual abuse.
Prosecutors say Laura Blanton's daughter died from injuries sustained through the abuse in the care of Robert Collins in the days leading to her death.
Law enforcement testified the daughter sustained physical and sexual abuse, and Blanton knew about the abuse without calling authorities. Collins is the one accused of abusing the girl. A deputy said Blanton tried to speed up the recovery of the bruising using vitamin C and "Witch Hazel."
Blanton pleaded guilty to murder and the amended charges of complicity to criminal abuse Friday in Rowan Circuit Court. She could face up to 20 years in prison.
Collins' trial is scheduled for November 2019. He has a status hearing in December.
How do you explain this? Is the woman spectacularly stupid? Was she on drugs? Was she so dominated by, or dependent upon, Collins that she would do anything for him? When drugs, or a boyfriend become more important than the safety and well-being of your own child, you are in desperate need of help. Get help! Before you regret it the rest of your life. Drugs are not worth it, and neither is any man. Your child comes first, always.
Utah man arrested on suspicion of 20 years
of child sexual abuse
By Amy Macavinta
A Logan man suspected of sexually abusing multiple children during the last 20 years was arrested Wednesday and will be held in the Cache County Jail without bail.
Rand Meyerhoffer, 45, was charged Thursday in 1st District Court with four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and voyeurism, a class-B misdemeanor.
Logan City Police say that prior to the man’s arrest, they executed a search warrant on Meyehoffer’s downtown Logan home, where they found intimate photographs of one of the alleged victims, reportedly taken without her knowledge.
The search warrant was obtained as part of a child sex abuse investigation that was opened after a young child reported that he had touched her inappropriately.
According to a probable cause statement filed in 1st District Court, detectives discovered there were several other victims who say Meyerhoffer sexually abused them, including another child, a female in her teens and one who is now an adult.
One of the victims reportedly told police that Meyerhoffer would purchase alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine for her while a teenager before pressuring her into exposing herself to him.
During an interview with police, Meyerhoffer reportedly admitted to playing strip poker with some of the alleged victims, but then he invoked his right to legal counsel and said nothing further, according to the probable cause statement drafted by police.
Meyerhoffer’s case has been assigned to Judge Brian Cannell, and he is currently represented by defense attorney Shannon Demler, who will appear in court with him Nov. 20.
Ron Galimore latest top administrator
forced out at USA Gymnastics
Tim Evans, Indianapolis Star
Ron Galimore, the longest-tenured remaining top official at scandal-ridden USA Gymnastics, is out.
IndyStar learned employees were told Friday that Galimore is no longer working at USA Gymnastics, where he served as chief operating officer.
Galimore's departure comes as the U.S. Olympic Committee is moving to revoke its recognition of USA Gymnastics as the sport's national governing body. The USA Gymnastics board has been scrambling to thwart the virtual death sentence and move forward to rebuild the Indianapolis-based organization, which is reeling from a growing sex-abuse scandal.
Galimore, a former elite gymnast, had become a lightning rod after an IndyStar investigation revealed he worked with then-CEO Steve Penny and a USA Gymnastics lawyer to help cover up the reason for Larry Nassar's absences from key events in 2015. That action came after Penny was told Nassar had been sexually abusing gymnasts.
Rickards High graduate Ron Galimore didn’t get a chance to compete in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. He still received a nod to the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. (Photo: Democrat files)
Rather than disclose to parents and gymnasts that Nassar was under investigation for child sexual abuse, emails and other documents obtained by IndyStar reveal Galimore worked with Penny and the attorney to provide what Nassar's attorney called "false excuses" for the longtime team doctor's absence from the major gymnastics events.
A spokeswoman for USA Gymnastics confirmed Galimore's departure in a brief statement to IndyStar: "The USA Gymnastics Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Ron Galimore. We wish him well in his future endeavors."
The sexual-abuse scandal first uncovered by IndyStar previously resulted in the ouster of Penny, the entire USA Gymnastics board, and Penny's successors, Kerry Perry and Mary Bono.
Galimore, the first African American to be named to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, missed the chance to participate in the games in Russia because of the U.S. boycott in 1980.
He started with USA Gymnastics in 1994 as men’s program director, according to an old USA Gymnastics press release, and was promoted in 2005 to vice president of events, Olympic relations and men’s program. He was named chief operating officer in 2011.
Galimore was elected to the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), the international governing body for gymnastics, in 2016. That same year he was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Georgia Man Convicted Of Sex Abuse
Against Two Little Girls in His Care
By Tim Darnell, Patch Staff
MARIETTA, GA -- A Powder Springs man has been convicted of sexually abusing two girls in his care. David Anthony Carr, 45, was convicted of aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, child molestation and cruelty to children in the first degree for his acts against the girls, which occurred from 2013 through 2015 at two residences in Powder Springs. The girls were in third and sixth grades when their abuse began.
The abuse came to light when the girls discovered Carr was victimizing both of them, which led to the victims disclosing to an adult who contacted police.
Carr testified in his defense that the girls were making up the allegations because they were angry with him. But he could not explain why other witnesses who testified had any motive to lie about him.
"These young women showed tremendous courage to face this predator and tell the jury about their years of abuse. Meanwhile, the defendant showed no remorse or accountability, prior to, during, or after trial. This verdict speaks loud and clear: the jury believed these victims and knew exactly what this defendant did," said ADA Drew Healy, who prosecuted the case with ADA Jared Parrish.
After the verdict, Cobb Superior Court Judge Robert Leonard sentenced Carr to serve 40 years in prison followed by life on probation. He will be subject to sex offender restrictions once released and he is also banished from Cobb County.
His sons say they lied about being sexually abused. Now a Utah father is asking a judge to find him factually innocent
(Rachel Molenda | The Salt Lake Tribune) David Hawkins is photographed at the Tribune offices in Salt Lake City on August 2, 2018. Hawkins was convicted 12 years ago of sexually assaulting two of his sons, who now admit they lied about the abuse. They are trying to get his conviction vacated.
By Jessica Miller
He spent more than seven years in a prison for sexually abusing his sons — crimes he said he didn’t do.
Even his adult sons say they made up the allegations a dozen years ago that led a jury to convict him.
Now, David Hawkins is asking a judge to find him factually innocent.
Hawkins’ sons told The Salt Lake Tribune in August that they had lied on the witness stand as children because they were mad at their dad, upset at the way they were treated at home and how their father disciplined them.
Jeremy Hawkins, now 25, and Nathan Hawkins, 21, said they told the story knowing it would put their father in jail — but not realizing then the lifelong ramifications it would carry.
Along with their brother, 24-year-old Ian Hawkins, the young men have spent the past five years trying to make up for what they did. They have tried everything from writing to a judge to pleading with prosecutors for a review.
On Tuesday, David Hawkins took another step in trying to clear his name: He filed a factual innocence petition.
His attorney, Greg Skordas, said in August that if the judge grants the request, Hawkins would not only have his conviction overturned, but he would also be eligible for a payout from the state for wrongfully incarcerating him. In addition, would be removed from the sex offender registry.
The effort would be much like having another trial — this time, with his sons testifying that they were not actually abused.
Hawkins said Thursday he has mixed emotions about the new filing. He’s relieved he has another opportunity to prove he’s innocent, but he’s only “cautiously optimistic” that it will work.
“I’m proud of the courage it took for my boys to come forward,” he said.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Three brothers are trying to get their father's conviction as a sex offender vacated. Two of the brothers (Jeremy and Nathan Hawkins) lied about being sexually abused by their dad when they were kids. Now they are in their early 20s and are trying to fix what they did 12 years ago. Ian, Jeremy, and Nathan Hawkins in Magna, Tuesday July 31, 2018.
Hawkins hasn’t seen Jeremy or Nathan since they sat on a witness stand in a West Jordan courtroom 12 years ago and told the jury their father had sexually abused them in the bathtub.
Nathan, who was 10 years old when he testified, said Thursday that he’s happy for the chance now to tell a judge about why they lied.
“I want the truth to continue to finally come forward and that this finally gets resolved,” he said. “I know that we all want to move on and get this mess behind us.”
Skordas wrote in the petition, filed Tuesday, that the sons’ recantations qualify as “newly discovered evidence” that shows Hawkins is innocent. The attorney wrote that the children were caught in the middle of their parents' divorce, had a tumultuous relationship with their father and did not fully understand the impact of their allegations.
“They were not, in fact, sexually abused by their father in any manner,” Skordas wrote, adding that there was no physical evidence presented at trial to prove the children had been assaulted.
Though the sons had made efforts in the past to clear their father’s name, Skordas said physical evidence of their recantation did not occur until 2017, when they wrote letters to a judge saying that they lied when they were children.
No court dates have been immediately set.
One challenge David Hawkins may face in the latest petition is that he did plead guilty and admitted to the abuse in sex offender therapy in prison.
After a jury convicted him in 2007, he hired a new attorney who challenged the outcome of the case. But prosecutors then offered a plea deal to avoid a second trial. Hawkins was allowed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree felony child sex abuse, and he was sent to prison.
Then, in prison, Hawkins says he lied and admitted to the abuse in sex offender treatment. Completing the treatment — which requires the offender to acknowledge their crimes — is mandatory to be considered for parole.
“I took the coward’s approach,” he said now of the admissions.
Though he has gotten approval from his parole officer, Hawkins still hasn’t seen the sons who accused him. He said he wants to make sure the setting is right, that a therapist is there, so the sons can talk to him about why they said what they did.
He hopes they can heal from this, he said Thursday, and move forward as a family.
Nathan said he’s still hesitant to see his dad with the petition pending, because he wants to make certain that no one would think his father is influencing his decision to recant.
“But the future looks bright,” he said Thursday. “I feel good about everything, and I know that this will get fixed.”
Mother of sex abuse victim says NY camp had been warned about counselor
DON LEHMAN
The Post-Star
The historic stone entrance to Brant Lake Camp, off Route 8 in Horicon, is seen.
(Photo — Don Lehman, The Post-Star)
HORICON — The news that longtime Brant Lake camp counselor Dylan Stolz had been arrested on charges he sexually abused numerous boys at the camp was not a surprise to many of the families whose children have gone to the camp for years.
Word had long been out among boys who had gone to the camp for multiple summers to stay away from Stolz, who was known to invite boys by themselves back to his room to watch movies, play games or “cuddle,” according to a parent of one of the alleged victims.
At least one of Stolz’s fellow counselors had notified camp staff about concerns over Stolz’s interactions with children before the first child came forward, the parent said in a recent interview.
The parent, whose name is being withheld so as not to identify her son, came forward out of concern that the public was not getting the full picture about Stolz and concerns of the parents of boys who attended the exclusive sleepaway camp each summer.
The parent said their son was the first to disclose that he had been molested, writing a letter to his parents in June, days before he was scheduled to return to camp for the summer.
Dylan Stolz (Photo provided — New York State Police)
The family notified State Police, and an investigation ensued that led to Stolz being arrested about a week later and charged with fondling five boys.
A subsequent 27-count grand jury indictment resulted in charges that accuse Stolz of molesting at least nine boys ages 9 to 11 while they were at the camp in recent summers, and authorities said the investigation is ongoing.
The parent said they learned after their child disclosed the abuse that many campers and parents had concerns about Stolz before the arrest, and that some parents claimed they had notified camp administration about those concerns. No other parents who were contacted were willing to discuss the issue with a reporter, though.
“How many times did they need a parent to say they didn’t want their kid in a room with Dylan?” the parent asked.
The camp changed its policies this summer so that counselors can no longer be alone with campers. A psychologist was also on hand for children at the camp this summer.
Stolz, an elementary school teacher
Stolz, 51, had worked at the camp for 33 years and was a senior counselor. He spent his summers there after working the rest of the year as an elementary school teacher in the Hewlett-Woodmere school district on Long Island. He has been placed on leave by the school district in light of the arrest.
Stolz was fired in late June, within minutes of camp administrators learning of sex abuse allegations from a parent whose child had come forward. The quick firing indicated to the parent who spoke with The Post-Star that camp administrators were aware of the suspicions about Stolz, because a longtime employee would not have been fired so quickly otherwise.
He was fired before State Police were contacted, and when investigators reached out to Stolz to question him, he asked for a lawyer.
The parent said their son has been undergoing counseling, and the family is bracing for a trial in the sexual abuse case that is scheduled to start Feb. 4 in Warren County Court.
“He took something from my child that he can never get back,” the parent said of Stolz. “I want him to go to jail for as long as possible.”
Camp owners and administration have refused for months to discuss the matter.
A man who answered the phone at the camp on Thursday said the camp had no comment on the situation, even when told of allegations that parents had expressed concerns about Stolz before his arrest.
Stolz is free on bail, pending a pretrial hearing in his case on Jan. 25. He rejected a plea deal last month that would have netted him a state prison sentence of between 7 and 12 years.
Pregnant Tennessee mother indicted on
charges of sex abuse against child
By WMCActionNews5.com
TIPTON CO., TN - A pregnant Millington mother was indicted on 13 sexual abuse charges against a minor.
Ashley Thomas is charged with child neglect, criminal responsibility for rape of a child, and sexual battery.
The charges stem from a case involving her boyfriend David Henson.
Earlier this year, Henson was sentenced to more than 25 years for rape and sexual exploitation.
Oklahoma teacher arrested for sexual abuse of a child
BY CASSANDRA SWEETMAN, KFOR
CHANDLER, Okla. - A Chandler teacher's work is on hold after he was arrested for more than a dozen counts of abusing a child.
According to OSBI, 40-year-old Warren Hitchcock is a teacher in Chandler Public Schools. Former students tell News 4 he taught jazz band and in special education classrooms.
One former student who spoke to News 4 said he was always really nice, and would never have guessed he was capable of something like this.
But last week, the Lincoln County District Attorney's office called OSBI to investigate Hitchcock for child sexual abuse. On Thursday, investigators searched his home.
"After the service of the search warrant, we do have evidence that we will be processing," said Asst. Special Agent in Charge Adam Whitney. "We have people that we do want to interview."
What investigators found so far was enough to arrest Hitchcock on 15 counts of sex abuse with a child, and one count of a violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act.
Investigators will not reveal information about the victim, but said the instances of abuse have been building up for a while. "It spans several years," Whitney said.
In a statement on Facebook, the school district said,
"Chandler Public School District takes the safety of its students seriously and does everything it can to provide a safe learning experience for our students. Because of this, the District was saddened to learn that one of its teachers was arrested on allegations of misconduct with a minor. The teacher is currently on administrative leave and the District is investigating this matter to determine what steps should be taken. Because this is a confidential personnel matter and because law enforcement is involved, the District will not be able to comment further."
Meanwhile, the OSBI has not said whether more than one minor was allegedly abused. The investigation continues.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the OSBI tip line at (800) 522-8017.
Santa Monica City Employee Facing Child Sex Abuse Case Found Dead from Apparent Suicide
BY BRIAN DAY, KTLA
A Santa Monica city employee accused of molesting 10 boys while volunteering with a police youth program in the 1980s was found dead in his Marina del Rey apartment in an apparent suicide Thursday, on the morning of a scheduled court hearing in his case, authorities said.
Eric Uller is shown in a photo released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 25, 2018.
Eric Wess Uller, 50, faced six molestation-related charges (6th story on link) connected to alleged crimes against four boys, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Six additional alleged victims came forward since the case was first filed.
“The city was notified this morning that Eric Uller was found dead in his apartment,” Santa Monica city officials said in a written statement. “Initial indications are that it appears to be a suicide.”
The investigation into Uller’s alleged crimes doesn’t end with his death, authorities said.
Nor will he escape punishment for the evil he committed on those boys.
"The city had initiated an independent investigation into allegations that the city previously knew or should have known of, but failed to address, Mr. Uller’s alleged criminal conduct. The city remains committed to seeing this investigation through,” the city statement said.
City officials said they’ve retained a law firm to carry out the independent investigation, and urges anyone with information to contact the law firm of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo at 562-653-3200, or online at aalrr.com/contact-cerritos.
Uller was scheduled to appear in the Los Angeles Airport branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court for an early disposition hearing Thursday morning, court records show. Such hearings provide an opportunity for the prosecution and defense to settle the case without going to trial.
He had been placed on administrative leave from his position as a lead public safety systems analyst pending the outcome of the case, officials said. Uller was released from custody Nov. 7 after posting $750,000 bail, Los Angeles County booking records show. He faced decades in prison if convicted as charged.
The allegations stem from his time as a volunteer for the Santa Monica Police Department’s Police Activities League, prosecutors said. The charges involved alleged crimes that occurred between 1986 and 1995.
Uller had access to hundreds of children, prompting fears that there may still be more potential victims who have yet to be identified, Lt. Todd Deeds of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau said.
Santa Monica has also launched a review of its youth programs, officials said. “The city is in the process of retaining an outside consultant, Praesidium Inc., to review the policies and practices of its youth programs and provide guidance on best practices for preventing any future incidents of abuse,” according to the city statement.
NY man's plea deal in sexual assault case
avoids prison time
Deal of a lifetime! After DA screws up
By Kenneth C. Crowe II
TROY – A 62-year-old man who faced up to life in prison if convicted of sexually assaulting a child instead will be sentenced to the three days he spent in jail when he was arrested and five years of probation under a plea deal reached in Rensselaer County Court on Friday afternoon.
William A. Cavanaugh Sr. pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault after a mistrial was declared in September when he faced seven felony and three misdemeanor counts, charged with continuing sexual abuse of two young girls.
“On balance, given the indictment and the time he was facing, I would consider this a win for the defense,” said Lee Kindlon, the attorney representing Cavanaugh.
No kidding! And a BIG loss for the prosecution, justice, and the survivors. It must feel like a heavy kick in the stomach to them.
Cavanaugh faced a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a maximum of 25 years to life if he had been convicted of the top count in the indictment, predatory sexual assault against a child.
District Attorney Joel E. Abelove through a spokesman declined to comment on the case.
Cavanaugh admitted in his guilty plea to the nonviolent felony that in Troy during the 30 days before July 4, 2008 he rubbed a 6-year-old girl on her intimate parts.
The indictment charged Cavanaugh with two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, two counts of course of sexual conduct against a child, second degree-criminal sexual act, attempted second-degree rape and attempted third-degree sexual abuse. The misdemeanor charges included second-degree sexual abuse and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The indictment alleged Cavanaugh sexually assaulted one girl in 2008 and in 2011 when she was 6 years old and again when she was 9 years old and also sexually attacked the other girl in 2013 and 2014 when she was 9 and 10 years old.
“The plea today was in his best interests. He does not have to register as a sex offender. He gets five years probation,” Kindlon said.
Cavanaugh will serve his probation under the guidelines for a sex offender, but he will not be listed on the state sex offender registry. The time served is for the three days he spent in the county jail over Easter weekend this year after he was arrested on a warrant resulting from his indictment.
First Assistant District Attorney Jessica Hall said the plea agreement was in the best interests of justice.
For a DA, you have a strange understanding of justice!
The indictment will be dismissed on Jan. 11, 2019 when County Judge Debra Young sentences Cavanaugh.
Young sternly warned Cavanaugh that she would be prepared to sentence him to up to four years in prison if he was arrested before his sentencing; if he did not comply with the probation department in the presentencing investigation; or if he did not appear for sentencing. The judge advised him she would not be bound by the plea agreement if he any of these things occurred and that she would hold him to the guilty plea.
Cavanaugh was on trial before Young in September when Hall in her questioning of a witness raised certain allegations that did not result in a grand jury indictment.
“They were ordered by the court not to bring up certain uncharged allegations of wrongdoing. In the course of the trial, they brought up a series of things they were ordered not to do,” Kindlon said.
“We moved for a mistrial. The district attorney actually to consented to the mistrial because I think they realized their mistake. They went too far with one of their witnesses,” Kindlon said.
While Cavanaugh awaits sentencing and the dismissal of the indictment, his wife Diane Cavanaugh faces her own set of charges arising from the alleged crimes.
She was indicted on one felony and four misdemeanor charges. The felony count is second-degree criminal facilitation. The four misdemeanors are two counts of fourth-degree criminal facilitation and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
You watch; she will end up in jail and he will walk around free! Someone in the DA's office should be fired.
Diane Cavanaugh is represented by Assistant Public Defender Danielle Neroni Reilly.
Pennsylvania man convicted for sexual assault
of 4 y/o boy in his care
Alex Rose, Daily Times
MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A Havertown man was convicted on four counts Friday for the sexual abuse of a 4-year-old boy last year.
“The horrific actions of the defendant, Michael Kaminsky, are deplorable, abhorrent and reprehensible, as he sexually abused an innocent 4-year old child who was entrusted in his care,” said Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun M. Copeland following the conviction. “As he is currently incarcerated, and will likely be so for a long time, he can cause no more harm to this victim or any other children.”
Kaminsky, 47, of the 300 block of Golf Hills Road, was found guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, sexual assault, indecent assault and child endangerment following a jury trial this week before Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Margaret J. Amoroso.
Haverford Detective Albert Hufnal testified that he received a referral on a sexual offense in September from the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
The victim’s grandmother had walked in on the victim attempting oral/genital contact on an older boy. The victim told her Kaminsky had done the same thing to him at his Haverford home.
The victim, now 5, also told Assistant District Attorney Christopher Boggs that Kaminsky performed oral sex on him. Boggs played a taped interview with the boy conducted by Delaware County Children’s Advocacy Center Director Jodi Kaplan, in which he described Kaminsky’s mouth “kissing” his penis and “hugging” it.
“This is a description of oral sex from a 4-year-old,” said Boggs in closing arguments. “There’s no way that that could not be him describing penetration.”
The boy also described Kaminsky “warming up” the victim’s penis with his hand while they bathed together. Boggs played an intercept call between Kaminsky and the victim’s mother in which the defendant vehement denied any wrongdoing. Kaminsky said in that conversation that the child had “reached for” his penis while they were in the bathtub together, but did not touch it.
Kaminsky made the same assertion during a police interview, according to an affidavit of probable cause, but admitted in a subsequent interview that the child had touched his penis in the bath “just for a second.”
Defense attorney Kevin O’Neill argued that the commonwealth had failed to provide testimony from several key witnesses, including Children and Youth staff who interviewed the older boy. He said that uncorroborated testimony from a child was not enough evidence to convict.
But Boggs argued that a 4-year-old has limited memory and language skills. The victim provided a 45-minute interview with Kaplan in which Boggs said he had to have been “playing jazz” to artificially react to the litany of questions he was faced with over that span.
“He is simply telling you a memory in the only way a child can do that,” Boggs said.
Copeland commended Hufnal, Detective Paul Corsi of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division and Boggs for their work on the case, as well as the Child Advocacy Center.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 12. Bail was revoked and Kaminsky was placed into custody at the county prison in Concord.
The lead offense triggers lifetime Megan’s Law sex offender registration, according to Copeland spokesperson Emily Harris. The standard range sentence is a minimum of seven years up to minimum 20 years with a statutory maximum of 40 years, she said.
Texas Deputies search for man wanted for
child sexual assault
By Christopher Shadrock
BELTON, Texas (KWTX) Bell County investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding a man wanted on charges stemming from the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl and indecency by contact with a 17-year-old girl.
Stephen Villarreal, 38, is named in warrants charging aggravated sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child by contact and jumping bail.
According to the investigator, one girl who was 16 at the time, said she was touched inappropriately in October 2017.
Additional information about the alleged sexual assault was not available.
While authorities don’t believe Villarreal is still in Bell County, his last known location was in the Moffat area.
He also once had a Harlingen address.
Spooky Children’s Storyteller Pleads No Contest to Molestation of 5 y/o Charges
Will Likely Get 16 Years in Prison
Robert Beideman, left, and his ‘Carpathian’ alterego at right.
As his victim watched from the audience and potential jurors waited outside the courtroom door, former children’s storyteller John Robert “Bob” Beideman admitted this morning to a child molestation charge that will put him in state prison for 16 years.
Beideman, also known as Carpathian the storyteller, pleaded no contest to continuous sexual abuse of a girl who was 5 years old when he first began molesting her in October 2006. She is 18 now and was in Judge Kaleb Cockrum’s courtroom to hear him enter his plea. Beideman, led from the courtroom in handcuffs after entering the plea, did not look at the teen as he walked by.
The 58-year old Beideman is expected to be sentenced Dec. 14 to 16 years. Because the crime is considered a serious and violent felony, he must serve at least 85 percent of that time.
In exchange for his plea, the District Attorney’s Office dismissed several other molestation charges that could have meant life in prison had Beideman chosen to go to trial and been convicted by a jury. Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads told Cockrum the charges were dismissed to spare the victim from having to testify at trial. Eads said the girl endured “years of abuse” and still suffers from anxiety.
“We’re concerned about her well-being,” Eads said.
During Beideman’s preliminary hearing, the girl testified that Beideman regularly molested her during bedtime rituals involving songs and stories. She said she believed for years that her experience was a normal part of childhood.
Beideman, who worked for many years as a Superior Court clerk (6th story on link), has been in Humboldt County Correctional Facility since October 2017. His other role in the community was as Carpathian, a spookily costumed figure who performed at many local events, telling children they didn’t need to fear monsters.
Because the plea came in the midst of jury selection, Beideman was dressed in civilian clothing instead of the traditional orange jumpsuit. This morning he wore a checkered gray shirt and gray slacks and sat next to defense attorney Russ Clanton instead of in the jury box.
Clanton had one terse comment after the sentencing, which was that Beideman’s plea “is reflective that all the parties here agreed that this case should resolve short of trial.”
A no contest plea is treated as a guilty plea in criminal court.
