Georgia Pastor indicted on 11 counts related to
child sex abuse
By WES WOLFE A Glynn County grand jury issued an 11-count indictment Thursday accusing the Rev. Kenneth Adkins of five counts of aggravated child molestation, three counts of child molestation, two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of influencing a witness.
His accuser, referred to in court by the initials A.J., is now 21 years old and went to an Army sexual assault counselor in April where prosecutors say he told of sexual acts performed on him and with him by Adkins when the alleged victim was 15 years old.
During a combative evidentiary hearing Sept. 9, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent James Feller went into graphic and specific detail of incidents between Adkins, A.J. and a girl referenced as T.V. that were associated with the ministry Adkins ran at the time on G Street.
During recorded phone calls from the Glynn County Detention Center to a friend of A.J.’s, played during Adkins’ first bond hearing, prosecutors contend Adkins tried to illegally influence the friend and, by extension, A.J., to drop the case.
Brunswick Superior Court Judge E.M. Wilkes III issued an order Sept. 28 denying Adkins’ bond.
Adkins’ defense attorney, former Brunswick Judicial Circuit Public Defender Kevin Gough, submitted a motion Nov. 4 for a second bond hearing, stating that Adkins’ First Amendment rights were violated and that the court misinterpreted his statements from jail.
According to a statement sent with the motion, Gough said the court violated Adkins’ “due process rights by expressly denying bail based on Adkins’ stated belief that his prosecution was ‘politically motivated’ and his expressed doubts as to whether he could receive a fair trial.”
Wilkes mentioned in his reasoning that Adkins might feel justified about jumping bond if he felt his civil rights were violated.
“There is nothing ‘new’ in the indictment, which is not evidence of anything anyway,” Gough said in a message to news media following the release of the indictment. “As Judge Sol Wachtler once famously observed, a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Having already demanded a speedy trial, and eager to clear his good name, Pastor Kenneth Adkins and his family look forward to his day in court.”
A hearing on the second motion for bail is scheduled for Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Glynn County Courthouse.
Ex-USA Gymnastics doctor charged with
child sex abuse in Michigan
DAVID EGGERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
New sex abuse allegations against USA Gymnastics doctor
2 US gymnasts accuse ex-team doctor of sex abuse
MASON, Mich. — A former USA Gymnastics team doctor pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in his home with a girl under 13, charges that Michigan's attorney general said may be the "tip of the iceberg" as authorities investigate roughly 50 complaints.
The alleged assaults against the girl occurred between 1998 and 2005, from the age of 6 until she was 12. She was not a gymnast, patient or family member, said Attorney General Bill Schuette.
He said Nassar, a former associate professor of osteopathic medicine at Michigan State University who lives in Holt in suburban Lansing, committed "predatory, menacing" acts and "stole this young lady's childhood."
"This is the tip of the iceberg," Schuette said during a news conference Tuesday.
University police chief James Dunlap said his department has received roughly 50 complaints. "We're dealing with decades of effort to go back and identify witnesses and to compile those for submission to the attorney general's office," he said.
Ingham County 55th District Court Magistrate Mark Blumer ordered Nassar to wear an electronic tether and to surrender his passport. He also was prohibited from being present with anyone under 18, including his children, unless another adult is there.
A preliminary exam was scheduled for Dec. 15. Nassar, who could face life imprisonment if he is convicted, has denied wrongdoing.
Shannon Smith, one of his lawyers, said his wife — who was in the courtroom — and "hundreds of people support him 100 percent. We have received countless emails and communications from other doctors, physicians, physical therapists, ex-patients, ex-coworkers supporting him."
Assistant state attorney general Angela Povilaitis had asked that bond be denied or, in the alternate, that a very high amount be imposed.
"She has come forward bravely to report this and to cooperate and prosecute this case," she said.
Nassar was fired in September by Michigan State. In October, a former gymnast who was on the national team from 2006 to 2011 filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, alleging Nassar repeatedly sexually abused her and renowned husband-and-wife coaches Bella and Martha Karolyi turned a blind eye to molestations.
Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics previously said that it cut ties with Nassar after learning of athlete concerns about him in the summer of 2015.
The attorney general, who is investigating at the request of the campus police, said his department is in the best position to prosecute instead of the local prosecutor because it is believed that potential crimes crossed into multiple jurisdictions in Michigan and possibly across state lines. He said his office is working with the FBI and federal prosecutors in Michigan.
Nebraska man sentenced to up to 50 years for
more than 200 sex assaults on a girl
LINCOLN, Neb. A 53-year-old Lincoln man sentenced Monday for sexually assaulting a young girl repeatedly over nine years will be in prison until he's at least 80 years old.
Jack Borkowski pleaded no contest in September to a single count of first-degree sexual assault of a child.
About two dozen people, many wearing Bikers Against Child Abuse jackets, watched in the courtroom Monday as Borkwoski said he wanted to apologize to everyone involved.
"I regret what I did," he said.Chief Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender Bob Hays argued for a minimum sentence of 20 years, which would mean Borkowski would be eligible for parole at age 70, given that he accepted responsibility and entered a plea in the case and had nothing on his criminal record before this beyond minor traffic offenses.
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Nick Freeman argued for at least 50 years and up to life in prison for the horrific nature of his crime.
In an interview with Lincoln police, Borkowski admitted to more than 200 incidents of sexual assault on the girl, he said.
In May, the girl, now a teen, told police that he started touching her inappropriately when she was 6 and it escalated to him forcing her to engage in sexual acts.
In court Monday, Freeman said Borkowski "changed the trajectory of this young woman."
Both she and her mother wanted him to get a life sentence for what he did. In a victim impact statement, the girl said Jack Borkowski robbed her of her virginity and time with her family.
"Essentially what you did, Mr. Borkowski, is steal this young woman's childhood," Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen told him. "She doesn't get a second chance at that childhood."
The judge said now she is undergoing psychological and physical distress, and he's the reason.
With that, he sentenced Borkowski to 40 to 50 years in prison. Because the charge carries a mandatory minimum, he won't be eligible for parole until after serving 27½ years.
He also will be on the sex offender registry and subject to parole supervision for the rest of his life.
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