No special treatment for Polanski - California
Man wanted for CSA shot several times, not by police - Pennsylvania
Babysitter with sex offender status sentence for CSA of 6 y/o - Utah
68 y/o gets 10 to life - daughter wanted life only - Vermont
27 y/o Muskogee man gets 38 years for CSA - Oklahoma
74 y/o man admits to CSA of 3 kids under 12 - Missouri
School social worker charged with sex with 14 y/o - North Carolina
Roman Polanski request denied in child sex case
David Mercer
Press Association
Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has failed in his bid to bring an end to his long-running child sex abuse case.
The film-maker pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's house but fled the US on the eve of sentencing in 1978.
Lawyers for the 83-year-old said he was willing to return to the US after nearly 40 years on the run if he was assured he would not serve more jail time.
At a hearing before Judge Scott Gordon last month, prosecutors urged Polanski to return to the US for sentencing and said he should not receive special treatment as a "wealthy celebrity".
In a statement on Monday, a Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman said: "Judge Gordon has ruled that defendant's motions and corresponding requests are denied."
Child sex-abuse suspect gunned down on street
CHESTER >> A city man identified as a suspect in the alleged sexual abuse of two young girls was shot, and police are investigating whether the incidents are related.
Tracy Deon Arbuckle, 31, was shot multiple times in the area of his residence in the 1100 block of Clover Lane shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, city Police Chief James Nolan IV said. At the time, a warrant had been issued for his arrest in connection with the sexual assault of two young girls on March 17.
“It’s awfully coincidental,” Nolan IV said Tuesday of the incidents. “The investigation is continuing into both his shooting and any other sexual assault cases.”
Arbuckle was arrested and preliminarily arraigned on myriad child-sex offenses Tuesday at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. Tuesday night, according to online court information, Arbuckle was being held at the county prison in lieu of bail, which was set at 10 percent of $750,000.
Charges lodged against Arbuckle include rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, indecent assault with a person less than 13 years of age, indecent exposure, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with minors. All charges were approved by Deputy District Attorney Michael Galantino, who heads the county’s Special Victims Unit.
According to the probable cause affidavit for Arbuckle’s arrest, city officers Melissa Goodman and Jose Alvarez watched as the young victims were interviewed on March 28 about the allegations. During the interview, the children described in detail how Arbuckle touched them and made them touch him in return.
One of the victims said Arbuckle held her down, and that she even kicked him to get him to stop. The second victim said when Arbuckle told her to perform oral sex on him, she told him, “No.”
It was difficult for the victims to relay what happened to them, the affidavit states. One of the victims began to cry, and only offered bits and pieces of the assaults. But before the interview was over, that victim was able to disclose “in great detail what Tracy Arbuckle did to her,” the affidavit states.
Arbuckle reportedly told the girls not to tell their parents what had happened.
According to the affidavit, the incidents occurred at Arbuckle’s residence on Clover Lane.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 26 before Magisterial District Judge Spencer B. Seaton Jr.
While Goodman is handling the sexual abuse investigation, city Detective Rhaheem Blanden is investigating the shooting. Anyone with information is asked to call 610-447-7908 or 911.
Babysitter sentenced in child sex abuse case
Kevin Jenkins
A Hurricane man convicted of failing to tell the mother of a child he babysat that he was a registered sex offender, and of sexually touching the child while tending to her, has been sentenced to prison for up to 15 years.
Edward Scott Paulus, 39, notified the court in February that he was pleading guilty as part of a strategy to avoid the possibility of being sentenced to life in prison without parole. But Paulus’ defense attorney, Edward Flint, acknowledged his client also intends to file an appeal claiming the court system prevented him from adequately defending himself.
At last week’s sentencing, Flint told Judge Eric Ludlow that the defense found itself backed into a corner when retired “Senior” Judge Gary Stott, who handled the case during most of its course in court, ruled against funding medical expert work that Flint says was necessary on the suspect’s behalf.
Paulus maintains his innocence but without the funding would not have been able to potentially disprove decades-old evidence the prosecution intended to use, Flint said.
According to investigators, Paulus and his wife babysat the 6-year-old victim. As a registered sex offender, Paulus was required to have written permission from the girl’s mother in order to tend the child, but the woman reported she didn’t know about Paulus’ registry status. The charging information also noted Paulus went to the girl’s elementary school, picked her up and drove her to his house in violation of his registry terms.
Deputy County Attorney Zachary Weiland argued that Paulus’ wife works and left him alone with the child at times, and that she also acknowledged he would take the girl to the bathroom, giving him opportunity to commit a sexual abuse.
The charge stems from the girl’s statement to her mom that Paulus had watched her go to the bathroom and offered her toilet paper while staring at her “privates,” according to Flint. Flint argued that the girl was interviewed and child welfare officials initially declined to pursue a criminal case, but after the mother learned Paulus was a registered sex offender, she “had a nervous breakdown and problems ensued after that.”
Flint argued the mother talked to her daughter after learning about the registry requirement, and alluded to the possibility she may have affected the girl’s statement. Flint said that led to a second Children’s Justice Center interview in which the girl added to her story, claiming that Paulus had touched her. An official presentencing report states the child reported Paulus penetrated her, but Flint asked the court to correct the claim, noting the girl said she was touched but didn’t indicate any type of rape, as evidenced in video of the interview.
Flint noted the victim’s mother told officials, “"I don't believe he has done anything to my child, but there have been plenty of opportunities for either him or his wife to notify me of the situation.”
Paulus was convicted of child sexual abuse 21 years ago and sent to prison for a maximum of 15 years with a lifetime registry requirement. Weiland said Paulus’ juvenile record extends back to 1989 and includes lewdness, aggravated assault and sodomy on a child offenses.
Weiland won court approval to present information about Paulus’ criminal history at trial, along with findings from a psychological examination at the time. But Flint argues Paulus received “extensive treatment” in prison and he remained crime-free after he was paroled as long as he was being supervised, only getting into trouble for failing to register in recent years.
Ludlow previously granted $2,500 in state funding for a psychiatrist to do a “preliminary examination” of Paulus, but Stott denied later requests for $6,500 that the psychiatrist asked for to complete his examination and to testify in court, according to Flint. The defense also was frustrated in its plan to request an additional $3,000 to $4,000 for “full psychometric testing” by a second expert, all with the view of showing Paulus’ current state of mind.
Hurricane, UT
Man sentenced for child sex abuse
By Cat Viglienzoni
BURLINGTON, Vt. -
Police say he preyed on kids and Tuesday he learned his fate. The Jericho man faced a judge in Burlington.
WCAX News heard emotional pleas from Claude Harrington's lawyer asking for mercy from the court. But Harrington's own daughter took the stand to ask the judge to keep her father behind bars for life.
"Your honor, I'd just like to apologize," said Harrington.
It was a tearful apology in court from a child predator who admitted to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old last year.
"I understand the damage I've caused and the problems I've caused him and I'm fully responsible for that," said Harrington.
The state says sorry doesn't cut it and pointed out that this child was not Claude Harrington's first victim. He was convicted in 1989 of abusing children while working at the Salvation Army in Barre. His lawyers then argued that with treatment, he could return to the community.
How did that work out?
"He successfully got outpatient treatment and here we are again with him violating a child in our community in the most intimate way," said the prosecutor.
A forensic psychologist told the court Harrington would need near-constant supervision if he was released, but Harrington's own daughter asked the judge to lock him up.
"I was the one that reported him. He does not deserve to be released at all and any punishment that he gets he deserves," said Harrington's daughter.
Harrington's lawyer admitted her client needs supervision for the rest of his life, but pleaded for a shorter time behind bars.
"His one desire is that he not die in jail," said Margaret Jansch, Harrington's lawyer.
The judge said she was more concerned about protecting the public from a predator.
God bless you, Judge!
"I'm going to impose a sentence that I think is necessary to incapacitate you so that you do not victimize other children again in the community," said Judge Nancy Waples, Vt. District Court.
That sentence is 10 years to life in prison.
Harrington is 68, which means he will be at least 78 when he's released. The judge told him that she did take his age into account with the sentence. She said if he'd been younger, she would have given him more time behind bars.
Muskogee man to serve 38 years for
child sexual abuse
A Muskogee man was sentenced Tuesday to 38 years in prison.
Bryan Morris, 27, was convicted of of two counts of sexual abuse of a child under 12.
Morris was arrested in February 2014 after Morris was arrested after police were contacted by area school representatives and told that they had received information that a 9-year-old had been sexually abused, according to a previous Phoenix story. School officials kept the child at the school and notified authorities.
Morris was charged on Feb. 27, 2014. He went to trial on Feb. 24, 2017 and was found guilty of both counts. The jury at that time recommended 38 years for each count, to run concurrently.
A child sexual abuse conviction requires the offender to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence, so Morris will spend a minimum of 32 years in prison.
Troy, Mo., man charged with sexual abuse of
three young children
A Troy, Mo., man sexually abused three young children over the course of four years, according to charges filed Tuesday.
The man, Charles Huckstep, was charged with two counts of felony child molestation and one count of felony sexual abuse.
The victims were all under the age of 12 at the time of the abuse, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, which investigated the case beginning Friday. The abuse took place over four years, authorities said, but they didn't say when it took place.
Huckstep, 74, admitted abusing the three victims, according to the sheriff's office. He told investigators he did not remember several instances of abuse described by the victims, but said the victims were not liars, police said.
Huckstep, of the 1000 block of Persimmon Drive, was held in lieu of $50,000 cash-only bail.
Former Cherokee Schools social worker faces
child sex charges
by Rex Hodge
CHEROKEE, N.C. (WLOS) — A former Cherokee Schools social worker faces child sex charges. Terrance Blayne Taylor, 25, is charged with first-degree child abuse, abusive sexual contact and sexual abuse of a minor/ward.
According to his arrest warrant, Taylor engaged in sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old female while Cherokee schools were on Christmas break.
The court record indicates the alleged offenses took place between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3.
Cherokee Schools confirmed Taylor had been employed as a social worker, beginning April 4, 2016, and was no longer employed as of Jan. 6.
Taylor is ordered to have no contact with the victim. No word on the date of his first court appearance.
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