A litany of child sex offenders who abused children from a position of authority or influence: a special-needs teacher, guard, caregiver, entertainer, doctor, priests, and assorted perverts
Sex offender targeted special needs students at
Redlands High School
By KRISTINA HERNANDEZ Redlands Daily Facts
An attorney on Tuesday, Sept. 19, announced that four more alleged victims of former Redlands High School teacher and convicted sex offender Kevin Patrick Kirkland have come forward with similar allegations that surfaced last year with his arrest.
Irvine attorney Morgan Stewart said at a news conference outside the San Bernardino Justice Center in downtown San Bernardino that another lawsuit had been filed against Kirkland, the Redlands Unified School District, former RHS principal Christina Rivera, former school district Superintendent Lori Rhodes, and district assistant superintendent of human resources director Sabine Robertson-Phillips.
School district officials were not immediately available for comment.
Stewart said that while authorities were conducting an investigation against the former teacher and golf coach, a plea deal was reached.
Authorities arrested 58-year-old Kirkland in April 2016 in Arizona. He subsequently pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of oral copulation with a person under the age of 18 and three misdemeanor counts of annoying/molesting a child under the age of 18, San Bernardino County court records show. In June, he was sentenced to two years in state prison.
Stewart called Kirkland’s conviction a “slap on the wrist.” He said Kirkland’s alleged victims were all special needs students and/or teacher assistants.
No kidding, and a very gentle slap on the wrist - almost a caress. Child victims are generally voiceless, but special-needs children are even more so; they are far more vulnerable and need more protection. People who abuse special-needs kids are the scum of the earth and don't deserve a second chance.
It was not immediately clear Tuesday if the Redlands Police Department was conducting a criminal investigation into the new allegations.
Stewart’s first lawsuit, filed in March and amended on Aug. 16, alleged a 15-year-old student was the victim of sexual abuse and harassment by Kirkland beginning in August 2013. The lawsuit alleged Kirkland preyed on vulnerable, female special needs students by going through their student files and poring over their medical, family information, as well as their history of discipline, peer issues and bullying.
These are the actions of a predator, why did the judge and prosecutor not see that?
After gleaning information from student files, Kirkland would approach the most vulnerable students and befriend them. He complimented them on their looks, requested their phone numbers, provided them money, and showed them a gun he kept in his classroom, among other things, the lawsuit alleges.
Kirkland would try and get female students alone with him in his classroom, and invited them to his home when his wife was away, according to the first lawsuit.
“He would make them feel special and then go to the next step,” Stewart said. He said that next step included sexual intercourse.
Stewart said complaints went ignored by the district because it “wants to protect its image” and “protect teachers first.”
Stewart called the case “Whitehurst No. 2,” referring to former Citrus Valley High School teacher Laura Whitehurst, who was convicted of six felonies after it was revealed she had an illegal sexual relationship with a former student who fathered her child. The student’s family won a $6 million settlement against RUSD in 2016 over the district’s handling of the Whitehurst case.
Under an agreement with prosecutors, in exchange for her plea, Whitehurst was sentenced to five years of probation and up to a year in county jail, and ordered to forfeit her teaching credentials, register as a sex offender, attend sex offender treatment, wear a GPS tracking device and not make contact with the victim.
She served six months in jail due to good behavior, and now legally shares custody of the child with its father.
In the meantime, the victim pursued legal action against the school district, saying that a Redlands Unified teacher and soccer coach, along with other unidentified district officials, failed to report the abuse to authorities, as they are required by state law.
OB/GYN doctor faces federal child porn charges
by John W. Yelland
(KUTV) A doctor who was accused of sexually abusing a teen girl and possessing and sharing child pornography in August, was charged Tuesday in federal court with three additional counts related to child porn.
In August the 55-year-old doctor, Nathan Clark Ward, Bountiful, Utah, was charged with sodomy on a child, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, forcible sodomy, two counts of forcible sexual abuse, and six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
DeseretNews.com reports: "The suspect discloses that he has raped a 15-year-old who was drunk on vodka, after her father 'set it up.' The suspect also states he raped a 13-year-old," according to messages from August of 2016, the report states.
Court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office allege that Ward also knowingly produced, possessed and distributed child porn.
Ward made a minor (born 1998) engage in "sexually explicit conduct," court documents say.
He is also charged with the following:
Production of child pornography
Possession of child pornography
Distribution of child pornography
Former Northland monks added to abuse list
By Tom Olsen
From left: Father James Kelly, Father Casimir Plakut and Father Augustine John Strub.
Three monks who served at parishes within the Diocese of Duluth decades ago have been added to a Minnesota monastery's list of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse.
The Revs. Casimir Plakut, Augustine John Strub and James Kelly were added this week to the list of clerics "likely to have offended against minors" by St. John's Abbey of Collegeville. The three former monks, who have all since died, were never before publicly named.
"Getting these names out into the public and getting St. John's to acknowledge a history never before revealed publicly is so important to protecting kids in the future, and to the validation and healing of survivors," said Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney representing child sexual abuse victims.
Plakut served at St. Stanislaus Church in Swan River in 1938, St. Clement's Church in Duluth from 1939-41 and Holy Family Missions in Cloquet from 1952-53, according to his assignment history. He later left the abbey and went on to work under an assumed name in Nebraska and Texas, dying in 1988.
Strub did missionary assignments at Holy Family in Cloquet, St. Patrick in Brookston and the Church of Mary and Joseph in Sawyer in 1951. He also served at St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth from 1960-61. He left the priesthood by 1962 and died in 2015.
Kelly served at St. Joseph's Church in Ball Club from 1968-72, according to his assignment history. The abbey said he left St. John's in 1973 and was formally dismissed from the priesthood in 1976. He died in 2011.
"Saint John's Abbey, in keeping with its policies and practices, intends to make public documents related to these individuals at a future date," the abbey said in a statement. "However, those documents must first be redacted to remove the names and other identifying details to protect innocent parties mentioned in the documents."
Anderson said he and his clients in recent months have settled 17 lawsuits brought against the abbey by abuse victims. He said nearly 80 lawsuits were brought against St. John's monks under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which opened a three-year window for victims of decades-old abuse cases to file suit. A total of 21 monks have been publicly identified by the abbey as credibly accused.
Former Humboldt County Correctional Officer Arrested on Numerous Child Sexual Abuse Charges
The Eureka Police Department has issued a press release offering information on the arrest of former former Humboldt County Correctional Officer Cory Fisher, Sr. on child sexual assault charges:
In August 2017, the Eureka Police Department received information regarding possible long term sexual and physical abuse of minors.
An investigation was initiated by the Criminal Investigations Section of the Eureka Police Department, with the assistance of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s office.
As a result of the investigation, probable cause was obtained for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Cory Jordan Fisher Sr. (30 years old of Eureka).
The warrant was for the following crimes:
Oral Copulation of a minor 10 years old or younger
Sodomy with a child 10 years old or younger
Lewd acts with a child under 14 years old
Lewd acts with a child 15 years old or older
Continuous sex with a minor under 14 years old
On September 15, 2017, Fisher was taken into custody on his warrant by the US Marshal Service and booked into the San Bernardino County Jail, where he is awaiting extradition back to Humboldt County. The bail amount on the warrant is $1,000,000.
This is an ongoing investigation and any further details will be released when appropriate. Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact Det. Ron Harpham at 707-441- 4305.
Children's Singer/Songwriter Facing
Child Porn Charges
A music teacher and singer/songwriter who performs for children at synagogues, Jewish community centers, camps and conventions nationwide is facing child pornography charges.
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey say Eric Komar was charged Tuesday with receiving and distributing images of child sexual abuse. The 46-year-old Hillsborough man was later remanded without bail after he made his initial court appearance.
Prosecutors say Komar used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to obtain and distribute images and videos of young children being sexually abused.
Komar appears to have run a Kickstarter in 2013 to fund a "Jewish kids' CD' titled "Two Life." His website shows he's released three more albums.
Komar faces 5 to 20 years in prison if he's convicted.
Komar was represented at the court hearing by a federal public defender. That office does not comment on cases.
Hillsborough, NJ
Davenport man in custody on charges of
child sexual abuse and burglary
DAVENPORT -- A Davenport man is in custody on charges of sexual abuse and burglary for an incident that took place at a residence near W. 14th St. and Scott St. in Davenport on Sunday, September 17.
Clarence Ford III, 32, was arrested on Monday evening, September 18, on charges of third degree sexual abuse, a class C felony, and first degree burglary, a class B felony.
According to the arrest affidavits, Ford committed "burglary in the first degree upon a property while persons were present" and committed "sexual abuse upon a victim that was a child, twelve or thirteen years of age."
Ford is currently being held at the Scott County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond.
Cushing man pleads guilty to sexual abuse
By Tim Ahrens
A Cushing man was sentenced Thursday to serve at least 10 years in prison after he pled guilty to an amended charge of child sexual abuse that began when his victim was 4.
Paul Douglas Massey, 46, was arrested in August 2016 and originally charged with nine felony counts – forcible oral sodomy, first-degree rape, rape by instrumentation, two counts of second-degree rape and four counts of lewd molestation.
But a plea agreement led to Massey's guilty plea and a sentence that includes 30 years in the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 20 years of which will be suspended upon Massey's good behavior.
Massey will also have to pay court costs, costs of incarceration and the district attorney's prosecution fees. Massey will have to register as a sex offender and be supervised by the DOC's probation and parole division for three years of post-confinement supervision. He was given credit for time served – Massey spent almost three months in Payne County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
An affidavit filed in the case shows the alleged victim, who was 19 when she revealed the sexual abuse to Cushing police, said Massey sexually assaulted her when she was as young as 4, and continued to as she grew up in Cushing. The alleged assaults and forced sexual acts occurred at several addresses in and outside Cushing city limits.
The officer alleged in the affidavit that after reviewing the victim's accounts to both her and a sexual assault nurse examiner; the victim's mother's interview regarding the alleged timeline; and information regarding various residences where the crimes were allegedly committed, these all lined up as consistent regarding the victim's allegations against Massey.
Jacksonville man guilty of receiving child sexual abuse content over the internet
A 41-year-old Jacksonville man was found guilty Tuesday of receiving child sexual abuse images and videos over the internet using a “dark web” application, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Jason Dean Barnes faces between five and 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced Dec. 18, prosecutors said.
Court documents indicate that FBI agents began an online undercover investigation in early 2015 to identify people using a special website to access and receive images and videos depicting child pornography. Websites of this kind can encrypt or remove personal information so that the person using it can remain anonymous, hence the name “dark web.”
In 2015, FBI agents apprehended the website’s administrator and identified Barnes after he had accessed child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Agents executed a search warrant at Barnes’ home, where he admitted to searching, downloading and viewing child pornography.
A forensic examination of his laptop computer revealed about 500 videos and 5,000 images of child pornography, several downloaded just before the raid, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Memphis man indicted again on child rape charges in Tennessee
Mariah Timms, USA Today Network-Tennessee
A Memphis man has been indicted on several charges of child rape and aggravated sexual battery.
William Tate Hightower, 32, of Memphis appeared before the Rutherford County Grand Jury last week.
Hightower was charged with five counts of rape of a child, five counts of aggravated sexual battery and two counts of exploitation of a minor.
Originally arrested on July 14, and later indicted, he has been the focus of an investigation by the Murfreesboro Police Department Special Victims Unit.
The July charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl, the MPD arrest report said. The more recent charges related to the alleged abuse of a 10-year-old girl, brought before the September Grand Jury.
He is being held at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center on a $225,000 bond. His next court appearance is set for Oct. 16, 2017.
The RCSO confirmed that the bond offices that supplied Hightower's July bond revoked that support, adding to the $150,000 bond assigned to the September charges.
19 Year Old Arraigned on Child Rape and
Child Porn Charges
By: Natalia Hepworth, EastIdahoNews.com
IDAHO FALLS– An Ammon man has pleaded not guilty to charges of statutory rape and possessing child pornography.
Joseph Stanley Loertscher, 19, was arraigned in a Bonneville County court Tuesday.
Loertscher is facing one count of felony statutory rape of a victim under 16 and three felony charges of child sexual abuse by soliciting a minor under 16 to participate in a sexual act, willfully possessing child sexually exploitative material and causing a child to engage in or be used for explicit sexual conduct for the purposes of producing sexually exploitative material.
He is charged with crimes allegedly committed in April 2016 and July 2017.
Loertscher is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in the Hillview Elementary School parking lot in April 2016. Both Loertsher and the victim were in high school at the time. Initially, no charges were filed against Loertscher for this incident. The statutory rape charge was filed months later after law enforcement was notified in June about Loertscher communicating and exchanging illegal sexually explicit images with teenage girls on the internet. One of the teens was the girl he had had sex with.
Court documents show Loertscher had more than 200 photos and videos of teenage girls, which contained sexually exploitative material. The victims were between the ages of 15 and 16.
Documents state he was “asking them to send him naked photos of themselves, to sext him, role play and to have sex with him, knowing they are minors under the age of 18.”
Loertscher admitted to sending nude photos of himself to the victims and to receiving sexually explicit images from them in return, according to court records.
Loertscher will appear in court next Nov. 13 for a pretrial conference. His jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 5.
Ex-foster care worker gets three life sentences for child sex abuse, manufacturing child porn
A Tulsa man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child and manufacturing child porn has been sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
Timothy Paul Cheatwood, 46, pleaded guilty in April to several charges, some of which were linked to his care of a foster child, according to court records. The sentence was imposed Monday in Tulsa County District Court.
Cheatwood was arrested Sept. 2, 2015, after an undercover investigation by the Oklahoma Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The investigation began after agents from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation linked Cheatwood’s computer to images they were able to source through a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
Investigators said they found more than 100 images and videos depicting child pornography on Cheatwood’s computer.
A memory card on Cheatwood’s camera revealed four images of a nude boy sleeping in a bed. Investigators identified the child as a 7-year-old boy who was being fostered and was in Cheatwood’s care.
The victim told authorities that Cheatwood sexually assaulted him on multiple occasions when he was 6.
Cheatwood provided respite care to foster families through the national private nonprofit Bair Foundation from September 2013 to May 2014.
He pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography, two counts of aggravated possession of child pornography, manufacturing child pornography and sexual abuse of a child under 12.
The judge ordered that Cheatwood serve three life sentences concurrently in state prison, then serve two 20-year sentences concurrently.
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