13 stories - the last of which is shocking
and some might want to avoid reading it
Anthony Weiner gets 21 months in prison
for sexting minor
Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, was a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton
Maryland school security chief was warned about inappropriate conduct but kept in post
By Donna St. George and Dan Morse and some might want to avoid reading it
Anthony Weiner gets 21 months in prison
for sexting minor
Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, was a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton
The Associated Press
Former New York representative Anthony Weiner was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl, in a case that rocked Hillary Clinton's campaign for the White House in the closing days of the race.
Weiner, 53, dropped his head into his hand and wept as the sentence was announced by Judge Denise Cote in New York City. He must surrender to prison officials by Nov. 6.
The sentencing in Federal Court in New York City completed the sordid downfall of the New York Democrat, whose penchant for exchanging lewd messages and photos with young women online destroyed his career in Congress in 2011, doomed his bid for mayor of New York in 2013, wrecked his marriage to Clinton's closest aide, Huma Abedin, and became entangled in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Admitting "I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse," Weiner pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for illicit contact with a North Carolina teenager.
"I am profoundly sorry," he said, reading from a page in front of him. "The crime I committed was my rock bottom.... I live a different and better life today."
I love it - straight from the heart! er page, at least.
Prosecutors said he sent her porn and got her to take her clothes off and touch herself on Skype. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Kramer on Monday urged Cote to give Weiner a significant prison sentence to end his "tragic cycle" of sexting.
Weiner, right, is shown on Sept. 13 in a court appearance with Huma Abedin, the longtime Hillary Clinton aide who has announced her separation from Weiner. (Jefferson Siegel/The Daily News via AP)
In imposing sentence, the judge cited a need in such a highly publicized case to "make a statement that can protect other minors."
Cote noted that Weiner repeatedly got caught sexting and said that while he has made "great strides" in treatment, "the difficulty here is that this is a very strong compulsion."
He was also fined $10,000. After his sentence is served, there will be three years of supervised release and internet monitoring. He must also enrol in a sex-offender treatment program.
The FBI was investigating Weiner's contact with the high school student when it came across emails on his laptop between Abedin and Clinton, prompting then FBI director James Comey to announce in late October 2016 that he was reopening the probe of Clinton's use of a private computer server.
'Dangerous level of denial'
Two days before election day, the FBI announced there was nothing new in the emails. But Clinton has blamed Comey's handling of the episode more than any other factor for her loss to Donald Trump. In a recent NBC interview, she called the FBI director's intervention "the determining factor" in her defeat.
Weiner's lawyers had argued in court papers that he was undergoing treatment and was profoundly sorry for subjecting the girl to his "deep sickness."
They also portrayed her as an instigator, saying she wanted to generate material for a book and possibly influence the presidential election. She has sold her story to the Daily Mail and sat down for a television interview with Inside Edition.
Prosecutors responded by arguing the victim's motives were irrelevant to the punishment, and said Weiner's habit of getting caught sexting "suggests a dangerous level of denial and lack of self-control."
By the time of Comey's October surprise, Abedin had announced her intention to separate from Weiner, although in a letter to court this summer, she hoped for probation, citing the effects on the couple's young son.
Weiner's behaviour in all its lurid detail — including his online alias Carlos Danger and a selfie of his bulging underwear — turned him and his last name into an irresistible punchline for late-night comics and mortified his wife again and again.
Weiner, wearing his wedding ring, seemed pensive just before Monday's hearing began. His parents were in the courtroom but his wife wasn't. He and Abedin are currently going through divorce proceedings.
In her new memoir, What Happened, Clinton revealed that Weiner's wife "looked stricken" and burst into tears upon learning her husband had triggered Comey's "October surprise."
"This man is going to be the death of me," Abedin was quoted as saying.
Maryland school security chief was warned about inappropriate conduct but kept in post
The top security official at a Maryland high school was warned several times in writing about inappropriate contact with a student but was kept in his position and ultimately charged with sexually abusing the 17-year-old, according to details that emerged in court.
Mark C. Yantsos, 58, the former head of security at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, pleaded guilty to a count of sexual abuse of a minor at a hearing last week.
His case appears to be the latest of several in which a Montgomery County school system employee was admonished for repeated incidents of inappropriate behavior with students but stayed on the job and allegedly crossed the line again.
It raised further concerns because Yantsos was responsible for student safety and his arrest came amid a district effort to improve procedures for recognizing and reporting suspicious conduct in schools.
Yantsos was accused in April of befriending the teenager, texting her about graphic sex acts, giving her gifts and taking her to a hotel for intercourse.
Under a plea deal that was entered but not finalized in court last week, his sentence would be limited to 18 months but he would have a felony record and a place on Maryland’s sex offender registry.
Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason recounted details of the case and said her office had examined school district records, including Yantsos’s disciplinary file, finding several write-ups for “the inappropriate close contact that he had with the victim at the school leading up to these events.”
“He had been warned to cease any personal relationship or acting in an overly friendly manner with a student,” she said.
School officials did not comment on Yantsos’s disciplinary history, saying that as a practice they do not discuss or disclose personnel records. They said they could not comment on the case or issues raised about its handling because of pending civil litigation.
Yantsos was placed on administrative leave April 4 and fired June 20, schools spokesman Derek Turner said.
Attention to the case widened after Yantsos was released from jail on bond in April and, according to court records, violated orders to stay away from the victim. He saw her four days in a row and engaged her in sex on the fifth day, prosecutors said in court filings.
Parents voiced concern upon hearing there may have been signs of trouble before Yantsos’s arrest. “I would love to know how much Montgomery County Public Schools knew about this and when they knew it,” said Matt Longabaugh, a father of two daughters who said once the case ends officials need to “spell out what happened.”
“The guy entrusted with keeping them secure ends up being the predator,” he said. “They absolutely owe the school-age community in Montgomery County an explanation, particularly if they knew something in advance.”
Donny Knepper, an attorney for Yantsos, said the warnings his client received from the school came before a sexual relationship existed between Yantsos and the student. “At the time these warnings were issued, Mark didn’t foresee where this would end up,” Knepper said. “He did not set out on a course of child sexual abuse.”
Knepper said that Yantsos was on full-time status when he was placed on leave. “Mark deeply regrets this entire matter,” Knepper added.
That's why he violated his parole 5 times?
According to prosecutors and court documents, the victim and Yantsos knew each other for a couple of years and began to talk more in April 2016, and she increasingly saw him as a friend and confidant. In about October 2016, according to police, Yantsos began telling the girl he loved her and he wanted them to be together.
He bought her gifts — a North Face jacket, Ugg designer boots, a diamond pendant necklace for Christmas, a ring for Valentine’s Day — giving her at least some of the items while at school. Around December 2016, they met every couple of days to “hang out.”
Yantsos occasionally gave her money when she needed it, prosecutors said. He also bought her an extra cellphone “as a precaution” and because he never wanted to be away from her, prosecutors said.
In March 2017, Yantsos picked the teenager up from her home about 10 p.m. one Friday and took her to the hotel in Rockville. After they engaged in sex, he brought her home.
The teenager’s mother discovered the relationship April 3 and went to the high school to report it, according to prosecutors and court documents.
Police allege that when Yantsos saw the student’s mother arrive at the school, he contacted the student. She left class and met him, and he retrieved the iPhone 7 he had given her. Prosecutors alleged last week that he disposed of the phone.
During their investigation, police found evidence that Yantsos, a former New York City police officer, wrote love letters to the student and was photographed hanging out with the teenager at school during the school day while he wore his work uniform.
His sentencing is set for Oct. 30 before Judge Michael D. Mason. Gleason, the prosecutor, told the judge at last week’s hearing that she had informed the victim’s family of the plea agreement, through one of their attorneys. Mason said he would give the family until the sentencing date to offer their opinions before making the guilty plea final.
Yantsos worked in the school system for a decade, according to the school district. He started at Ridgeview Middle School and led the security team at Richard Montgomery from 2008 until the allegations surfaced.
After Yantsos’s arrest, Richard Montgomery’s principal, Damon Monteleone, described the allegations as “despicable” in a letter to parents, saying such actions reflect “an irreparable breach of trust, ethics and the law.”
Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Jack Smith issued a statement in April that adults who abuse their position and take advantage of students have “no place in our schools or community.” He pointed to an effort to improve safeguards that started in 2015 and included more training and an employee conduct code.
Those changes followed several sex offense cases that heightened parent concerns.
Most recently, a case involving teacher John Vigna — who was sentenced to 48 years in prison — set off concerns anew about the supervision of Montgomery school employees with past incidents of inappropriate conduct and whether they should be removed from direct contact with students.
Angela Edwards, a parent whose children attended the school where Vigna worked, said she was alarmed to hear about another case in which an employee was warned about inappropriate behavior several times but left in contact with students.
“How many chances do you give them to damage our children?” she asked.
Far, far too many! Too few people understand the damage child sex abuse does to a child or they would be less tolerant.
Joliet Woman Endangered Her Child's Life
By John Ferak (Patch Staff)
JOLIET, IL - Authorities around Will County have made a number of arrests in recent weeks of known convicted sex offenders visiting parks and forest preserves. But the recent arrest of Latifah D. Kendricks, 27, by the Joliet Police Department is unusual. She is not a sex offender, but she has been charged in Will County Circuit Court with endangering the life or health of a child, a Class A misdemeanor.
According to the complaint, Dwight A. Williams resides at 502 Albert Avenue in Joliet, which is also the defendant's listed address on court records. The complaint states that Kendricks allowed the child to be under Williams' care from March 1, 2016 through July 30, 2017.
The Illinois Sex Offender Registry reflects that Williams has a conviction for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He was 19 years old and his victim was 12 years old when he committed his crime. Williams turns 28 next month. He stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 155 pounds, according to the public information registry.
Lancaster man to serve decade in prison for
child sex abuse
WHTM StaffLANCASTER, Pa. – A Lancaster man has been ordered to serve 4 to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor in 2015.
Authorities say the sexual abuse took place in the summer of 2015 when the girl was 14. Torres-River made contact with the girl through Facebook.
Torres-Rivera’s sentence was in accordance with a plea agreement arranged by Assistant District Attorney Amber Czerniakowski and accepted by Judge Merrill Spahn Jr.
As part of his sentence, Torres-Rivera must register his whereabouts with police for the rest of his life and pay $1,000 restitution.
Nebraska mayor pleads not guilty in
child sexual abuse case
Schutt has been mayor of Randolph since 2011. The Cedar County city has about 940 residents.
Trenton man going to prison for years of
sexual abuse of young girl
By Kevin Shea For NJ.comA Trenton man convicted of sexually assaulting a girl over several years, and who vanished from his trial in Bucks County, Pa. earlier this year, was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 years in state prison Friday.
Jenkins was a longtime Trenton Housing Authority employee, the office said.
He was convicted by a jury on April 3 of indecent assault of a victim under 16, unlawful contact with a minor and corrupting the morals of a minor, the office said.
In the middle of the trial, Jenkins vanished, telling his lawyer he'd checked into a hospital. The trial went on.
Police checked area hospitals and did not find him, and Jenkins went into hiding, altering his appearance and staying at different locations, the district attorney's office said.
Authorities tracked Jenkins down in June and charged him with default in required appearance, a charge he also pleaded guilty to on Friday, the office said.
The girl told police Jenkins repeatedly touched her in sexually inappropriate ways, beginning when she was 7 or 8 and continuing well into her teens. She reported the abuse to a school resource officer, who called Morrisville police, the office said.
$4 million award in lawsuit over sex abuse from
Sugar Grove foster parent
Harry HitzemanA Kane County judge has awarded $4 million in damages to a man who was sexually abused by a Sugar Grove foster parent in 2004.
"As we came out of court, my client felt extremely vindicated that the legal system finally acknowledged the truthfulness of what he was saying, the anguish, pain and stress and anxiety and dysfunction he will suffer," attorney George Acosta said.
Judge James Murphy awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages.
Acosta said the judgment came after a hearing Friday in which C. Dion Bush, a licensed clinical psychologist who had treated the victim, testified as to the effects the abuse will have such as PTSD.
The victim and one of the victim's friends also testified before Murphy, Acosta said.
"(The award) was exactly what we asked for. We supported the request through witness testimony and documentary evidence," Acosta said. "These (effects) are likely permanent."
Acosta acknowledged it is unlikely Buhay, who declared bankruptcy in the early 2010s and whose home is in foreclosure, could pay the entire amount. He noted Buhay had a six-figure a year job before his arrest, and attorneys could look into his assets. The victim will use money from the judgment for treatment, counseling and education plans.
"There's a couple avenues we're looking into," Acosta said. "Whether we collect 50 percent or 2 percent of it or none of it, a lot was accomplished with the award."
But, I suspect the lawyer will collect his fees whether the victim does or not. Hopefully, his fees are a percentage of what the victim receives.
A jury in March convicted Buhay of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child from January 2004 through May 2004. Charges that he sexually assaulted another child from March 2004 through December 2008 are pending.
Buhay is being held at the Kane County jail without bail and is due in court Oct. 13.
Atlantic man charged with sex abuse
By Mike BellAn Atlantic man, who, apparently, shall remain nameless, appeared in Pottawattamie County Court Monday morning to face two charges of sex abuse, indecent contact with a child and lascivious acts.
According to the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, the alleged victim reported the possible sex abuse in August.
Officers were dispatched to an Atlantic residence and were told by witnesses the suspect had sexually abused the child for years. The alleged abuse took place in a Pottawattamie County residence.
The man was questioned by investigators, denied the allegations and refused to take a lie detector test, the report stated. He was booked into Pottawattamie County Jail on Friday.
Huntsville pastor charged with failing to report
sexual abuse of child by former deputy
By Ashley Remkus al.com
A Huntsville pastor is accused of failing to report sexual abuse of a child who allegedly was fondled by a now-former sheriff's deputy.
Walker failed to report abuse that Roland Campos, a former deputy, is accused of committing against a 12-year-old girl, police said.
"Investigators have since learned through follow-up investigation that the victim reported the abuse to Walker and he refused to notify law enforcement or (the Department of Human Resources)," Huntsville police Lt. Stacy Bates wrote in a news release. "The law requires anyone acting in a capacity such as Walker to report this type of alleged criminal activity."
Police said Walker was made aware of the abuse in March. Campos was arrested in August on two felony counts of sexual abuse. He is free on bail.
Campos resigned amid a sheriff's office internal investigation of the allegations. Huntsville police have handled the criminal case.
"Michael Walker is not guilty and looks forward to presenting his side in court," Walker's attorney, Jonathan Pippin stated in an email to AL.com.
'I wish I could undo:'
Man shared girl's sex abuse online
By John AgarGRAND RAPIDS, MI - Federal prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for a man who created a series of child pornography he shared on the internet.
Matthew John Andaluz, 44, originally from New York, moved to Battle Creek after befriending a woman he met on line. He sexually abused one of her children over the course of years.
Images of the girl's abuse have turned up in at least a dozen state and federal investigations of child pornography.
The victim's mother earlier this year committed suicide, court records showed.
Great! That really helps the girl! Good grief! Suicide is the most selfish act possible, even worse the child sex abuse.
"The child will bear the emotional and psychological scars from the defendant's abuse and exploitation her entire life," Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Lewis wrote in court documents.
"The seriousness of the defendant's crimes cannot be overstated." The series has shown up in a dozen investigations in other parts of the country.
Andaluz faces at least 15 years in prison, and up to 30, when he is sentenced Monday, Sept. 25, by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker.
Andaluz has no previous criminal record. He has had "significant issues with depression and anxiety," has tried to commit suicide at least five times and has been hospitalized in a psychiatric ward, his attorney, Helen Nieuwenhuis, said.
In court documents, he wrote about the loss of the victim's mother. Her children "will always be without a mother. I can't fathom how bad this could be for their future. Their trust in others could very well be broken forever."
Nieuwenhuis said her client has "expressed extreme remorse," both for has actions in the criminal case and the woman's death. "It is clear he has much work to do on addressing his mental illness and in dealing with the guilt he feels for the victim, and what ultimately happened with (her mother)," the attorney wrote.
She asked for a sentence close to the minimum, 15 years, based on his lack of previous record and his mental-health issues.
In a statement to a U.S. probation officer who compiled a pre-sentence report, Andaluz wrote: "It was something that should have never been or even entertained. It was one of the worse things that could have been done to a kid and a family. It was and is beyond all understanding of the word WRONG and something I wish I could undo."
Homeland Security Investigations had received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that federal agents had submitted a series of child-pornography images, seized from a registered sex offender in Tacoma, Wash., to check against a child-recognition system.
Battle Creek police used a search warrant at Andaluz's home in December.
Sex-offender babysitter accused of abusing child
WKBW StaffBUFFALO, N.Y. - A registered sex offender is locked up, accused of four new sexual-abuse related charges, one of which is connected to a five-year-old girl he was babysitting on Grand Island.
Investigators say information revealed during those investigations led them to connect Johnson to a fourth incident where he's accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a five-year-old girl he was babysitting on September 14.
Johnson is being held without bail.
He is a registered sex offender following a 1996 conviction of sodomy of a 10-year-old female.
Arrrrgh! Parents - don't leave your children with a male baby-sitter, please! Especially a registered sex offender. Do your homework!
Henderson Man Facing Child Sexual Assault Charges
By: Jake Boswell Henderson Police have charged a man with Rape and Sexual Abuse involving a victim under 12 years old.
The child told a relative that Cropper touched him inappropriately.
After the child interviewed with detectives, police obtained a warrant. On Sunday, officers arrested Cropper on Washington Street in Henderson.
According to the Henderson County Jail's website, Cropper is also facing a charge of Sodomy.
If convicted of the charges he's facing, Cropper will spend at least 20 years in prison.
Boy, 8, killed protecting kid sister from sex abuse
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- An eight-year-old California boy was beaten to death with a hammer while protecting his younger sister from being sexually assaulted by his mother's ex-boyfriend, according to KTXL.
According to a criminal complaint, 23-year-old Deandre Chaney Jr. was performing a criminal lewd act on Dante's seven-year-old sister when the child stepped in to help.
"This guy beat my grandson with a hammer. Down to his spine. They couldn't save his brain," Dante's grandmother Monique Brown told KTXL.
Chaney was found in Nevada on Sept. 2. Officers said he was wrapped in a tarp hiding in a backyard shed, according to the Sacramento Bee. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Chaney is the ex-boyfriend of Dante's mother, 28-year-old Elizabeth Salone. At some point, investigators say the suspect turned the hammer and knife on Salone and the seven-year-old girl.
Salone sustained an eye injury during the altercation and will "probably never see out of her left eye," Brown said.
Brown added that the seven-year-old girl "will need a lot of help."
Doctors were able to recover Dante's heart and give it to a four-year-old in California.
"Dante gave his heart to a four-year-old in southern California," Brown said. "So a four-year-old lives on."
In October, Chaney plead no contest to a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. In 2014, he pleaded no contest to battery charges. He also pleaded no contest to assault charges in 2011.
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