Child sex offender sentenced to more than 342 years
Joshua Kellogg
FARMINGTON — A Blanco man convicted of 21 felony charges, including 20 counts of child sexual abuse, has been sentenced to more than 342 years in prison.
Julian Selph, 44, was sentenced to 342 years and 90 days in prison during a hearing Tuesday afternoon in Aztec district court, according to San Juan County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien.
The charges Selph was convicted of include 12 counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the first degree (child younger than 13), seven counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree (person in position of authority) and one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree (child younger than 13), according to the amended criminal complaint.
Selph was also convicted of a misdemeanor count of driving while under the influence of liquor and/or drugs in a separate case.
He was convicted by a jury following a two-day trial on Aug. 22-23, according to court records.
O'Brien said District Judge John Dean Jr. did the right thing by sentencing Selph to more than 342 years in prison. "That sentence will send a message to people that commit this type of crime," O'Brien said. "It's unacceptable in this community."
A young female relative had accused Selph of committing multiple acts of sexual abuse against her since she was 6 years old, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. She was 13 years old when she reported the abuse.
The victim told a caseworker at the San Juan Regional Medical Center about being sexually abused on April 24, 2015, while she was being treated for injuries for jumping out of a moving vehicle Selph was driving, according to court documents.
Courageous kid. God bless her.
Blanco, N.M. Pop 388
$338m Powerball jackpot winner charged with
child sex abuse
Daily Mail
By: Snejana Farberov
A New Jersey man who made headlines in 2013 when he won a $338million Powerball jackpot has been arrested on suspicion that he sexually assaulted a young girl for three years.
Pedro Quezada, of Wayne, has been charged with counts of first- and second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said Wednesday that the victim was between 11 and 14 when the assaults occurred. Quezada was living in Passaic at the time.
The 49-year-old Quezada, a father-of-five and a grandfather, faces up to 40 years in prison, if convicted of all the charges filed against him.
Valdes said there did not appear to be any other victims, the MailOnline reported.
Quezada, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic with five children and a granddaughter, ran a bodega in Passaic, working 15-hour days, when he won the lottery in 2013. He took a $152million lump sum payment after taxes.
"My life has changed," he said at a press conference when he was announced as the winner. "It will not change my heart."
Eight months later, Quezada's ex-girlfriend Ines Sanchez, sued him for a portion of the jackpot, arguing that the man purchased the winning lottery ticket with money earned jointly by the couple.
During a press conference in March 2013, a beaming Quezada told reporters that he would buy Ines "whatever she wants" with the money. But his lawyer later said that Sanchez did not deserve any of the winnings because the couple, who lived together for 10 years, was never legally married.
According to the woman's attorney, a large chunk of the lump sum has disappeared including $57million that has been sent to Quezada's native Dominican Republic, $300,000 spent on the home in Clifton, and $20 million that can't be located.
In March 2014, Ines Sanchez dropped her lawsuit against Quezada.
Quezada was also accused of reneging on his promise to pay the rent of his whole street and was sued by a contractor who claimed he didn't pay for renovations to a home he bought in Clifton.
Man faces 2,560 counts of child sex abuse involving
2 female juveniles
Sometimes I just happen across some really weird coincidences. This is the first story I have ever done from Punxsutawney and it happens on a day when Canada's Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie, died. That information is absolutely worthless, but still a weird coincidence.
by Ron Musselman
PUNXSUTAWNEY – A 50-year-old man is facing charges of 2,560 counts of child sex abuse for incidents involving two female juveniles over a five-year period in Jefferson County.
State police in Punxsutawney said John Charles Defluri, of Montgomery, is charged with rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with minors.
Police said the various incidents took place between January 2010 and December 2015 at multiple residences in Big Run and Punxsutawney, and involved two 14-year-old girls who were between 7 and 12 years old at the time.
Police said Defluri was taken into custody Tuesday in Tioga County after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He is in the Tioga County Prison, awaiting extradition back to Jefferson County.
Former Lower Burrell priest waives
child sex assault charge to court
Chuck Biedka
The former Rev. John Thomas Sweeney leaves district court in Allegheny Township on Wednesday after he waived to court a charge of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy 25 years ago. Sept. 19, 2017
Daniel J. Dye, senior deputy state attorney general, asked anyone with information about any clergy abuse to contact the state Attorney General's Office. “We are asking victims not to engage in their own calculation of statute of limitations. If they have been a victim, call us and we'll look into it,” Dye said.
A former Lower Burrell priest accused of molesting a Catholic school student 25 years ago waived the charge to court Wednesday but his attorney is the insisting that the case will end because the legal statute of limitation has expired.
The former Rev. John Thomas Sweeney, denies that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy, who attended St. Margaret Mary Church school between September 1991 and June 1992. Sweeney was church pastor.
Court documents state the alleged victim didn't report the abuse until last year after he watched a “Spotlight,” the Academy Award winning movie about sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
Sweeney, now 74, is charged with one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. Sweeney told reporters, “no comment.”
He was most recently assigned to Holy Family Parish in West Newton before he retired last December.
Sweeney's attorney, Francis R. Murrman, said his client is having a tough time. Sweeney is toward the end of life and under stress, he said.
According to Daniel J. Dye, senior deputy state attorney general, the alleged victim is a 35-year-old man now on military deployment.
If a preliminary hearing had been held Wednesday, Dye would have asked an attorney general's agent to read the alleged's victim's grand jury testimony into the court record. “That is allowed at this level,” Dye said. The alleged victim would be required to testify in Westmoreland County Court if the case goes to trial, however.
Outside district court, Murrman said the charging papers don't list the birth date for the alleged victim. “It appears that the charge was filed five years past the statute of limitations,” Murrman said. The state changed the age when a victim can file charges.
Murrman is arguing that the state's amended child abuse law gave the alleged victim in this case only until age 30 to contact prosecutors. However, the chief prosecutor in this case contends that lawmakers set the age in this case at 50.
“I am asking the attorney general (Josh Shapiro) to review this, and if he agrees to dismiss the charge,” Murrman said. Otherwise, Murrman said he will file a motion to have a county judge dismiss the charge.
The state Legislature's last amendment of the law gives victims up to age 50 to go forward with child sexual assault allegations. So Murrman believes in this case that the law would allow the alleged victim to be up to 30 years old before reporting an accusation, not 50.
“We are ready to go to trial,” Dye said.
A grand jury concluded that Sweeney's alleged actions also supported charges of indecent assault and corrupting the morals of a minor, but Dye said the statute of limitations pertaining to those charges expired before the incident was reported to police.
Man facing additional criminal sexual abuse charges
DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Macon County Sheriff's Office says a man arrested during the investigation into a child receiving inappropriate images last month is now facing new charges.
Deputies say Brian Thompson, 48, is now facing two additional counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of a child. Thompson was charged with criminal sexual abuse, grooming, and disseminating material harmful to juveniles in connection with an investigation into a child receiving inappropriate images through Snapchat.
During the previous investigation, deputies say Thompson admitted to additional inappropriate contact with juveniles while talking with investigators. As a result, investigators spoke with the victims regarding these alleged activities.
According to sworn statements, deputies talked with one victim, who reported that she and two other juveniles had inappropriate contact with Thompson multiple times this summer, which corroborated what Thompson admitted to during a Mirandized interview.
Thompson is due back in court on September 27. The investigation into this incident is ongoing.
Private Eye Tried to Blackmail Witness in Child Sex Abuse Case, DA Says
By Trevor Kapp
BROOKLYN — A private investigator-turned-reality show star tried to blackmail a witness in a child sex abuse case by recording the man's trysts with prostitutes and threatening to expose them if he helped in the case, prosecutors said.
The chicanery began when a Borough Park man, Samuel Israel, 45, (2nd story on link) was nabbed in March 2016 for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Israel paid his $100,000 bail and was released, but given an order of protection that forbade him from contacting the victim's family, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
Four months later, Israel paid $17,000 to Vincent Parco, who Penthouse once called "the ultimate hard-boiled private eye," to record "embarrassing video images" of the victim's relative and convince that relative not to help in prosecution against Israel, prosecutors said.
Parco, 65, got an associate of his, Tanya Freudenthaler, 41, to lure the relative to a Sunset Park hotel room where the two had rigged some hidden cameras to record him having sex with a prostitute they'd hired on Dec. 17, 2016, prosecutors said.
But the cameras didn’t work, so Parco, Freudenthaler and Israel arranged another rendezvous two days later involving two prostitutes which they successfully filmed, officials said.
Over the first six months of 2017, various strangers tried to blackmail the relative, who then reported the encounters to the District Attorney's Office, officials said.
"Be smart. Stop making trouble," said one stranger wearing a scarf, according to prosecutors.
Samuel Israel
Officials got a warrant and searched one of the blackmailer's homes, recovering video of the hotel episode and a statement where Israel admits to touching the victim in the child sexual abuse case, according to court papers.
Footage was also recovered from Parco’s office computer, and he later admitted he was hired by Israel, officials said.
But Parco's lawyer, Peter Gleason, said Israel lied to Parco, saying the case he wanted the investigator to look into was a consensual encounter with a 17-year-old girl from 10 years ago.
“Had he known the allegations against Mr. Israel involved a 12-year-old girl, Mr. Parco would not have touched this case with a 10-foot pole,” Gleason said. The lawyer acknowledged Parco may not have done his due diligence researching the case.
“Parco’s the kind of guy who takes decisive action,” Gleason said. “He takes people at their word. He took this guy at his word.” Parco once starred in a reality show called "Parco, P.I." which aired on CourtTV between 2005 and 2006.
Parco and Freudenthaler were arrested Tuesday and charged with unlawful surveillance, promoting prostitution, disseminating unlawful surveillance images, witness tampering and criminal contempt, prosecutors said. They were released without bail, but face up to seven years if convicted.
Israel was also facing charges stemming from the blackmailing, but also sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said. Israel was held on $150,000,
His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. All three are due back in court Oct. 20.
Borough Park, NY
Judge grants Freeh’s motion, rules against Spanier defamation suit
BY LORI FALCE
Louis Freeh won a round in Centre County court Wednesday when a judge granted his motion.
The former FBI director scored his victory against Graham Spanier, the former Penn State president Freeh pointed to as culpable in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Louis Freeh
Though Senior Judge Robert Eby from Lebanon County granted Freeh’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, he pointed out that it was “based upon the agreement and stipulation of the parties as to the applicability and effect of plaintiff’s conviction.”
Spanier was convicted in March of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment. He is appealing that conviction.
Eby’s order specified that Spanier will be able to present a motion to have the judgment set aside if his case is overturned.
Spanier first filed paperwork to initiate the suit in 2013, a year after the Freeh report — the Penn State-commissioned investigation of the scandal — was delivered, naming Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley, former vice president Gary Schultz and late longtime football coach Joe Paterno as responsible figures in allowing or covering up abuse by retired defensive coordinator Sandusky.
Spanier and Paterno
Curley and Schultz pleaded guilty in March, two weeks before Spanier’s trial, where both of them testified. They are already serving their sentences.
Freeh followed up the lengthy statement he issued after Spanier’s conviction with a new statement and then an addendum Thursday, calling Spanier’s defamation suit “meritless.”
“I’m not surprised that this frivolous and malicious claim has finally been dismissed,” Freeh said. “The carefully investigated facts found in our report, which were the basis for the criminal convictions of Messrs. Spanier, Curley and Schultz, the three most powerful leaders of Penn State over the lengthy period of Sandusky’s horrific sexual crimes against children on the Penn State campus, have never been disproven or successfully challenged over the last five years. That is because they are true and corroborated by evidence, including the personal emails of the convicted defendants, which our investigation uncovered and which led to their convictions.”
Man charged for sex abuse of a child after victim comes forward 2 years later
By: KIERRA DOTSON
SALT LAKE COUNTY, (ABC4 Utah)- A 40-year-old man was charged Monday after a teen identified him as the man who sexually assaulted her two years before.
The 15-year-old victim came forward in March of this year. Court documents say she told police she was assaulted two years ago while on her way home from school.
She told police she was walking through David Gourley Park when the suspect, Fred Hendrick Garcia, pushed her against a wall, held a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her.
Court documents say Garcia then "attempted to pull her pants back up" and stated "'Fine, you can go now," but told her not to tell anyone.
Detectives say after receiving several tips they were able to identify the man. The victim also identified him when presented with a photo array.
Unified Police say he is in custody at the State Hospital.
Holley man faces possible prison time for plea
to child sex abuse
Alex Feig
32 year old David Durbano of Ridge Road appeared in Orleans County Court on Monday where he accepted a plea deal on a first degree sex abuse charge.
Durbano pleaded guilty to the most serious charge in his indictment admitting to sexually abusing a girl under 11 years old in April.
Per his plea agreement he could be sentenced up to 5 years in prison with 3 to 10 years post release supervision.
He would have been facing a max of 7 years on the charge if not for the deal.
Durbano will also need to register as a sex offender.
L.A. County probation officer pleads guilty to assaulting inmates at a juvenile hall
A young woman has her handcuffs removed inside the Camp Scudder juvenile facility in Santa Clarita. A deputy probation officer pleaded guilty to sexually abusing inmates at the facility. (Bethany Molenkoff / Los Angeles Times)
James Queally
A Los Angeles County probation officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of assault after he was accused of sexually abusing several female inmates at a Santa Clarita juvenile hall, prosecutors said.
Oscar Calderon Jr., 33, was immediately sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty in a downtown courtroom to two counts of assault under color of authority, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors accused the deputy probation officer of making sexual overtures and inappropriately touching four teens inside Camp Scudder in Santa Clarita. Calderon was arrested in January and charged with four counts of assault under color of authority and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child. Prosecutors said that the victims ranged in age from 15 to 18 and that the abuse began in 2014.
Calderon was in a supervisory position and used his authority over the girls to force them to comply, according to attorney Erin Darling, who is representing one of the victims. Darling said supervisors at the Camp Scudder facility ignored complaints from his client’s family and allowed the abuse to go on.
“On a weekly basis, he would sexually assault her,” Darling said of his client, who was 18 when the abuse began. “She was absolutely terrified. She felt like she couldn’t complain to anyone.”
Calderon has resigned from the probation department and is barred from contact with the victims, according to prosecutors. He also must serve five years of probation after his release.
In a victim impact statement read in court Wednesday, Darling’s client described the year she spent living in fear of Calderon, who she said constantly groped her while threatening to give her poor progress reports and delay her release if she did not comply.
“I spent almost a year in a locked-down facility, with a disgusting, horny, grown man that’s supposedly my probation officer. I’ve never been blackmailed, let alone sexually abused, until I entered that camp,” she said, according to a copy of the impact statement. “It’s been two years, and I still feel it. I feel the depression of the past, and the anxiety of the future. I can still smell his disgusting breath when he kissed me.”
In a federal lawsuit filed against the probation department, Darling’s client also accused several other officers of ignoring her complaints and failing to intervene to stop Calderon’s abuse. That lawsuit is pending.
“It’s not just a bad apple. This was something that was complained about, and they didn’t do anything about it,” Darling said.
In a statement issued late Wednesday, the probation department said it was “appalled” by Calderon’s crimes.
“Mr. Calderon’s unacceptable actions do not represent the thousands of … probation staff who are dedicated to the department’s mission and vision to rebuild the lives of the children in our supervision and care,” the statement read.
The agency said it opened a child abuse investigation as soon as probation officials were made aware of the allegations against Calderon, who was barred from working from that point on. Citing an “active investigation” and the pending lawsuit, a spokeswoman declined to offer specifics about the kinds of discipline meted out to Calderon or any other staff members at Camp Scudder. She also declined to describe the department’s policy regarding male officers supervising female inmates, or whether the accusations against Calderon had led the agency to consider changing its policies.
It’s not just a bad apple. This was something that was complained about, and they didn’t do anything about it.
— Attorney Erin Darling, who is representing one of the inmates sexually abused by a probation officer
Calderon’s attorney, Rodrigo Ambrosio, said he was satisfied with the terms of the plea deal. Calderon will not have to register as a sex offender because he did not plead to the charges accusing him of lewd acts with children, Ambrosio said.
“Mr. Calderon is looking forward to putting this behind him and moving on with his life,” Ambrosio said.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on the fact that Calderon avoided having to register as a sex offender. The guilty plea is the latest black mark for the county probation department in recent months.
Earlier this year, three probation officers were charged with assault in connection with the beatings of teenage inmates inside the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar in 2015 and 2016. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $3.9-million payout to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by a teenage inmate who said he was severely beaten by other teens inside the Sylmar facility in 2013.
The victim in that case is now a quadriplegic, and the lawsuit contended that probation officers knew he was a high risk for assault but failed to adequately protect him.
Santa Clarita, CA
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