The Gaslamp Killer Sues Over Rape Allegations
William Bensussen was accused of drugging and raping two women in 2013
So, the Gaslamp Killer is, apparently, not a murderer but an alternative hip hop producer and DJ who uses that name because it sounds clever.
The Gaslamp Killer
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Last month, producer William Bensussen—best known by his stage name the Gaslamp Killer—was accused of drugging and raping two women in 2013.
One of the alleged victims named Chelsea shared a statement via Twitter that detailed her experience of meeting Bensussen at a rooftop party in L.A. with a friend named RaeAn, claiming that the producer gave them drugged drinks, raped them, and later returned them to the front of the hotel.
Bensussen denied the allegations. Now, he’s suing Chelsea, RaeAn, and Chelsea’s boyfriend (who shared the story) for defamation, TMZ reports. The complaint, obtained by Pitchfork, calls the allegations “malicious and fabricated” and refers to the sexual encounter as “consensual.” He’s suing for at least $5 million in damages.
The complaint presents two alleged witnesses—“Christopher S.” and “Peter R.” Christopher claims that he watched Bensussen obtain the drinks, that he “could see the drinks the entire time,” and that he didn’t see Bensussen “spike, tamper with, or put anything in the drinks.” Christopher also claimed that the two women approached Bensussen about having sex. Peter R., Bensussen’s housemate, claimed that the two women walk out of the house with Bensussen “under their own power and did not appear incapacitated.”
Following the allegations, record label Brainfeeder and the L.A. event collective Low End Theory both cut ties with Benssussen and released respective statements denouncing the DJ.
Child sex abuse trial begins for former Maine
‘Deputy of the Year’
AP
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A onetime “Deputy of the Year” at a Maine sheriff’s department is on trial on charges that he sexually abused three girls.
Opening statements in the trial of Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy Kenneth Hatch III were scheduled for Monday.
Prosecutors say Hatch abused the girls on numerous occasions from 1999 to 2014. Court documents say the abuse of one girl started when she was 6 years old. The others were 14 or 15.
He is also accused of providing at least one of the girls with marijuana in exchange for sex.
Hatch has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case is being tried in Kennebec County at the request of the prosecution because Hatch is a deputy in Lincoln County.
He has been placed on unpaid leave.
Lincoln Co., Maine
Former Massachusetts priest reindicted on
Maine sex abuse charges
The abuse of boys allegedly took place in Kennebunk in the late 1980s.
BY EDWARD D. MURPHY STAFF WRITER
The York County grand jury has reindicted a former priest from Massachusetts who is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing two boys he brought to Maine in the 1980s.
Ronald Paquin now faces 31 counts of sexual abuse in York County. He was originally indicted in February on 29 counts of sexual abuse for acts he allegedly committed in the mid- to late 1980s when he brought the boys to Maine for “short-term stays,” Kennebunk Police Chief Craig Sanford said at the time Paquin was charged. Sanford would not say where the alleged abuse occurred, other than to describe it as “a seasonal location,” or provide any other information on the charges.
Paquin, 74, has been held at the York County Jail since he was arrested and formally charged in February.
Paquin, who was removed from the priesthood in 2002, was a key figure in the Massachusetts priest sex abuse scandal in the early 2000s and pleaded guilty in 2002 to repeatedly raping a Haverhill, Massachusetts, altar boy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, beginning when the boy was 12. Paquin was jailed in Massachusetts until 2015, when specialists said he no longer met the criteria to be considered sexually dangerous.
Keith Townsend told The Boston Globe in February that he was one of the victims of the alleged crimes listed in the Maine indictment and said he told Maine authorities about Paquin when he heard that the former priest had been released from prison in Massachusetts. He told the Globe that Paquin began abusing him when he was 8 or 9 years old, both in Massachusetts and also at a camp in Kennebunk.
There is no statute of limitations in Maine on sexual abuse of minors.
Heather Gonzales, Paquin’s court-appointed lawyer, said the two additional charges apparently came about after prosecutors met Townsend to try to provide more specific dates on the alleged offenses in Maine. That resulted in two more counts being added and led to the reindictment, she said.
The indictment covers alleged sexual abuse that took place between early 1986 and late 1988. It lists broad date ranges of a month or more for each of the counts.
Taking young boys on out-of-state trips was a common tactic among priests who committed sexual abuse, Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who represented many victims of sexual abuse by priests, said at the time that Paquin was initially charged in Maine. He said the parents of the boys often thought that the offer by a priest to take a boy on such a trip was an honor and the parents would think there was something wrong with their child if he resisted subsequent offers of trips.
Former St Louis priest accused of sex abuse in 1970s
KSDK
ST. LOUIS COUNTY - New accusations of sexual abuse have opened up a 40-year-old case against a local Catholic priest.
The victim says Reverend Dennis Zacheis sexually abused him as a child. The Archdiocese says this happened while Zacheis was an associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Oakville from 1975 to 1979.
He also served at St. Mary Magdalen in St. Louis; Christ, Prince of Peace in Manchester; St. Matthias in Lemay; St. Gertrude in Krakow, Missouri; and St. Alban Roe in Glencoe.
Illinois man admits to child sex assault, abuse
A 31-year-old Elgin man faces prison after admitting to sexually assaulting and abusing a girl under 13 during a four-year period.
Freddy D. Copeland, of the 1200 block of Fleetwood Drive, recently plead guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual assault, both felonies.
Copeland is accused of having sexual contact and molesting the victim from Dec. 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2015, according to Kane County court records.
He entered a "blind" or "cold" plea in which a defendant admits guilt without having a punishment agreed upon with prosecutors beforehand and leaves the decision up to a judge, in this case Linda Abrahamson.
Copeland faces six to 30 years in prison and lifetime registration as a sex offender when he's sentenced Jan. 31. Other, less severe charges were dismissed as part of the guilty plea, records show.
He has been held at the Kane County jail on $100,000 bail since early May 2016.
Copeland also has another criminal case pending for misdemeanor child endangerment, court records show. Copeland is accused of falling asleep Nov. 3, 2015, and allowing his toddler son to leave his apartment wearing only a T-shirt and diaper. The boy was found 500 feet east of South McLean, record show.
The child endangerment charge carries a top sentence of 364 days in jail.
Illinois man faces life in prison if convicted of
more serious sex abuse charges
By Matt Hopf Herald-Whig
QUINCY -- A Quincy man would automatically be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the more serious charges he faces after being accused of sexually assaulting two children.
Donald F. Miller, 77, pleaded not guilty to nine sexual abuse-related charges Monday in Adams County Circuit Court. Because the case involves two different accusers, he would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony.
Miller was arrested Aug. 18 after Quincy police said he had inappropriate contact with two children. He was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, attempted predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. He was indicted by an Adams County grand jury Oct. 5.
On Oct. 24, Miller was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Each predatory criminal sexual assault charges carries a sentence of six to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections if convicted. Miller also faces the possibility of consecutive sentences if convicted of some of the other charges.
The case was placed on the February jury trial docket.
Miller is set to return to court Dec. 1 for a status hearing. He remains free after posting $13,500 bond.
Nashville school board chair:
Maplewood sex misconduct case 'tragic,'
abuse training must improve
Dave Boucher, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
The fact a longtime Nashville principal did not tell Tennessee child welfare investigators about suspected sexual misconduct by a teacher against a minor student is "tragic" and points to a larger problem, Metro Nashville Board of Education Chairwoman Anna Shepherd said.
"Clearly we need to do a better job of telling our educators of what the expectations are, both legally and morally," Shepherd said Monday afternoon, referencing training for sex abuse reporting.
Former Maplewood High School teacher Janai Mercedes Smothers, 25, is accused of having ongoing sexual interactions with a then-14-year-old student during the 2015-16 school year.
Although then-school principal Ron Woodard wrote a memo in April 2016 calling for Smothers firing due to "morally reprehensible" conduct, a USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee investigation found:
The Department of Children's Services was never notified about the allegations;
Woodard's memo was not included in Smothers' personnel file; and
Smothers was allowed to resign.
Tennessee law requires anyone who knows of or suspects child abuse to report the information to DCS or law enforcement. Metro Nashville Public Schools policy requires reporting allegations to DCS.
"I can’t speak for Mr. Woodard, what he knew and didn't know, but being a longtime educator, I would be surprised if he didn’t know what the right courses of action," Shepherd said. "I have no idea why anybody has a difficult time doing what they know is legally or morally right."
Smothers was arrested Nov. 6 in Fresno, Calif., at the high school where she taught. A Fresno Unified School District spokeswoman said Smothers passed a background check when she was hired earlier this year.
After opening an investigation in April 2016, Nashville police "inadvertently" delayed providing the entire case file to the prosecutor's office until mid-2017, spokesman Don Aaron said.
MNPS spokeswoman Michelle Michaud did not directly answer questions as to why the memo was not included in Smothers' personnel file or why she was allowed to resign.
Woodard, now assistant superintendent of instruction for Maury County Schools, did not respond to questions Monday. Documents in Woodard's MNPS personnel file show employment records dating back to 2001.
76-year-old NY child molester arrested
for violating parole
for violating parole
By SCOTT DESMIT SDESMIT@BATAVIANEWS.COM
WARSAW - A 76-year-old village of Wyoming man on parole after serving more than three years in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage girl has been jailed after he violated parole, state police said.
John W. Kreutter of 37 Maple St. was arrested Wednesday by troopers and parole officers. He was arraigned and committed to Wyoming County Jail without bail.
Kreutter was convicted in 2012 of first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
The conviction came after a three-day trial where Kreutter represented himself on charges that he forcibly assaulted a 16-year-old while in Middlebury in 2011.
Kreutter was sentenced to three years and six months in state prison. He was released in July 2016 and is on post-release supervision until July 28, 2026.
Parole officers would not say what Kreutter did to violate parole, other than he violated certain terms of his supervision, which include participating in sex offender treatment programs.
Kreutter is listed as a Level 2 sexually violent offender on the New York State Sex Registry, the second highest level of offender.
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