Wisconsin woman accused of trading sex with children
for drugs and cash
Most evil Mother of the Year, so far
A Wisconsin woman is accused of allowing men to sexually assault two children in exchange for drugs, alcohol and cash.
Michelle Mayer, 39, of Eau Claire faces two counts of repeated sexual assault of a child, party to a crime.
Unbelievable!
According to a criminal complaint, Mayer was trafficking the children for at least 6 and a half years, using her mother’s house.
Mayer reportedly would allow men to photograph and have sex with the children in exchange for money or specifically meth and cocaine. A confidential informant told police sometimes the children would be injected with meth to keep them awake.
The informant told police the abuse had possibly been going on for as long as nine years, claiming the assaults occurred, “every other day.”
The informant didn't have names of the assaulters, saying they were all called “uncles" or went by street names like, “Dollar, Junior, Bam Bam and Pinky.”
If the children ever fought back, Mayer reportedly beat them with a baseball bat.
The children are now located safely away from Mayer. If convicted she faces up to 80 years behind bars.
Man found guilty on 7 counts of child sexual abuse;
700-year sentence mandatory
Seaborn Larson, slarson@greatfallstribune.com
A jury on Great Falls Wednesday unanimously found a Great Falls man guilty on seven counts of sexual abuse of two children.
Due to the age gap between David Dean Komeotis and his victims, he will receive a mandatory 100-year prison sentence per count.
Both victims testified during the two-day trial. They are now 10 and 19 years old, although the abuse took place when they were 6 and 12 years old, deputy prosecutor Matt Robertson said.
Great Falls police first learned of the abuse in December 2016 after a 9-year-old boy told his mother Komeotis had molested him two years earlier.
The original charge was filed in February 2017, but as the case progressed, the victim told investigators about additional incidents. And in November 2017, the woman called a detective with Great Falls police to say another one of her children had come forward with additional allegations.
That child described Komeotis raping her on a monthly basis from the time she was 6 years old until she was 11. By the time she spoke with investigators, they noted she had cut marks on the inside of her wrists.
On Dec. 8, 2017, prosecutors filed six additional counts of child sexual abuse against Komeotis, bringing the total to seven.
At trial, Komeotis' defense attorneys claimed his victims had been coached to bring the allegations forward.
The jurors, who came to a verdict in less than two hours after a two-day trial, unanimously voted guilty on all seven counts.
Because the victims were younger than 12 years old, and Komeotis was older than 18, state law requires Komeotis be sentenced to 100 years in state prison on each of the seven counts.
His sentencing has not yet been set.
'The devil gets through him': Child sex abuse suspect says it's an accident
Emily Havens, ehavens@thespectrum.com
A West Valley man was arrested in Cedar City this week and charged with two first-degree felony counts of aggravated child sexual abuse.
Allan J. Bott, 71, is accused of sexually touching a 9-year-old girl from around July 7-14, 2017. He disclosed the abuse to his daughter as well as a representative of the Utah Department of Child and Family Services, according to the probable cause statement.
Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett said Bott and the 9-year-old girl were neighbors, and they traveled to Southern Utah together during the period in question.
Due to the position of trust Bott had over the girl, the charges are enhanced to aggravated.
A Cedar City police officer interviewed Bott at his home in August. The probable cause statement indicates Bott told the investigator he was with the girl, K.W., attending a play at the Shakespeare Festival on Southern Utah University's campus.
During the play, according to the statement, Bott told police K.W. "became upset and wanted to go home to her parents." Bott said the two left the play and sat outside in a secluded area, and he started rubbing her back because she told him she was homesick, the record says.
Bott told police he then began touching her chest underneath her shirt, the probable cause indicates.
"(Bott) said he had no intention, and it was an accident," arresting officer Justin Ludlow wrote in the statement.
Bott said he didn't want to touch the girl inappropriately, but that "the devil gets through him" and it just happened, Ludlow wrote.
Two days before Bott and K.W. were attending the play in Cedar City, the two were in St. George attending a performance at the Tuacahn Amphitheater, the statement reads.
According to the document, Bott said he touched the minor's vaginal area over her clothing for a period of five to 10 minutes.
Bott told police he "doesn't want to remember anything and he is trying to forget about it," Ludlow wrote in the report.
Court records indicate Bott has no prior criminal history in Iron County. His initial appearance in 5th District Court was Thursday, but he has yet to make a plea in his case.
Judge rules Elmhurst woman accused of
child sex abuse unfit to stand trial
By MARY STROKA
ELMHURST – DuPage County Judge John Kinsella ruled March 20 that an Elmhurst woman is not fit to stand trial at this time in a case dating back to 2015.
Renee Kearley, 49, of the 300 block of East Yorkfield Avenue, Elmhurst, was charged Aug. 2, 2016, with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to court documents. As stated in court documents, Kearley allegedly committed the offenses about noon July 1, 2015. The child reportedly was younger than 13 years old when the act was committed, according to documents.
Doctors whom the court had consulted had disputed whether Kearley was fit to stand trial since the time of the charges, documents state.
In addition, attorney Jim Ryan, who had represented Kearley, had filed a motion Feb. 8 to ask the court to allow him to withraw from the case, stating the defendant had "continually refused to cooperate with counsel and to assist in her own defense," according to documents.
In the motion's documents, Ryan stated Kearley had refused to discuss the facts of her case, allegations and the possible sentencing paramaters, to leave her cell at the DuPage County Jail to visit with her counsel, and to discuss with her counsel the issue of her fitness to stand trial.
However, Kinsella denied the motion, according to media reports.
Michael Kearley, 53, also of the 300 block of East Yorkfield Avenue, Elmhurst, was charged Aug. 2, 2016, with bribery, unlawful communication with a witness and harassment of witnesses in an effort to prevent a witness from testifying regarding the case involving his wife. According to court documents, Michael Kearley was found guilty of misdemeanor attempting to communicate with or detaining a witness on June 6, 2017.
Renee Kearley's next court date is scheduled for May 22, DuPage County State's Attorney's Office spokesman Paul Darrah said.
Fugitive makes first Colorado court appearance since arrest in Mexico
Jacy Marmaduke, jmarmaduke@coloradoan.com
DENVER — A man accused of fleeing child sex assault charges appeared in Colorado court on Thursday for the first time since his arrest in Mexico.
Family members of the children watched as Andrew Vanderwal, 27, sat silently through a brief hearing at the Alfred A. Arraj Courthouse. Vanderwal, clad in a khaki prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, appeared to avoid their eyes.
During the hearing, Magistrate Judge Nina Wang dismissed a federal criminal complaint against Vanderwal — unlawful flight to avoid prosecution — so he can be transferred into the custody of local authorities. Court proceedings for Vanderwal's child sex assault charges will take place within Larimer County district court, according to court records.
Vanderwal was listed as an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood as of Thursday morning. He'll be released from U.S. Marshals Service custody into the custody of local authorities after Wang's order is processed.
Vanderwal was previously in federal custody in Texas following his February arrest in Mexico. Authorities said he evaded arrest for over a year.
Fort Collins Police Services first arrested Vanderwal in November 2016. He was charged with five counts of sexual assault on a child.
Vanderwal, who posted his $7,500 bond and was released the day after his arrest, stopped showing up to his court dates in January 2017, court records show. A warrant for his arrest was issued Jan. 19, 2017.
Months later, police said they believed he'd fled to Mexico after the Criminal Impact Unit discovered a report that Vanderwal's vehicle had been abandoned on a bridge in El Paso, Texas, near the Mexico border. Officers contacted the FBI, which contacted Mexican authorities.
Vanderwal confessed in 2016 to sexually assaulting his then-roommate's son, who was 6 years old at the time, according to police reports. Other children later told police Vanderwal had victimized them, Fort Collins police Sgt. Kristy Volesky previously told the Coloradoan.
Louisiana man gets 9 years for possessing thousands of child porn images
By Kim Chatelain kchatelain@nola.com,
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
A Covington man was sentenced Thursday (March 22) to nine years in prison for possessing child pornography, a charge leveled against him in 2016 after authorities said they discovered he had 2,092 images and 297 videos showing the sexual exploitation of children.
Darrell Ricks, 66, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 13 of last year and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. Brown also ruled that Ricks' incarceration is to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. He must also register as a sex offender.
Ricks knowingly received and downloaded images and videos depicting the sexual victimization of minors from an unknown time through Oct. 21, 2016, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release.
Authorities said federal and state investigators served a search warrant Oct. 21 at a Covington-area home where Ricks lived. They discovered the videos and images on a computer in his bedroom and on three thumb drives.
Ricks told investigators he had been looking at child pornography for about three years and that his age of preference was 7 years old and older, a court document said.
The images and videos depicted acts of violence, bondage and bestiality involving children, the document said.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, the release said. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba.
Youth Hockey Coach Faces 10 More Indictments on
Child Sex Abuse Charges
By Shannon Longworth
A former Massachusetts youth hockey coach was indicted on 10 more counts of sexual assault on children on Thursday, according to authorities.
These charges have been added to five previous charges against 31-year-old Marblehead resident Christopher Prew, who is due back in court on Friday.
According to prosecutors, Prew used his position of authority as a youth hockey coach to ingratiate himself with his players' families and coerce his victims.
Prew has now been indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting seven boys in Essex County, according to the county's district attorney. He's due in Salem Superior Court on Friday to face the new indictments.
Earlier this month, 20 members of the Marblehead community rallied against him and sent letters to the judge involved with his case, asking her to refuse Prew bail. She agreed that Prew was still a present danger to children, and he was denied bail.
Prew, a former youth hockey coach, was initially accused of indecent assault and aggravated rape of a 9-year-old boy multiple times between September 2017 and January 2018. After his arrest in February, his attorney told NBC10 Boston Prew was intimately involved with the child's mother.
Prew's mother, Louise Martino, has also been indicted on a charge of witness intimidation in connection with the case after she was accused of threatening the mother of one of Prew's alleged victims on social media. She has not been arraigned.
Ex-police sergeant gets 120 years in Florida
child porn case
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A former Florida police sergeant was sentenced to 120 years in federal prison for making and possessing child pornography, including images downloaded on his patrol car's computer.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan on Thursday sentenced former Live Oak police Sgt. Kyle Adam Kirby after a jury found him guilty of producing, possessing and accessing images of child sexual abuse.
Federal prosecutors say the 37-year-old Kirby used his patrol car's computer to download child pornography dating back to December 2014.
They also say Kirby used concealed cameras to film unsuspecting minors and transferred the pictures to his police computer. Prosecutors say he later tried to delete them.
Live Oak Police Chief Alton "Buddy" Williams said in a statement that Kirby was a trusted friend who betrayed the public and his family.
Upstate New York teen charged with
sexually abusing child
ULYSSES, N.Y. – A Ulysses teen has been indicted and charged with sexual abuse after police say he had sexual contact with a child less than 11 years old.
Elijah R. Gumaer, 16, was indicted March 15 in Tompkins County Court on charges of first-degree sex abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Gumaer was arrested after an incident on Feb. 21 at a residence in Ulysses. According to court records, Gumaer admitted to police that he had taken off his clothing as well as the clothing of a child and touched the child inappropriately.
Police say Gumaer also admitted to at least five separate occasions when he had sexual contact with the child since Jan. 1.
Gumaer was arraigned in Tompkins County Court on Thursday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was remanded to the Tompkins County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash or $20,000 bail bond.
Ulysees, NY
Convicted Texas child sex offender accused of
molesting two girls
by SBG San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO — Police arrested a convicted child sex offender who is now accused of molesting two young girls.
Humberto Gonzales, who served six years in prison on a conviction of indecency with a child, is now charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child involving two young girls who are not related to him.
According to the arrest affidavit, Humberto Gonzales was living with his girlfriend and her two children. The young girls are ages 9 and 11 and have told investigators they were sexually abused by Gonzales for more than a year.
Why? Why would a mother allow a convicted sex offender into her home when she has 2 young girls? And then not ensure there was any abuse happening for more than a year? Good grief!
"Usually you are talking upwards into the 90 percentile of these cases when you’re dealing with sexual abuse, the perpetrator is known to the child and usually has easy access to the child,” said Randy McGibeny with ChildSafe.
Randy McGibeny at ChildSafe says abuse taking place for a long period of time without being reported or discovered is unfortunately not uncommon.
He says only 1 in 10 children being abused are going to come forward and make an outcry.
"In many child abuse cases the abuse goes on for a number of years, because the individual has long term access to the child and if the other care giver, the protective care giver is unaware that the abuse is happening, the child is not going to come forward and make an outcry of child abuse,” said McGibeny.
And if the other care-giver is aware of the abuse and is so pathetic as to allow it to continue, the child has no-one to report to without implicating her mother.
Gonzales is a registered sex offender after being convicted for indecency with a child. ChildSafe says that the girlfriend may or may not have known his past history.
"We don't always go to the sex offender registry and look to see that our partners are registered sex offenders, and as a result of not having that information, if he went through the grooming process and mom was fooled and tricked, she can't be held accountable for that,” said McGibeny.
The report states that when he was interviewed, Gonzales denied the allegations, but also said the victims "do not lie." He was asked to take a polygraph exam, but he refused, citing his obesity and high blood pressure.
A search of the Texas Sex Offender Registry shows Gonzales was previously convicted of indecency with an 8-year-old girl in 2007. He is now charged with aggravated sexual assault.
No comments:
Post a Comment