Jury Recommends 6 Life Sentences For Tulsa Man Found Guilty Of Child Sex Abuse
BY: NEWSON6.COM
TULSA, Oklahoma - A jury recommends a Tulsa man serve six life sentences for sexually abusing a young relative.
The girl told investigators Anthony Henson would show her pornography and then perform sex acts together.
The jury also convicted him of physically abusing her. He will be sentenced in August.
Jury finds Idaho man guilty of child sexual abuse of 9 y/o girl
In the courtroom
By JOHNATHAN HOGAN
jhogan@postregister.com
A jury on Friday found an Idaho Falls man guilty of child sexual abuse after deliberating for two-and-a-half hours following a three-day trial.
Mario Cervantes Hernandez, 45, was arrested in December after his interactions with a 9-year-old girl raised concerns with her mother. He was charged with child sexual abuse by causing or having sexual contact with a minor under 16 years of age.
The mother found text messages on her daughter’s phone from September in which Hernandez asked the victim to take pictures of herself after taking a shower.
The 9-old-girl would spend time at Hernandez’s house playing with his daughters, the oldest of whom was 3. Many of her interactions with Hernandez included him hugging her from behind, buying her gifts and clothing and kissing her. In text messages he referred to her as his “girlfriend.”
Hernandez admitted to an Idaho Falls Police Department detective to sending the messages found on the girl’s phone and to all of the touching alleged by the victim, except an accusation that he pinched her breasts.
Thomas Tueller, the owner of Tueller Counseling Services who works with victims of child sexual abuse, testified about the steps involved when a child is groomed for sex, including identifying a victim, building trust, playing a role in his or her life, isolating them from others, establishing a secret relationship, making sexual contact and maintaining control.
Other witnesses included the victim, her mother and Hernandez’s ex-girlfriend.
Defense Attorney Jordan Crane asked if some of the steps, such as building trust and playing a role in a child’s life, might be innocent interactions, to which Tueller agreed.
The prosecution wrapped up its case around 3 p.m. Thursday. The defense did not call any witnesses.
Both sides gave closing arguments Friday morning.
Bonneville County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Dewey pointed out how many of Hernandez’s interactions with the victim met the steps of grooming a child. He asked the jury to recall the victim’s testimony.
“(The victim’s) testimony was that Mario would hug her from behind, that this happened lots of times, that the hugs started out more normal and that they got worse and worse,” Dewey said.
He also reminded the jury of testimony that Hernandez would kiss her roughly on the mouth, snapped her bra from behind and that he got into her bed, hugged her and left. Dewey said they should consider the recording of Hernandez’s interview with the detective, in which he admitted to this behavior.
“Why is it that no other adult sees these acts, these particular acts that (the victim) is telling you escalated to the point where they were inappropriate and sexual?” Dewey asked.
Dewey also pointed to a text conversation that took place after Hernandez had not had contact with the victim for awhile. Hernandez asked if anyone was telling her not to talk to him. When she said no, Hernandez told her they have a “special” relationship.
During his closing argument, Crane argued the case amounted to the words “could be,” the words used by Tueller when Dewey asked about grooming.
“You know what ‘could be,’ equals? Reasonable doubt,” Crane said.
Crane said the victim was led on by her mother and the police to see the interactions as abuse. He said that while his client’s actions may have crossed the lines of inappropriate, it did not amount to having sexual intentions, pointing to Hernandez’s girlfriend’s testimony that the hugging seemed normal.
Dewey gave a rebuttal to Crane’s arguments by bringing back the steps Tueller had offered in testimony. Dewey acknowledged behavior under some steps, especially building trust and establishing a relationship, could be innocent, but there was no explanation for establishing a secret relationship and isolating the victim, or for making sexual contact.
“This is not him being nice, this is not him not rejecting a child, this is him seeking a relationship with the child,” Dewey said.
The jury came back with a guilty verdict just before noon Friday.
Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. Aug. 20 in Bonneville County Courthouse. Child sexual abuse by causing or having sexual contact with a minor under 16 years of age is punishable with up to 25 years in prison.
Larry Nassar charged with sex assault in Texas
Associated Press
Dallas – Disgraced ex-sports doctor Larry Nassar and a former trainer were charged with sexual assault on Friday following an investigation involving an elite gymnastics center in Texas.
A grand jury indicted Nassar on six counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, while a former trainer, Debbie Van Horn, was indicted on one count, Walker County prosecutor Stephanie Stroud said during a news conference in Huntsville. Details of the alleged assaults weren’t immediately released.
Nassar is already serving decades in prison for sexual assault and child pornography possession in Michigan, where hundreds of women and girls accused him of sexually abusing them under the guise of medical treatment. They said the abuse stemmed back decades, including while he worked for USA Gymnastics, which is responsible for training Olympic gymnasts, and Michigan State University.
The new charges stem from an investigation at the famed gymnastics training center just outside Huntsville that was run by former national women’s gymnastics team coordinators Bela and Martha Karolyi. Five former gymnasts implored authorities last month to determine whether the Karolyis could have prevented abuse at their facility. Two gymnasts said Nassar abused them there.
Stroud said Friday that no charges were filed against the Karolyis, who have denied knowledge of any mistreatment at their since-closed facility about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Houston.
“Bela and Marta Karolyi were interviewed at length. The Karolyis were and remain fully cooperative with this investigation. There is no corroborated evidence of any criminal conduct” by the couple, Stroud said.
But, she added: “It’s our belief that there was a total failure by (USA Gymnastics) to protect athletes.”
The Karolyis are suing the U.S. Olympic Committee and with USA Gymnastics, seeking damages for the canceled sale of their training center – a transaction that tanked in the wake of the Nassar sex-abuse cases. They’re seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Several former gymnasts have filed lawsuits as well. One of them, Sabrina Vega, said in a lawsuit in May that USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Karolyis failed to protect her and other athletes.
Vega, who was on the team that won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships, alleges the organizations along with the Karolyis ignored signs about Nassar’s behavior or should have known he posed a risk to the gymnasts he treated.
Vega alleges that during medical treatments, Nassar molested her hundreds of times from 2008, when she was 12 years old, until 2012, during competitions and while she trained at the Karolyi ranch.
Texas’ governor ordered an investigation into what he called “gut-wrenching” allegations after the gymnasts came forward in Texas. The Texas Rangers are leading the ongoing investigation, which also includes Walker County prosecutors and sheriff’s officials.
Walker County District Attorney David Weeks said he wants to bring Nassar to Texas to face the charges. Nassar is currently housed at a federal prison in Arizona.
“There are a number of hoops we have to jump through to get him here,” Weeks said during Friday’s news conference.
Congress passed a bill in January that makes members of amateur sports organizations, including those that run Olympic sports, mandatory reporters of sexual abuse. It also requires the organizations to implement standard protections for athletes.
Sicko indicted in sex assault of 5-year-old Brooklyn girl after he posed as doctor to examine her 'private part'
By CHRISTINA CARREGA
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
A Brooklyn grand jury has indicted a perv who pretended to be a doctor to lure a little girl into a basement stairwell and molest her, according to court documents.
Abraham Samotin, who was arrested May 17 in the sexual assault of the 5-year-old girl, pleaded not guilty on Friday.
Although he verified his image in surveillance photographs with the child, he claimed he was not hurting her, authorities said.
“I saw her and thought she needed help,” Samotin told police. “I walked across the street and told her that I am a doctor and wanted to check her for bruises or if she was bleeding from her private part.”
Samotin, 27, said he was concerned the girl was the victim of abuse and walked with her to the basement stairwell outside of her Crown Heights home on May 16, according to his statements.
“I kissed her on her cheek and stomach to calm her down,” said the sicko, who denied kissing her anywhere else after moving her underwear to the side during his “examination.”
Samotin said he heard the child screaming as he walked away from the building and “started to run because I thought something bad happened.”
Officials released Samotin’s photograph after his arrest in the event other children have been assaulted.
The career criminal, who has two other pending cases on burglary and theft charges, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top charge of committing a first-degree criminal sex act. He’s also charged with sexual abuse in the first and second degrees, sexual misconduct, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.
Samotin was remanded at his arraignment Friday afternoon.
Alabama Man Charged With Sexual Abuse Of Children
By Michael Seale, Patch Staff
BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has charged a 34-year-old Pinson man with sexual abuse of two young girls.
On June 25, the Sheriffs Office received a report that two children had been sexually abused by an adult male. The case was investigated by the Sheriff's Youth Services Division, and determined the abuse occurred over a two year period.
A search warrant was executed at the suspect's home on June 26. He was taken into custody and questioned by detectives. During questioning, he admitted to abusing the children.
The suspect, identified as Thomas Whitlock of Pinson, was arrested and taken to the Jefferson County Jail. Detectives obtained arrest warrants formally charging him with two counts of Sexual Abuse of a Child Less than 12 Years Old, Sexual Abuse 1st Degree, and Sodomy 1stDegree. He remains in the Jefferson County Jail with bond set at $150,000.
Convicted Alabama sex offender indicted on
child sex abuse charges
child sex abuse charges
By Carol Robinson crobinson@al.com
A 56-year-old convicted sex offender is facing three new felony charges for a similar crime, this time involving a child.
Howard Jonathan McCaa, who lives in Tuscaloosa County, has been indicted by a grand jury. He is charged with three counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.
According to the indictment, which was made public Friday, the incidents happened on Feb. 10, Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. The victim was the same in all three incidents and records state he subjected the child to sexual contact. Additional details were not made available.
McCaa was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Feb. 15 and remains behind bars.
He was convicted in 1991 of first-degree sex abuse of a 30-year-old woman and received a three-year suspended sentence. He has been charged multiple times since for violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
New Jersey Teacher Sentenced for Distributing Child Sexual Abuse Materials
A former Keansburg middle school teacher has been sentenced to a 3-year prison term for distributing child sexual abuse materials, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Marc S. Marinoff, 31, of Pear Drive in Marlboro, previously pleaded guilty to one count of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child involving the Distribution of Child Pornography on April 9, 2018. Today, Marinoff was sentenced to a 3-year state prison term and will be subject to the provisions of Megan’s Law upon his release from prison. Marinoff is also permanently banned from holding any public employment in New Jersey and has forfeited his current public post as a school teacher. The sentence was handed down by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ellen Torregrossa-O’Connor.
Marinoff was arrested last year after detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office conducted a search of his home and various personal electronic devices were seized and examined, revealing child sexual abuse items had been possessed and distributed. A forensic examination of the devices disclosed that Marinoff distributed videos depicting the sexual abuse of children via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program – an online connection of computers allowing the sharing of files directly between individual users. Marinoff was a teacher at the Joseph R. Bolger Middle School in Keansburg.
The case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Margaret Koping.
Long Island man sentenced to 14 years in prison
for child sex abuse
By Zachary R. Dowdyzachary.dowdy@newsday.com
A Northport, NY man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a young male relative at least four times over seven years was sentenced to 14 years in prison Thursday, officials said.
“This defendant used his relationship with a child and his family to repeatedly and brazenly abuse a child over a seven-year period,” Singas said in a news release. “A brave young survivor stood up to the defendant, who betrayed his trust and subjected him to both physical and emotional abuse by threatening the victim’s mother if the survivor reported Abodalo’s actions. The defendant is being held accountable because of the courage of this young, heroic man.”
But Abodalo’s attorney, Michael Alber of Commack, said he has already filed a notice of appeal.
“We’re disappointed in the jury’s verdict,” he said. “We thought that based upon the evidence in the case that the complaining witness was not credible. We genuinely believe in his innocence and have every intention of going forward on the appeal and exposing the lies and fabrications.”
Prosecutors said the assaults occurred in Nassau County between April 1999 and March 2006, when the victim was between 3 and 10 years old. Officials said that the victim was told multiple times by Abodalo to keep the abuse secret or his mother would "get hurt."
But the boy told his parents in February 2009, prosecutors said.
Abodalo was previously sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting his nephew, the DA says.
Former Hanna Boys Center clinical director takes plea deal in sex abuse case in CA
MARY CALLAHANTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Former Hanna Boys Center clinical director Kevin Scott Thorpe pleaded no contest Friday to child sex assault charges in a plea deal that will avert a trial in perhaps Sonoma County’s highest-profile sex abuse case in recent memory.
He will be required to permanently register as a sex offender upon any release. He also will be subject to consideration for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator if he is determined to be too dangerous to return to the general population, prosecutors said.
As a caseworker and then clinical director of the 73-year-old center for at-risk youth in Sonoma Valley, Thorpe had close contact with scores of vulnerable adolescent and teenage boys in his care, including three of the four victims in the criminal case.
A married father of two young girls, he knew the fourth victim outside of work. Separately, the state residential care licensing board that oversees the Hanna Boys Center accused Thorpe of molesting at least seven clients at the residential facility and school, which is affiliated with Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa.
The center earlier this year avoided a potential state shutdown that stemmed in part from the scandal, which included a whistleblower case brought by Thorpe’s predecessor at Hanna, Tim Norman.
Earlier this month, a Sonoma County jury awarded Norman $1.1 million dollars, finding he was wrongly terminated for speaking up about bullying, drug use and other unaddressed concerns at the home for troubled boys.
Two of the victims in the criminal case against Thorpe are brothers who also are plaintiffs in a civil case against him, the boys center and the Santa Rosa Diocese.
Prosecutors say the abuse against them began in 2007, when they were 14 and 15, and continued until 2011 and 2010, respectively.
During testimony at a May preliminary hearing in the criminal case, the victims detailed early encounters in Thorpe’s office in which he gave them pornography and talked about sex, eventually escalating his encounters to masturbation and finally incidents of oral sex in his office and elsewhere.
The victims said they submitted to the abuse because they believed Thorpe controlled their future at a facility that supplied food, care and structure they lacked in their family lives.
With his ruling Friday accepting the plea deal, Judge Dana Simons declared Thorpe guilty on five counts of unlawful oral copulation with a minor, five counts of unlawful copulation accomplished by duress, and one count of misdemeanor child molestation.
Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said the plea agreement negotiated through her office ensures Thorpe will be behind bars “for a considerable period of time” while sparing his young victims the trauma of testifying in the case.
Ravitch said the resolution also eliminates risks related to putting the case before a jury, given the complex relationship between a sex abuser of children and his victims.
“One of the challenges a prosecutor has is explaining to a jury why this conduct occurs repeatedly, why it isn’t reported immediately and why there is no evidence of physical force,” she said. “It’s emotional force that’s being used, by nature of the relationship, and it is a difficult case to explain to a jury.”
Yet, it happens all the time, everywhere. It should be easy enough to find examples of lawyers or experts who can articulate the issues.
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