In second trial, Decatur man found guilty on the same teenage rape charges
TONY REID tony.reid@lee.net
DECATUR — Garold Holloway, the Decatur man found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl in front of her teenage friend four years ago, was found guilty all over again in a bench trial that concluded Wednesday.
Holloway was convicted by Macon County Circuit Court Judge Phoebe Bowers on the same two counts of criminal sexual assault he had first been found guilty of in a two-day jury trial in 2014. The case was sent back to the court for retrial by the appellate court.
Holloway, 58, was sentenced to 30 years in prison at his first trial and Bowers set his re-sentencing date for Jan. 28. He could be sentenced to the same amount of time again, or a lesser amount, but legal rules stipulate he cannot be sentenced to more than his original sentence of 30 years.
First Assistant State’s Attorney Nichole Kroncke said the appellate court had ordered the retrial because it said a prosecutor’s instruction to the jury, saying the victim could not consent to sex because of her age, was in error given the nature of the charges as filed.
During the two-day bench trial, Holloway was represented by defense attorney Steve Jones, who filed several motions for a directed verdict of not guilty and to declare a mistrial, all rejected by Bowers.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Kurtz, who didn't prosecute the case in 2014. Among the witnesses she had to call was Holloway’s teenage victim, who again described being raped in a bedroom of Holloway’s home while he restrained her and her teenage female friend could only look on, not realizing what he was doing to her under the bedspread.
“It was very difficult that the victim had to relive that experience again and speak about it in public,” said Kroncke. “It was very traumatizing for her.”
At his trial in 2014, Holloway had claimed the girl had seduced him, and the assault wasn’t his fault. The judge in that case, James Coryell, had called the claim “totally absurd” and had described the state’s sentencing recommendation of 15 years for each rape offense, to be served consecutively, as “conservative” given the nature of the crimes and Holloway’s lack of remorse.
Child Sex Predator gets 25-year prison sentence after emotional victim statements
TONY REID tony.reid@lee.net
DECATUR — A convicted Decatur sexual predator who prosecutors said used his status as a “father figure” to prey on two girls under the age of 13 was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison Thursday.
Wesley A. Tyson, 41, appeared in custody in Macon County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony. Judge Thomas Griffith sentenced him to 22 years on that offense and added on a three-year sentence, to be served consecutively, after Tyson also pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse to a girl under 13, a Class 2 felony.
The sentencing was part of a plea deal negotiated by Tyson’s former public defender, Timothy Tighe, that saw Griffith dismiss 12 additional charges of predatory criminal sexual assault and 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. One count of child pornography was also dismissed.
Tyson pleaded guilty at a hearing Sept. 25 when Assistant State’s Attorney Kate Kurtz had described how Tyson had come into contact with his victims through his relationship with an adult woman. The original total of 25 charges had covered a time span between November 2010 and January this year.
Before the sentence was announced, Griffith heard victim impact statements describing the emotional trauma the sexual assaults had inflicted on the families involved. A mother of the victims told the court: “I don’t understand why he would want to hurt the kids ... I feel so devastated he could do such a horrible thing to the kids.”
Victim Advocate Todd Tuggle read several statements on behalf of the girl victims. One child described how she struggled with bad dreams after the abuse and how her behavior had changed. “I am mean to my mom and my sisters; I cuss them out and I like to tear up my neighbor’s mail because it makes me feel better. I like to get into fights.”
Another girl said she lost trust in Tyson, whom she had seen as a father figure. “I feel like I have no dad because my real dad don’t come around; it makes me sad.”
In addition to the prison sentences, Tyson was ordered to register as a sexual predator for life. Tyson was represented at Thursday’s hearing by Chief Public Defender David Ellison, who took over for Tighe, who is no longer with the public defender’s office.
In 2001, two boys helped send a man to prison
in Maryland for 450 years for sexual abuse
They now say it never happened
By Cameron Dodd cdodd@newspost.com
Ricky Malee is patient.
He fills his days drawing pictures, braiding necklaces from threads of discarded clothing, writing letters and rereading old documents.
Seventeen years ago he was an athletic, handsome 40-year-old man. When he’d go to bars, women offered to buy him drinks. Now his brown hair is balding, and his beard is patched with gray. His face wrinkles up when he smiles. He was a gifted basketball player, but some days his knee pain has him walking with a cane.
His peers like him. Good at sewing, he mends clothing for them. They don’t often subject him to the violence they once did.
Malee calls his mother often. She’s his main lifeline to the outside world. But when she visits, they have to almost shout to hear each other through holes in a plexiglass divider. They’re allowed to hug only once when their hour together is over.
That’s all the physical contact you’re allowed when you’ve been sentenced to 450 years in prison.
“An innocent person is in prison right now.
No one in the family believes it truly happened
— because it really didn’t.”
In 2001, a Frederick County jury convicted Malee of more than two dozen sex offenses and several counts of child abuse. Although the allegations were disturbing, there was no conclusive physical evidence. The boys’ mother and grandmother denied the allegations. The case was based largely on the testimony of two boys, the alleged victims, the sons of his then-wife.
The jury found the case believable and pronounced Malee guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Both boys — now men — today say the allegations were never true.
This is quite an extensive story, you can read the details at the Frederick News-Post.
Women say they were sexually abused by
Jehovah’s Witnesses members in California
Romy Maple, who founded nonprofit SAFE707 to help victims of child sexual abuse, was brought to the national spotlight after appearing in an A&E documentary series in May. (Shaun Walker — The Times-Standard file)
By SHOMIK MUKHERJEE | smukherjee@times-standard.com |
Two different women came forward in 2018 with stories of repeated sexual abuse during their childhood by adult members of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
One woman, Romy Maple, said she was repeatedly drugged and sexually abused by the same man starting when she was 4 years old. She said other members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses ignored her efforts to alert them to the abuse.
Years later, Maple appeared prominently in the A&E documentary series, “Cults and Extreme Belief,” which brought her story to national attention. Maple has since launched a nonprofit, 707SAFE — which stands for Sexual Assault Fighters Elite — offering “coaching, transitional and transformational support” to fellow survivors of child sexual abuse, according to Maple’s GoFundMe page.
Another woman, who gave her name as Sister Star, said she was drugged, filmed and sexually abused at a Eureka hotel by a family friend and fellow member of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said her grandfather and other men did the same to her months before, and further said her stepfather sexually abused her throughout her childhood years.
Sister Star came forward with her story of sexual abuse in August. (Jose Quezada — The Times-Standard file)
As in Maple’s case, Sister Star said elders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses took no action to help her.
Jehovah’s Witnesses World Headquarters offered the Times-Standard the following comment earlier this year:
“Jehovah’s Witnesses abhor child abuse and view it as a crime. (Romans 12:9)” the document states. “We recognize that the authorities are responsible for addressing such crimes. (Romans 13:1-4) The elders do not shield any perpetrator of child abuse from the authorities.”
No criminal action has been taken in either Maple or Sister Star’s cases due to existing statute-of-limitations laws. In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill dismissing the statute of limitations for crimes of rape, sexual assault and other sexual offenses committed in 2017 and onward.
PA man charged with sexual abuse of a child
by CBS 21 News
Steelton Borough Police have arrested Damian Fresse for crimes involving child sexual abuse.
Police started their investigation into sexual crimes involving a juvenile victim in September.
Fresse is charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a victim less than 16 years old, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual abuse of a child, statutory sexual assault, among other offenses.
Online court documents show that Fresse is free from prison on $30,000 unsecured bail.
Steelton, PA
South Carolina man, 82, charged with
child sex crime from early 1970s
By Chris Lavender
An 82-year-old Duncan man has been accused of committing child sex crimes nearly a half-century ago.
Gussie Ballenger, of 145 Rosewood Circle, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11. He was booked into the Spartanburg County jail.
The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation Dec. 13 when the victim, who is now 54, contacted the Sheriff’s Office and told deputies the incidents occurred between 1970 and 1972, Lt. Kevin Bobo said in an email.
The alleged incidents occurred at different points in the woman’s life, with one occurring when she was between 6 and 7, and another when she was between 9 and 10, according to Bobo. An incident report indicates the crimes took place in Wellford and Lyman.
Investigators referred the victim’s case to the Children’s Advocacy Center, where she gave a detailed account of what happened, Bobo stated. After consulting with the Solicitor’s Office, investigators presented their findings to a magistrate judge, and two warrants were issued for Ballenger’s arrest.
Not uncommon
Suzy Cole, Children’s Advocacy Center executive director, declined to comment about this specific case. But she said, generally, it’s not uncommon for minors to keep sexual abuse committed against them a secret.
“A vast majority of children who are abused never report it to authorities,” Cole said. “Sexual predators are very savvy in finding children that are the most vulnerable and who are least likely to tell.”
Cole said a report from Darkness to Light, a nonprofit committed to empowering adults to prevent child abuse, showed that 90 percent of child abuse victims know their abuser, and 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before 18.
1 in 10 - that's not counting peer on peer child sex abuse, unfortunately, otherwise the ratio would be much worse.
The report also showed that only 38 percent of children who have been sexually abused report it to someone. Cole said children who are abused are often reluctant to say anything because most of the time the abuse is committed by someone they know.
And, in spite of the abuse, it may be someone they love. Many times the reluctance comes from a sense of guilt which predators often create in their victims - convincing them that it was their fault, or that they somehow agreed to go along with it.
Keeping sexual abuse hidden can create complications in adulthood, she said. Cole said children who are sexually abused often carry emotional scars throughout their lives if left untreated.
Today, Cole said, more professionals, like teachers and law enforcement, are trained to help detect when a child may have been sexually abused by noticing a change in their behavior.
2018 is outpacing last year in the number of children referred to the Children Advocacy Center for services. In 2017, 735 children were referred to the organization, which provides services to children who have been sexually and or physically abused. Cole said there’s been a 10 percent increase this year in the number of referrals.
The Sheriff’s Office believes there could be other victims in the Ballenger case, Bobo stated. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call investigator Megan Bennett at 864-503-4598.
It Took 20 Years, But The Feds Have Charged Montana Man In A Child Sex Abuse Case
Tyler Kingkade
BuzzFeed News Reporter
More than 20 years after the alleged crimes, federal prosecutors have charged a former high school athletic trainer with sexual abuse of a minor in connection with accusations he molested dozens of teenagers under the guise of making them better athletes.
BuzzFeed News published a detailed account this month of the allegations against James E. Jensen of Miles City, Montana, after talking to more than a dozen men who said they were victimized when they were minors. At the time, the men expressed anger that the state’s statute of limitations meant Jensen likely would not face criminal charges in the case. But three days later, a federal grand jury indicted the former Custer County District High School athletic trainer.
According to an indictment unveiled by the US attorney for Montana on Friday during Jensen’s first federal court appearance, Jensen used materials from the Internet to try to persuade boys to participate in what he called his “Program,” which allegedly involved molestation of dozens of boys. He’s charged with violating a law against using interstate commerce to “to entice and coerce” a minor to engage in sexual activity.
The three-page indictment did not go into detail about Jensen’s alleged internet use to lure boys, and a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office said they were not available to answer questions about the case due to the government shutdown.
The federal charges are the latest legal move against Jensen, now 78, who was known as “Doc” during his years as an athletic trainer. More than 30 men who say they were abused by Jensen when they were high school athletes have joined in a lawsuit filed against him in September.(10th story on link). That lawsuit says Jensen molested kids as far back as the ’80s and may have abused as many as 200 boys. Separately, Jensen faces state criminal charges involving child pornography that prosecutors say was found on his computer.
After the lawsuit was filed, Jensen admitted to local news outlets that he had masturbated boys, but he denied some of their allegations of anally penetrating them. Local police investigated Jensen last fall but said the state’s statute of limitations for charging him with sex abuse had passed. The statute of limitations does not apply to federal charges involving child sex abuse.
Jensen has pleaded not guilty to both the state and federal charges, according to the Billings Gazette. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the federal charge alone.
The federal indictment echoes the lawsuit and states that Jensen practiced his Program on school property. The school has denied any of its employees knew of alleged abuse by Jensen during his time there, but some of the men told BuzzFeed News that they’d complained about Jensen’s behavior to athletic department employees. In addition, a 1997 memo signed by top school administrators, including one who is now a state lawmaker, directed Jensen to end his “Mentorship Program,” and said he could no longer give students full-body massages unsupervised.
Jensen's victims have all remained anonymous so far. They came together to file the lawsuit after Jensen began sending friend requests to several of them on Facebook, and after he asked for forgiveness in a cryptic message posted in an alumni group for the high school.
According to the Gazette, some of Jensen’s accusers were in court Friday. “I wanted to look him in the eye. I wanted to let him know I’m still here, I’m not backing down,” one of them told the newspaper.
New Jersey swim instructor had years-long sexual relationship with 13-year-old
By Eyewitness News
TENAFLY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A swim instructor in New Jersey was charged with having sexual relations with a 13-year-old child.
Police said 23-year-old Kevin Guo, of Tenafly, was arrested on Thursday.
He's accused of repeatedly engaging in sexual acts with the 13-year-old over the course of two years.
He was charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Shouldn't it be aggravated sexual assault since he was twice her age and her instructor?
Utah judge sides with child rapist's rights
over child victim's welfare
Utah group fights orders requiring child victims
to testify at preliminary hearings
By Annie Knox
A Utah girl told investigators she was 12 years old when a man she knew gave her alcohol and raped her in April. The Utah Court of Appeals now is weighing whether she can be compelled to take the stand against him at a preliminary hearing.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah girl told investigators she was 12 years old when a man she knew gave her alcohol and raped her in April.
The Utah Court of Appeals now is weighing whether she can be compelled to take the stand against him at a preliminary hearing to determine if there's enough evidence for the case to advance to a trial.
Attorneys for the girl say evidence of the man's crimes is already strong. Being forced to testify, they argue, would compound her trauma and would not change the facts. But lawyers for 28-year-old Ivan Michael Lopez contend it's his right to have his legal team cross-examine the girl, who is now 13.
The issue "is of great public significance and has a tendency to evade review," 3rd District Judge James Blanch wrote in an October decision. He sided with Lopez's attorneys, declining to block a subpoena ordering the girl's testimony.
The judge indicated there is probable cause for Lopez to stand trial, with evidence including video of the girl's interview with investigators, plus statements in court from the responding officer and a detective. Still, calling her to testify is "not unreasonable," he wrote, due to her mature demeanor and age.
OMG Judge. Give your head a shake. She will have to face cross-examination by a lawyer, twice. She's 13 years old, not 30. You could end up setting child sex abuse trials back a decade. This would be victim abuse. Somebody has to listen to the children.
Lawyers for the accused man contend no Utah law bars his legal team from questioning the girl. “Crime victims do not have a right under Utah law to refuse to testify at court hearings when they have been lawfully served with a subpoena,” his attorney, Jessica Jacobs, wrote in court filings.
But perpetrators do have a right to refuse to take the stand! How fair is that?
Lawyers for the girl say otherwise.
Cross-examining her “is the very type of traumatic and intimidating ordeal the Legislature was attempting to curb” in a list of crime victims' rights spelled out in the Utah Constitution, the girl's attorney, Bethany Warr, wrote in court documents. Those who come forward as victims in Utah are entitled to be "treated with fairness, respect and dignity, and to be free from harassment and abuse throughout the criminal justice process," Warr noted.
The Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic in November petitioned the Utah Supreme Court for permission to appeal the case, and the review now is pending in the Court of Appeals.
The issue has often surfaced in Utah's courtrooms, Blanch wrote in his order allowing the subpoena to go forward. But he said victims in many cases have already testified by that point, and defendants often don't want to draw out the case by filing an appeal if they are denied the opportunity to question young victims.
The Supreme Court considered the question earlier this year, in the case of a different 12-year-old girl who prosecutors say was sexually abused by her mother's live-in boyfriend in Utah County in 2014. The girl also gave a statement recorded on video at the Children's Justice Center, and the judge in the case agreed with prosecutors that forcing the girl to testify would violate her right to be treated fairly as a victim.
The man appealed in an effort to secure her testimony, but the Utah Supreme Court in August declined to take a side. It wrote that the man did not appeal the judge's broader decision ordering him to stand trial, so the issue of the child testifying was moot.
Justice John Pearce wrote in the opinion that "we must dismiss this appeal and await another opportunity to answer the question."
Lopez faces charges of raping a child and aggravated sex abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies, plus selling, offering or furnishing alcohol to a minor, a class A misdemeanor. He has not entered pleas to the crimes alleged to have taken place on April 30.
The judge in his order directed the courtroom to be closed to people unrelated to the case and directed Lopez to wait in a holding cell at the time of the teen's testimony. A date for the remainder of the preliminary hearing has not yet been set.
Similar debates have arisen nationally. A 2018 bill introduced in Congress sought to prevent defendants acting as their own attorneys from questioning minor victims, but it did not get a hearing.
The proposal from U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., followed the Arizona child sexual abuse case of Chris Simcox, the leader of a border militia group who represented himself and sought to cross-examine two girls under age 10, a plan he dropped after victims' rights attorneys sought for the U.S. Supreme Court to block him from doing so. In 2016, he was convicted of abusing one of the children and acquitted of abusing the other.
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