New Jersey high school teacher charged
after having sex with her student
and asking them to destroy evidence'
By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER
A high school teacher has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a student and trying to cover up the relationship.
Jessica Gaeckle, 30, was arrested Friday for having sex with the 18-year-old student on at least two occasions, it is claimed.
Gaeckle who is married, teaches English as a second language at Pleasantville High School in New Jersey.
She asked the student to destroy evidence once she learned a criminal investigation was launched, prosecutors said.
Gaeckle is charged with two counts of second degree official misconduct and one count of third degree hindering apprehension, officials say.
She was processed at the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and released on a summons, according to the release.
Though New Jersey's age of consent is 16, the age becomes 18 when it involves an adult with supervisory authority - in this case, a teacher.
Recently, New Jersey lawmakers attempted to make it a sex crime for teachers to have sex with students who are 18 and 19.
Gaeckle is the second staff member from the high school to be arrested within a year.
In August 2018, the principal of the school Edward Bonek, 48, was arrested at his home (12th story on link). He was charged with possessing and sharing images of child sexual abuse and pleaded not guilty in November.
Las Vegas man gets 45 years in prison for
rape of a one year old
By Forum Staff ReportsFARGO — A 43-year-old man was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 25, in federal court to 45 years in connection with the sexual abuse of a child.
KVLY |
Hogle will be on a lifetime of supervised release following his prison sentence.
He is required to pay about $12,000 in restitution.
According to the news release:
Authorities were made aware of the case after Dustin W. Kewley, of Fargo, began communicating with an undercover officer.
An investigation into Kewley and a forensic examination of his electronic devices revealed a text conversation between Kewley and Hogle where they discussed a “plan to meet for the purpose of sexually abusing a one-year-old child.”
The investigation revealed that in May 2017, Kewley took the one-year-old child to a hotel in Moorhead where Hogle and Kewley allegedly sexually abused the child and subsequently took steps to conceal the crime.
Kewley was sentenced in early January to 35 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to transport a minor, transportation of a minor, distributions of materials containing child pornography and possession of materials containing child pornography.
Hogle has a prior conviction for sexually abusing a child from 2008 in New Hampshire.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.
Fargo Man Sentenced For Sexual Abuse Of
One-Year-Old Child
TJ NelsonA Fargo man is sentenced to 35 years in prison after setting up a meeting with a Las Vegas man in Moorhead where they both sexually assaulted a one-year-old child.
36-year-old Dustin Kewley first came to the attention of authorities when he began communicating with an undercover officer in Washington, D.C.
After he sent a child porn video, the local FBI office was notified and a child was rescued from Kewley’s house.
During the investigation they uncovered the meeting with Bryan Hogle of Las Vegas.
The men abused the child together at a hotel in Moorhead on May 22, 2017.
Hogle has pleaded guilty to charges and will be sentenced on January 25.
Alabama court clerk tried for attempted
sexual abuse of 5 y/o child
Huntsville police now say that charge has been changed to attempted sex abuse of a child under 12.
Posted By: Sydney Martin, WAAY31Huntsville Municipal Court Clerk Jim Clark has been arrested on a charge of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old.
Huntsville police now say that charge has been changed to attempted sex abuse of a child under 12.
He was arrested before noon Thursday and released on a $2,500 bond. Huntsville police say the victim was 5 years old when the alleged incident occurred in 2014.
Police are not releasing more information since it is an open investigation.
A spokesperson for the city of Huntsville says the city is aware of the charge and that Clark's position has limited contact with the public and that he is innocent until proven guilty.
NY State man arraigned on sexual abuse,
child pornography charges
By: Kaley Lynch (WIVB) - A 24-year-old Lancaster man has been arraigned on sex abuse charges, accused of subjecting two underage victims to sexual contact on July 4.
Jeremy Casey is charged with first degree sexual abuse, second degree sexual abuse, and two counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child. He was arraigned on Thursday.
During the investigation into the sexual abuse allegations, several images of child pornography were found on Casey's cell phone, the Erie County DA's Office said.
If convicted on all charges, Casey faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
He's scheduled to return to court on Feb. 28.
Wyoming man arrested for sexual abuse
of his son and nephew
Paul Daniel Hatcher, of Chugwater, is accused of molesting his son and nephew at his home in Laramie County between 2014 and 2015 when the boys were six years old.
Sheriff's Det. Aaron Foy says the department began investigating Hatcher in September 2016 after the boys' mothers reported the alleged sexual abuse.
Foy says Hatcher's nephew told a forensic interviewer that Hatcher made him touch his penis, perform oral sex, and allow Hatcher to sodomize him.
Hatcher is currently being held in the Laramie County jail on a $15,000 cash bond. His arraignment date has not yet been set.
$15,000 is not nearly enough! He should have no possibility of release before those boys are in their 20s.
$5.5 million suit revived, accuses Oregon Youth Authority of ignoring sex abuse
Whitney Woodworth, Salem Statesman Journal A recent Oregon Supreme Court ruling has given new life to a $5.5 million lawsuit accusing the Oregon Youth Authority of ignoring "rampant sexual abuse" of children and teens in state custody.
The opinion reversed a Marion County Circuit Court's dismissal of the case in 2016.
The lawsuit stems from the Youth Authority's employment of Frank Milligan, a former Salem and Keizer resident and convicted sex offender.
The claims provide a window into what attorneys for one of Milligan victims called a "general culture in which the abuse of juveniles was accepted."
Attorneys claim the multi-million dollar lawsuit could have a significant impact on the state's youth correctional system, leading to a sea change in workplace culture and security measures.
The Oregon Youth Authority employs just over 1,100 people throughout Oregon and oversees 1,400 youth as they move through the criminal justice system.
The suit is based on abuse at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, one of the Youth Authority's nine closed-custody facilities. Located in Woodburn, it has the capacity to serve 271 male juveniles.
The MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn (Photo: Statesman Journal file)
Milligan began working at MacLaren as a group life coordinator in 1997.
The lawsuit and other court documents show that a year later, a youth identified in the claim as "J.M." was sentenced in juvenile court and sent to MacLaren. The then-15-year-old was one of the youngest inmates at the facility.
Within two weeks of his arrival at MacLaren, the boy was cornered in the laundry room by Milligan, grabbed by his throat and sexually assaulted.
Milligan then told the teen no one would believe him if he reported the assault and threatened to cut off visitation time with his family if did.
Less than a week later, Milligan approached J.M. in the shower and ordered him to accompany him into the laundry room.
Once there, the teen resisted but Milligan told him: "This is what happens to kids in places like this."
Milligan sexually assaulted the teen. When he threatened to scream, Milligan told him he'd break his neck and "no one would know what happened."
J.M. later learned that Milligan had also allegedly sexually assaulted another young boy, who was mentally disabled, in his residence at MacLaren.
Throughout his incarceration, J.M said he lived in fear that Milligan would sexually assault him again and did not report his abuse.
He continued to repress all thoughts about the abuse after he was released from detention a year later, returned home to his family and until 2012, when news of the Penn State University child sex abuse scandal triggered memories of his own abuse.
For the first time ever, J.M. spoke about the abuse, telling his wife about what happened at MacLaren.
He decided to do an internet search for Milligan's name. What he found shocked and sickened him.
'Very, very sick in mind and soul'
His abuser was a known sexual predator, a man convicted of the sexual assault and attempted murder of a 10-year-old Dallas boy and an inmate serving a 36-year prison sentence.
Milligan previously worked for the Oregon State Hospital starting in 1994, when he was hired as a psychiatric aide in the youth ward. He later admitted to sexually abusing at least one 10-year-old boy at the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint described the hospital as being a "pedophile's dream" at the time and said officials did little to prevent abuse.
Milligan began working at MacLaren in May 1997. The victim's attorney, Dennis Steinman, accused Youth Authority officials of either failing to investigate his work history with the state hospital or learning of the danger he posed to minors and failing to do anything about it.
Only a few months after starting his new job, Milligan met an 11-year-old Salem boy through an employee at the state hospital and molested him during an outing at the coast in Seaside.
Youth Authority officials placed Milligan on leave in 1999 when they learned he was under investigation. Later that year, he was arrested and charged with sexually abusing the boy in Seaside.
He was released on bail and allowed to live with his parents in Keizer. One week before he was scheduled to appear in court, Milligan abducted a 10-year-old boy from a park in Dallas.
He took the boy to a field northeast of Salem, where he sexually assaulted him, shoved his face in the dirt until he lost consciousness, slashed his throat and left him for dead.
Frank Milligan (right) is escorted by a Marion County Deputy after being sentenced to 30 years in prison for the abduction and neck slashing of a Dallas boy in July 2000. (Photo: Statesman Journal file)
The boy survived, flagged down a passing car and reported the assault to police.
Milligan was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for the 1997 sexual abuse.
In 2001, he pleaded guilty to the kidnapping, abuse and attempted murder of the Dallas boy and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
During the sentencing, Marion County Judge Joseph Ochoa called Milligan a lying coward.
"The court can only conclude that you are extremely dangerous and very, very sick in mind and soul," Ochoa said. "You belong in prison. The purpose of sending you there is not to rehabilitate you but to protect society from your depraved and murderous behavior."
Milligan, now 50, is serving multiple sentences at the Two Rivers Correctional Facility. His earliest release date is 2071.
He ought to be pretty harmless by then!
Following Milligan's conviction in 2001, Oregon Youth Authority officials said they had no reason to believe that Milligan victimized youth while he was employed at MacLaren.
Pattern of abuse revealed
Upon learning about Milligan's history as a sexual predator, J.M. said he realized how much Youth Authority officials had failed in protecting him from abuse.
He reported the abuse to police, and Milligan was indicted on charges of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse.
In 2015, a Marion County jury found Milligan guilty on all three counts. He maintained his innocence throughout his trial and sentencing.
Marion County Circuit Judge Cheryl Pellegrini sentenced him to 35 years in prison — the maximum sentence allowed for those crimes.
Steinman said Milligan's crimes were just a symptom of a much larger problem at the youth authority.
While Milligan was the one who personally abused the teen, "he was only able to do so because he worked within a culture fostered by (the Oregon Youth Authority) and its officials in which the sexual abuse of juveniles was ignored and allowed to be done with impunity," Steinman said.
They did so by failing to respond and investigate reports of abuse, failing to properly supervise employees and failing to institute policies that would have safeguarded against abuse, he added.
He cited the conviction of former youth authority probation officer Michael Boyles as one sign of the widespread and rampant abuse. Boyles was arrested on more than 90 counts of sodomy, abuse and misconduct involving several children under the supervision of the Youth Authority.
Boyles was accused of sexually abusing children for more than a decade even after a victim's grandmother wrote more than a dozen letters to officials in 1995 expressing fear that her grandson was being abused. Boyles was convicted on dozens of sex abuse counts and sentenced to 80 years in prison in 2005.
"OYA is committed to the safety of the youth in its care," Youth Authority spokesman Benjamin Chambers said.
He said new employees are screened by checking the state child abuse registry, performing a criminal records check, and sending fingerprints to the FBI via the Oregon State Police for a nationwide background check.
The agency performs a criminal records check on all existing employees annually and rechecks for valid driver’s licenses for relevant positions.
"In addition, we comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act standards, which are designed to protect incarcerated youth and adults from sexual abuse," Chambers said. "Every two years, an external contractor visits each of our facilities and conducts an audit that is shared with federal overseers."
The agency's Professional Standards Office also runs a complaint hotline and shares it widely with youth, families and staff.
"PSO investigates reports of abuse in our close custody facilities, residential providers, and foster homes, and work closely with the Oregon State Police when criminal investigations are warranted," he said. "Their work is aided by the fact that all of our living areas in our close custody facilities are covered by video cameras."
The $5.5 million lawsuit
In 2014, on behalf of his client, Steinman filed a complaint against Milligan, the Oregon Youth Authority and its leaders alleging that Milligan's abuse — and the agency's complacency — violated J.M.'s federal constitutional rights to be free from abuse and cruel and unusual punishment.
He requested $5 million for "severe and debilitating emotional injury," pain, suffering, trauma and permanent psychological damage and an additional $500,000 for counseling, psychiatric treatment and lost earning capacity.
Attorneys for the youth authority argued that J.M.'s claim was time-barred by the statute of limitations requiring him to file a complaint within two years of "discovery" of the abuse, which they claimed was when the sexual assault took place.
But Steinman argued that the true discovery took place in 2012 when news events triggered J.M.'s memories and his research made him realize how complacent the Youth Authority was in his abuse.
Marion County Judge Claudia Burton dismissed the case in 2016. J.M. appealed the case, and after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's decision, the state's attorneys asked the Oregon Supreme Court to overturn this decision.
The Supreme Court sided again with Steinman's interpretation of the discovery rule — that the clock started ticking on the statute of limitations not when the abuse occurred but when J.M. realized the Youth Authority's alleged role in his abuse.
Steinman told the Statesman Journal Wednesday the ruling could have a huge impact on other cases involving the violation of constitutional rights, including freedom of speech and police brutality cases. It makes the road map for filing civil rights complaints and the timeline for when they can be filed much clearer.
"It's really a landmark decision," he said.
Steinman said his client felt vindicated by the ruling. "He was thrilled with the outcome because we believed we were right all along," he said.
Oregon Youth Authority officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The case will now return to circuit court for further proceedings.
"We believe (J.M.) has a significant case against the Oregon Youth Authority," Steinman said. "If we win at trial, it would certainly have an impact on the day-to-day operations at the Oregon Youth Authority because it's our belief that their practices, at least at the time the plaintiff was there at MacLaren, were not protective enough of the rights of the boys in their custody."
A jury ruling in J.M.'s favor would send a "pretty loud message" to the youth authority that their practices need to change, he added.
20 sex crimes against a child send North Carolina man to prison for a maximum 150 years
By Michael Hewlett Winston-Salem Journal
A Winston-Salem man was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison after a Forsyth County jury found him guilty of molesting a young girl for months while he drove her to and from a school bus stop next to her grandmother's house.
At the time, the girl was between 8 and 9 and the man was dating the girl's mother. The girl and mother had moved into the man's house, and the girl alleged the man also sexually abused her numerous times in the house.
Typical predator! He probably couldn't have cared less for the mother; he was after the child the whole time. That's how predators work.
Gabriel Lynn Burns, 45, of Alton Street, was convicted Friday of four counts of statutory sex offense by an adult offender and 16 counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. A jury of 12 people took about two and a half hours Friday before coming back with an unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts.
Judge Eric Morgan of Forsyth Superior Court consolidated some the charges and sentenced Burns to serve between approximately 105 years and 150 years in prison.
Burns will likely die in prison.
But by law, Morgan also had to determine whether Burns would have to register as a sex offender and for how long, if he is ever released from prison. Morgan determined that Burns would have to register as a sex offender and be under satellite-based monitoring for the rest of his life.
Dan Anthony, Burns' attorney, objected to the ruling on satellite-based monitoring. He argued that such monitoring violated Burns' constitutional rights and right to privacy. Anthony also argued that there was no evidence that Burns was a threat to society or likely to re-offend. He said in court that he would appeal Morgan's ruling on satellite-based monitoring.
The trial started Jan. 14 in Forsyth Superior Court. The victim and Burns both testified during the trial.
Assistant District Attorney Pansy Glanton said in closing arguments Thursday that the girl is now 11 and had been through a series of traumas, including having her father die and dealing with her mother almost dying in a car wreck.
Glanton said that from Nov. 1, 2016 to March 9, 2017, Burns repeatedly sexually abused the girl. Much of the sexual abuse happened when Burns drove the girl to and from the bus stop next to her grandmother's house. Burns had volunteered to take the girl to the bus stop so that the girl would not have switch schools in the middle of the year.
Glanton said Burns touched the girl inappropriately numerous times during those trips, starting almost immediately from the time he drove out of his driveway. Glanton said Burns would molest the girl everyday during those trips to and from the school bus stop and in the house, either in her bedroom or his bedroom.
In closing arguments, Anthony raised questions about the girl's credibility. He told jurors that it would be hard to believe Burns molested the girl while he was driving to the bus stop in the morning on a highway during rush-hour traffic. Anthony also said it would be hard to believe the girl was being molested in the house while the mother was there.
Burns denied the allegations in his testimony.
Glanton said Friday that the girl showed courage in coming into the courtroom, facing Burns and testifying about what happened to her. The abuse has affected the entire family, she said.
"It has caused all kinds of harm to the entire family and the punishment should reflect that," Glanton said.
Texas man guilty of sexually assaulting two children
sentenced to 2 concurrent 20 yr terms
John Tufts, San Angelo Standard-Times
SAN ANGELO — It took a Tom Green County jury roughly 90 minutes Thursday to render a sentence to Jimmy Urista Navarro after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two children in December 2017.
During the punishment phase of the trial, victims told the jury about how the assaults impacted them, according to a news release by the District Attorney's office.
Navarro's ex-wife also testified that he had assaulted and strangled her on numerous occasions, according to the release.
The defense did not present evidence on Navarro's behalf, according to the release.
The jury deliberated punishment from about 10:25 a.m. until right before noon Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 after closing statements when they reached a unanimous decision that Navarro's actions warranted the maximum sentence allowed by law. He was sentenced to 20 years on two counts, which will be served concurrently.
Why? Why concurrently? The girls weren't raped concurrently!
Navarro was indicted in February 2018 on one count of indecency with a child by sexual contact and one count of child sexual assault, both second degree felonies. The indecency with a child by sexual contact charge was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, records state.
In March 2018, a grand jury indicted Navarro on a third charge: prohibited sexual conduct against a family member, another second degree felony.
The charges against Navarro state he sexually assaulted two females younger than 17, according to each indictment.
The district attorney's office release the following statement regarding Navarro's trial:
STATE OF TEXAS vs. NAVARRO
In December 2017, officers with the San Angelo Police Department arrived at an apartment complex in the 2400 block of North Lillie Street, court documents state.
Officers spoke with a female who accused Navarro of sexually assaulting her when she was 16-years-old.
The female told police she decided to contact them after another female confided to her Navarro had sexually assaulted her several times, according to an arrest affidavit.
Navarro was arrested in December 2017 where he remained in custody at the Tom Green County Jail with a bond set at $215,000, according to online jail records. Navarro will get credit for the year he served in jail.
Former Oregon daycare worker convicted
in child sex abuse investigation
FOX 12 StaffBEAVERTON, OR (KPTV) – A former Beaverton daycare worker was convicted Thursday in a child sex abuse investigation that started in 2016.
John Patrick Gilbreath appeared in court Thursday and was found guilty on one count of first degree unlawful sexual penetration, according to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office.
Gilbreath ran Partridge House Day Care with his wife at their Beaverton home and was arrested in connection to the investigation in June 2018. State records show Gilbreath’s wife held the license and he was listed as an employee.
Putting your children in a daycare where men are regularly present is a really bad idea.
Investigators launched an investigation into Gilbreath in 2016 after a three-year-old girl who was attending the daycare at the time made disclosures of abuse to her parents, the attorney’s office says.
Beaverton police investigated the case, but didn’t have enough evidence to file charges.
Another child made similar claims of abuse nearly two years later; Beaverton police again investigated the allegations and the attorney’s office filed charges a short time later.
Gilbreath was suspended back in 2016 when those first allegations were made, but he was reinstated two months later. He remains in custody and is expected to appear in court again for sentencing in March.
He was suspended by his wife? Seriously? Is there no government agency in Oregon that monitors day cares?
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