Missouri man accused of sexually motivated burglary
Harrison Keegan, Springfield News-Leader
A Springfield man has been accused of entering a home without permission and inappropriately touching a preteen girl.
Demarius Marshall, 36, was charged last week with first-degree burglary and attempted enticement of a child younger than 15.
According to a probable cause statement, a girl recently disclosed to authorities that Marshall came to her home in July while she was in bed, laid down next to her, kissed her and touched her legs.
The girl said Marshall left after she told him to stop, according to the statement.
Authorities say the girl knew Marshall, but not well.
The girl's mother told Springfield police she went on one date with Marshall and then he started showing up to her home uninvited, so she told him before this incident to stay away from her daughter, according to the statement.
When confronted by police about the July incident, Marshall allegedly said he was at the house that night cooking steaks and it was normal for him to be there. As for the contact with the girl, he said it was a friendly "peck" and a "pat," according to the statement.
In a bond recommendation document, prosecutors wrote that Marshall entered the victim's home knowing he was not welcome and his actions on the bed "can only be interpreted as attempting to entice or initiate sexual contact" with the child victim.
Marshall does not have an attorney listed for this case. Online records indicate a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
The burglary charge carries a possible 15-year prison sentence.
NY State’s high court upholds conviction of
child sex abuser in horrid case
Amanda Purcell Columbia-Greene Media
ALBANY — The conviction of Jeanine Van Alphen of Hillsdale was upheld by the state’s highest court in a child sex abuse case in 2016, according to the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office.
Van Alphen, 34, filed an appeal of the Columbia County Court decision with the state Appellate Division, Third Department. The appeal was denied Feb. 7, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Columbia County District Attorney’s office.
Van Alphen and three other defendants — her former husband, Goliath Van Alphen, 49, of Claverack; William Wendover, 31, of Cairo; and Eugene Shackleton, 63, of Copake – were convicted by a 12-person jury on Aug. 9, 2016 in Columbia County for sexual abuse of four children that lasted for years.
The four were found guilty of sexually abusing several young children under the age of 11 between June 2009 and February 2011. All the children testified at the trial.
Columbia County Judge Richard Koweek sentenced all four to life in prison for crimes of predatory sexual assault against a child, a class A-II felony, and other charges. Goliath Van Alphen, who was found guilty of 11 felony charges in the case, was sentenced to 124 years to life. Jeanine Van Alphen was given 50 years to life. Shackleton was given 71 years to life, and Wendover was given 69 1/2 years to life in prison.
Jeanine Van Alphen maintained her innocence at the sentencing, saying she was “not the monster” she was made out to be. Koweek quoted one of the victims who wished to be a baby again so as not to suffer abuse at the hands of sexual predators.
“You were a participant in some of the most vile acts I have ever seen,” Koweek told Jeanine Van Alphen at her sentencing Oct. 18, 2016. “You abused the trust that is placed on an adult by a child, and I cannot ignore that. These young children have appeared to have suffered greatly.”
The other three defendants are in the appeals process. “The co-defendants have yet to perfect their appeals,” according to the DA’s office.
Jeanine Van Alphen is being held in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, the state’s only women’s maximum security prison, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Ryan Carty, prosecuted the 12-day trial in August 2016. State police Senior Investigator Eric Barnes led the investigation into the five-year case.
“I honestly believe they [the child victims] needed other adults to believe that what they said happened, really happened,” Czajka said at the time the defendants were convicted. “The children have been very, very brave. I don’t know that there will ever be closure for them, but I think this will help.”
Columbia Co., NY
Window Would Open For Child Sex Abuse Victims To Sue With Proposed Bill in Indiana
By BRANDON SMITH
Jancy Thompson was a USA swimmer whose coach abused her in her early teens. (Brandon Smith/IPB News)
The Indiana Senate will consider a bill giving victims of child sex abuse a limited window to file civil lawsuits against their abuser – even if the statute of limitations has expired.
Forget the window and open the damn door!
Victims of child sex abuse can sue their abusers in civil court. But they can only do so within either seven years of when they were abused or four years after they’re no longer a dependent of their abuser.
Jancy Thompson says that’s often not enough time. She was a USA swimmer, abused by her coach in her early teens. And she says she didn’t come to terms with that until her 20s.
“I may not have the physical scars of the abuse but I endure deep, emotional ones that will last me a lifetime,” Thompson says.
A proposed bill would open a three-year window – through 2022 – when the victims can sue, regardless of whether the statute of limitations expired.
Kim Compton says the bill will empower victims. Her son Chris was abused by a priest when he was 9 years-old but didn’t tell her – or anyone – for decades.
“It’s a chance for them to speak up loud and clear," Compton says.
The bill is set for a Senate committee hearing.
Ex-Baltimore cop resumed trysts with
child-sex victim after prison release
Caution: Descriptive details in this story
Liz Evans Scolforo, York Dispatch
The child sex victim of a former Baltimore County cop — who has already served time in York County Prison for sexting her photos of his penis — recently told police they continued their sexual relationship after he was released from prison, investigators said.
County officials claim Nicholas Bonsall "groomed" the vulnerable orphan to be his victim when she was 15 and started having sex with her when she was 16.
York County Detective Dana Ward filed new felony charges Monday, Feb. 11, according to court records.
Bonsall was arraigned Tuesday afternoon by District Judge Jennifer Clancy, who set bail at $100,000. He can't be released even if he posts bail because he's being held on a probation-violation detainer.
He is charged with the felonies of disseminating sexually explicit material to a minor/second offense, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual abuse of a minor and possession of child pornography, as well as misdemeanor corruption of a minor, according to court records.
None of the charges is for having Bonsall allegedly having sex with the teen, since the legal age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16. Rather, each charge is tied to Bonsall allegedly possessing explicit photos of the girl and encouraging her to send him those photos, according to court documents.
Bonsall has been in York County Prison since Aug. 16 for allegedly violating his probation by continuing to see the underage girl and for allegedly committing new crimes against her, according to court documents.
Promised marriage? One of his sexual-offender probation conditions was that he have no contact whatsoever with his victim, prosecutors have said.
"Bonsall promised (the teen) they would get married and have children," Ward wrote in charging documents. "(She) feels manipulated and used by Bonsall and is suffering emotional trauma from the incidents."
After his release from prison in April, Bonsall — previously of Jackson Township — moved into an apartment in West York without his wife or kids.
After being found in that apartment Aug. 15, the teen told investigators that Bonsall contacted her after his release and they resumed their relationship, according to his new charging documents. She was 17 by that time.
"They had numerous consensual sexual encounters and Bonsall told (her) to send him sexually explicit photos of herself," Ward wrote in the new documents.
Bonsall and the teen sent each other nude photos, including of their genitals, as well as sexually explicit texts, the documents allege.
Police said Bonsall had two cellphones — a phone with no Internet access that was permissible under his probation conditions, and a phone that could connect to the Internet, which Bonsall wasn't allowed to have.
Surprise visit: The York County Detective Bureau began investigating Bonsall after probation officers went to Bonsall's apartment in the 1400 block of Monroe Street for an unannounced visit on Aug. 15 and found the teen there.
"The victim's clothing and personal belongings were scattered throughout the apartment — including in the defendant's bedroom," according to a probation/parole petition seeking to have Bonsall's parole revoked. A hearing on that petition is set for March 25.
He was committed to prison on a probation-violation detainer Aug. 16.
Bonsall, 41, was living with his wife and children in Jackson Township when Northern York County Regional Police learned he was having sex with a local girl and had sexted her photos of his penis and a video of him masturbating.
At the time, he was a detective first-class and had been with Baltimore County Police for 15 years. After the charges were filed, he was fired, that department has said.
He pleaded guilty Jan. 29, 2018, to the third-degree felony of disseminating sexually explicit materials and was sentenced to three to 23 months in York County Prison plus three years' probation.
Faulty memory: During that hearing, he told the presiding judge he couldn't really remember what explicit photos he had texted to the girl but said they came from the internet.
He neglected to mention that some of the photos were of his own penis, which is made clear in court documents.
The probation-violation petition notes the girl is an orphan and states Bonsall "took advantage of that emotional void and abused his position of authority" by targeting her for sex.
The petition also notes that while Bonsall has attended court-required sex-offender treatment, he "had not yet made any notable progress" at the time of his arrest last summer.
Before being arrested again, he worked as a truck driver, was allowed only supervised visits with his children and needed his father to pay his rent, court records state.
Nebraska inmate gets 10 years in Iowa child sex case
SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) - A former football coach and teacher already serving Nebraska prison time for child sex offenses has pleaded guilty in an Iowa case.
Osceola County District Court records show 40-year-old Kyle Ewinger entered the plea Monday to sexual abuse and was sentenced to 10 years.
The records say the former Sibley-Ocheyedan coach was fired after the district superintendent found him sleeping in his classroom next to a 10-year-old in October 2015.
Last April Ewinger was sentenced to 55 to 85 years in a Nebraska prison after an Omaha jury found him guilty of sexual assault of a child. Prosecutors say he assaulted the 9-year-old son of a woman he was dating in 2012 and 2013.
Mississippi man to spend 40 years in prison for
sexual abuse of children
By Lindsay Knowles
GREENE COUNTY, MS (WLOX) - A Lucedale man will spend the next 40 years in prison after admitting to sexually abusing children.
Roger Holliman, 62, was sentenced Monday to two counts of sexual battery. Prosecutors say the victim was eight years old when the abuse began. During the course of the investigation, authorities also discovered two other girls who had been abused by Holliman. Holliman confessed to the crimes, said prosecutors.
“The sexual abuse of these children...is unimaginable and these children should be commended for bravely coming forward," said district attorney Angel Myers McIlrath. "One cannot fathom the courage it takes for a child to tell about being abused. Our children, the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, deserve to be safe... Childhood sexual abuse steals youthful innocence and affects the child for the rest of their life. The depravity of the abuse in this case warrants this 40 year day-for-day sentence. I hope this sentence sends a message to child predators that they are not going to get away with abusing our kids. My office will continue to prosecute child predators to the fullest extent of the law.”
Judge Kathy King Jackson sentenced Holliman to serve concurrent sentences for a total of 40 years, which will be served day-for-day. Holliman was also ordered to pay a $1,500 fine, as well as $100 to the crime victims compensation fund and all court costs.
He will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life upon release from prison.
“I hope the knowledge that the defendant will never be free to hurt another child aids in the healing process," said assistant district attorney George Huffman. "I commend the bravery of these young victims in coming forward with their abuse. I also commend the efforts of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office to see that justice was served in this case.”
Greene County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case.
Beth Moore Sends Strong Message to SBC, Grieves with Other Sexual Abuse Victims
Emily Jones
Author, evangelist and sexual abuse survivor Beth Moore is speaking out about an investigation by two Texas newspapers revealing that hundreds of sexual predators have lurked in Southern Baptists Churches for years.
The "Abuse of Faith" article, published by The Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News, reports that in the 10 years since 2008, "more than 250 people who worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist Churches have been charged with sex crimes."
The article also states that over a 20-year period, more than 700 people were victimized by Southern Baptist Church leaders.
Moore said on Twitter that repeated abuse is allowed to occur when no one takes action.
"It's monstrously common for victims to be abused again by one they thought safe to tell. 2nd wave abuse occurs when those told are either scandalized (backs off, "don't tell me more") or tantalized (moves in, "oh tell me more"). Both heap shame upon shame," she tweeted Sunday.
Moore then posted a picture of herself as a child with a message to church leaders who ignore abuse, "We understand how you feel. We didn't want to know about sexual abuse either."
Then, dozens of sexual abuse victims responded to Moore's tweet by posting pictures of themselves as children, saying they too didn't want to know anything about sexual abuse when they were children.
"At 5 years old I'd already known for years. But I don't understand how they feel because I don't know what it is not to know," one Twitter user said.
Beth Moore✔
@BethMooreLPM
We understand how you feel. We didn’t want to know about sexual abuse either.
⚡️Wonder Woman is my hero 🦸🏻♀️
@freetobetrue
At 5 years old I’d already known for years. But I don’t understand how they feel because I don’t know what it is not to know. pic.twitter.com/ozRoxsVT5z
Desiree Steele
@DesireesPhoto
I didn't want to know either. Bless you and your ministry. pic.twitter.com/UkYNIwOL1B
Jemelene Wilson
@jemelene
I certainly didn't want to know. pic.twitter.com/86L8thao1C
Emily Emery
@EmilyEmery83
I’m the girl in the middle. I was 7-10 years old when I was molested by my cousin. I thought it happened to everyone. I thought something was wrong with me. It drove me to Jesus and Scripture. I told no one until my 20s. pic.twitter.com/BtkHoAYZqf
Moore responded to each image with a message of sorrow and grief.
Beth Moore✔
@BethMooreLPM
In tears scrolling through childhood pictures of sexual abuse survivors thinking
how...
*utterly precious each one is, how innocent and worthy of valuing and protecting.
*most victimizations are never reported.
*many victims who reported got blamed.
*some victims don’t survive.
She acknowledged the abuse survivors who have yet to come to the light and asked the Lord to change the Church.
"Also thinking how many pictures of little boys could've also shown up in that thread. Our darling brothers, we know you were among us. We know this doesn't just happen to girls. You count. We weep for you, too. It was not your fault either," Moore wrote. "Jesus, redeem. Raise up. Reform us."
SBC President J.D. Greear said church leaders should have listened to earlier warnings about abuse and promised to use all the spiritual and financial resources of the denomination to stop predators.
He also called for care for survivors, saying, "The safety of the victims matters more than the reputation of Southern Baptists."
Former youth pastor charged with
child sex crimes in South Carolina
By: WSPA Staff
SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC - Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office said a former youth intern pastor from Alabama has been charged after an investigation revealed he had sexually abused two minors back in 1976.
According to a sheriff's office news release, the sheriff's office's investigators in their special victims unit received a call from a Robertsdale Police Department investigator in Alabama who said they had received information from a Spartanburg County resident who said she was the victim of sexual abuse in their jurisdiction back in the 1970s.
Loana Cooper Benton identified herself to 7 News as the accuser who went to police in Alabama. The suspect of the alleged abuse was identified as Peter William Cooper, of Elmore, Alabama. Benton said Cooper is her uncle. She told 7 News Cooper molested her in Alabama when she was four years old.
"When I tried to tell my mom what had happened, I didn't even know the right words to describe what had happened," Benton said.
In an incident report, one victim -- who was under the age of 14 -- said Cooper grabbed her in an inappropriate area while playing piano at a Bible study in her home located in Spartanburg County.
Additional witnesses confirmed the events and details of the incident, and other victims came forward who said similar acts happened to them as children.
Benton said she thought she was the only victim until years later when a friend of hers said she was also a victim of Cooper's. Then, Benton said her friend connected to a third victim on social media.
"When the Kavanaugh hearings were taking place and a lot of people were talking about sexual assault and those type of issues, the other victim had made a post on social media that was the hashtag "Why I didn't tell. "My friend saw that and knew her and put things together and then got us all three connected."
According to Benton, the three thought there might be more victims. "When we saw postings on social media of him at events with children nearby, we felt it was necessary for us to come forward and report so that if he was continuing to behave this way, it would be stopped," she said.
According to the release, Robertsdale Police said the first victim in the case had spoken to two other victims of Cooper's on social media.
Spartanburg County investigators called all three victims involved and learned that one alleged offense by Cooper happened in Spartanburg County, and the other offense against the other victim happened in Greenville County.
The three victims told investigators that they had reached out to Cooper on social media, who had apologized to them. Spartanburg County investigators then went to Alabama and interviewed Cooper, who said he didn't remember all of the details, but did say he apologized to the victims.
An investigation revealed that Cooper was a youth intern pastor at Central Church of Christ in Spartanburg in 1976 and that the offense happened at the home of one of the victims during a Bible study.
According to the release, Spartanburg County investigators learned that Cooper was primarily employed by churches in Alabama after a short time in Spartanburg County.
Once back in Spartanburg County, investigators discussed the case with the solicitor's office and then a magistrate, who approved a warrant charging Cooper with a lewd act on a minor, which was the applicable law in 1976.
Cooper was arrested in Alabama last week and was extradited back to Spartanburg County on Sunday.
Cooper's daughter-in-law told 7 News that she thinks it's possible that he had more victims. "He's been at so many different churches," said Cooper's daughter-in-law, Kiet Cooper.
The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office has also informed Greenville County Sheriff's Office officials of the offense that may have happened in their jurisdiction, and their investigation remains active.
Sex-Trafficking: Stop Victimizing The Victims
One Survivor's Heart-breaking Story
A bill in the Hawaii Legislature would allow greater discretion in sentencing sex-trafficked minors convicted of assaulting their abusers.
By Sara Jessimy Kruzan / Honolulu Civil Beat
My name is Sara Jessimy Kruzan. Before I became a human rights advocate, I was known by my inmate number: W-59700.
In 1995, at the age of 17, I was sentenced to die in prison for killing the man who had been trafficking me for more than five years. I was only 11 years old when the man who exploited me began to groom me for the underage selling of a child within the dark shadows of our communities. Yet, during my trial the abuse and complex trauma I experienced throughout my childhood was not admitted into evidence and I was not allowed to speak of it.
The prosecution, the judge, and the media depicted me as a sophisticated monster, the worst of the worst and sentenced me as such. The so-called “justice” system sentenced me — a child sex trafficking and rape survivor — to life imprisonment without parole, plus four years, for killing the man who stole my childhood and victimized me for nearly a third of my young life.
Twelve years into my sentence, I was interviewed by Human Rights Watch where I was finally able to speak about some of the traumas and abuses I experienced. As a result, I received national and international attention from individuals, celebrities, and judicial reform groups, who advocated for a new trial. Not too dissimilar from what recently happened with Cyntoia Brown.
Rep John Mizuno Chair Health and Human Services Comm Briefing on Homeless solutions.
Hawaii state Rep. John Mizuno is the lead sponsor of Sara’s Law.
People all over the world began advocating for my freedom. Due to the tireless work of my legal team and community advocates, my sentence was commuted and reduced. On Oct. 31, 2013, I was paroled from Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla after serving 19 years and seven months. Despite having been free for more than five years now, my heart continues to ache at the injustice of locking up child victims of sex trafficking and sexual abuse who commit crimes against those who have abused and exploited them.
What happened to me was not justice. What happened to Cyntoia, despite her sentence being commuted, was not justice. And what has happened to Alexis Martin, another child sex trafficking victim currently serving a life sentence for participating in a crime that resulted in her trafficker’s death, is not justice. None of us should have been sent to prison in the first place — a far too common response for girls of color in our country — especially for actions they take against their rapists and traffickers.
Deep Wounds
Being silenced, sexually assaulted, raped, trafficked, and degraded creates deep wounds, especially for children. Every day, these wounds require courage, grace and an undefined strength to overcome. Imagine if Cyntoia, Alexis, or I were your own daughter, how you might respond to the vile men who exploited and abused us? Is it so difficult to understand then how a 16-year-old girl, who was raped and abused and exploited from the time she left elementary school, would end up killing the man who harmed her so? What should we do with her? Our answer to this question says a lot more about us than it does about her.
When I was silenced, I felt invisible. I felt my voice and life experiences held no value. That I, as a person, had no value. It was only my act of violence which seemed to matter to the justice system, not what led up to it or what the person I had harmed had done to me. Instead, I was labeled a “Child Prostitute,” “Murderer,” “Convicted Teen Killer,” and “Teen Prostitute Who Killed Her Pimp,” and was left to die in a cage after being told by a judge that I lacked “moral scruples.”
“Girls like us deserve to be protected by the system, not traumatized by it.”
Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” What does it say about our soul then if we allow our children, who have been abused, raped, and exploited, to be sentenced to decades in prison for having committed crimes against their abusers, rapists, and exploiters?
I have been working alongside the survivor-led nonprofit organization Human Rights for Kids on a policy solution to make sure that what happened to Cyntoia, Alexis, and me never happens again. Under our proposal, judges will be given greater flexibility in cases like ours and urged to keep us in the juvenile or child welfare system to provide us with services and care, and not to keep us in cages and silenced. Girls like us deserve to be protected by the system, not traumatized by it. Sara’s Law, as we are calling it, will make sure that happens.
Sara’s Law has been introduced as House Bill 932 by Hawaii state Rep. John Mizuno so that none of Hawaii’s children have to suffer like I and so many other sex trafficked, exploited, and abused children have had to.
Let’s not allow the justice system to take anything else away from child sex trafficking and sexual abuse victims. We’ve been forced to give away too much already. Let’s do better so that the next Cyntoia Brown, Alexis Martin, or Sara Kruzan is met with empathy, compassion, understanding, and love. That is the more humane way; that is the Hawaiian way as defined by the aloha spirit. Call your legislators and tell them to support HB 932 — Sara’s Law.
Five arrested in Idaho child sex abuse crackdown
By: Steve Bertel ABC6 KIVI
BOISE — Five men have been arrested in connection with a joint law enforcement operation that targeted child sex abuse in northern Idaho over the weekend.
The project, titled “Operation Lonely Heart,” was a cooperative effort between federal, state and local agencies. The Department of Homeland Security led the operation with assistance from the Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)Unit.
Of the five arrested, three are Washington residents and two are from Idaho. All were booked into the Kootenai County Jail.
They are:
Thomas R. Cartwright, 54, of Post Falls
Richard Peterson, 24, of Rathdrum
Carl E. Ness, 54, of Spokane
Tyrel M. Clark, 37, of Spokane
Kilian J. Hoyne, 20, of Spokane Valley
All are charged with enticing a child through use of the internet or other communication device.
More than 60 police officers, investigators and federal agents were part of the operation, including the Post Falls Police Department, the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, Washington State Patrol, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
“Thanks to law enforcement’s cooperative efforts, we are able to push back against sexual predators who wish to victimize young people. Children in the region are safer today as a result of ‘Operation Lonely Heart,’” Wasden said.
No details of the investigation were released.
Kansas AG moves to block judges from labeling
child sex abuse victims as an ‘aggressor’
By Tim Carpenter
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt proposed legislation Monday to block state judges from lowering prison sentences for adult sex offenders while labeling child victims the “aggressor” who contributed to the crime.
Schmidt said the bill resulted from a December decision by Leavenworth County District Court Judge Michael Gibbens who reduced the prison sentence on a 67-year-old man convicted of a sex crime against a teenager. Gibbens relied upon discretion available to judges, using it to find the teenager proactively contributed to the crime.
“No matter the child’s behavior, child victims are not responsible for the criminal conduct of adults who commit sex crimes against them,” Schmidt said. “In my view, the law should reflect that simple principle.”
Gibbens made the determination in the case of Raymond Soden, who was found guilty of using social media to solicit sex from minors. Soden communicated with two sisters under the age of 15 and offered cash in exchange for nude photographs of them.
During a sentencing hearing for Soden, the judge said he considered “victims in this case, in particular, were more an aggressor than a participant in the criminal conduct. They were certainly selling things monetarily that it’s against the law for even an adult to sell.”
Existing Kansas statute allows judges to depart downward from standard sentence guidelines by ruling the victim contributed to the criminal conduct.
Under the bill proposed by the attorney general, judges would no longer be able to rely on aggressor terminology in the law to make a downward adjustment if the victim was under the age of 14 and the offender was an adult. In instances of human trafficking, regardless of age, judges would be prohibited from making downward departures for any reason.
In Leavenworth, County Attorney Todd Thompson opposed the reduced sentence but didn’t appeal the ruling because the judge acted with discretion allowed by current law. Thompson said he supported the legislation advocated by the attorney general and “working with us to immediately take action to fix it.”
“When appealing a case we must remove the emotional component and focus solely on the legal argument. In this case, we do not have the legal argument,” Thompson said.
Soden was sentenced to five years in prison, which was less than the standard 14 years in the state’s sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had requested a 13-year sentence.
You might have some difficulty with this whole situation. The girls were certainly proactive in in their exchanges with Soden and probably qualified as 'aggressive' as the judge stated. But these girls were under 15 and one has to wonder what kind of environment they lived in that would prepare them to do such things. I suspect there was some sort of abuse prior to the episode with Soden, but who knows what. What we do know is that it is not natural for <15 year olds to behave like that.
Oregon police officer charged with child sex abuse
IAN CAMPBELL The News-Review
A Myrtle Creek police officer has been arrested after forcing at least six children to send him sexually explicit photos and sexually abusing a seventh, according to court documents.
However, an agent with the Oregon Department of Justice wrote in his report that he “anticipated that there are a large number of additional victims.”
Alexander Marcus Salterio, 33, was arrested Friday and initially charged with 15 felonies, including multiple charges of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct and first-degree encouraging child sex abuse.
According to court documents, Salterio was involved in filming six children on six different days in September and October of last year. He then duplicated the sexually explicit videos, according to court documents.
Salterio is also being charged on suspicion of two counts of coercion for threatening to disseminate the explicit material if the children did not comply with his demands.
On Monday afternoon, Douglas County District Attorney Rick Wesenberg added two additional charges to Salterio’s name: first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree unlawful penetration.
Court documents say the victim was under 12 years old.
Police were able to arrest Salterio after the Department of Justice received two tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a police affidavit.
Investigators quickly secured multiple search warrants and determined that Salterio had been contacting the victims, who ranged from 12 to 17 years of age, on Facebook.
After developing a rapport with the children Salterio would request photos of the girls. In return, he would send a photo of a male teen in order to convince the victims he was under the age of 18, according to court documents.
As the conversation continued, Salterio began requesting images of the victims’ private parts in exchange for sexually explicit videos.
Salterio directed the victims to take photos of particular parts of their bodies, according to court documents and threatened the post any previously-shared photos if they declined.
The investigation remains ongoing as agents with the Department of Justice search Salterio’s home, vehicle and office, according to court documents.
Salterio was hired by the Myrtle Creek Police Department in August 2017 after working with the Roseburg Police Department.
According to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, Salterio completed a course on cyberstalking on Feb. 3.
Salterio was lodged at the Douglas County Jail in lieu of more than $3 million bail.
Alabama police sergeant arrested on
child sex abuse charges
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A police sergeant in Alabama has been arrested on child sex abuse charges.
Birmingham police told news outlets that Sgt. Randy Manuel Martinez of Kimberly was arrested Friday.
The 20-year veteran is charged with three counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of felony sex abuse.
Sgt. Johnny Williams said Birmingham police officials were told about criminal investigations being conducted by outside agencies and immediately placed Martinez on administrative duty. He was arrested at police headquarters while working in the burglary division.
The investigation was led by Fultondale and Kimberly police officers and began last year.
Kimberly Police Chief Ricky Pridmore said a woman told investigators the crimes took place several years ago when she was a teen.
It was not known if Martinez has an attorney yet.
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