Ex-World Series MVP Indicted On 3 Counts
Of Child Sex Assault
DENTON, Texas (AP) — A Texas grand jury has indicted former All-Star and World Series MVP pitcher John Wetteland on three counts of continuous sexual assault of a child.
The indictments Thursday in Denton County, north of Dallas and Fort Worth, follow Wetteland's January arrest (3rd story on link). He's accused of making a child repeatedly perform a sex act on him.
The 52-year-old Wetteland was released in January after posting a $25,000 bond. A phone number couldn't be found for him Friday and it's unclear if he has an attorney.
Wetteland was the Most Valuable Player of the 1996 World Series when he helped the New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves. He posted four saves in that Series, which remains a major league record.
He was also inducted into the Texas Rangers' Hall of Fame, and was a member of the now defunct Montreal Expos.
Arizona Representative resigns amid
child sex abuse allegations
Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers
and Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez
PHOENIX — Rep. David Stringer (R) quit the Legislature Wednesday after House Speaker Rusty Bowers revealed to him he had the report of the legislator’s 1983 arrest in Mary land for having sex with two boys, one age 13 and the other listed as a child younger 15 who was developmentally disabled.
And now Bowers and House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez are weighing whether there should be background checks — and even fingerprinting — of current and future lawmakers.
The Prescott Republican was set to go to court that afternoon in a bid to block the Ethics Committee from demanding that he turn over documents from the District of Columbia Bar Association which had looked into the arrest on multiple sex charges, including “perverted practice.’’
The Bar organization also reviewed a 1984 court decision to place Stringer on probation for five years and require him to seek admission to Sex and Gender Clinic at John Hopkins Hospital.
But that was before a private investigator hired by the House Ethics Committee which is looking into the incident got the report — Bowers says legally — from the Baltimore Police Department.
“Upon reading the report I was sickened,” Bowers said.
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| Stringer |
The speaker said he informed Stringer Wednesday afternoon, about an hour before the hearing, that he had the police report.
“I asked for his resignation and that he would fill it out immediately, and informed him it would be best if he left the property, also immediately, which he did,” Bowers said.
The 1983 police report detailed incidents starting a year earlier where Stringer, who would have been 35 or 36 at the time, walked up to the boy and a friend at a park “and asked if they wanted to go to his house and have sex.” That resulted in a trip to Stringer’s apartment where the sex acts occurred.
One of the boys, according to the report, is developmentally disabled.
“After this the boys were given $10 apiece and they left,” the report states.
It also says that the boy had been back “at least 10 additional times,” the last incident in July 1983.
The private investigator who came up with the police report also reported that one of the victims — it does not say which one — went on to become a sex offender himself, “which is often the case with victims of sexual abuse.”
That's why all children who have been sexually abused should get mandatory counselling until they are reasonably healthy. Pedophiles should be fined substantial amounts of money to pay for the majority of the treatment, but treatment should not be dependent upon whether or not a pervert can pay.
A follow-up report in January 1984 confirmed information that already had been published: That Stringer was placed on supervised probation and directed to seek admission to the clinic.
But Carmen Chenal, his attorney, insisted that what is in the police report “never happened.” And she also said that, despite what is in the police report and court records, Stringer never was required to seek treatment at what is known as the Berlin Clinic, named after Fred Berlin, a doctor who is the director.
She also told Capitol Media Services that Stringer was never actually convicted of any crime, agreeing to probation ahead of any court judgment.
Bowers acknowledged the incident occurred decades ago. And he said he has no corroborated reports of any incidents involving Stringer since then. But the speaker said he stands by his decision to ask Stringer to leave — and immediately.
“I am aware, having grandchildren and children, and all of you in the public with our families and loved ones, that this is very disturbing, and especially to us with the trust,” he said. “And I want to maintain that trust and the integrity of this institution.”
Bowers said it goes beyond that. “What is most important to me is that the people who come into this House are safe, that the people who work in this House are safe,” he said.
Fernandez was more specific. “We need to put together some new protocols and how we do business here and maybe look at what kind of people run for office,” she said. “We worry about people’s financials when they get ready to run for office,” Fernandez continued. “I think we need to start looking into people’s backgrounds.”
Pushed as to what she has in mind, Fernandez said that, at the very least, a politician’s supporters should be looking into “who you are and where you came from.” And that, she said, includes whether there is any sort of criminal record.
“Maybe we need to be fingerprinted,” she said.
And Bowers? “I’m open to those discussions, what do we need to do to assure that we can move forward and people can have confidence, as much as it’s possible in a political arena, in the membership of this House,” he said.
Bowers declined to say what Stringer told him when the speaker asked for his resignation and whether the Prescott Republican said he was innocent.
Stringer did not return messages seeking comment. But Chenal said there is less to the whole incident than the police report would suggest. She read from what she said was part of the findings by the D.C. Bar which reviewed what happened in its own investigation to determine whether to strip Stringer of his ability to practice law.
“In the facts and circumstances of this case, there was no involvement of moral turpitude such as would adversely affect your fitness to practice law,” Chenal read from the letter. That same letter, she said, noted that there was no actual conviction, with the trial court “entering probation before judgment” and agreeing to expunge the records after the probation period.
Moral turpitude? Seriously?
But Chenal said it’s even more basic than that. “I do know that if he had really done something with the boys, he would have been convicted,” she said. “He would have gone to prison.”
None of that convinced Bowers, calling the record showing Stringer being placed on probation “scandalous.” “How this could happen is beyond my imagination, how a justice system could fail in this way,” he said, quickly adding, “in my view.”
There is nothing in the police report to show whether prosecutors were able to get the cooperation of either victim.
The documents released Friday by the Ethics Committee also reveal that the Yavapai County Bar Association refused to renew Stringer’s membership in December following published reports of racially charged remarks and comments about the burdens of immigration, particularly from non-European countries, people who “don’t melt in, they don’t blend in, they always look different.”
“Your recent comments in public regarding race, diversity, and the burdens of minorities on Arizona do not comport with this high level of dignity and respect we expect from our members or other Arizona attorneys,” wrote Brian Shaw, president of the association. “These comments fail to promote public trust in our membership and our profession in general.”
Stringer, in a confidential letter to Shaw that the Ethics Committee obtained, said his comments were taken out of context, resulting “in an incomplete and distorted version of what I actually said.” More to the point, Stringer defended them.
“My comments, read in context and in full were offered with civility and good faith and reflect intellectual honesty and respect for the truth,” he wrote. “Everything I have said is factually accurate and can be supported by academic research and the public record.”
He also accused the association of “imposing a politically correct speech code.” Chenal said the decision by the lawyer group was “very, very political” but declined to provide other details.
See an update on this file including several shocking comments allegedly made by Stringer, at the bottom of this post.
See an update on this file including several shocking comments allegedly made by Stringer, at the bottom of this post.
Tech 9 Fans Suspect Rapper Committed Suicide After Child Sex Reports
By Alex Zidel Tech 9 was reportedly due in court the day after his death.
When Tech 9, not to be confused with Tech N9ne, passed away this year, fans reached out to the friends and family members of the battle rapper and commentator. His cause of death had not been reported at the time and it's still been undetermined but after hearing of the allegations made against the late rapper, fans are starting to believe that he took his own life.
It could be just me, but I suspect all rappers have some serious issues.
There are no current documents supporting the fan speculation that Tech 9 committed suicide. As of now, it's only a theory that his supporters have come up with. Until an official cause of death has been ruled, the specifics of Tech 9's passing will not be clear. With the report that his court date was the day after his death, it makes sense why people would assume it was suicide.
‘Culture of sexual abuse': Senator says US figure skating needs immediate change
Another celebrity suicides after being accused of sexual abuse
FILE PHOTO © Global Look Press / Peter Kneffel
US Senator Richard Blumenthal has called on figure skating officials to make an “immediate change” in the sport, which has suffered from a long-lasting “culture of sexual abuse.”
Blumenthal, who is serving his second term as a United States senator from the state of Connecticut, recently urged US figure skating bosses to learn from the much-publicized Nassar sexual abuse scandal. This shattered the American sport in 2016 with revelations of hundreds of underage gymnasts being continuously molested by the team doctor under the guise of medical treatment.
“I am appalled that no one in authority appears to understand the lessons of the horrific failures that enabled Larry Nassar’s abuse of young gymnasts for almost 30 years,” Blumenthal was quoted as saying by USA Today Sports.
Last December, the US sport was rocked by another scandal after allegations of sexual misconduct were brought against John Coughlin, an American pair skater champion who represented the country at major international figure skating events.
SafeSport, an independent nonprofit organization which describes its goals as battling against "all forms of abuse in sport," suspended Coughlin from his role in the sport after it launched investigations into sexual abuse accusations made against the skater.
A day after his interim suspension and one week before the US Championships, Coughlin died by suicide at the age of 33.
Last month, SafeSport stated that while investigating Coughlin’s alleged misconduct, it discovered “a culture in figure skating that allowed grooming and abuse to go unchecked for too long.”
John Coughlin at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, January 29, 2012 © Reuters / Robert Galbraith
With no investigation findings being made public, Coughlin’s family insists the skater was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit.
Blumenthal called on US sports bosses to take action to protect children from being sexually abused, adding that the governing bodies “still seem to be sleepwalking through the sex abuse nightmare.”
“SafeSport’s sharp remarks on the culture of abuse in USFS must prompt immediate change, not deafening silence or finger-pointing,” he said. “Rigorous oversight, increased transparency, and full accountability are needed to protect the safety of young athletes, build a culture that encourages survivors to come forward, and restore the reputations of these institutions,” added the senator.
Canadian radio host allegedly arranged for sex with FBI agent pretending to be 13-y/o girl
Bell Media says radio host has been suspended from his job at Capital FM
Hadeel Ibrahim, Jordan Gill · CBC News
A Fredericton, New Brunswick radio host is accused of arranging a sexual encounter with an undercover FBI agent he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.
Doyle is a longtime morning show host for Capital FM, a radio station owned by Bell Media.
Court documents obtained by CBC News include an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Brian P. O'Sullivan that says Doyle used a messaging app to arrange to meet with the agent where she could perform oral sex on him.
Arrested on beach
O'Sullivan said Doyle and the agent arranged a meeting on a beach in the Isla Verde area of Carolina after almost three days of messaging. He was arrested on the beach early Wednesday morning.
Doyle, 44, was arrested by agents with the FBI's San Juan task force on child exploitation and human trafficking.
A Bell Media spokesperson didn't comment on Doyle's legal situation but confirmed he has been suspended from his job at the station.
The exchanges started after the undercover agent posted an image on an anonymous messaging app saying, "Just a girl in [Puerto Rico] who is booooored," on March 31.
The FBI affidavit alleges Doyle began messaging with the undercover agent on that day and continued to message her after she brought up her age "repeatedly" as 13. It says Doyle brought up her age as well.
If convicted, Doyle could receive a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, the FBI said.
Allegedly advised deleting messages
The affidavit alleges Doyle asked the agent to perform oral sex on him and asked if she'd be willing to have vaginal sex.
The two continued messaging and arranged to meet on an Isla Verde beach on April 3.
Doyle asked the agent if her parents checked her phone and said she should delete their messages so they don't get caught, the affidavit says. He also offered her cab fare to and from their meeting place.
After Doyle was arrested, the affidavit says, he "stated he knew his conduct was wrong."
Assigned public defender
The FBI allegations have not been tested in court.
Doyle has been assigned a U.S. public defender. He is in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Puerto Rico and will have a bail hearing on Monday.
Supervisory Special Agent Luis Rivera-Santana said the arrest was part of the bureau's effort to reduce online child sexual exploitation.
"We're working … online to apprehend people that travel across state lines to engage in such activity," he said.
Not to mention, international child sex tourism.
7 who accused Cosby of sex abuse settle defamation suits
Seven women who said Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them decades ago and then labeled them liars by denying it have settled defamation lawsuits against the imprisoned actor.
Cosby’s spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, said Cosby did not authorize the settlement reached between the women and American International Group Inc., and “vehemently denies the allegations.”
“Mr. Cosby did not settle any cases with anyone. He is not paying anything to anyone, and he is still pursuing his counterclaims. AIG decided to settle these cases, without the knowledge, permission and/or consent of Mr. Cosby,” Wyatt said in a statement.
Courts had ruled that AIG had to pay for Cosby to defend the defamation lawsuits as part of his coverage. Cosby had homeowners and other coverage through AIG.
The judge overseeing the defamation case in Massachusetts must still approve the settlement. The terms were not disclosed in the filings Friday. A message left with AIG’s corporate press office was not immediately returned late Friday.
The plaintiffs are among the dozens of women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. They include Tamara Green, Barbara Bowman and Therese Serignese. Cosby, in a 2006 deposition, acknowledged giving Serignese quaaludes that made her “high” before a sexual encounter in Las Vegas in 1976, when she was 19. Some of that deposition testimony was aired in his criminal case.
“I don’t think he has much to contest the cases with, given his conviction,” said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. “I don’t know how much resources (he has left). It probably makes sense for both sides to resolve it.”
Joseph Cammarata, an attorney who represents the women, told The Associated Press on Friday that “each plaintiff is satisfied with the settlement.” He declined to comment further.
However, he warned in a status report also filed Friday that his clients would seek to depose Cosby and gather other documents and evidence if Cosby does not drop counterclaims that accuse the women of harming his reputation through their accusations. Wyatt said that Cosby still intends to pursue those claims.
Cosby’s wife, Camille, had been ordered to give a deposition in the defamation case in 2016, after a heated fight over her testimony.
Lawyers for the Cosbys tried to quash her subpoena to testify, saying she didn’t have any relevant information on the women’s claims and that any marital conversations she had with her husband of 50 years were confidential. The judge agreed that marital conversations were private, but the women’s lawyers noted she also served as his business manager throughout their long marriage.
The case had largely been put on hold amid the Pennsylvania criminal case, which involved charges that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a woman at his home in 2004. The first trial ended in a deadlock in 2017, but a second jury convicted Cosby last year.
Cosby is appealing the conviction. He is being held at a state prison in Montgomery County, outside of Philadelphia.
David Stringer Said ‘I Don’t Like to Demonize’
Child Sex Trafficking: Report
BY TOM OZIMEKArizona ethics investigators say two Prescott women allege former Arizona Rep. David Stringer made disturbing comments relating to the trafficking and abuse of children.
The Arizona Republic reported that Stringer’s alleged statements have been recorded in notes taken by members of the House Ethics Committee during conversations with the two women.
The state House of Representatives released the notes on April 3.
‘Don’t Like to Demonize It’
One case relates to an alleged conversation between Stringer and Merissa Hamilton, a child sex trafficking victim and activist.
Hamilton told House Ethics Committee investigators that she Stringer were sitting together at an event that she recorded on video, which has since been published on YouTube.
In the video, Hamilton and a person alleged to be Stringer can be heard discussing what issue he should ask the speaker about, and she suggests raising the issue of child sex trafficking.
The man responds by saying that he thinks concerns about child sex trafficking are “demagoguery” and “I don’t like to demonize it.”
The male voice attributed to Stringer is also heard saying that while he doesn’t think there is much child sex trafficking, there are “a lot of 15-year-old prostitutes.”
Stringer in a comment on Facebook on April 4 responded to Hamilton’s claims by saying, “It has come to my attention that one of my former campaign supporters has jumped on the bandwagon denouncing me for things I have never said and don’t believe.
“Merissa Hamilton, the former 2016 Libertarian candidate for the US Senate, claims to have left the Libertarian party because it was infiltrated by pedophiles.
“At an RWOP luncheon last May she brought up the subject of child sex trafficking, claiming it was a crisis. Apparently, I wasn’t sufficiently enthusiastic to suit Ms. Hamilton. She now claims to be alarmed at my skepticism about finding child rape harnesses in the desert and pedophile rings under every rock.”
Hamilton also told House Ethics Committee investigators that after the event at which Stringer seemed to play down the problem of child sex trafficking, he allegedly defended child sex abuse during an exchange the two had outside the venue.
The Arizona Republic reported Hamilton told investigators that Stringer said he didn’t think there was any “damage” from child sex trafficking. It is alleged Stringer said to Hamilton, “If an uncle takes his niece or nephew to a playground, and they go on the merry-go-round and have some ice cream, and then do their thing, that’s just part of the experience.”
'Then do their thing...?' OMG!
Stringer responded to Hamilton’s allegations in a statement, “I can’t account for the statements she has attributed to me. But for the record I have never minimized the problem of sex trafficking or specifically child sex trafficking across our southern border. As an attorney, I’ve handled child sex cases, representing both victims and the accused. They are serious cases.”
‘I Like Being a Daddy Figure’
The second case of disturbing comments newly attributed to Stringer relates to comments he allegedly made to school administrators in Prescott, the Arizona Republic reported.
Rosemary Agneessens, a leader with the Prescott Education Advocacy Council, was cited in the ethics committee notes as saying that Stringer made disturbing comments in context of an alleged internship where he helped elementary school-aged children learn English.
Agneessens claims Stringer said, “I like being a daddy figure for the little girls when they sit on my lap.”
She said Stringer’s comments related to an internship he claimed to have had with the Arizona State University Preparatory Academy in Phoenix.
Arizona State University spokesman Bret Hovell told the Arizona Republic there’s “no record of him being at ASU Prep. We don’t have him as an intern, as a teacher, as a student teacher.”
Stringer’s Resignation
Stringer, a Republican from Prescott, unexpectedly resigned from the Arizona Legislature on March 27, just an hour before a deadline for him to respond to a subpoena requesting records related to sex charges dating back about 35 years.
The House Ethics Committee had been investigating Stringer over charges that include child pornography and having sex with boys as young as 13.
The sex crimes revelations came to light only recently as records had been expunged due to an alleged plea deal that saw Stringer sentenced to five years of supervised probation, according to the Phoenix New Times.
Claims of Stringer’s culpability are disputed by his attorney, Carmen Chenal.
“The allegations are false and Mr. Stringer denies them all,” Chenal said, the Arizona Republic reported. “He never committed a crime. He was never convicted.”
In a Facebook post on March 27, Stringer criticized the chairman of the Ethics Committee, State Representative T.J. Shope, accusing him of “denying me due process, denying me access to speak to my accusers, and trying to force me to disclose court-sealed documents.”
Minority Co-Whip Reginald Bolding (D-Phoenix) decried Stringer’s refusal to turn over records relating to his sex charges.
“The evidence that he was trying to withhold from the Ethics Committee must be damning since he chose to quit rather than comply with a subpoena,” Reginald Bolding, D-Phoenix said in a press statement.
“It makes myself and my colleagues believe that the information was so damning,” Bolding said in a phone interview with the New York Times, “that he would prefer to resign.”
‘Salacious Allegations’ With ‘No Basis in Fact’
Stringer has responded to the sex crimes claims in a statement:
“Some 35 years ago when I lived in Maryland, I faced salacious allegations of sexual improprieties that had no basis in fact. 35 years ago those charges were false but they threatened me personally and put my professional life as an attorney at risk.
“My attorney did an excellent job breaking down the accusations piece by piece until the prosecution chose to offer a plea deal to two 4th degree petty offenses. Instead of having to go to trial and risk everything, I accepted a disposition that did not require me to plead guilty or result in a conviction. The charges were eventually dismissed and expunged from record.
“I took the deal, maintained my innocence and was never tried on any of the false charges.
“35 years later, political opponents have dug those charges back up to drive me from politics because they disagree with my views. The media, as you might expect, is treating accusations like they are convictions, and they are setting out to destroy my reputation. Of course they all want me to go on their TV channels and give them interviews to entice an audience with a salacious story. But I know there is zero chance of getting a fair shake from them. So I won’t try to use the fake media to tell you what happened.
“What I will say is that the charges I faced in 1983 are as false today as they were 35 years ago.
“I regret that sensationalized allegations from 35 years ago have forced me to resign my office.
“The actions of the leadership of our state legislature in forcing me from office are deeply and shamefully offensive to free elections and democratic governance.”
‘We Have a Job To Do’
On Wednesday, April 3, former state Senate President Steve Pierce, a Prescott Republican, was sworn in to replace Stringer in the House.
Taking the oath of office, Pierce was cited by Fox10 as saying, “We have a job to do for the people of Arizona, and for my constituents.”
Pierce will serve out Stringer’s remaining term.
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