Alex Jones sent Sandy Hook victims files with child sex abuse images, say lawyers
Far-right conspiracy theorist denied the allegations and accused one of the lawyers of framing him
Associated Press
Lawyers for relatives of some victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting allege that far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones sent them documents relating to the court battle they are fighting that included electronic files containing images of child sexual abuse, as the latest twist in the defamation case against the Infowars website host.
Jones denied the allegations during his web show last Friday and accused one of the lawyers involved of framing him.
Lawyers say the imagery was among documents they had requested from Jones as part of the discovery process of the lawsuit.
The families of eight victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and an FBI agent who responded to the massacre, are suing Jones, Infowars and others for promoting a theory that the shooting was a hoax.
Jones, of Austin, Texas, has since said he believes the shooting occurred.
A court hearing on the documents is scheduled for Tuesday.
Jones, who lives in Travis county, Texas, has used his media platform to call the mass shooting at an elementary school that killed 26 people a hoax and suggested a political cover up took place by leftwing forces seeking to take advantage of the shooting to support their causes, such as gun control.
In 2013, he called the massacre “staged” and continued to stoke his conspiracy theory for years.
“Sandy Hook is a synthetic, completely fake, with actors, in my view, manufactured,” he said in a January 2015 broadcast.
Although his theory is false, people who believe Jones have for years harassed and taunted families of the victims, court papers showed and the families have said. Some families said they have been subjected to death threats and been forced to move several times in an effort to escape harassment.
On 14 December 2012, a gunman killed 20 young children and six adults at the elementary school in an attack that ranks among the deadliest mass shootings by a single gunman in US history.
Ohio gym teacher accused of preying on first grade girls was caught on surveillance camera
Clearcreek Elementary School in Springboro, Ohio.Google Maps
By Corky Siemaszko, NBC
A former Ohio gym teacher has been accused of molesting more than two dozen first-grade girls, a prosecutor said Monday.
John Austin Hopkins was indicted on 36 counts of gross sexual imposition after being captured more than a 100 times on school surveillance tapes with his hands up the skirts or shirts of the girls, or with them straddling his lap, Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell alleges.
“We were able to identify 88 female first-grade students who had some type of physical interaction with Mr. Hopkins,” Fornshell said during a press conference. “His focus definitely was on the little girls.”
Hopkins, 25, of Springboro, Ohio, was “grooming” the victims, the prosecutor said.
The footage that allegedly implicated Hopkins was on surveillance video from the Clearcreek Elementary School gymnasium between December 2018 and March 2019.
And while the alleged abuse happened in front of the class, the little girls did not realize they were being taken advantage of, Fornshell said.
“They loved him as a teacher because of the amount of affection he was showing them,” Fornshell said of the little girls. “What these kids didn’t realize was this was completely inappropriate and criminal.”
Hopkins, who was arrested Monday and is awaiting arraignment, was charged after a grand jury returned an indictment on 36 touching incidents involving 28 first-grade girls, Fornshell said.
The suspect also taught physical education at the Springboro Intermediate schools.
This year, Hopkins taught both first and sixth grade at both schools, officials said.
He was placed on administrative leave March 8 after a parent called the Springboro schools and reported inappropriate touching, Fornshell said. He submitted a letter of resignation March 12 when the criminal investigation was underway.
Meanwhile, school officials alerted parents and guardians that Hopkins was under investigation.
Hopkins has also resigned from his post as a swimming coach at the Coffman YMCA in Springboro, Fornshell said.
Springboro is an affluent community midway between Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio.
Ex-daycare worker in Salem, OR found guilty of sex abuse involving young girls; more victims possible
FOX 12 Staff
WASHINGTON COUNTY, OR (KPTV) – A former daycare worker in Salem has been found guilty of charges including rape in a child sex abuse case, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office says.
Jonathan Alexander Tyler was found guilty last week on two counts of second-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sex abuse, two counts of first-degree online sexual corruption of a child, and three counts of luring a minor.
Investigators say the crimes date back to 2018 when FBI officials and the Beaverton Police Department were alerted to a concerning advertisement posted on a social media platform.
The ad involved two young girls offering prostitution services, according to the attorney’s office.
Authorities later confirmed the girls in the ads were ages 13 and 15 and identified Tyler as a suspect. They say Tyler at the time was working as a daycare provider in Salem.
According to the attorney’s office, Tyler communicated with the 13-year-old through social media in April last year and drove from Salem to Beaverton twice to have sex with the minor.
A detective arranged for the 15-year-old to contact Tyler on social media. According to the attorney’s office, the teen told Tyler she was 15 and Tyler agreed to drive to Beaverton to have sex with her.
Tyler was arrested by undercover officers after he arrived at the predetermined location in September 2018. According to officers, Tyler had condoms with him and told officers he was there to meet his friend.
During an interview, investigators say Tyler admitted to having sex with the 13-year-old on two occasion, but claimed he thought both girls were 18. He later admitted that he knew they underage, according to the attorney’s office.
Investigators say there could be additional victims who have not been identified. They ask anyone with information to contact Beaverton police.
Former Walt Disney VP sentenced to more than 6 years in Portland, OR for sex abuse of 7 y/o girl
BY CNN WIRE
A former vice president for the Walt Disney Company has been sentenced to more than 6 years in prison following a child sex abuse investigation.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said Michael Laney, 73, was sentenced on Friday to 81 months in prison.
Along with his prison sentence, Laney will have to register as a sex offender and pay a $4,000 fine.
Laney was found guilty of four counts of first-degree sexual abuse on May 7.
Evidence presented during trial showed that in March 2017, a young girl disclosed she had been sexually abused by the Laney. The disclosure was first reported to law enforcement in Washington state where the victim lived at the time of her disclosure.
The Portland Police Bureau assumed the investigation after it was determined that the abuse had occurred in Portland starting in approximately 2009 when the victim was about 7 years old, the attorney’s office said.
The court found sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Laney was guilty of repeated sexual abuse involving the girl.
While conducting their investigation into the first reported disclosure of rape and sexual abuse by the defendant, PPB detectives learned of other allegations of sexual abuse involving Laney.
One person told law enforcement Laney had sexually abused her while she was a minor in approximately 2007 when she lived in Portland, but the court found there was not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Laney was guilty of this allegation.
Ex-Pastor Wanted Abortion Criminalized
He’s Now Charged with Child Sex Abuse
He’s Now Charged with Child Sex Abuse
By Carter Sherman, Vice News
Two months ago, when he was still a Southern Baptist pastor, Stephen Bratton testified in favor of a Texas bill that could have allowed women who get abortions to be charged with homicide, a crime punishable by death in the Lone Star State.
On Friday, the 43-year-old was charged with continuous sex abuse of a child. He stands accused of molesting a teenage relative for two years, including “sexual intercourse multiple times a day or several times a week,” a Harris County deputy said this weekend, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Bratton posted a $50,000 bond on Saturday, the Chronicle reported. The Associated Press could not locate a phone number for Bratton, nor find his attorney, on Sunday.
The charges against Bratton also come just a week after Southern Baptist leaders gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, to discuss sex abuse reform after recent reports found hundreds of clergy and staff were accused of sexual misconduct over the past 20 years. The pastors voted to form a committee to examine allegations that churches failed to adequately deal with claims of sex abuse, and to make it clear that the Southern Baptist Convention can expel churches for mishandling such claims.
Bratton confessed to his wife and clergy members about the abuse last month, and resigned from his job at a Houston-area church. He has since been excommunicated, one of Bratton’s co-pastors, Aaron Wright, told the Chronicle.
“This person’s life is in such a contradiction to the faith that we see no evidence that they are a Christian,” Wright said.
The Texas state Legislature ultimately did not vote on the anti-abortion measure Bratton testified in favor of, but this year marked the first time that Texas had heard public testimony on a bill that could leave women criminally liable for getting abortions, the Washington Post reported. More than 400 “witnesses” reportedly registered their approval for the bill.
"Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty," Bratton testified during the hearing, according to the Associated Press. "They're guilty already in a court that is far more weighty than what is here in Texas."
Astonishing statement! Judgment for those who have an abortion, but not he who commits adultery, pedophelia, child sex abuse, utter hypocrisy, and then preaches from the pulpit! No-one goes to Hell for having an abortion. Those who go to Hell do so because they rejected Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Mr Bratton falls in that category.
Alabama Woman Forced to Allow Child Visitation Rights
to Man She Says Raped Her
by Jerry Lambe to Man She Says Raped Her
An Alabama woman says the state’s laws have forced her to allow the man who repeatedly raped and impregnated her while she was a minor to have visitation rights with their children or else face jail time.
The woman, who asked to by identified only as “Jessica,” in an interview with local KNOE 8 News, says that the man began climbing into bed with her when she was around 12 or 13 years old and began forcing her into sex soon thereafter. He was never convicted for his alleged crimes despite a plethora of evidence, including a DNA test.
How is that even possible? The oldest child's DNA would reveal who his father was, and since Jennifer was 15 when she got pregnant, there has to be grounds for statutory rape. 16 is the age of consent in Alabama.
Jessica said she was impregnated a total of four times as a result of being raped by her uncle throughout her teenage years. She miscarried the first child at the age of 14 then gave birth to a boy at age 16. Her second son was born when she was 18 but he contracted a disease common in cases of incest and tragically did not survive. Jessica gave birth to her youngest son when she was 19.
Last month, the man was released from prison after serving his sentence for a drug conviction and proceeded to sue Jessica for visitation rights to see his sons and won.
According to an order from the judge in her case, Jessica must now face the man who she says forced her to endure an adolescence of “continuous rape,” or else spend 48 hours in jail for each denied visit.
Alabama, which recently found itself mired in controversy for passing the strictest abortion restrictions in the nation last month, is one of only two states with no statute terminating parental rights for a person found to have conceived the child by rape or incest. The state’s new abortion law does not contain any exceptions for victims of sexual assault or incest.
Of course, her rape was never proven, even though the uncle admits the kids are his!
Alabama Democratic state Rep. Juandalynn Givan told Fox News that she and her colleagues need to do more to prevent situations like Jessica’s from ever happening again.
“I think the Legislature is failing the women of Alabama,” she said. “The justice system can do no more than what we enact into law.”
Last month, the state Legislature considered a bill that would have ended parental rights where the conception is the result of rape, but lawmakers removed the requisite language, instead choosing to limit the law to cases in which children are sexually assaulted by a parent, according to the Journal Gazette.
Good grief! What a backward state!
Arrest Made in First Degree Child Sex Abuse Offense in DC
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Youth and Family Services Division announced an arrest has been made in reference to a First Degree Child Sex Abuse offense that occurred on Tuesday, June 11, 2019, in the 1700 block of S Street, Southeast.
At approximately 5:00 pm, a juvenile female was sexually assaulted by a suspect known to her.
On Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 32 year-old Matthew Hopper, of Southeast, DC, was charged with First Degree Child Sex Abuse.
Virginia Beach man sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing child
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A Virginia Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a child.Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin D. Stolle announced that 22-year-old Mark Daniel Felicia Jr. pleaded guilty and was sentenced for charges of Rape, Forcible Sodomy and Sexual Penetration with Object.
Had the matter gone to trial, the Commonwealth’s evidence would have proven that Felicia sexually abused a child known to him.
Felicia had no prior record.
NY monster gets away with rape of girlfriend's
12 y/o daughter
12 y/o daughter
Found guilty of raping the sick girl, he's sentenced to 5 years to be served concurrent with previous sentences. In other words - No Time; a freebee. He will be out again while some of his victims are still teenagers. How insane is that?
'He doesn't try to help her... he locks the door'
By MATTHEW REITZ mreitz@palltimes.com
OSWEGO — Gary A. Bubis Jr., who last year was sentenced to state prison for his role in the abuse of three Albion children, was sentenced to five years in prison and 15 years post-release supervision Wednesday morning in a separate and unrelated sex abuse case stemming from a 2012 incident involving a minor.
A jury convicted the 39-year-old Bubis of first-degree sexual abuse in May, and Oswego County Court Judge Walter Hafner Jr. handed down a five-year prison sentence Wednesday that will run concurrently with his previous sentences. Bubis was convicted for subjecting a 12-year-old to sexual contact in December 2012.
If the case is unrelated to previous convictions, why is the sentence to run concurrently?
The charges carried a minimum sentence of two years and a maximum sentence of seven years.
Oswego County District Attorney Greg Oakes said the sentencing brings a close to all the charges against Bubis, which started nearly two years ago when the Albion child abuse case shook the Oswego County community.
Bubis was previously sentenced in August 2018 to a one and one-third to four-year sentence for first-degree unlawful imprisonment and two and a half years for second-degree assault related to the Albion child abuse case. He is serving time in the state’s Elmira Correctional Facility.
Matthew Reitz photo
One of four individuals arrested in August 2017 for the repeated abuse of multiple children, Bubis was accused of forcing a 10-year-old child to work outside all day without food, water or bathroom access, and dragged the child with a vehicle. The Albion abuse case also included forcing a 3-year-old child’s hands into a container of hot water and causing burns.
Assistant District Attorney Matt Bell, who prosecuted the case, said the 12-year-old victim in the sexual abuse case is the child of Bubis’ girlfriend at the time. Bell said she stayed home from school sick and was alone with Bubis at the time of the incident.
“He doesn’t comfort her — she’s sick, she’s home from school — he doesn’t try to help her or get her medicine, get her food,” Bell said. “What does he do? He locks the door in the bedroom where she’s sleeping, sick home from school, goes in there and proceeds to sexually abuse her.”
Bell said the victim in the sexual abuse case is Bubis’ fourth child victim, adding adults should be role models for children but Bubis instead “exploits and victimizes” children after being entrusted with their care.
This man should never be allowed near children again, ever!
There is more on this story at Oswego County News Now
Kingman, Arizona man faces sexual abuse count on top of child abuse charges
That investigation resulted in the arrest of McIntire who was booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility. A search warrant revealed items in the home that were used to strike the child, who was placed into protective custody by the Department of Child Services.
On June 12, McIntire was charged with a felony count of domestic violence by sexual abuse. KPD “became aware” of allegations that McIntire had sexually abused his 15-year-old niece while she was in his care. An investigation reportedly revealed the man had been abusing his niece over the course of the past two years.
According to KPD, McIntire admitted involvement in the offense.
Hodges, SC man behind bars after fleeing
sex abuse of 7 y/o girl charges
A Hodges man who cut his ankle monitor and fled to Alabama instead of facing accusations he sexually abused a 7-year-old girl is now behind bars in Greenwood, according to officials.
Joshua Eric Parham, 36, of 4619 Highway 25 N., Hodges was arrested April 16 by Phenix City police in Alabama. Parham was held at the Russell County, Alabama jail facing a charge of fugitive from justice. On June 13, he was booked at the Greenwood County jail after deputies in the county’s warrants division picked him up. Parham was still in jail as of Wednesday afternoon, facing four general sessions bench warrants.
The indictments accuse Parham of having sexual contact with a girl who is now 12 years old. The documents specify that the contact happened between June 1, 2014 and Oct. 31, 2014, then again between Oct. 1, 2015 and Oct. 31, 2016 — meaning the girl would have been 7 years old when it started.
Parham was arrested in Greenwood County on Oct. 19, 2016, and another indictment accuses him on that date of having child pornography. The other charges were filed against him in November 2017 and February of this year.
According to the Greenwood County public index, Parham was supposed to appear in court on March 4 but didn’t show.
A notice of bond violation filed at the county Clerk of Courts Office said he cut off his ankle monitor at about 5 a.m. that day, and a tracking record showed his last recorded location before then at about 4:15 a.m. being on the 4000-block of Highway 25 North in Hodges.
Hampstead, MD man indicted for alleged
continual sex abuse of minor
Mary Grace Kellercontinual sex abuse of minor
Carroll County Times
A Hampstead man has been indicted in the Circuit Court for Carroll County for alleged sex abuse of a minor over several years.
Matthew Aaron Little, 48, was charged June 13 with sexual abuse of a minor continuing course of conduct, and sexual abuse of a minor, according to electronic court records. If convicted, Little could face a maximum penalty of 30 years incarceration for the first offense and up to 25 years for the second, according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, Little allegedly “engage[d] in a continuing course of conduct over a period of 90 days or more with a victim under the age of 14 years” between Feb. 1, 2014, and Nov. 17, 2018, in Hampstead. Additionally, Little “did cause sexual abuse to” a minor under 14 years old … between Feb. 1, 2014, and Feb. 28, 2019, in Hampstead, the indictment states.
Amy Ocampo of the Carroll County State’s Attorney Office has been assigned to represent the State of Maryland in the case, according to electronic court records. No attorney was listed for Little.
A hearing is scheduled for July 5 in Carroll County Circuit Court.
Texas man sentenced to 4 years for child sex abuse
By Brian Knox
A 72-year-old Springtown man has been sentenced to prison
for sexual abuse of a child.
Ned Wade Hampton entered guilty pleas to six counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact – second degree felonies – and two counts of solicitation to commit sexual performance of a child – third degree felonies – in 271st District Court in Decatur last Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Jay Lapham said it was one of the worst cases he has seen as a prosecutor.
“I’ve been handling child abuse cases for 20 years, and these tapes are some of the most … over the top, offensive, demoralizing, disgusting,” he said.
According to public records associated with the case, the videos were recorded as Hampton was giving the teenager rides in his pickup. The videos, which were played in court for the judge as evidence, included Hampton asking the teen to take inappropriate photos and to allow him to perform sexual acts.
In addition to the acts shown on the video, Hampton also pleaded guilty to indecency with a child by sexual contact multiple times between June of 2017 and March of 2018.
Lapham said early in the investigation, Hampton denied the sexual abuse before the victim came forward to law enforcement with the videos.
After hearing evidence in the case, District Judge Brock Smith sentenced Hampton to four years in prison on each of the charges. The sentences will run concurrently. Hampton could become eligible for parole after serving two years.
Upon his release, Hampton must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
He faced up to 20 years in prison for each of the indecency charges and up to 10 years on the solicitation charges.
And, instead, he gets, literally, 2 years. The child victim will still be a child when he gets out. That should not happen. This concurrent sentencing is totally sick and takes no account of the victim.
Hampton was originally arrested on April 7 of last year and indicted last August.
Whitewright, TX man heads to Lamar County district court in child sex abuse case
A 44-year-old Whitewright man charged with sexual assault of a child faces a Lamar County jury today in 6th District Court at the Lamar County Courthouse, 119 N. Main St. in Paris.
Lamar County Assistant District Attorney Jill Drake is to present the state’s case while Sherman criminal defense attorney Robert T. Jarvis represents the defendant.
On March 10, 2016, Simpson was arrested by Denison Police Department on a Lamar County warrant, jailed in the Grayson County Detention Center and released March 14, 2016, on a $75,000 bond, according to Grayson County records.
PA Husband & Wife Teachers Convicted of
Child Sex Crimes
Child Sex Crimes
BY CNN WIRE
SCRANTON, Pa (WNEP) — It took a jury in Lackawanna County about an hour and a half to convict a husband and wife of child sex abuse charges. The couple, both teachers, were found guilty of all the charges against them.
Ruth and Nick Baggetta of Greenfield Township were both taken into custody after the verdict was read Wednesday afternoon. They were both convicted of having a sexual relationship with a teen that lasted almost two years and started when the girl was 16.
The trial put the word of the Baggettas against those of the now-19-year-old female student.
Ultimately, jurors sided with the girl, convicting the couple of all the charges against them.
On the stand on Monday, the girl talked about her nearly two-year-long sexual relationship with Nick Baggetta. She says his wife Ruth not only knew about it but encouraged it.
While on the stand themselves, the couple admitted the relationship with the girl was close but said they were only trying to help her overcome mental health issues.
“I believe the fact that both defendants took the stand and essentially corroborated everything that our victim had to say gave her even more credence to the jury,” said Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Sara Varela.
Since this was a case of she said, they said, prosecutors from the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office relied on text messages as evidence. They said there were texts among the Baggettas and the girl about 80 times per day over several months. And though not sexually explicit, the texts contained language that wouldn’t typically be used between teacher and student.
“It’s just clearly inappropriate conduct for a teacher to be corresponding with a student like that. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. What they did was inappropriate at all levels. They just didn’t admit to the sexual misconduct, but the jury saw through that,” said Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell.
Nick Baggetta was a teacher at Fell Charter School near Carbondale. Ruth Baggetta is suspended without pay from her job at Lakeland High School. With her conviction, that is likely to change. The couple will be sentenced in a few months, and both face the prospect of several years in prison.
Boy Scouts previously banned MD employee now facing child pornography charges
Phil DavisThe Baltimore Sun
The Boy Scouts of America had previously banned a Maryland Department of General Services employee now charged with viewing child pornography at work, citing previous child sex abuse charges against him in 1995.
Cormack, 70, of Baltimore County is currently facing new child pornography charges as a co-worker reported to police in February that he saw the 20-year DGS employee viewing explicit images of minors while at his office on West Preston Street.
Cormack was a member of the Boy Scouts of America for at least 20 years, as he participated in the organization’s “Wood Badge” program in 1974, according to records kept by the Baltimore Area Council.
The program is described on the organization’s website as an “advanced, national leadership course open only to Scouting volunteers and professionals.” .
Cormack was charged in 1995 with abusing at least four boys while he was a Baltimore County recreation counselor in the early 1980s.
At the time, prosecutors said he abused boys 11 to 13 years old, showing them pornographic magazines, playing strip poker with them and touching their genitalia.
Cormack pleaded guilty to second degree sex offense May 28, 1996, court records show, and he was sentenced to six months in jail. He was also suspended from his counseling job in Parkville.
Steger wrote in an email that “upon learning of allegations … in 1996, he was immediately removed” and prohibited from participating in any future Boy Scouts programs.
Three years later, Cormack would be hired by DGS and spent 20 years with the department, state records show.
A spokesman for the department declined to comment on whether the department was aware of Cormack’s previous charges before his hiring.
Cormack is awaiting a jury trial Tuesday for his most recent charges.
According to an affidavit to support a search warrant filed in U.S. District Court, the co-worker saw Cormack viewing child pornography Feb. 1 and told investigators he’d observed Cormack for years acting suspiciously around his computer while at work.
Cormack denied using his work computer to view child pornography, the affidavit states, but admitted he’d used “Google at work” to look at explicit images of minors.
His co-worker told investigators Cormack would bring his personal laptop to work and position it in such a way others couldn’t see the screen, closing the screen whenever anyone approached him.
DGS has not commented as to whether Cormack has been suspended or fired, saying it was an ongoing personnel matter. He made $66,000 in annual salary as of 2018, according to state records.
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